Christ our Hope & Refuge
Our goal with this podcast is to be a resource for those who are seeking refuge and to point them to the hope in Christ!
Christ our Hope & Refuge
Ep 10 - What is the Great Commission? With Ryan & Megan Kelley
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What is the Great Commission?
We are so excited to welcome our first guests this week! Annaliise interviews Ryan and Megan Kelley about the great commission and how they answered the Lord's call to Africa! We love them and can't wait for you to "meet" them!
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Hi, I'm Anna Lisa. Welcome to our podcast, Christ Our Hope and Refuge.
SPEAKER_02And I'm Natalie. Our heart behind this podcast is to be a resource for those who are seeking refuge and to point them to the hope that is in Christ.
SPEAKER_01Hello everyone. Welcome back. It's so exciting to be back again. You'll see some new faces here today. So this is Ryan and Megan Kelly. We're so excited to have you guys on the official first guest podcast today. If you guys could just introduce yourself, maybe say a little bit about your family, what you guys do. Sure. That would be great.
SPEAKER_00Sure. My name is Ryan Kelly, and this is my wife Megan Kelly. We've been married almost 24 years now. We have four children initially from Georgia, now living in the UP, serving as a pastor at a local church. Megan teaches at a local school. And yeah, just we've done a lot. I'm extremely grateful for the journey that He's brought us on. We served for six years in Uganda as missionaries at Luanda Children's Home, which was a remarkable experience. Something that was really scary, but at the same time, or at least the thought of it was really scary. But at the same time, the Lord showed how his perfect provision just saw us through that whole time and made it a great reward. So that's what I got. I'm gonna let Megan see when pick up what I left off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so like Ryan said, I'm Megan and um I do teach at a local school. I teach fifth and sixth grade social studies and um at such a fun age because they still love school. Um so they're a really sweet age. Um and then like Ryan said, we've got four children ranging from upper high school down to now middle school. So we almost have all teenagers in our house. Um, but we're thankful to be here in the upper peninsula. We never thought that we would be living here, and the Lord just worked things out and brought us here, and we're thankful to be here and for this to be our home.
SPEAKER_01We're so glad to have you guys here as well. Um, so as me and Natalie have been discussing, just like so the intentionality of this podcast has always been from the beginning, the A B C's of um the Christian faith. Um so we started off, you know, very beginning, the gospel, and then um more recently we've been talking about repentance and being born again. And a lot of people have been asking, when are you gonna have your first guest on? And so um actually, as a group of us is going to Uganda with you guys, um, we thought how sweet it would be to um put out that podcast episode before we go with you guys. So um, we just wanted to hear more um and share more, whether it's, you know, with people from the community or with our church families, more just about why specifically, well, first of all, why we are called to share the gospel. Um but before we even get started into the conversation today, um, I'm just gonna ask you guys a random question. Um, this kind of just helps me and Natalie just warm up. We always do this. So um what is something that you guys are looking forward to? It could be this week, it could be this year, um, it could be over this summer.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, well, for me, there's a couple of things exciting happening soon. Actually, tomorrow, Ryan's um parents are coming up to visit for a week, so we're excited to just spend time with them. They live in Georgia, so we're excited to have some family time with them. And um we're excited. Our oldest daughter is going to serve at a Bible camp and she heads out there later this week. So excited for that opportunity for her. And then, of course, and I know we'll talk about this later, but our um trip this summer with a few of you guys um to Uganda will be just really special. We're really excited about that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so sweet. Do you have any specific plans when your parents are in town or um just play by ear? We are playing it by ear. Perfect.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm a relatively simple man, so laying my head down on the pillow tonight is something that I look forward to. I will seriously. Um, yeah, I mean I'm really looking forward to this trip. I've been looking forward to to doing this. Um, looking forward to there, we have a game, uh baseball game later, um, that um Simon is gonna be in. I'm gonna be coaching.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um more short-sighted, I guess, than Megan's. But uh yeah, it's it's school that my parents are gonna be coming to. So yeah, sweet. A lot, a lot to be excited about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's awesome. How long have you been coaching baseball for?
