October 2004
October 26,2004
PO Box 4495,Carmel, Ca. 93921,USA
Dear friends and mission supporters,
My last newsletter was sent shortly before leaving Uganda for London, and then the United States. It is time for
another, even though the return to Uganda has been delayed until early in January. The time here has been hectic,
with the exception of two weeks in Colorado and a week in Wisconsin. I hope to see as many friends and churches
as possible before returning. Please call me at either 559 287 6183 (cell) or 831 624 4523 (my mother’s number in
Carmel), and I will arrange to see you.
I’m enclosing my “Mission Report, 2003-2004”, so that you can see what your ‘field missionary’ has been doing.
Also, there is an expense report available, if you are interested. I came home with bags of receipts, as well as “prayer
requests” from the Christians, and they tell a very interesting story. Africans specialize in polite letters, and they
certainly know how to make me feel good - “reverend father servant of God”, dear “overall administrator”, “ most
reverend and special missionary pastor”, and so on. Gee, I didn’t know I was that important?
Our mission is a ‘low budget’ operation. It costs me approximately $300 a month to live in Arua, and that is only
because I hired Buga to cook for me, Alice to clean the house, and Patrick to take care of the garden. They are $100
of the total cost, but absolutely essential to allow me the freedom to administer the diocese properly. (And we are
supporting three families as a result of this). The rest of the funds received go directly to assisting Madi/West Nile
Diocese and its Christians. Debbie Roberts, accounting manager for the Diocese of San Joaquin, wires the funds
directly to my bank in Arua, so transfer costs are minimal. There is no overhead, since no missionary society is
involved. The largest expense is the cost of the airplane tickets to get there and back, which is approximately $2000.
Transport inside Uganda is probably a close second, since the cost of a gallon of gas is now $4.50 or more (so quit
complaining, folks).
It is heartening to see the amount of support that has been offered to the mission since returning to the States. There
have been many gifts of funds, clothing, shoes, bibles, prayer books, and also some technical offerings. One man
told me he wants to come and help with irrigation and water wells - and this is what he does for a living! He said it is
not a problem to drill a well by hand, if the equipment is available. If my Christians could learn how to do this at the
hands of a master, what a blessing it would be: for good, clean water is not available in many parts of the diocese.
I am also pursuing agricultural opportunities, for Madi/West Nile has very large land holdings, including five farms that
are lying fallow. MWN has the land and the Christians who will work very hard. We need someone to come
alongside and perhaps do a farming joint venture. The soils are good, and the climate is perfect for many things, with
its two rainy seasons. Last year, an Indian businessman in Arua told me that Ugandan cotton is outstanding in
quality, second only to Egyptian. And yet not much is grown today. There are two cotton gins in our diocese, but they
are lying dormant.
Uganda exports wonderful coffee, tea, and fish from Lake Victoria, the Nile and other lakes. Twenty percent of the
country is water (which is one reason there is so much malaria). It also exports some cut flowers to Europe. But on
the whole, the economy is very poor, and there are huge opportunities for the government and churches to do good.
In Uganda, there really isn’t separation of church and state, one of our favorite American mythologies. Church and
government work hand in hand, which is one of the reasons that the AIDS rate declined so dramatically from almost
30% in the 1980s to around 5% today.
The north of Uganda is much poorer than the south, and Arua district is no exception, with the exception of the peace
agreements that were signed there less than ten years ago. The part of my diocese that is east of the Nile River, the
Adjumani district that borders the Sudan border, is still quite troubled. The Lord’s Resistance Army rebels move
through it frequently and continue to do their damage. My last trip to Adjumani was partially to see the refugee
situation of some of our Sudanese Christians, who had fled their camps out in the bush to find more safety in the
town. I do not go to bed at night wondering if it is safe to do so - but there are many people in the world who do, and
especially young children in the north of Uganda. Please pray for their safety, especially the children of Adjumani
district.
Examples of the “prayer requests” can be found in my Projects summary, which gives a feel for the sort of problems
facing the Christians of MWN. If you would like a copy of this, please let me know. It’s exciting that someone could
build a whole church, which would seat 1000 Christians, for $5000. My approach is always to ask for a local
contribution, no matter how small. That way, we can recharge the money pool for the next project, or the next bible
shipment, or the next medical crisis. It also makes the people feel better about their own efforts.
