Agnes and I would just like to make it public that we are going to be having a baby in mid January.
Agnes is now 12 weeks pregnant! So she is entering her 2nd trimester.
We are so happy as this is something we have been praying for, for quite a long time. Agnes and I actually lost a child last year through a miscarriage, so we are overjoyed that we are now going to be having a baby.
The last few months have been a bit scary though, as Agnes has had a few complications, and we have almost lost the baby a few times.
We have spent a lot of time in the hospital, including overnight stays, over the last few months.
Agnes also had malaria at one stage, which is dangerous during pregnancy, and they can only treat it with medicine going straight into the body on a drip.
But thankfully Agnes' health is improving and the baby is healthy in the stomach. Now that Aggie is in her 2nd trimester, things are looking a bit more stable.
I even got to see our little baby jumping, while doing the ultra sound.
Agnes is still a bit weak and tired, and needs to take lots of meds and have lots of rest, but she has certainly improved.
We have also found a hospital that we are really happy with. It is a bit more expensive, but we really want good quality care for the delivery. It is an international hospital in Jinja here, with high quality care.
We thank you for your prayers! and ask that you continue to pray for Agnes throughout the pregnancy.
We are both very excited (Agnes has already started buying lots of baby things) and can't wait to be parents (I feel like living in this community house has been a lot of practice time with little babies and children haha)
Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.
Luke and Agnes.
Friday 10 July 2015
Physical abuse and a beating in the community.
Things are moving on well here.
This week we have had the team working hard at the YSU property! They have been a great blessing in building a chicken coop, as well as helping finish the wall around the property.
They also got to visit and meet the tailoring girls, and lots of dancing was done on both sides.
The other day we had an unfortunate event take place across the road from us. Agnes and I were outside when we heard screams coming from our neighbors house, which is across the road from us.
We ran over to see what was happening, and there in the front yard of our neighbors house, in broad daylight for everyone to see, were three men holding down a little 13 year old girl, and belting her with sticks.
The men beating her were her uncles, and the main man doing the beating (our neighbor) was her grandfather (who isn't very old, maybe 50).
The beatings were very serious, the kind that would leave scars and bruises, and I could see a lot of anger coming out of those men (especially the neighbor)
Everyone on the road was just standing and watching, and instinctively without taking a second thought I ran over yelling at them to stop, and then grabbed one of the men to try and push him off the girl.
The next thing I knew there was a bit of a scuffle between me and the man I had pushed, as well as lots of yelling. It all happened very fast, but I remember feeling a blow to my back from the neighbors stick, and then a second one that just missed my face. The neighbor had then turned on me, and had given me a good whack with his stick across my back (which was a bit tender and sore for a few days after)
I remember the neighbor with so much hatred in his eyes screaming at me with his raised stick ready to hit me again (and from what I have heard afterwards, this neighbor is quite a bitter, miserable, angry man)
I managed to avoid being beaten again, while pleading with them to stop hitting the girl, and trying to stop it from happening.
There was a big crowd at this point, and Agnes had been yelling at the men that she was going to call the police. Even the mother to the child being beaten told me to call the police, and so I threatened the men that I was going to do such.
The other men rode off on their motor bikes after hearing this threat, while the main man (our neighbor) locked the girl in the house and disappeared himself.
I ended up calling Robert K and we went to the police station to report everything that had happened. The child protection branch of the police came down and investigated the man and the young girl and took them back to the station.
The man was claiming that he only gave the young girl a few small smacks, and that I tried to fight them and assault them, and that I accidentally got in the way of his stick.
But the young girl had marks and bruises all over her body and told the police that I was not fighting anyone but came to help her.
So this neighbor of ours ended up spending a night in the cell.
The thing which I find so frustrating and disappointing, is that I thought that perhaps the people in the community would think well of me for trying to defend the young girl. This was not really the case.
Many people were gossiping saying it was wrong of me for getting involved in family matters. Even when the beating was taking place and I was having the scuffle with the men, many of our young tailoring girls were telling Agnes to explain to me that the girl had ran away from home and had been promiscuous (and do you really have to wonder why? when you are living with such a man, what young girl wouldn't want to run away from home)
In their mind, the beating was justified.
