August 2005
THE PAPYRUS CHURCH UNDER THE MANGO TREE
Dear Fellow Missionaries and Friends,
Greetings once again from Arua! The bishop has now departed for the States for at least four months, leaving me
in charge. Who would have thought that after only six months "in the saddle", the mission would have come to this
point? Thank you for your continued prayers.
The work continues to go very well. We are now up to 812 churches in the diocese, and there will be others soon.
Two weekends ago, I preached at one of the newest churches, which worships on papyrus mats under a big
mango tree. The text was Matthew 6, "do not be anxious", and the sermon was enthusiastically received! I now
preach without notes, walking around and speaking directly to the congregation, along with the interpreter. The
interpreters seem to enjoy it as much as the congregation! But what else can you do when there is no pulpit, no
sound system, and in this case, no building and no roof? It has forced me to totally change my preaching, to make
it very simple and direct.
I receive your articles and news about the States, and wonder what has happened to the Church there? So much
of what is happening at "home” has little or nothing to do with the Gospel or with the Lord of the Gospel. People
everywhere need to hear the Word and also experience the Word (as He reveals himself through the scriptures),
and instead what they are getting from the American church is utter confusion. Maybe it's time to walk away from
this sickness unto death. It is the Lord of the church we worship, not the church itself. Someone will say to me,
"how very protestant you have become." No, it's not protestant: it's "old testament". We are called to worship our
heavenly Father, and not all the trimmings and trappings of the temple. The Father will let the temple be destroyed if
it becomes a false idol.
This is not an attempt to romanticize the Church in Africa. It has some serious logistical problems and some real
corruption. But the Christians here are people of strong prayer, and vital, "spirit-filled" worship. This is not just
show; it is an essential part of everything they do. They take confession and forgiveness by the Lord seriously.
When Jesus is first, everything else seems to fall into place. Christians in America have brought all sorts of
agendas into the church, and expect them to be blessed by the Lord, or even in spite of Him. But how can the Lord
bless something that is dishonoring to Him? Can we not allow Him to set the agenda, which is to put His Father's
Kingdom first above all things?
It is a privilege to be able to serve Him where the people take Him and his words at face value. There is a childlike
innocence in the Church here which is gone from our church. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."(John 12) That is the
only way forward. The Bible describes everything else as the way of death. As Proverbs says,
“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
"Who is the Lord?"
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.” 30.8
I continue to press forward with restoring the diocesan infrastructure, and with acting as an encourager and coach
to the Christians in the churches and the schools, as well as my staff. The steady round of weekend visits to
churches continues, and now a few schools have been added to the mix, since they all have services on Sundays.
This past Thursday, I visited a primary school up in the mountains of Maracha County. The 1435 children sat
around a giant tree, and I spoke to them standing on a chair, with an interpreter. They have 21 teachers – NB the
class size. Many of the kids had never seen a mundu before, and wanted to come up and touch me, I guess to see
if I was real. This school was really in "the sticks". In order to get there, I had to be guided by a fellow who was my
passenger on the motorbike. We started on a dirt road, and an hour later, after literally 'scrambling' over rocks in a
"path", we arrived at the church and school. Even my big Yamaha dirt bike was not happy with the conditions, and
twice refused to go and left us in the dirt. But what a great experience! People walked for miles to see their mundu
priest - all the pastors, all the church teachers, three congregations, and lots of kids.
Here's reality in the sticks of Africa. The children maybe get one meal a day, and are barefoot, and their clothes are
shabby. They have never been to the nearest town Maracha), let alone the "BIG CITY" of Arua. A bicycle is a luxury.
They have never seen electricity, or plumbing, or glass windows, or a house with anything other than a grass roof.
An iron sheet roof is a luxury. The only books they know are those in the school. Their water comes from a well, to
which they must walk with jerry cans on their heads (5 gallons) and back (yes, the children carry the water, as well
as the women). They cook on a fire, so must daily gather the firewood. The fields are all cultivated by hand with a
hoe. If they get sick, the chances are they will die - the nearest doctor is miles away, and they would have to walk.