Many of the Christians in San Joaquin have been moved to donate towards the bible outreach, and now a wonderful
thing has happened. Dr. Hedberg of Fresno has “raised” a cache of 800 bibles in Phoenix, and we are working out
the shipping details at this time. After the cost of shipping, we will be able to provide 800 children of the Scripture
Union groups and adults with their own copy of the Word for a cost of $1.70. I can’t buy bibles this cheaply even in
Kampala! What a blessing - and especially for me, since I can now return to the field and say to my Christians, “you
see, your fellow Christians in the U.S. really care about you and want to help”. I can hardly wait to get back and start
distributing them.
Another gentleman has offered several hundred prayer books. Another fellow priest is working on finding catechetical
materials for my 800+ catechists. These may seem like small things, but they are of huge significance to the
Ugandans, who have been deprived of them for so long. The catechists are the people who hold the congregations
together, leading services when the pastor (priest or deacon) is not available, teaching the Christians, preparing the
youth for baptism and confirmation and helping the people in pastoral works. Imagine being responsible for the
spiritual welfare of several hundred Christians and not even having your own copy of the bible and prayer book!
Imagine not having any materials in your catechists’ training to study, so that you can prepare yourself to serve. I have
made this one of my top priorities for the next year - to equip my catechists with all the materials I can obtain, and then
provide materials and outlines for the three Archdeaconry Training Centers that prepare these catechists.
My plans for next year are fairly simple, if such a thing is possible in a diocese of over 800 churches and 200
educational institutions. I want to travel to all ten of the archdeaconries and encourage the pastors. It would be
wonderful to build a few churches, or repair some of the damaged ones. And then there are the possibilities to do
economic development on diocesan land holdings, and finally establish a tailoring business in Arua.
Africans don’t need handouts. They need love and technical advice. These are smart, hard-working people - very
family oriented, sacrificing continually for each other. There are times when we must be good Samaritans and pick
up the pieces. But there are other times when we must be Barnabas - encourage our brothers and sisters and then
get out of their way. The challenge is to know the proper timing.
I am so grateful that you enable me to be able to serve in this way. It is an exciting and special work, and I hope that it
is pleasing to the good Lord. Let me close with a wonderful quote: “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to
gain what he cannot lose.”
Fr. Jim Short
P.O. Box 4495
Carmel, Ca. 93921, USA
Email in Uganda: jim.short@bushnet.net
New email: yakoboshort@yahoo.com
PO Box 4495,Carmel, Ca. 93921,USA
Dear friends and mission supporters,
My last newsletter was sent shortly before leaving Uganda for London, and then the United States. It is time for
another, even though the return to Uganda has been delayed until early in January. The time here has been hectic,
with the exception of two weeks in Colorado and a week in Wisconsin. I hope to see as many friends and churches
as possible before returning. Please call me at either 559 287 6183 (cell) or 831 624 4523 (my mother’s number in
Carmel), and I will arrange to see you.
I’m enclosing my “Mission Report, 2003-2004”, so that you can see what your ‘field missionary’ has been doing.
Also, there is an expense report available, if you are interested. I came home with bags of receipts, as well as “prayer
requests” from the Christians, and they tell a very interesting story. Africans specialize in polite letters, and they
certainly know how to make me feel good - “reverend father servant of God”, dear “overall administrator”, “ most
reverend and special missionary pastor”, and so on. Gee, I didn’t know I was that important?
Our mission is a ‘low budget’ operation. It costs me approximately $300 a month to live in Arua, and that is only
because I hired Buga to cook for me, Alice to clean the house, and Patrick to take care of the garden. They are $100
of the total cost, but absolutely essential to allow me the freedom to administer the diocese properly. (And we are
supporting three families as a result of this). The rest of the funds received go directly to assisting Madi/West Nile
Diocese and its Christians. Debbie Roberts, accounting manager for the Diocese of San Joaquin, wires the funds
directly to my bank in Arua, so transfer costs are minimal. There is no overhead, since no missionary society is
involved. The largest expense is the cost of the airplane tickets to get there and back, which is approximately $2000.
Transport inside Uganda is probably a close second, since the cost of a gallon of gas is now $4.50 or more (so quit
complaining, folks).
It is heartening to see the amount of support that has been offered to the mission since returning to the States. There
have been many gifts of funds, clothing, shoes, bibles, prayer books, and also some technical offerings. One man
told me he wants to come and help with irrigation and water wells - and this is what he does for a living! He said it is
not a problem to drill a well by hand, if the equipment is available. If my Christians could learn how to do this at the
hands of a master, what a blessing it would be: for good, clean water is not available in many parts of the diocese.