Later Farouk, Agnes and I explained to them that we didn't care what she had done to provoke the beating, but three grown men belting a little thirteen year old girl like that, is inherently wrong.
We asked the tailoring girls if they had never messed around with boys, to which they all went quiet (because many of them had children at young ages) and we explained that they should also be willing to extend grace towards others, especially the weak and vulnerable.
But the mentality here is that many times people view it is ok to physically abuse someone who has misbehaved. The community here would rather turn a blind eye, then to step in and cause a disturbance in the community .. which would shake up the peace. Even some fellow village women would agree and approve with the severe beating.
Challenging older men in the community is something that is looked down upon. There has been mixed reactions in the community (along with lots of gossip) and many people have divided opinions over it. Some saying what I did was wrong, but others being sympathetic for me.
For all the people that have been sympathetic for me, they all have expressed anger at the fact that the men turned on me and beat me when I was trying to help.
Again, what is disappointing is that not many people have expressed anger or concern that a 13 year girl was being beaten like that, by three fully grown men.
They were just angry that I also got beaten ... because I am a prominent person in the community, and I am also a male ... and I am white.
It is something I struggle with and feel so disheartened by. It has been rare to find someone (beside my house hold and other close Christian friends) who actually thought what happened was bad.
The fact that the police arrested the man and checked the bruises over the girls body should say enough.
We live in a community where so much violence towards women and children takes place.
Refreshingly the brother to the man who beat me, as well as other family members, came and spoke with me afterwards.
They were very sorry that I got hit, and they even thanked me for helping the girl. They asked me if I was going to press chargers (they were a bit worried for their brother) which I told them I had no intention of doing so. I told them that I forgive the man for hitting me, and that my intention was just to stop them from hitting the young girl.
All in all, I know I did the right thing, even though I have surely made some enemies in the community now. I still feel terrible for the young girl, and the man only spent a night in the police cell before being released. But there is not much you can do in this culture, besides continuing to try and educate and change hearts and minds. I have been encouraged by the younger generation coming up, they are beginning to see things in a different way. And I pray for more men to become protectors and nurturers of the women in their community, instead of abusers.
It is not all bad news though, we continue to see God working in many ways in the community.
We ask that you continue to pray for us here in Uganda, as sometimes situation can be quite tense when working within the community.
I would also just briefly like to add, onto the end of this blog, a request for anyone who felt they would like to contribute towards YSU, and for something that we specifically need.
I never like to outright ask for donations, but we have noticed that one thing we really need in our ministry right now is some transportation for getting around the community. Often Farouk and I spent a lot of money on transport for hiring motorbike taxi's around the place. Since we make multiple trips back and forth to our new property, and will be continuing to do so in the months to come, we realize that an investment into a boda boda (local motor bike used for transporting people) would help us a lot. It would save us money on petrol and hiring local boda boda's, and we see it as something we would a use lot in the future, since the nature of our work often involves us moving around the community quite often. A new boda boda here goes for around about $1750, and all donations can be tax deductible through HopeBuilders international. If you feel you would love to help you can contact Andrew Boonstra on aboonstra1@gmail.com
Otherwise we want to thank all those people who have continued to support us and love us. Your support means a lot to us, and has continued to allow us to do what we do here.
We love all of you who pray for us and encourage us. Thank you and God bless.
This week we have had the team working hard at the YSU property! They have been a great blessing in building a chicken coop, as well as helping finish the wall around the property.
They also got to visit and meet the tailoring girls, and lots of dancing was done on both sides.
The other day we had an unfortunate event take place across the road from us. Agnes and I were outside when we heard screams coming from our neighbors house, which is across the road from us.
We ran over to see what was happening, and there in the front yard of our neighbors house, in broad daylight for everyone to see, were three men holding down a little 13 year old girl, and belting her with sticks.
The men beating her were her uncles, and the main man doing the beating (our neighbor) was her grandfather (who isn't very old, maybe 50).