SPEAKER_00Um, I guess for three years now. Three years, yeah. So I didn't have the opportunity, of course, to coach um when we were in Uganda, other than me and Simon in the backyard throwing the ball around and kind of you know, playing, having fun together. Um, but when we came back, uh he he played on a another team with another coach the first year, but then I kind of helped out a little bit with the all-star team that year, and then it ended up turning into uh I'm in I've ended up coaching now for three years. So it's uh it's fun. Fun. It's also a really cool opportunity to to live out the gospel in front of a bunch of boys.
SPEAKER_01So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I would say something that I'm looking forward to is I'm probably gonna go jump in after this. Okay. Swimming. So mine is super short. It's a really hot and humid day here. So I'm looking forward to just jumping in. A nice freezing cold lake lake. So crushing. I told someone the other day I was like, the lake is so warm, and he said, Can you stay there for an hour without getting hypothermia? And I was like, Okay, I take that back. Maybe it's warm. Um, so we're gonna just get started here. Um, so I just wanted to ask you guys more specifically about what the Great Commission is. Um, so it's something that we are very clearly called to do when we read scripture, but I just wanted um, how would you simply explain what it is?
SPEAKER_00So, yeah, we'd start with Matthew 28, uh verse uh 19, uh, which uh reads, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Um basically the the commission that Christ gave before his ascension of that all uh of his followers or disciples, those who pursued him and those who followed after him, would be sent out into the world as his ambassadors, those who would radiate his glory and not just go out, but also um take the good news of the gospel that you know that God has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ and that he's laid down his life so that um we could be free of sin and death through repentance and faith in him. And uh to take that out and not just convert, but there's also the implication here or the the making disciples goes beyond just um conversion or people coming to a knowledge of who Jesus is, but it's it's living life um with people, uh teaching them, discipling them um throughout their uh early years as believers, and it at times that it looks like even late years as believers, depending on how long you've been there. But yeah, just going out with a purpose of sharing Jesus with the world and then being committed to discipling people and in their growth and then their faith. Um yeah, so that's what I would, you know, just in a nutshell, um, we could get into why um are we called to do that, and you know, some other verses that point to um why we would be called to do this, but there we go in a nutshell.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I really love this um verse in Mark 16 um 15, and it says, and he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Um and it's just like so cool how in the Bible um we're constantly commanded, go and tell this hope that you have. Um, don't keep this hidden, go and share it with the world. Um and we can do that wherever we are, you know. So whether that's a missionary serving overseas or whether that's in the local area, um, we are still instructed to go and call and share that hope that we have with others.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and I would argue like that if you can't do it in your normal location, if you're not living out the Great Commission where you are every single day, the majority of your days, then um there's a there's a major issue, and there's really probably no point in um person going out, you know, on a trip with that in mind. Like that should be a part of who we are, it should be a part of what we do every single day. Um, and it should flow from a heart of gratitude over what uh Christ has done in our lives. I mean, you know, going back or coming to Colossians 1.16, it's been it's a longstanding verse of mine that's a rallying cry for what who I'm supposed to be in regards to who Christ is. And it it reads that um that Christ, starting in verse 15, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. If you go into verse 16, um Colossians 1.16, Paul writes, For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. So if we take this and we really analyze and look at it, um, you know, down to what the words are saying, is that everything that has been created was created for our Lord Jesus Christ. Um and then to take it even a step further, that while we you know have have fallen short and stuff and uh stepped into sin, God, because of his great love and mercy, didn't leave us as orphans, but he came as that very same person, Jesus Christ, and put and took on flesh to redeem his fallen creation, the ones that were created in his image and in his likeness, um, and were created for him and redeemed us through the power of his blood. And then it goes on that and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Um so really just looking at it uh in its totality, we were created for God. Um, and at the end of the day, that should be replicated, or that should be at least um a pattern of how we live our lives. And the Great Commission is a very, you know, straight example of how to do that. But you I think you almost have to go back and say, well, like why do we do it? And we do it because we were created by and for this very Jesus who commanded us to do it, and we should do it out of gratitude and love for him, and then also out of love for his people or those that he created in his image.
SPEAKER_01So good. Okay, so I'm gonna ask you guys just a couple of questions, um, specifically about your time in Uganda. Um so when did the Lord, and you guys can answer separately, so maybe I'll ask you, Megan, first. So when did the Lord start placing it on your heart to go to Uganda?