I am also pursuing agricultural opportunities, for Madi/West Nile has very large land holdings, including five farms that
are lying fallow. MWN has the land and the Christians who will work very hard. We need someone to come
alongside and perhaps do a farming joint venture. The soils are good, and the climate is perfect for many things, with
its two rainy seasons. Last year, an Indian businessman in Arua told me that Ugandan cotton is outstanding in
quality, second only to Egyptian. And yet not much is grown today. There are two cotton gins in our diocese, but they
are lying dormant.
Uganda exports wonderful coffee, tea, and fish from Lake Victoria, the Nile and other lakes. Twenty percent of the
country is water (which is one reason there is so much malaria). It also exports some cut flowers to Europe. But on
the whole, the economy is very poor, and there are huge opportunities for the government and churches to do good.
In Uganda, there really isn’t separation of church and state, one of our favorite American mythologies. Church and
government work hand in hand, which is one of the reasons that the AIDS rate declined so dramatically from almost
30% in the 1980s to around 5% today.
The north of Uganda is much poorer than the south, and Arua district is no exception, with the exception of the peace
agreements that were signed there less than ten years ago. The part of my diocese that is east of the Nile River, the
Adjumani district that borders the Sudan border, is still quite troubled. The Lord’s Resistance Army rebels move
through it frequently and continue to do their damage. My last trip to Adjumani was partially to see the refugee
situation of some of our Sudanese Christians, who had fled their camps out in the bush to find more safety in the
town. I do not go to bed at night wondering if it is safe to do so - but there are many people in the world who do, and
especially young children in the north of Uganda. Please pray for their safety, especially the children of Adjumani
district.
Examples of the “prayer requests” can be found in my Projects summary, which gives a feel for the sort of problems
facing the Christians of MWN. If you would like a copy of this, please let me know. It’s exciting that someone could
build a whole church, which would seat 1000 Christians, for $5000. My approach is always to ask for a local
contribution, no matter how small. That way, we can recharge the money pool for the next project, or the next bible
shipment, or the next medical crisis. It also makes the people feel better about their own efforts.
Many of the Christians in San Joaquin have been moved to donate towards the bible outreach, and now a wonderful
thing has happened. Dr. Hedberg of Fresno has “raised” a cache of 800 bibles in Phoenix, and we are working out
the shipping details at this time. After the cost of shipping, we will be able to provide 800 children of the Scripture
Union groups and adults with their own copy of the Word for a cost of $1.70. I can’t buy bibles this cheaply even in
Kampala! What a blessing - and especially for me, since I can now return to the field and say to my Christians, “you
see, your fellow Christians in the U.S. really care about you and want to help”. I can hardly wait to get back and start
distributing them.
Another gentleman has offered several hundred prayer books. Another fellow priest is working on finding catechetical
materials for my 800+ catechists. These may seem like small things, but they are of huge significance to the
Ugandans, who have been deprived of them for so long. The catechists are the people who hold the congregations
together, leading services when the pastor (priest or deacon) is not available, teaching the Christians, preparing the
youth for baptism and confirmation and helping the people in pastoral works. Imagine being responsible for the
spiritual welfare of several hundred Christians and not even having your own copy of the bible and prayer book!
Imagine not having any materials in your catechists’ training to study, so that you can prepare yourself to serve. I have
made this one of my top priorities for the next year - to equip my catechists with all the materials I can obtain, and then
provide materials and outlines for the three Archdeaconry Training Centers that prepare these catechists.
My plans for next year are fairly simple, if such a thing is possible in a diocese of over 800 churches and 200
educational institutions. I want to travel to all ten of the archdeaconries and encourage the pastors. It would be
wonderful to build a few churches, or repair some of the damaged ones. And then there are the possibilities to do
economic development on diocesan land holdings, and finally establish a tailoring business in Arua.
Africans don’t need handouts. They need love and technical advice. These are smart, hard-working people - very
family oriented, sacrificing continually for each other. There are times when we must be good Samaritans and pick
up the pieces. But there are other times when we must be Barnabas - encourage our brothers and sisters and then
get out of their way. The challenge is to know the proper timing.
I am so grateful that you enable me to be able to serve in this way. It is an exciting and special work, and I hope that it
is pleasing to the good Lord. Let me close with a wonderful quote: “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to
gain what he cannot lose.”
Fr. Jim Short
P.O. Box 4495
Carmel, Ca. 93921, USA
Email in Uganda: jim.short@bushnet.net
New email: yakoboshort@yahoo.com
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