The beatings were very serious, the kind that would leave scars and bruises, and I could see a lot of anger coming out of those men (especially the neighbor)
Everyone on the road was just standing and watching, and instinctively without taking a second thought I ran over yelling at them to stop, and then grabbed one of the men to try and push him off the girl.
The next thing I knew there was a bit of a scuffle between me and the man I had pushed, as well as lots of yelling. It all happened very fast, but I remember feeling a blow to my back from the neighbors stick, and then a second one that just missed my face. The neighbor had then turned on me, and had given me a good whack with his stick across my back (which was a bit tender and sore for a few days after)
I remember the neighbor with so much hatred in his eyes screaming at me with his raised stick ready to hit me again (and from what I have heard afterwards, this neighbor is quite a bitter, miserable, angry man)
I managed to avoid being beaten again, while pleading with them to stop hitting the girl, and trying to stop it from happening.
There was a big crowd at this point, and Agnes had been yelling at the men that she was going to call the police. Even the mother to the child being beaten told me to call the police, and so I threatened the men that I was going to do such.
The other men rode off on their motor bikes after hearing this threat, while the main man (our neighbor) locked the girl in the house and disappeared himself.
I ended up calling Robert K and we went to the police station to report everything that had happened. The child protection branch of the police came down and investigated the man and the young girl and took them back to the station.
The man was claiming that he only gave the young girl a few small smacks, and that I tried to fight them and assault them, and that I accidentally got in the way of his stick.
But the young girl had marks and bruises all over her body and told the police that I was not fighting anyone but came to help her.
So this neighbor of ours ended up spending a night in the cell.
The thing which I find so frustrating and disappointing, is that I thought that perhaps the people in the community would think well of me for trying to defend the young girl. This was not really the case.
Many people were gossiping saying it was wrong of me for getting involved in family matters. Even when the beating was taking place and I was having the scuffle with the men, many of our young tailoring girls were telling Agnes to explain to me that the girl had ran away from home and had been promiscuous (and do you really have to wonder why? when you are living with such a man, what young girl wouldn't want to run away from home)
In their mind, the beating was justified.
Later Farouk, Agnes and I explained to them that we didn't care what she had done to provoke the beating, but three grown men belting a little thirteen year old girl like that, is inherently wrong.
We asked the tailoring girls if they had never messed around with boys, to which they all went quiet (because many of them had children at young ages) and we explained that they should also be willing to extend grace towards others, especially the weak and vulnerable.
But the mentality here is that many times people view it is ok to physically abuse someone who has misbehaved. The community here would rather turn a blind eye, then to step in and cause a disturbance in the community .. which would shake up the peace. Even some fellow village women would agree and approve with the severe beating.
Challenging older men in the community is something that is looked down upon. There has been mixed reactions in the community (along with lots of gossip) and many people have divided opinions over it. Some saying what I did was wrong, but others being sympathetic for me.
For all the people that have been sympathetic for me, they all have expressed anger at the fact that the men turned on me and beat me when I was trying to help.
Again, what is disappointing is that not many people have expressed anger or concern that a 13 year girl was being beaten like that, by three fully grown men.
They were just angry that I also got beaten ... because I am a prominent person in the community, and I am also a male ... and I am white.
It is something I struggle with and feel so disheartened by. It has been rare to find someone (beside my house hold and other close Christian friends) who actually thought what happened was bad.
The fact that the police arrested the man and checked the bruises over the girls body should say enough.
We live in a community where so much violence towards women and children takes place.
Refreshingly the brother to the man who beat me, as well as other family members, came and spoke with me afterwards.
They were very sorry that I got hit, and they even thanked me for helping the girl. They asked me if I was going to press chargers (they were a bit worried for their brother) which I told them I had no intention of doing so. I told them that I forgive the man for hitting me, and that my intention was just to stop them from hitting the young girl.
All in all, I know I did the right thing, even though I have surely made some enemies in the community now. I still feel terrible for the young girl, and the man only spent a night in the police cell before being released. But there is not much you can do in this culture, besides continuing to try and educate and change hearts and minds. I have been encouraged by the younger generation coming up, they are beginning to see things in a different way. And I pray for more men to become protectors and nurturers of the women in their community, instead of abusers.