SPEAKER_02Sure, yeah. So um initially, um I suppose very early on with us dating, or maybe even slightly before we were dating, um, we went on a mission trip to Jamaica. And I think at that point we both um kind of had it on our hearts. The Lord had it on our hearts that one day, you know, He would call us into missions. Um as we got married and started a family, I think we very much thought it would be later in life. Um and just started to begin to sense just through quiet times in the morning and prayer, um, that he was calling us sooner. Um, it was really kind of overwhelming to like know like well where and when, and just so many unanswered questions. And so um I just really um the Lord impressed on me to just follow him one step at a time and he would direct our paths, and we are told that in scripture. Um and so just one step at a time we started following him and being obedient. Um, I remember one of the first steps that he um called me to make was to have the conversation with Ryan to say, like, hey, I you know, and kind of sensing, feeling that the Lord is wanting us to um potentially go into the mission field. Um, and that was a little bit overwhelming. I didn't know what Ryan's response was gonna be. Um, you know, I didn't know what would come next. And so um, but just you know, did it. I remember we were out on a date one night, our um in-laws, I think it was Ryan's parents were babysitting our oldest two kids, we didn't have our youngest two yet, and um just had that conversation in the car, and um there wasn't a huge response at the time, a little bit like, hmm, you know, do you know where? And of course I, you know, I didn't, we didn't know where.
SPEAKER_01Um was there like, what do you say there was like a time of like wrestling to in your own heart where you were like, Oh, I feel the Lord calling me to this, but like it sounds scary or it sounds, you know, like a lot of unknowns are just such a big step of faith.
SPEAKER_02For sure. It just feels really overwhelming. Like I remember feeling really overwhelmed at like, well, how do we figure this out? How do we figure out where you want us to go and when you want us to go? And we have kids, and what does that look like? And we think that maybe we will have more kids, and what does that look like? So, so many questions and um unanswered unknown. So for sure it was a bit intimidating at times, and so we had that conversation, and Ryan can share part of the story as well, or fill in some of the gaps. Um but then from there, I think our next step that we felt like the Lord was saying, This is what I want you to do next was to go on a mission trip with our children. And so um the church we went to at the time in Georgia was soon going to Guatemala on a mission trip. And um, so we, you know, we were prayerful about it and signed up to go. And um and I think on that trip we both felt the confirmation that this is what the Lord wanted us to do, still with lots of unknowns and not knowing where and all those sorts of things. And so we just kept praying, Lord, please show us the next step. And the next step was to go to this mission conference that was called the Journey Deepens, um, which just really set, I think, a great foundation of realizing that part of like when we are able to draw near to the Lord and just follow Him and be obedient to Him is like in the journey, you know. Like I think we wanted to know like where do you want us and what are we gonna be doing? We wanted to know all the answers, but so much of what He taught us was kind of in that journey of getting there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so one step of faith is you know, each moment or each day without seeing the full picture, which is so often the Christian life.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And then there were other steps after that that eventually led us to Uganda. I don't know if Ryan wants to talk about those or you're doing such a great job.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, I mean I don't know, maybe I'll go back a little bit. Um for for me it was uh definitely a shock. Um I had you know my career uh that I was working towards uh what I had believed was gonna be a retirement that would be um not necessarily lucrative in the sense like I'd we'd have it made in the shade for the rest of our lives, but that I wouldn't have to, you know, have to, you know, work a another job once I retired and that I would be able to do it young. Um so yeah, I was a little bit perplexed um when she first asked the question, and I can remember some of the thoughts that went on in my head that were just I I wasn't keen on the idea, but um to be honest with you, I kind of just shut it off. Like I didn't really want to think about it much. Um it was something that like going back to what Megan said when we first were married, I I knew that the Lord was calling us in the missions at some point in our marriage. I didn't necessarily know when. I had at least my idea of when it should be. Um, but I didn't you know really give it much thought because I wanted it to be on my timing when it was convenient for me and when it was gonna be easier for me, um, which of course we know in hindsight is is God's timing is clearly off oftentimes not our timing and his ways are not our ways. So um yeah, I just kinda neglected. Um honestly there's a period of time that I didn't even want to pray about it because I didn't want I didn't want an answer that I didn't want an honest answer, I wanted to to avoid it. Um but the Lord and it's so oftentimes in my life, I feel like he's he does this, is he humbles me, he brings me to a place to where I have nowhere else to to look but to unto him. And he he reminds me of how frail um I truly