Their parents are probably illiterate, and when they go to church and hear about Jesus, it is only by word of mouth,
for there are no bibles and prayer book/hymnals for them to use. The kids have no money at all, and if they did,
there are no toys for them to buy anywhere. But who has time? They must do
their chores at home.
Yes, Mrs. Lincoln, there is poverty, and it is right here in Madi/WestNile Diocese. But there is also hope. Most of the
children had big dreams and aspirations, when I talked to them. They want something better than just digging with
a hoe for the rest of their lives. The Lugbara are agricultural people, and any help that is given to them must take
that as the starting point. But small things make a huge difference here, and I am always thinking, looking for new
ways to raise them up a bit. For those of you who have contributed to the ad hoc "bikes for pastors" or the
"literature” funds, this should be encouraging. These are vital tools for the Lord's work here, and they are greatly
appreciated by the people!
The papyrus church under the mango tree. I didn't make this up: see the pictures. But who needs a building
anyway? For those of you in ECUSA: what good does it do to keep your building but lose your soul? And here's a
question for all of you at home to ponder? Why is it that my poor pastors making $8.50!! a month are growing their
congregations rapidly, baptizing 7000-8000 new converts a year and also confirming a like amount - with no
bicycle, no bibles, no prayer books to speak of, little or no formal theological training, no electricity in their
homes, no clean water, little medical care available, and so on, while all our fancy highly theologically trained clergy
making $4000 a month and more and their clever House of Bishops are driving ECUSA into the ground and killing
it off?
We can certainly discuss this more when I'm home in August and thereafter. In the meantime, I want all of you to
take heart about the future of the Lord's Church, because in Africa and most parts of the world, it is experiencing
exponential growth right now. But it's not because of the gospel of inclusivity (which word appears nowhere in the
Holy Scriptures), nor because of "equality", nor because of "rights" for all, nor because of a perceived social agenda
which has crept into the church. It's because they preach the Lord Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever, and
don't try to muck up the message of His gospel --- which is that yes, in His power and His love, we CAN CHANGE
our lives, and be converted, and repent of all the things in our lives that are destroying us, and eventually be like
Him and with Him in the end. That's the Good News, not all this nonsense that our wonderful American media
keeps spewing forth as its own man-made gospel. The American church has become a church of adolescents: if it
feels good, it must be good. I'm OK, you're OK, and why don't we all just get along? Is this the Gospel, or is this
just puerile nonsense?
People love America, and admire us greatly overseas. They also envy us, and our incredible wealth. So why is our
church, and Hollywood, trying to poison the whole world? Here's just a sample of some American films I saw
recently over dinner at the Oasis ($5 for a full course meal):
1) at an elite Eastern boarding school, all of the students except two have already had a steady diet of sex - and so
the film is about trying to seduce these two students to be like the rest. Along with the New York scenes, the
limousines, the incredible mansions, and so forth, complete with servants in white gloves, we are also treated to
students standing in the shower completely naked trying to snare the young guy, endless bedroom scenes,
groping, and on and on. Isn't this a great witness? Thanks, Hollywood!
2) A young woman who doesn't think she's attractive sets out to kill, in the most gruesome ways possible, all of her
female friends, including cutting their throats, stabbing them, shooting them with arrows, and so forth. Just for
good Hollywood effect, there's a good amount of sex and nudity thrown in as well. My simple mind tells me that
nobody is going to kill the United States or take it over. It's too strong. No, it's simply going to rot to death from the
inside out. And the Episcopal Church, which ought to know better, has become a major part of the problem, when it
calls the light darkness, and the darkness light.
Why is America so infatuated with sex? And yet when our citizens think that deviant behavior is OK because they
saw it somewhere on TV or in the magazines, they are then punished unmercifully by our courts for trying it out?