It is not all bad news though, we continue to see God working in many ways in the community.
We ask that you continue to pray for us here in Uganda, as sometimes situation can be quite tense when working within the community.
I would also just briefly like to add, onto the end of this blog, a request for anyone who felt they would like to contribute towards YSU, and for something that we specifically need.
I never like to outright ask for donations, but we have noticed that one thing we really need in our ministry right now is some transportation for getting around the community. Often Farouk and I spent a lot of money on transport for hiring motorbike taxi's around the place. Since we make multiple trips back and forth to our new property, and will be continuing to do so in the months to come, we realize that an investment into a boda boda (local motor bike used for transporting people) would help us a lot. It would save us money on petrol and hiring local boda boda's, and we see it as something we would a use lot in the future, since the nature of our work often involves us moving around the community quite often. A new boda boda here goes for around about $1750, and all donations can be tax deductible through HopeBuilders international. If you feel you would love to help you can contact Andrew Boonstra on aboonstra1@gmail.com
Otherwise we want to thank all those people who have continued to support us and love us. Your support means a lot to us, and has continued to allow us to do what we do here.
We love all of you who pray for us and encourage us. Thank you and God bless.
Wednesday 1 July 2015
How much would you give up?
Sorry for the long delay in writing a blog. It has been a bit of a stressful time and I haven't gotten around to it in a while.
It has been great to have my mother and aunties here in Uganda visiting me! I am sure they have enjoyed getting a first hand experience into the culture and the people. And it has been lovely to catch up (including eating a few nice meals)
There has been lots of rain here in Wairaka as well, so lots of mud when you walk around the place.
The HopeBuilders team is also here! And they will be doing some work on the YSU block, including the construction of a chicken coop, which we will use as an income for YSU.
We have also had Emily from Australia helping us run a few programs for young women. Emily is a midwife and has been trained in running a great program called 'wise choices for life' which looks at women's health issues, pregnancy issues and information on planning for families.
This has been very valuable, as often young women here don't have access to great information. There are lots of myths that run around in regards to pregnancy here. Some of these myths are less harmful but can result in confusion for people, like believing you can be pregnant for up to two years because every time you bleed during pregnancy you revert back a few weeks in the pregnancy stage. Other myths are downright dangerous, like believing that taking strong alcohol will help your baby develop in the womb.
So it has been great to have Emily run these classes, and many of the young women have been enjoying it.
I will spend some time writing a larger blog, perhaps next week, as I am very busy at the moment, but I wanted to share the story of young man who I have been mentoring recently.
His story is quite inspiring, and a challenge to all of us who follow Christ.
I have a group of boys who I meet with every Friday night, and we get together and just study the word and wrestle with deep questions.
I love how passionate these guys are, and how much they thirst to know more about Christ. Most of them have it quite rough, whether living in poverty or having tension with their families. One of the boys parents are Muslim, and so being a christian has meant he is not in good terms with his family. Trying to help guide him through that experience is difficult, and as they don't support him much as a result, you do feel the pressure to be the family of Christ in that situation, and offer what you can.
But one of the young men in particular has quite a striking story. Still only being in his late teens, he has a faith that could inspire many people who have been in the church for many years.
This young man actually grew up being converted into the Baha'i faith. If you don't know much about Bahaism, look it up, it came as an offshoot from Islam but has aspects of eastern mysticism in it. The teachings deny Christ as the son of God, but as just one of many manifestations of God. They are quite a peaceful people, who are involved in a lot of good development work, but they specifically deny many of the core tenants of the Christian faith. Enlightenment, or heaven (a state of being) is attained through good works.
This young man actually grew to be a prominent youth leader in the Baha'i community in Uganda. He was sent around the country to preach and convert people, and he talks about how he lead away many people who were from Christian homes, and converted them to the Baha'i faith.
The local leaders of this faith had actually promised a bright future for this young man, including all school sponsorship paid for, a promise of university scholarship, and all expense paid travel.