am, and and even whether that be physically, whether that be mentally, like you know, the the the fortresses that I build like here on earth, whether that be like this, you know, I'm you know, at the time was a big strong fireman, at least in my own eyes, and ends up end up uh blowing out my knee and having to have knee surgery, and I'm you know, down with that, and then um just yeah, struggling with not being able to be on my feet like uh like I would normally and the Lord just kind of humbling me through those experiences and then just some me realizing too that I was I was not um fully surrendering to him the way that I ought to be. And just kind of all that coming together caused me to to also be come to the point where when we went on that mission trip to Guatemala, I was very my heart was very tender. Um I remember I cried uh a lot on that trip, partially because I was tired. We had uh Simon was a young baby and um Audrey was young as well, and they uh you know it was it was it was a lot of work. Um, but at the same time because I the Lord was was softening my heart to it all the way along and I could see clearly now what it what was happening. Um from there, you know, we went to on that Journey Deepens um uh conference, and and I would love to say that even after my heart was softened and I was ready to go, that I was really excited about that, but I wasn't, and I've shared this story with you guys that I think I was driving maybe like 35 miles an hour, 45 miles an hour down the interstate. Um cars were just whizzing past us, and I I I wanted to turn around, but I don't know, the Lord got us there, and it turned into another once again um something that I would have not expected, but the Lord really used it um to to strengthen our resolve and to point us to like hey, this is really something I want you to do. And I know it seems scary, I know it really seems difficult, but um, I got this. And um, I think that was really too like a big um you know shift for our brains uh away from you know, it was it's always about the plans that we have for for ourselves, but and not the plans that the Lord has for us, and that's when we really started to see, okay, it's the Lord's gonna have his way. Um we need to be faithful and we need to start taking steps faithfully pursuing him. So I don't know, from there, like maybe you can pick back up on the Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So from there we had friends um that were serving in Uganda and had gone into the mission field maybe a year or two prior. And so we got in touch with them because they were they were, they are dear friends, and we thought, you know, they've kind of just walked through this, you know, we've got some questions maybe we can ask them and they can just be some people who are both praying for us. Um and that, you know, we can kind of feel these questions too. They had a couple of young children as well. Um, so we got in touch with them, um, had some conversations with them, and the more we talked with them, um the more they were like, We actually could use some help here in Uganda. That's where they were serving at an orphanage there. Um and so kind of Next steps were talking with the president of the organization.
SPEAKER_01And is that the same organization or orphanage that you guys went with? Yeah. Yeah, it is. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So we spoke with um kind of the different board members, had conversations with a couple of them on the phone a few times, and they did a yearly big fundraiser in Texas every year. That's where they're based out of. And so we went and met all the board members and met some of the Ugandan staff that comes for that fundraiser. Um and from there um they asked us to go and live there for a month. Um, they felt like maybe a week or two would, you know, it's easy sometimes to have kind of some rose-colored glasses on within just a week or two. For sure. So they thought a month would maybe give us a little bit more of a realistic feel of what life is like there. And so we um went the two of us, excuse me, and our four children. We had had our twins by then.
SPEAKER_01Um and how were your were your kids excited to go? How were they feeling about this?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so new step. So I think our oldest two were excited, but I don't think they fully understood either. You know, for them it was kind of this big adventure we were gonna be going on, and we were going to this place, and they knew um our friends' kids and knew they were gonna be there. Um so they were yeah, they were excited, but didn't really fully know I don't think all that was going on. Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's so sweet to hear, um, because I've obviously heard a lot of this, but it's so sweet to hear even in more details. Or you know, every time you hear someone tell a how they ended up doing this, you hear end up hearing a different part of the story. So it's so sweet to hear, and also just it's so encouraging to see just God's faithfulness and just looking back, like how how faithful he has been and how faithful he was in providing that family who could at that exact time help you guys and pray for you, and you know, even say, Well, actually, we could use someone, you know. And so that was even though you were like, Lord, where are we supposed to go? What are we supposed to do? He just put those people into your life and just put kept putting those steps that you should take. Absolutely. Um so I'm just curious, um, a little bit more about the Ugandan like culture and religious beliefs. Like, what are the some of the things that they practice or they believe as far as um yeah, so Uganda was colonized um for a long period.
