“The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.”
— Psalms 19:7-10

This Psalm has been a constant companion for me these days. It reminds me every time I consider it how precious and amazing God’s ways are. How valuable His Word. How perfect and good and right His commands. What a gift that He has revealed Himself to us and continues to do so through the Bible. What a joy!

Life has been full for the Ways over the past months. In April we commissioned and prayed over 43 disciple-makers who have been part of two different training cohorts in Western Uganda for the past year. These trainings have been hosted by our dear friends - Pastor Robert in Kabujogera and Pastor Israel in Kansenene. In addition to that, we have new cohorts going in Masaka, Kyotera (towards the Tanzania border), and Tororo in the far-eastern part of the country near Kenya. Some of these are geared towards pastors and others for all believers who want to participate in the Great Commission. It has been a joy to venture into some new areas and meet a lot of wonderful, devoted men and women of God. We’ve put a lot of miles on the car over this time, but it has been worth it.

We’ve also been busy with local ‘Mustard Seed Fellowships,’ discipling people and going deeper in fellowship. We have seen a good number of people commit their lives to Jesus and it has been such a joy!

​Teams
In May and June we hosted eight fantastic students from Oral Roberts University. They shared the gospel, participated in various trainings, ministered in churches, loved on kids, and were a wonderful blessing in so many ways. They stayed with us for almost a month, becoming part of our family and entering into our ministries and lives. We are very thankful.

This month we plan to host two more teams - from Tulsa House of Prayer (THOP) and Believers Church (BC). These groups include old friends and some others we haven’t met yet. We’re really excited about welcoming them all to Uganda and to our home. One of the big things they’ll be participating in is our first ever SENT Gathering. We are praying that God uses this to encourage, mobilize, and equip intercessors and disciple-makers for the harvest. We are asking for signifcant encoutners with Jesus, for deepening friendships, and for ongoing fruit that will lead to disciple-making movements throughout Uganda.


Team & Trainign Center
Building is underway, and we are so so thankful and amazed. Our vision for this space is for it to be used as a place of training, of hospitality, and of prayer. We envision hosting retreats, small intensive training events, and regular learning cohorts. We also foresee housing interns from Uganda and other nations and also teams who come to participate in God’s work in Masaka. We intend to have a prayer room that will be open to the community as a quiet and creative place to meet with Jesus, and also to host seasons of prayer in which we mobilize local believers to join us in praying nonstop for specific seasons of time. Our family will also live in the building and it’s been fun to design a simple living space for ourselves. We have a long way to go on this project, but it is so encouraging to have begun!


SENT Residency
In October we plan to host a Residency here in Masaka. We are inviting people to come for 6-7 weeks to learn about disciple-making and missions through lots of hands-on experience as well as instruction, community life, and spiritual rhythms. If you are interested or know someone who may be, please reach out and let us know. We’re accepting applications until August 21.

“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.”
— Psalms 63:1


This prayer is becoming the cry of my heart. It expresses so beautifully and powerfully how I feel and what I desire my life to be about. I want God! To know Him; to serve Him; to obey Him; to love Him! There is nothing else in the world that can compare. There is nothing that is more worthy of my time and resources and energy and affections. “Earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you!!!”