The ultimate dream for every young man here in Uganda.
He tells a story of when he joined a bible study at his high school, with the soul purpose of trying to prove his fellow students wrong.
The young men in the bible study class were not particularly educated in theology, nor where they apologists. Just simple youth who prayed together and studied the bible together. And in the end, this young man actually became born again and gave himself to Christ through this bible study class.
A testament to the fact, that it is not about how smart you are, or how good and intelligent your answers are .. but are you faithful? and does your life give testimony to Christ?
What has inspired me the most though, is everything this young man lost as a result of coming to faith in Christ.
He has told me how it all came to a point where he had to make a choice. As he was the rising star for the local Baha'i community, the leaders were naturally disappointed.
They told him that if he makes the decision to follow Christ, he can forget about his school sponsorship, he could forget about the security of having a university course paid for, and all of the privileges he used to get.
For those of in the west who can access these things, with more or less, some ease ... this is a massive thing for a young man living in poverty, who has always been told and believed that the key to a bright future is an education.
They also said all the support and friendship as a community that they would give him, would also stop.
In the end he walked away from it all to follow Christ. He chose to 'count it all as loss' as Paul said, to give his live to the creator.
He gave up his security for a future, for education, for privileges. He gave up unity in his family and friends, he gave up a community who took care of him but now shunned him.
He gave it all up because Christ was worth it to him.
And what continues to move me, is that through all the struggles he went through, he has so much genuine joy in Christ.
If you were to ever meet someone who is so passionate about Christ it is this young man.
He also tells me how he had been praying for someone to be under, someone who could teach him, and guide him in the study of the word ... as he was still new to the faith and there were a lot of things he did not yet understand.
That is why he seeked me out originally, and asked if I could be that person. So I have been dedicating myself to taking him under my wing ... whether that means praying and studying together, or helping out with his schooling if I can in anyway.
What is great about this young man is he never has asked for money. When he came to me, he said he is not coming to ask for any money (and still never has) but simply wants me to teach him. It has been great to be able to give him work at YSU to help him in being able to contribute towards his schooling.
He also now believes his calling is to learn as much as he can, and then go back and reach those people who he converted to Bahaism.
He is a very deep young man as well (perhaps the reason to why he was singled out as the rising star for youth leadership in the Baha'i faith) and can understand very deep theological concepts ... so naturally I love that as well!
He now struggles through life, and things do not always go smoothly now that he is following Christ (despite what some prosperity preachers will tell you) but he has a joy and a peace that he never had. And he will be the first one to tell you that it was 'worth it'.
His story is a message to all of us. Would you be willing to walk away from everything that gives you security and pleasure and happiness if Christ bid you to?
In the end what is the greatest treasure of your heart?
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. - Jesus Christ
It has been great to have my mother and aunties here in Uganda visiting me! I am sure they have enjoyed getting a first hand experience into the culture and the people. And it has been lovely to catch up (including eating a few nice meals)
There has been lots of rain here in Wairaka as well, so lots of mud when you walk around the place.
The HopeBuilders team is also here! And they will be doing some work on the YSU block, including the construction of a chicken coop, which we will use as an income for YSU.
We have also had Emily from Australia helping us run a few programs for young women. Emily is a midwife and has been trained in running a great program called 'wise choices for life' which looks at women's health issues, pregnancy issues and information on planning for families.
This has been very valuable, as often young women here don't have access to great information. There are lots of myths that run around in regards to pregnancy here. Some of these myths are less harmful but can result in confusion for people, like believing you can be pregnant for up to two years because every time you bleed during pregnancy you revert back a few weeks in the pregnancy stage. Other myths are downright dangerous, like believing that taking strong alcohol will help your baby develop in the womb.
So it has been great to have Emily run these classes, and many of the young women have been enjoying it.
I will spend some time writing a larger blog, perhaps next week, as I am very busy at the moment, but I wanted to share the story of young man who I have been mentoring recently.
His story is quite inspiring, and a challenge to all of us who follow Christ.