SPEAKER_00Um I can't remember exactly how many years it's been since they were um liberated, uh or at least uh the colonialism stopped there. But uh during that period, um you you still see a lot of um you know uh references to the English, um whether that be like uh Queen or you know, um a lot of influences that have kind of left over there. And probably one of the largest ones is I was you know looking at some updated um statistics recently, and and there's different estimates out there as far as because uh to be honest with you, it really is hard to discern uh unless someone's a strong believer and not just born into a family that you know would us would call themselves Christians, Muslims, or whatever. Um it's really hard to tell because you have almost like a hodgepodge or a mix of different like tribal beliefs, uh, a little mix of Christianity, a little mix of Islam, like you kind of you can run into that. Um but statistically um you're about 35% Catholic, Roman Catholic, um, currently, which which makes sense because you know one of the first things I noticed when we moved there was when I would ask people, you know, just as as kind of a barometer or kind of a metric to see where they stood as far as their understanding of the gospel, would ask them, you know, what what must someone do to be saved? And the a large, you know, and I don't don't want this to be taken out of context, but at least in Uganda, um within the Roman Catholic Church, like uh there's a lot of works and different things that are at least a large part of what they're also taught. And then um so many times you hear be a good person, um, many times you'll hear things that aren't the gospel, or maybe they're mixed with a little bit of the gospel, but just because I think that at the at its core they were failed, it would there was a failure to disciple um by different missionaries and different groups that were there, and even by the English. It just seems like there is a is a lot of lack of understanding, even how to study the Bible. Um, but then you also have around 30%, depending on your your numbers, 30% are ish Anglican, or Church of Uganda, which is is also is not so far off from like what you would see at the Roman Catholic Church. And then um some metrics or some measurements or statistics are as high as 30% Muslim. Um, I know that varies widely by where you are in the country. Um, so where we lived in the east, uh, near maybe about an hour, hour and 15 minutes from the border to Kenya, there it's a much more predominantly Muslim area. There's a much higher concentration of Muslims there. Um so you you may in certain areas creep up over 50% of um your population as being Muslim, but um Islam has uh it's growing um as well as uh um charismatic um type Christianity um because uh Ugandans are are beautiful people and they love one another and they love music and they love art and they love a show. And so any time like when it comes to the charismatic movement, that's really really attractive to them because there's a lot of pomp and circumstance that comes along with that. There's a lot of things to get excited about and that a lot of word of mouth that starts circulating, but then also um with uh and I'm not talking about moderate charismatic, I'm talking about extreme, um, to the point where you have uh quote unquote prophets and apostles that are holding events that um where they're claiming that they're gonna heal people, they're gonna do all these different miracles, and you even have to pay to get into these events. So it's very much um at least on the surface, and it it seems to be a very um it's a money-making enterprise, but it is very popular there and it is growing. Um and then of course Islam is extremely compatible with the culture in that um there's not everyone, but there's it's it's common in Uganda for males to have more than one wife. Um there's still um you know a dowry system that it's in play there, and if you talk to uh at least in the east where we were, a lot of the women would will tell you some things um about how they're valued within relationships that is is starkly different than what we're used to in the West. Um you know, just because we're not used to it doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, but there are a lot of things that um that definitely aren't compatible with biblical Christianity and the and um the one uh oneness of uh a marriage between a husband and a wife. Um specifically that a husband's to lay down his his life for his wife, just as Christ laid down for the church or laid down his life for the church. Um that gets balked at a lot. And I remember specifically sharing that even with the boys at the children's home, and that was like earth-shattering for them to hear that part, because the the one part that had always been shared with them is the submissive part, and Islam means submission. So it definitely um there's a growing uh number of um Muslim converts as well, and then you have the your remnants or the you know tribal type religions, um and and like I said, and even in those, there's a mix, it's just it's um it's really hard sometimes to pin down truly what people believe, and oftentimes they don't even really know. So and that's that's a huge part of I think being a missionary there and going there is is being able to share the gospel in a way that they can understand, giving them a Bible that they can actually read and that they can study um alongside someone, as opposed to you know, you just going one time and saying this is it. And um and we we had some really great opportunities to be able to do that and then leave those people behind so that then they can disciple the people that they live with.
SPEAKER_01Um thank you for sharing. Um so what would you guys say like your day-to-day? I know every day is probably different, but maybe one day-to-day example of what what you would have been doing in Uganda or what that would have looked like.