Mustard Seed Fellowships.
Yesterday was Tuesday - which means Jill, Philip, and Success (the daughter of our good friend Pastor Kasozi) spent the afternoon in the village of Kigato. They have made a number of friends in this small community, and gather each week with a few of them to read the Bible, discuss how to obey it, encourage and pray for one another, and just spend time together. These gatherings have become an important rhythm for all involved. Through it, some have given their lives to Christ. Others are still listening and participating, questioning and wondering. Some come and go. A few are consistent each week. They help one another in times of need and rejoice together when a member receives a small blessing - an answer to prayer, an unexpected gift, news that a child is doing well in school. Right now one of the older ladies, or Jjajjas, is very sick, but yesterday they received the good news that she is improving and should be released from the hospital today.
On Sunday afternoon we’ll meet with a dozen or so others who lead similar fellowships. Betty is one of these dedicated leaders. Recently she told us that August to October of last year was a really tough period for her. She was in a lot of pain physically and wanted to do nothing but lay in bed. However, she felt the Lord impressing her to get up and go be with one of the groups she has started (nine of them at last count!). She did so, and found that as long as she was there - listening, praying, instructing, encouraging - she was pain free. Then the moment she dropped exhausted back in bed, the pain returned. This pattern was repeated numerous times over those months. The only pain relief, she told us, came when she went out to share the gospel, pray with people, and lead discipleship groups.
In a couple of weeks, Philip and I plan to spend time in the mountains with two groups who we’ve been training to do this same disciple-making work. It will be good to be back with them, to hear their testimonies and challenges, and in God’s grace encourage and help them.
The smallness of this endeavor - a scattering of small groups meeting with just a Bible and a trust that the Holy Spirit is present - is sometimes inspiring and sometimes frustrating. Because I can be impatient. However, in times of doubt and angst, I am lifted again by two realities: (1) When I look deeper into these groups, I see genuine transformation in people’s lives. Even to see one person truly born again and living a new life is miraculous. To see several in a given area is truly significant. These are actual people, delivered from the kingdom of darkness and welcomed into the Kingdom of Jesus. They are growing to know Jesus more closely, to obey Him more fully, to make Him known more truly. Beautiful! (2) My doubts are also cut short when I remember Multiplication. We are believing that these small ‘mustard seeds’ of the Kingdom will grow and produce more just like them. And they in turn will produce more. And more and more and more. God seems to love working like this. Small. Underground. Unimpressive. Who can tell the work He is even now doing beneath the surface in unpercieved ways? Please join with us in praying for more transformation and for multiplication.


Ministry Partners
We have the privelege of partnering with some incredible ministries as we seek to make disciples and equip leaders in Uganda. One of these is All Nations, led by our good friend Wilson Namuwazo. A couple of weeks ago I spent a day with him and his team for their annual CPx (Church Planting Experience) - a training and equipping intensive for selected members in their disciple-making movement. As always, it was an inspiring day. I shared with the group about training in godliness (1 Tim 4:7). They were incredibly responsive and engaged, making it a wonderful experience for me. Even more than that, I loved hearing stories from the field - addicts burning their drugs, prostitutes being born again and given new life, the poor ministered to, communities served, and the gospel proclaimed in any setting you can imagine. What joy!
Another partner is Global Advance (GA), based in Rockwall, Texas. After my time with Wilson and team in Kampala, I traveled to Mukono to spend a couple of days with our GA Uganda national leaders. This retreat was led by the ever-zealous and energetic Wilberforce Owori, GA’s national prayer coordinator. It was a beautiful time of intercession, deep connection, and laughter. Each participant was able to share their vision and plans for 2023 related to the various ministries within GA that they lead - NextGen youth ministry, Esther Initiative women’s ministry, pastoral training, church planting, marketplace ministry, and prayer - and to be prayed over and encouraged in their efforts. I’m really grateful for such an incredible team. My role is to be kind of a coach and consultant, but the lion’s share of the work is done by these wonderful servants.

A couple of nights ago I drove to the airport in Entebbe and dropped Nathan off to begin his long journey back to the States (he made it to Tulsa late Friday night). Yes, my eyes were full of tears as he turned away to enter the labyrinth of security screening and health checks, and yes it was a sad night. However, I must say that my heart is so filled with gratitude and joy that I can’t stay depressed. We had the gift of Nathan spending seven weeks with us in Uganda, and that fact blows me away. We made many wonderful memories and had such good times with him. In addition to being our son whom we love more than we can ever say, Nathan is such an incredible man of God who is filled with kindness and compassion and zeal and love for Jesus. His company challenges and comforts us constantly, and even though we miss him a lot we are very, very thankful.

The morning after my emotional farewell to Nathan, I drove to a retreat center to spend the day with around 75 leaders from various parts of Uganda. We gathered together as part of Global Advance (GA), a ministry that has become one of our primary partners in the work of the Gospel in Uganda. The GA Uganda team put on a wonderful event, and it was an honor and pleasure to be part of it. Each participant came with a particular area of focus and were able to join others in learning and strategizing about making disciples within that sphere. The focus areas included making disciples among the youth, marketplace leaders, women, pastors, and church planters. We also had a team coming together to discuss and plan for mobilizing prayer for the work of the Kingdom in Uganda and beyond. It was a thrilling moment to stand with these men and women and to dream together, pray together, challenge one another, and commit to labor together as servants of God and of each other.