I have a group of boys who I meet with every Friday night, and we get together and just study the word and wrestle with deep questions.
I love how passionate these guys are, and how much they thirst to know more about Christ. Most of them have it quite rough, whether living in poverty or having tension with their families. One of the boys parents are Muslim, and so being a christian has meant he is not in good terms with his family. Trying to help guide him through that experience is difficult, and as they don't support him much as a result, you do feel the pressure to be the family of Christ in that situation, and offer what you can.
But one of the young men in particular has quite a striking story. Still only being in his late teens, he has a faith that could inspire many people who have been in the church for many years.
This young man actually grew up being converted into the Baha'i faith. If you don't know much about Bahaism, look it up, it came as an offshoot from Islam but has aspects of eastern mysticism in it. The teachings deny Christ as the son of God, but as just one of many manifestations of God. They are quite a peaceful people, who are involved in a lot of good development work, but they specifically deny many of the core tenants of the Christian faith. Enlightenment, or heaven (a state of being) is attained through good works.
This young man actually grew to be a prominent youth leader in the Baha'i community in Uganda. He was sent around the country to preach and convert people, and he talks about how he lead away many people who were from Christian homes, and converted them to the Baha'i faith.
The local leaders of this faith had actually promised a bright future for this young man, including all school sponsorship paid for, a promise of university scholarship, and all expense paid travel.
The ultimate dream for every young man here in Uganda.
He tells a story of when he joined a bible study at his high school, with the soul purpose of trying to prove his fellow students wrong.
The young men in the bible study class were not particularly educated in theology, nor where they apologists. Just simple youth who prayed together and studied the bible together. And in the end, this young man actually became born again and gave himself to Christ through this bible study class.
A testament to the fact, that it is not about how smart you are, or how good and intelligent your answers are .. but are you faithful? and does your life give testimony to Christ?
What has inspired me the most though, is everything this young man lost as a result of coming to faith in Christ.
He has told me how it all came to a point where he had to make a choice. As he was the rising star for the local Baha'i community, the leaders were naturally disappointed.
They told him that if he makes the decision to follow Christ, he can forget about his school sponsorship, he could forget about the security of having a university course paid for, and all of the privileges he used to get.
For those of in the west who can access these things, with more or less, some ease ... this is a massive thing for a young man living in poverty, who has always been told and believed that the key to a bright future is an education.
They also said all the support and friendship as a community that they would give him, would also stop.
In the end he walked away from it all to follow Christ. He chose to 'count it all as loss' as Paul said, to give his live to the creator.
He gave up his security for a future, for education, for privileges. He gave up unity in his family and friends, he gave up a community who took care of him but now shunned him.
He gave it all up because Christ was worth it to him.
And what continues to move me, is that through all the struggles he went through, he has so much genuine joy in Christ.
If you were to ever meet someone who is so passionate about Christ it is this young man.
He also tells me how he had been praying for someone to be under, someone who could teach him, and guide him in the study of the word ... as he was still new to the faith and there were a lot of things he did not yet understand.
That is why he seeked me out originally, and asked if I could be that person. So I have been dedicating myself to taking him under my wing ... whether that means praying and studying together, or helping out with his schooling if I can in anyway.
What is great about this young man is he never has asked for money. When he came to me, he said he is not coming to ask for any money (and still never has) but simply wants me to teach him. It has been great to be able to give him work at YSU to help him in being able to contribute towards his schooling.
He also now believes his calling is to learn as much as he can, and then go back and reach those people who he converted to Bahaism.
He is a very deep young man as well (perhaps the reason to why he was singled out as the rising star for youth leadership in the Baha'i faith) and can understand very deep theological concepts ... so naturally I love that as well!
He now struggles through life, and things do not always go smoothly now that he is following Christ (despite what some prosperity preachers will tell you) but he has a joy and a peace that he never had. And he will be the first one to tell you that it was 'worth it'.
His story is a message to all of us. Would you be willing to walk away from everything that gives you security and pleasure and happiness if Christ bid you to?
In the end what is the greatest treasure of your heart?
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. - Jesus Christ
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