SPEAKER_02Because our days would have looked pretty different. I um there was a small missionary school in the town we lived, and so our children went to school there. Um, but when we first moved there, the first couple of years, our youngest two were too young to go to school. So a lot of my time was spent being mom to them. Um and we spent a lot of time in town um to even just go grocery shopping. It looks far different than it does for us here. Um, it meant going to two or three small supermarkets, um, the market itself, like the open air market where they're selling fruits and veggies and things like that. So just that it would take a lot of time to lug my youngest two around town. But also I have such sweet memories of those times. Um, greeting people is very important in Uganda. And so I've got lots of memories of um the twins, even as little three-year-olds shaking hands with other kids in the market, just you know, so it was sweet to um sweet to have those times um of just everyday life. Um cooking took much longer than it does here. There's not near as many conveniences. Um, so every a lot of my time initially was spent um being a mom and wife at home. Um, I would go out to the orphanage probably two, maybe three days a week. Um, and when I went there, um I often just spent time with the house moms. Um, we had several house moms on staff who lived with the kids and took care of them. So spending time with them sorting rice and beans when you get um rice and beans and things like that, um, they've been dried alongside the side of the road. And so you have to pick out little stones so that you know kids and yourself are not breaking your teeth. Um, so I would just sit, we'd have these big pans um of rice, and you're picking out the little stones and um so just fun and sweet conversation with Mount with the house moms during that time. Um, and then the other thing that I helped do um regularly was um a child sponsorship program. The kids at the children's home can be sponsored. And so we had someone in the states who would help coordinate things on this side. Um, but then as the children would get letters or packages from their sponsors, then um I would help help them read their letters, help them, you know, write their responses, and just kind of correspond with their sponsors. Um, so those were a couple of the things that I did out at the orphanage. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so the the primary reason that I was brought on um was medical. Um at the time uh that I came on, I had been serving at a fire department um as a firefighter and um medic there, and I um they needed help. Um they didn't have anyone to run the clinic that was there on site at the children's home. Um so my first duty was that, and then the second was discipleship of the children and staff. So I would wake up each day um depending on how late I had been out the night before. It would vary. Um generally uh the rooster starts crowing, you start waking up, or you hear the call to prayer around 4 30 uh at the at the moss that was close behind our house, and you would wake up um and then it you know start to kind of to stir and get ready and then slowly kind of make your way out the door, maybe by 7:38, maybe nine, depending on the day. Uh, and then go to town generally and uh pick up some drinks, um, which uh living in Uganda, it's very uh hot. Um you live right on the equator, and um also uh drinks are a great conversation piece, and you know, you can never have too many. So I pick up some drinks and we then I'd head out to the children's home and and from there uh would start my day with greeting. Um greeting is is an essential part of life in Uganda. You can't really live a uh I would say uh I don't feel like you could live a meaningful life in Uganda without greeting, um, because it would close off so many of the people to you. So um you pretty much expected and and uh grew to love it over time um that we were you know to to be intentional with our relationships and intentional with like going in house to house or uh at the when we first moved there they were dormitory uh style homes, but going from each building to each building to each building and finding every single person that worked there, or any of the kids along the way that you came across and taking time to say hello, taking time to ask them how they're doing, taking time to sit and listen to them if they wanted to tell you about things that had happened either that morning or that the night before, uh anything. And so you that would take oftentimes a good portion of your day, and then I would end up making my way up to the clinic. And of course, if someone was sick, like really sick when I got there, um there was some leeway with that, you know. I the people would understand, and I would have to go do my greetings later, but eventually make my way up to the clinic and then open up for patients just to start coming. And we had uh at the children's home, not only did we have 120 orphans, but we also had um a sec or not a secondary school, a primary school, which is um basically kindergarten through seventh grade. Um and um so there were students that would come from the village. Um, there was some subsidies that the organization would basically pick up a portion of the cost for local villagers to send their kids to the school. Um, and then it also was great because then our children at the children's home got to go to a normal school with people that were you know from the local village. Um, but they would also come for medical care a lot of times because they either couldn't uh afford it um to go to like some of the local clinics that were there nearby because medicine costs um even anti-malarials cost a decent amount of money for a Ugandan. Um so they would come and get treated there. And um, so I'd do that for a good portion of the day. And during all that, of course, you get the love on the kids, you get to to build those relationships, get to know the the names, because uh the names