January was a busy month for us. We moved into our house the first week of the month, and two days later began a five-day disciple-making residency. We learned some significant things through the experience, had a lot of fun, encountered the Lord, and rejoiced in fruitful Gospel outreaches. As we went into various communities to share Jesus and make disciples, several people committed their lives to the Lord and are continuing to come together to be encouraged and learn what it means to follow Jesus. It is a beautiful thing, and I’m so happy and thankful.

We are continuing our ‘Mustard Seed Fellowships’ - small groups that gather together to be discipled and learn how to disciple others. Again, we are learning a lot through this process and are also seeing some fruit. It is a simple and yet awesome thing to walk with people who are eager to learn how to make disciples and partner together in the gospel.

A huge highlight for me recently came on a trip to Kampala to see our friend Wilson and join in the CPx (Church Planting Experience) that he leads each year. I was overjoyed to find that three of the participants at this years month-long training are from the Mening people group of South Sudan. For the past couple of years, the Boiler Room and Believers Church have been partnering with All Nations and Wilson to send a Ugandan missionary to this previously unreached and unengaged people group. What an amazing answer to many prayers to actually meet three new believers from that group who now have a passion and the training to go reach their own people with the love and power of Christ. This is amazing!

​There is so much more I could write. It has been so great having Emily and Michayla here with us, adding significantly to our mission and to our lives. Our family is doing well. Philip and Hannah are champs, plugging along with online school while participating in various mission endeavors with us. They make me so happy. Jill is busily setting up our home (and by the way, that phrase does not come close to communicating the work and frustration and sweat and difficulty of the task) as well as forming simple discipleship groups with new believers, building relationships, being a loving and caring mama to all, and doing so much more of course. What can I say? She’s incredible.
We miss you and really love hearing from you.
God bless you!

Dear family and friends,

One day just about twenty-one years ago, I stood to worship the Lord with a discouraged heart. We had recently launched a training program for pastors and church planters in the town of Masaka, and the first couple of months had gone really well. I remember clearly the first day we gathered, and how I had felt such joy in the Lord and His work. I had returned to the room where I was staying with Jill and our three little kids that day, and told them I could do this for the rest of my life. I was so excited and full of hope and expectation. But just two months later I was facing deep disappointment.

What had been a strong group of twenty eager pastors had apparently dwindled to three. And, to be honest, I was not so sure about the three who remained. They did not strike me as the cream of the crop. They were not pastors of respected town churches or leaders of church networks, but people who served in remote villages, laboring among small flocks of believers. And so as I stood to worship that day with these three “unimpressive” students, I was confused and unhappy and frustrated. I had put so much work and vision into this endeavor, and I was watching it disintegrate right before my eyes. As we began to sing, my heart was certainly not very worshipful.

Tumutende, tumutende!..

Praise Him! Praise Him!… As we sang this simple chorus in Luganda that day so long ago, I slowly became aware of the presence of Jesus in a beautiful and powerful way. Hope and faith filled my soul, and I repented for the discouragement and for despising what God had sent me. I felt an assurance that the Name of Jesus surely would be praised across this land, morning, noon, and night, and that He would somehow use us four unimpressive vessels - and others who would gather with us - in this great work. As it turns out, the following day around a dozen students came together, and for the next two years remained faithful. Six of them eventually joined us as co-laborers at the end of their studies, and with the exception of our friend Kayita who passed away a decade ago, we have been partnering in the Gospel together ever since.

And that brings me to yesterday. Our vision in Uganda is to see disciple-making movements that lead many people to Jesus, using ordinary believers who are filled with the Spirit of God and willing to experience hardship and discomfort out of love for Him. Our first step was to gather a small group of pastors for a church planting training cohort that will emphasize church planting movements and making disciples. Yesterday was our first session, and I had been slightly anxious and not very excited about it. Honestly, I was feeling unsure of myself, questioning our strategy, and a little skeptical about what the results would be. Yesterday morning as I prayed before heading out, the Lord unexpectedly filled me with joy and assurance. By the time we reached the Mt of the Lord Church, where the training would take place, I was genuinely excited. Before I began to teach, our host and long-time friend and partner, Pastor Kintu, asked to lead in a time of worship. The very first song he sang was that simple chorus that God had spoken to me through so wonderfully twenty-one years ago: Tumutende! Tumutende! It all rushed back to me in a moment. We were standing in the same place as the four of us had been on that day, and I remembered it again so clearly. I sensed the Lord speak to me again the same assurance and encouragement, and I could hardly sing as the tears threatened to flow. Jesus is so kind and loving to us, and it is a wonder and a gift to be part of His great work in the nations.

