God has provided funds for .65 acre which could meet our basic vision. An adjoining .6 acre also is available which would provide for a greater resource and outreach for the 8,500 students at the adjoining Uganda Christian University who the Lord has called us to serve.
As I pray over the land, God continually presses on my heart that I need to have faith that He will provide the additional land to serve His purposes. He challenges me to have greater faith and more patience even though we have a burning desire to put our resources into beginning building on the land we already own.
Strategically, I'm thinking once we start building it will be easier to rally financial support to complete the ministry facility. But God reminds me it is not by strategy, might nor power that His purposes are accomplished, but through His spirit. Lord, I believe. Help me to believe even more.
The property is on the way up Prayer Mountain. At the top of this mountain is a prayer encampment maintained by Archbishop Livingstone Nykyoyo, the visionary who transformed a small Church of Uganda seminary into Uganda Christian University, "a centre of excellence in the heart of Africa." People can camp and pray, just as Jesus retreated to the mountains to be with His Father. The area is formally known as Besania Hill, or Bethany in the American translation.
Bethany in the Bible was about 1.5 miles east of Jerusalem and on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, from which Jesus ascended into heaven. It also was the home of siblings Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. The story of Mary and Martha is instructive of how to proceed in ministry:
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."(Luke 10:38-42)
It goes against our "grab the bull by the horns" culture, but Jesus tells us that sitting at His feet and trusting Him is better than being "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." He is faithful and will complete in us the good work He has begun. Would you pray about being a part of it? We need $85,000 to purchase the additional .6 acre we believe the Lord has set aside for Himself through us.
Mark