are quite different, and even the way that they say them, you know, you know having their surname first and then their their real name. So you have may have like I don't want to really use anyone's real name, but you might have a name like Joy that that would be what you called somebody, and then they would have like a surname that would be um Manafatsu or something like that, and you would call them Manafatsu Joy, you know. So just learning like, and there's no one named Manafatsu Joy, but just learning that um, you know, how to to pronounce the names, how to get to know everybody, to to really just have those uh opportunities to to visit, and you'd have a I'd have a lot of visitors up there because people were just social, and and it was really beautiful because I I would I went in going thinking, hey, I I want to get all these things done. There's these changes I want to make, I want to get this done, this done, this done, this done every single day. Um and I realized really quickly that um I just needed to go into each day with an open heart and asking the Lord what he wanted done that day and just being open to to being malleable um so that He could He could use the day in whichever way He seemed or deemed fit. Um so then of course we would do our Bible studies in the afternoon with the kids, um do um weekly Bible studies with the staff, coordinated a lot of the stuff that the moms were teaching in the homes as well, uh resources for them, and then would check in on how that was going. Um yeah, that's and then I would leave normally around six get home maybe around seven-ish, because I'd probably need to stop in town to pick up some stuff for dinner um because uh you keeping things in the fridge for longer is not really a reliable way to store stuff. So oftentimes there are things to pick up and then we come home and spend the evening with the family and go from there.
SPEAKER_01What are some good ways that you know, walking in, you know, being a missionary overseas? What are some good ways that people, whether it's back in the United States or another country, can just be a a good encouragement to missionaries that we support? Yeah. Um, are there any like practical things that you guys can think? I know prayer for sure.
SPEAKER_00I can think of one right off the top of my head. Reach out to 'em. Yeah, that's what it's like. Um we had, you know, and I don't mean this uh in any if anybody's watching this that um was from our sending church or from any other organization or anything like that, like do not take this in a negative way whatsoever. But you get it feels like you get forgotten. Um and I am, you know, it's one of those things that I think it just happens because you're not on you're not in the same continent, you're not in the in, you know, life gets busy. Um, but like if we could be intentional even to to make um time to put on a calendar, hey, I'm gonna check in with this missionary, or hey, I'm gonna check in with these people and just let them know that let them know that we're praying for them. Um stuff like that goes a long way. For sure.
SPEAKER_02Um, so yeah, that's the first thing that popped into my head as well. I had a couple of friends stateside who every now and then would reach out to me, even if it was just a message they sent on Facebook, just to know that they were thinking and praying for us meant so much and was such a big encouragement. And so I think reaching out to missionaries that you support or that you know um really does go a long way. It means a lot.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm so excited to come alongside you guys and get to meet all these people that you guys have gotten. Just to love on. Um yeah, I'm just super excited for it and um can't wait to see what the Lord does. Um yeah, so we're going in in July, and so I'm just thinking through um some specific ways that if anyone's listening, whether it's our church families or friends in the community, they could just be praying for, you know, um safety for us traveling, um, any anxiety. I know a lot for a lot of us, four out of the five of us, it's our first time going on a mission trip. So just praying for um peace and that we wouldn't be anxious and that we would just yeah, the Lord would just I'm I'm so excited, but yeah, just that the Lord would give us his his peace and um thank you guys so much for coming on today. And usually uh me and Natalie, we always pick a song that we like to reference or um anyone that's listening to a song. So you can actually read this first here, though. First it's from Revelation. Um so it's from Revelation seven nine. And it says, and after this I looked, and behold, the great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from every tribe and peoples and languages standing before the throne, and before the lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. And um, the song that I picked out, I don't know if any of you guys know it, but it's a pretty popular song, holy forever. Um, but it's just like so beautiful thinking about this image of you know, there's people that we don't even know, haven't met living across the world that one day we'll all be worshiping with them. Um is there anything either of you guys would like to say before we end here today? I can't think of anything.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean uh thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02We're honored to be here first.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you so much for um coming on. And if there is anyone in the area local listening to this, a young adult, so we actually uh me and Natalie and actually go to a young adult Bible study that Ryan and Megan lead. Um and there's uh people from a bunch of different local churches that go. So if anyone is interested in joining in something like that, definitely reach out to us. Yeah, we would love to have you. Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much for joining us today. Bye.
SPEAKER_03Thank you. Thank you.