Settling In
We have been in Uganda for a little more than five weeks now. We are slowly adjusting and re-acclimating to life here. It’s been quite a ride so far. Philip and Hannah are absolute heroes. I am so thankful for them. They have great attitudes and are entering into the missionary life with grace and determination. They are a joy to be around, and we are having wonderfully fun and meaningful times together. They spend the majority of their time during the days doing online school, and the evenings we generally play games or have worship and Bible discussion times. Jill is amazing as well. She has made this temporary accommodation into a home for us, and brings such encouragement and life and peace. She is helping the kids with school, joining me in the church-planting training, overseeing the household, making friends, and generally enjoying life and being a blessing to all around.

We have been staying in the team housing of our friends at Love and Care Uganda, and it has been a wonderful blessing. This is a ministry that takes in children who have been living on the streets and welcomes them into family. It is amazing. However, we are also excited to have made an agreement on a house of our own to rent. The owner is making some improvements on the house that we requested, and we hope to move in a couple weeks or so. We are also grateful to have bought a car - a Toyota “Super Custom” four-wheel drive van. It is making life easier and helping us to accomplish more.
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Life has been full these five weeks. I am grateful for a peaceful village environment, and a beautiful small mountain on which to take walks and spend quiet time in prayer. I am also grateful for old friends and some new ones as well. Of course, it has not all been easy and fun. Each of us have days when we just want to go back to the States. We profoundly miss our incredible Tulsa family and all the good work the Lord had for us in Tulsa. We have moments and days of discouragement and “what-in-the-world-have-we-dones!?!” But He is so good to us! We expected those challenges, and they don’t last. We are playing lots of games, going on walks, laughing, and enjoying one another. The Father has overwhelmed us with good gifts.

One of our favorite things is hearing from you. We’d genuinely love to know what is happening with you, how you are doing, and how we can pray for you. Thanks so much for reading this (rather long) letter. We love you and are grateful for you!​

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We are overwhelmed with the love and support and prayers and encouragement we have received from you, and want to say thank you so so much! As we move into high gear in preparing to move to Uganda, we are amazed at how we have been lifted and strengthened by the generosity and love of our friends and family. Wow. Thank you! You are making the move more difficult because of the waves of affection we feel for you, but easier because we feel the strength and support and prayers that you provide for us.

Whew! It has been quite a spring, and summer is promising to be pretty crazy as well. PHILIP and HANNAHfinished school a few weeks ago, and are enjoying the summer break. They did really well, enjoyed good friendships, and made an impact on those around them. We’re really thankful for Legacy Alliance / CEA and all this community has meant to our family over the years.

JILL, of course, also finished her school year. She taught 5th and 6th grade for the past two years, and I am so incredibly proud of her. She poured her heart and soul into teaching, and loved each of her students deeply. She went above and beyond to do the very best job she could and to lift and support her students. I am so amazed at her, and often wondered how she managed to do it all. Jill has loved teaching in the classroom these two years, and is now tearfully putting away her teaching materials as she looks to the next season. I am confident that the Lord will continue to use her to demonstrate his love to children and to help disciple them into strong followers of Jesus. One of the attributes that sets her apart is how deeply she cares - about the kids in her class, about the work of teaching in general, and about the families that she serves. She is a wonder.

I am writing this from beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia, where I am on a quick visit to see my Mom and the rest of the family. I’ll be back home in Tulsa this weekend, and then, by God’s grace, Jill, Philip, Hannah, and I will set out on a great adventure next week. Over the coming month and a half or so, we intend to make stops in Colorado Springs, Denver, Helena, Detroit, and Charlottesville. We plan to be back in Tulsa in mid-July and for the month of August, with a brief trip to Austin thrown in, before heading to Uganda. WE’D LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU IN PERSON IF YOU ARE IN ANY OF THOSE AREAS.