The Africans don't go crazy about nudity, and so it's no big deal to them. Women nurse their children routinely in
public, including church services. And yet they mostly wear dresses or wraps, even to dig in the fields. And they are
very traditional in their values and activities. The women are very quiet, soft-spoken, and very feminine. The
Ugandans don't like defilement of minor girls. It can get the boy involved seven years in prison! which seems a little
harsh to me. They also don't like homosexuality - that's what children do until they grow up to be adults, and the
Bible says it's a sin. In fact, in most African countries, homosexuality is a crime. I don't think it should be
criminalized, but I also don't think we should bless deviant behavior either. It destroys people's lives.
Life can be very fragile here, because the people are so poor. Last night, I had a "first" experience. One of the girl
students at the teacher training college next to my house collapsed suddenly (21 years old). My housekeeper
came running to find me for driving a vehicle. (Vehicles and drivers are quite rare here - and there are no
ambulances). Only problem was the two drivers had gone home with the keys. So I found a young fellow to ride
with me on the Yamaha motorbike on my luggage rack, with the unconscious girl squeezed in the middle of us -
three adults on a motorbike on the way in the dark to the nearest hospital! It was quite a ride, but we made it. Arua
Hospital (not our church's hospital) is something else. It's like going back in time to medical care maybe eighty
years ago! I couldn't find a doctor, and got really upset with the people who just stared at me carrying this half
naked black girl into their hospital – please help me, can't you see she's very sick? The boy had brought her bed
sheet from the dorm, or she wouldn't have had a bed sheet - sorry, the hospital can't afford bed sheets and pillows.
At least the nurses were kind, and they had a drip line for the girl. But we had to get a friend to come stay with the
girl, because there weren't enough nurses on duty to check on her last night! Please pray for this young girl, who
will soon be a teacher (in May this year). I don't know her name, but the Lord does.
Please also pray for the Lord's hand in my attempts to solve the crisis of the Arua Archdeaconry churches that split
away three years ago - that I will somehow be able to persuade them to come to the table and talk, and hopefully
return to the fold before the Synod in June, so that they are once again full members of the Diocese. This will be as
difficult as anything I have ever done. There have been repeated death threats, a diocesan Tribunal to "try" the
rebellious priests, withheld funds, government involvement by the courts, and on and on. But I have met with the
head government person in Arua District, who happens to be an Anglican, and he is anxious to help. I need your
prayers about this, because it must be handled alone - and it could get very tense. I am the ONLY one in the
diocese who is completely neutral at this point, and has the authority to grant "amnesty", if that is the right word. But
all parties involved seem to want peace and reconciliation, so it may just work. I will be meeting with the new
archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, to get his help and his assent - since Bishop Drati is gone. Isn't this an
interesting mission?!!
Debbie Matley at the Diocese of San Joaquin tells me that the missions account is quite low right now. I believe the
Diocese will help us with support in the near future. In the meantime, your regular support is the only way that I can
stay here to serve. I will be coming home in August, probably for four months. But until then, there is a great deal to
be done. The capital expenditures on the vehicles and motorbikes are essentially behind us. Now I want to
concentrate on pastors' pay, the bookshop and literature, the bicycles for pastors, and raising scholarship funds so
I can get more pastors in the field. In the summer and fall, I want to start building a new prayer book for Madi/West
Nile - something simple, small, and very usable. The current prayer book in Lugbara is based on the English 1662
service!
May you have a blessed Easter, and awa'difo (thank you) for all the support and prayers.
Faithfully,
Fr. Jim
I have this simple idea that the Gospel of Jesus actually works, and changes lives, and therefore people can leave
sinful, destructive ways and find paths that are blessed. Maybe this is an African outlook that has infected me, but
then so be it. Evangelism is alive and well here. So is conversion. So is repentance. Maybe that is why the Church
is growing so well here, while in the West, it is in real trouble. Christians here are "ashamed of the Gospel", for it
has the power to save.
Dear Fellow Missionaries and Friends,
Greetings once again from Arua! The bishop has now departed for the States for at least four months, leaving me
in charge. Who would have thought that after only six months "in the saddle", the mission would have come to this
point? Thank you for your continued prayers.
The work continues to go very well. We are now up to 812 churches in the diocese, and there will be others soon.
Two weekends ago, I preached at one of the newest churches, which worships on papyrus mats under a big
mango tree. The text was Matthew 6, "do not be anxious", and the sermon was enthusiastically received! I now
preach without notes, walking around and speaking directly to the congregation, along with the interpreter. The
interpreters seem to enjoy it as much as the congregation! But what else can you do when there is no pulpit, no
sound system, and in this case, no building and no roof? It has forced me to totally change my preaching, to make
it very simple and direct.
I receive your articles and news about the States, and wonder what has happened to the Church there? So much
of what is happening at "home” has little or nothing to do with the Gospel or with the Lord of the Gospel. People
everywhere need to hear the Word and also experience the Word (as He reveals himself through the scriptures),
and instead what they are getting from the American church is utter confusion. Maybe it's time to walk away from
this sickness unto death. It is the Lord of the church we worship, not the church itself. Someone will say to me,
"how very protestant you have become." No, it's not protestant: it's "old testament". We are called to worship our
heavenly Father, and not all the trimmings and trappings of the temple. The Father will let the temple be destroyed if
it becomes a false idol.
This is not an attempt to romanticize the Church in Africa. It has some serious logistical problems and some real
corruption. But the Christians here are people of strong prayer, and vital, "spirit-filled" worship. This is not just
show; it is an essential part of everything they do. They take confession and forgiveness by the Lord seriously.
When Jesus is first, everything else seems to fall into place. Christians in America have brought all sorts of
agendas into the church, and expect them to be blessed by the Lord, or even in spite of Him. But how can the Lord
bless something that is dishonoring to Him? Can we not allow Him to set the agenda, which is to put His Father's
Kingdom first above all things?
It is a privilege to be able to serve Him where the people take Him and his words at face value. There is a childlike
innocence in the Church here which is gone from our church. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."(John 12) That is the
only way forward. The Bible describes everything else as the way of death. As Proverbs says,
“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
"Who is the Lord?"
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.” 30.8
I continue to press forward with restoring the diocesan infrastructure, and with acting as an encourager and coach
to the Christians in the churches and the schools, as well as my staff. The steady round of weekend visits to
churches continues, and now a few schools have been added to the mix, since they all have services on Sundays.
This past Thursday, I visited a primary school up in the mountains of Maracha County. The 1435 children sat
around a giant tree, and I spoke to them standing on a chair, with an interpreter. They have 21 teachers – NB the
class size. Many of the kids had never seen a mundu before, and wanted to come up and touch me, I guess to see
if I was real. This school was really in "the sticks". In order to get there, I had to be guided by a fellow who was my
passenger on the motorbike. We started on a dirt road, and an hour later, after literally 'scrambling' over rocks in a
"path", we arrived at the church and school. Even my big Yamaha dirt bike was not happy with the conditions, and
twice refused to go and left us in the dirt. But what a great experience! People walked for miles to see their mundu
priest - all the pastors, all the church teachers, three congregations, and lots of kids.
Here's reality in the sticks of Africa. The children maybe get one meal a day, and are barefoot, and their clothes are
shabby. They have never been to the nearest town Maracha), let alone the "BIG CITY" of Arua. A bicycle is a luxury.
They have never seen electricity, or plumbing, or glass windows, or a house with anything other than a grass roof.
An iron sheet roof is a luxury. The only books they know are those in the school. Their water comes from a well, to
which they must walk with jerry cans on their heads (5 gallons) and back (yes, the children carry the water, as well
as the women). They cook on a fire, so must daily gather the firewood. The fields are all cultivated by hand with a
hoe. If they get sick, the chances are they will die - the nearest doctor is miles away, and they would have to walk.