In addition to graduations, end of school stuff, and family visits, the month of May has been full. We finalized many of our responsibilities in Tulsa, participated in a Solemn Assembly with our friends from Tulsa House of Prayer, visited old friends in Daingerfield Texas and preached at Church on the Rock Daingerfield, were prayed for and sent out by our Believers Church friends and oversight, taught “Hands on the Nations” with BC kids, helped to equip ORU students preparing to go on domestic mission trips, celebrated and dedicated a new crew of boiler room babies / toddlers, Hannah had her first piano recital (and also attended her first high school youth group), we lead our final elder meeting, helped to encourage and equip a group of Burmese young leaders in sharing the gospel, continued facilitating an Antioch course (Biblical Theology - the Writings), hosted Saturday “spud” (house church), enjoyed lots of good time (but never quite enough) with really special people, tried to get work done on preparing for the big move, etc.

We love you and appreciate you so much. It would be great to hear from you, and we hope to see many of you in the coming weeks.

Good Friday, 2020

“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”
John 19:17-18

We are all excited for Sunday. We’ve been hungering for something significant to celebrate. For some really Good News. Thoughts of the resurrection and Christ’s victory over death bring us renewed hope. Maybe we’ll eat special food with our family - or enjoy something we’ve been denying ourselves for Lent. Sunday is coming, and I’m so so glad.

But let’s not hasten there too quickly. Let’s do our best to sit for a time in the horror of Friday and the awful silence of Saturday. Before Sunday’s resounding Alleluia, we are called to contemplate Friday’s agony. And Friday’s gift.

Today we remember the sufferings of Jesus. He was crucified for me. For you. Apparently a quick and relatively painless death would not have sufficed. He was tortured and humiliated. He suffered horribly. We know this. Why did it have to be so?

In Jesus’ suffering on the cross, the terrible weight of our sin is revealed to us. The ugliness and the awfulness of it. This is what sin does. Not just the spectacular kind, but your kind and my kind. When was the last time you were aware of your sin? The weight and the darkness and the wickedness of it? The cross forces us - if we will pay attention - to face the fact that our sin is so deep and so dark that it required the blood of God Himself to get rid of it. The consequence of our sin is Jesus hanging on a tree, in blood and gore and unspeakable agony.

Yes, this is on us. On me. My petty jealousies and unrelenting selfishness. My pitiful greed and lack of love and my laziness and my unbelievable inability to think of someone besides myself for more than 5 minutes at a time. My unholy thoughts and cutting words and mystifying lack of faith and my brazen arrogance. And yours, too.

Look what we have done to this world that He entrusted to us.

Why must we face this? Why ‘celebrate’ such a thing every Good Friday? Because without an honest appraisal of our own lostness and hopelessness, we can never taste the absolute wonder of His grace and His love. If all was fair and just in the world, the cross would have been for me. But in this case God’s mercy trumped fairness, and I go free.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:21

The scandal of Christianity is not that God demands holiness and purity from us. It is not that He must be Lord of our money and our sexuality and our time. It’s not that He calls us to sacrifice and lay down our lives. It’s not even that He will one day judge the world, no matter how harsh that idea seems from our vantage point. The true scandal of Christ is the cross. The true scandal has always been grace. It is that God made Him to be sin for you and me. That wasn’t fair. The biggest injustice ever carried out. It is that we become, shockingly, the righteousness of God. The unfairness of Christianity is that I have been declared not guilty and have been welcomed into the very family of God, set free to enjoy all the benefits of such ridiculously unwarranted favor. The scandal is that it was Jesus hanging on that cross and not me and you.

On Good Friday we remember the beautiful unfairness of God. We mourn deeply the fact that our sin did this to Jesus. We receive the offered exchange, because what else can we do? And so we repent. Genuinely, thoughtfully, and sacrificially. And we humbly take our place among the holy and the eternal. Clean. Free. Without guilt. No shame. And we celebrate - yes, on this day shrouded in darkness, we celebrate - that we are loved this much.

Remember.
Repent.
Rejoice.
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