Their parents are probably illiterate, and when they go to church and hear about Jesus, it is only by word of mouth,
for there are no bibles and prayer book/hymnals for them to use. The kids have no money at all, and if they did,
there are no toys for them to buy anywhere. But who has time? They must do
their chores at home.
Yes, Mrs. Lincoln, there is poverty, and it is right here in Madi/WestNile Diocese. But there is also hope. Most of the
children had big dreams and aspirations, when I talked to them. They want something better than just digging with
a hoe for the rest of their lives. The Lugbara are agricultural people, and any help that is given to them must take
that as the starting point. But small things make a huge difference here, and I am always thinking, looking for new
ways to raise them up a bit. For those of you who have contributed to the ad hoc "bikes for pastors" or the
"literature” funds, this should be encouraging. These are vital tools for the Lord's work here, and they are greatly
appreciated by the people!
The papyrus church under the mango tree. I didn't make this up: see the pictures. But who needs a building
anyway? For those of you in ECUSA: what good does it do to keep your building but lose your soul? And here's a
question for all of you at home to ponder? Why is it that my poor pastors making $8.50!! a month are growing their
congregations rapidly, baptizing 7000-8000 new converts a year and also confirming a like amount - with no
bicycle, no bibles, no prayer books to speak of, little or no formal theological training, no electricity in their
homes, no clean water, little medical care available, and so on, while all our fancy highly theologically trained clergy
making $4000 a month and more and their clever House of Bishops are driving ECUSA into the ground and killing
it off?
We can certainly discuss this more when I'm home in August and thereafter. In the meantime, I want all of you to
take heart about the future of the Lord's Church, because in Africa and most parts of the world, it is experiencing
exponential growth right now. But it's not because of the gospel of inclusivity (which word appears nowhere in the
Holy Scriptures), nor because of "equality", nor because of "rights" for all, nor because of a perceived social agenda
which has crept into the church. It's because they preach the Lord Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever, and
don't try to muck up the message of His gospel --- which is that yes, in His power and His love, we CAN CHANGE
our lives, and be converted, and repent of all the things in our lives that are destroying us, and eventually be like
Him and with Him in the end. That's the Good News, not all this nonsense that our wonderful American media
keeps spewing forth as its own man-made gospel. The American church has become a church of adolescents: if it
feels good, it must be good. I'm OK, you're OK, and why don't we all just get along? Is this the Gospel, or is this
just puerile nonsense?
People love America, and admire us greatly overseas. They also envy us, and our incredible wealth. So why is our
church, and Hollywood, trying to poison the whole world? Here's just a sample of some American films I saw
recently over dinner at the Oasis ($5 for a full course meal):
1) at an elite Eastern boarding school, all of the students except two have already had a steady diet of sex - and so
the film is about trying to seduce these two students to be like the rest. Along with the New York scenes, the
limousines, the incredible mansions, and so forth, complete with servants in white gloves, we are also treated to
students standing in the shower completely naked trying to snare the young guy, endless bedroom scenes,
groping, and on and on. Isn't this a great witness? Thanks, Hollywood!
2) A young woman who doesn't think she's attractive sets out to kill, in the most gruesome ways possible, all of her
female friends, including cutting their throats, stabbing them, shooting them with arrows, and so forth. Just for
good Hollywood effect, there's a good amount of sex and nudity thrown in as well. My simple mind tells me that
nobody is going to kill the United States or take it over. It's too strong. No, it's simply going to rot to death from the
inside out. And the Episcopal Church, which ought to know better, has become a major part of the problem, when it
calls the light darkness, and the darkness light.
Why is America so infatuated with sex? And yet when our citizens think that deviant behavior is OK because they
saw it somewhere on TV or in the magazines, they are then punished unmercifully by our courts for trying it out?
The Africans don't go crazy about nudity, and so it's no big deal to them. Women nurse their children routinely in
public, including church services. And yet they mostly wear dresses or wraps, even to dig in the fields. And they are
very traditional in their values and activities. The women are very quiet, soft-spoken, and very feminine. The
Ugandans don't like defilement of minor girls. It can get the boy involved seven years in prison! which seems a little
harsh to me. They also don't like homosexuality - that's what children do until they grow up to be adults, and the
Bible says it's a sin. In fact, in most African countries, homosexuality is a crime. I don't think it should be
criminalized, but I also don't think we should bless deviant behavior either. It destroys people's lives.
Life can be very fragile here, because the people are so poor. Last night, I had a "first" experience. One of the girl
students at the teacher training college next to my house collapsed suddenly (21 years old). My housekeeper
came running to find me for driving a vehicle. (Vehicles and drivers are quite rare here - and there are no
ambulances). Only problem was the two drivers had gone home with the keys. So I found a young fellow to ride
with me on the Yamaha motorbike on my luggage rack, with the unconscious girl squeezed in the middle of us -
three adults on a motorbike on the way in the dark to the nearest hospital! It was quite a ride, but we made it. Arua
Hospital (not our church's hospital) is something else. It's like going back in time to medical care maybe eighty
years ago! I couldn't find a doctor, and got really upset with the people who just stared at me carrying this half
naked black girl into their hospital – please help me, can't you see she's very sick? The boy had brought her bed
sheet from the dorm, or she wouldn't have had a bed sheet - sorry, the hospital can't afford bed sheets and pillows.
At least the nurses were kind, and they had a drip line for the girl. But we had to get a friend to come stay with the
girl, because there weren't enough nurses on duty to check on her last night! Please pray for this young girl, who
will soon be a teacher (in May this year). I don't know her name, but the Lord does.
Please also pray for the Lord's hand in my attempts to solve the crisis of the Arua Archdeaconry churches that split
away three years ago - that I will somehow be able to persuade them to come to the table and talk, and hopefully
return to the fold before the Synod in June, so that they are once again full members of the Diocese. This will be as
difficult as anything I have ever done. There have been repeated death threats, a diocesan Tribunal to "try" the
rebellious priests, withheld funds, government involvement by the courts, and on and on. But I have met with the
head government person in Arua District, who happens to be an Anglican, and he is anxious to help. I need your
prayers about this, because it must be handled alone - and it could get very tense. I am the ONLY one in the
diocese who is completely neutral at this point, and has the authority to grant "amnesty", if that is the right word. But
all parties involved seem to want peace and reconciliation, so it may just work. I will be meeting with the new
archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, to get his help and his assent - since Bishop Drati is gone. Isn't this an
interesting mission?!!
Debbie Matley at the Diocese of San Joaquin tells me that the missions account is quite low right now. I believe the
Diocese will help us with support in the near future. In the meantime, your regular support is the only way that I can
stay here to serve. I will be coming home in August, probably for four months. But until then, there is a great deal to
be done. The capital expenditures on the vehicles and motorbikes are essentially behind us. Now I want to
concentrate on pastors' pay, the bookshop and literature, the bicycles for pastors, and raising scholarship funds so
I can get more pastors in the field. In the summer and fall, I want to start building a new prayer book for Madi/West
Nile - something simple, small, and very usable. The current prayer book in Lugbara is based on the English 1662
service!
May you have a blessed Easter, and awa'difo (thank you) for all the support and prayers.
Faithfully,
Fr. Jim
I have this simple idea that the Gospel of Jesus actually works, and changes lives, and therefore people can leave
sinful, destructive ways and find paths that are blessed. Maybe this is an African outlook that has infected me, but
then so be it. Evangelism is alive and well here. So is conversion. So is repentance. Maybe that is why the Church
is growing so well here, while in the West, it is in real trouble. Christians here are "ashamed of the Gospel", for it
has the power to save.
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