Merry Christmas!

This is a difficult time for our family as we spend our first Christmas overseas and away from family. There is much good in it, though, as we are more focused on helping others than in receiving this year. We have prepared gifts and cards for each child at a local orphanage called the Uganda Jesus Village, which has 58 orphans between ages 3 and 12. We have had our sons helping to make each child a decorated card and in wrapping gifts. We will deliver them on Christmas day. The people who run the orphanage said that it is likely that these children have never received a wrapped gift before and that we will probably need to show them how to unwrap them. We are excited about this great opportunity to share Christ’s love and know that it will have a great impact on our children. Thank you to the many people in Niceville and Knoxville who donated items before we departed America for us to give as gifts. We have been blessed to be a blessing to others.

We had a group of eight Ugandans from the local Baptist Mission (where we stayed for eight weeks) for a Christmas lunch on Tuesday. It was a very encouraging time for us as we were able to share food, fellowship and love with fellow believers who are daily in a position of serving others rather than being served. They were greatly appreciative and blessed us by being in our home with us. It was just a small taste of seeing that it is better to give than receive.

Pamela and I went shopping at the local craft market yesterday for our boys’ presents. It will be very different this year! They will be receiving only handmade items that are made mostly from local woods. The various items include a drum, chairs, slingshots, animal figurines, and a chess set. As I have considered the modest gifts (compared to what they would normally receive), I am reminded that some of these things could easily be things that they could keep for many years or possibly the remainder of their lives. Whereas, if we gave them the more traditional gifts of games, toys, and clothes, that they would almost all be discarded in a few years. We pray that this first Christmas in Africa will be special and memorable. We often wonder how many more Christmases our family will spend here.

I was so glad to receive an email from Mike Wild last week. He told me that three things are required of a missionary: faithfulness, obedience, and to never look back. I believe that we are doing pretty well on being faithful and obedient, but not looking back is quite difficult, especially during the holidays. We remember that we left behind our families, a wonderful church family, a great community, sports, a beautiful home, a well-paying job at SAIC, the Destin beaches, and all of the comforts of America. I must admit, that we can begin to feel a bit sorry for ourselves when we look at where we were and then compare it to where we are now. However, in all of this I am continually reminded that what we have done is not even worthy to be compared to what Jesus Christ left behind in order to come as our Savior. He sat at the right hand of God, worshipped by the angels in all of the glory and splendor or heaven. Yet, He chose to leave. He was born in a stable, grew up in humble circumstances, without honor or prestige. He had no wealth or comforts. He would be misunderstood, falsely accused, and continually challenged. He ultimately would lay down His life with the cruelest of all deaths…the death of the cross. He was faithful, obedient, and He never looked back. He did this so that we could have life and share this life with others. We are privileged to suffer with Him, so that one day we can be glorified with Him. (Rom 8:17)

I think of Christ leaving heaven to come to earth in a different way this Christmas season because we can partially identify with Him. I believe that Christmas will be more difficult this year, but it will also be more meaningful as God continues to change us and conform us into the image of Christ as we minister in Uganda. Our prayer for you is that you will be able to appreciate what Christ has done for us without having to leave behind all that you know. Worship the King for He is worthy!

Merry Christmas from the Ironside Family!

Ministry and Family Needs

As we prepared to leave Florida for Uganda, we felt that we were not to solicit any financial support and that God would lead people to give as needed. We are still operating under that premise, but do feel the freedom to let needs be known. For now, we will not directly solicit anyone for help, but we feel like we can let you know how to help if God so leads.

God provided abundantly for us financially through the sale of our home, and we will continue to use those resources as long as necessary. Thus far, we have spent over $80,000 out of our personal savings and have received about $10,000 in donations. We greatly appreciate those who have responded to the promptings of the Spirit to give to us and/or the ministry needs in Uganda.

We have some bigger needs coming up that you may want to help with. First off, we have another container coming to Uganda in either January or February. This container will mostly be filled with exercise equipment for the gym that I am trying to start. It looks like the gym will be part of a Christian Student Center at Kampala International University. Shipping the container will cost $10,000, and clearing customs will be between $1,000 and $2,000. I paid for the purchase of the equipment already, and also received a generous donation of equipment from Lee Ellis of Body Dynamics and Jon Willis of Destin Athletic Club. If you know either of them, please tell them thanks for their generosity.

More about the student center…My goal for the KIU church is to develop a Christian student activities center beside the campus. They have no student services of any type at the campus, so this could be an awesome thing. KIU has about 5,000 students and over 800 of them attend the church. They use the largest room on campus for church services, but have no other access to space during the week. In the student center, I would like to have a gym, a computer lab, a library with Christian books, a game room, and rooms for Bible studies and discipleship. The needs here are: money to ship the next container, books for the library, rent for the building (I haven’t located a place yet, so I don’t know how much but probably around $1500/month), and stocking the game room. My dream for a game room would be a pool table, ping-pong table, board games, and Play Station. They are paying to do these things, but they are almost always in bars and nightclubs. This could also be a place, once established, where short-term teams could come in and work with the students or help to develop the facility. I am excited about this vision, because it could attract non-Christians, and if they got saved, then they would already be plugged into a network for discipleship. The church has very limited space for any type of discipleship or training, and the space in the student center could be used for that, as well. Originally, I was planning on charging to use the gym, but I really want this to be an outreach. I may have a minimal charge just to keep the riff-raff out, but they need Christ, too. Pray that God would provide clear direction on how to operate the center.

We also hope to include some basic food and household items on our next shipment, if there is adequate space. It is mostly small items that we cannot obtain here or that are very expensive. It is kind of frustrating to make this list, because almost every non-food item is something that we gave away before coming. I have provided the list to Karen Van de Voorde at Heart of the Bride if you are interested in either purchasing or contributing to the purchase. It would be best if you coordinated with her so that we don’t get duplication of items. She can be reached at 850-678-9008 or karenwithhob@yahoo.com.

Thank you for prayerfully considering if God would have you participate in this effort. Many have asked us recently, probably because of Christmas approaching, about what we need. We are humbled by those who wish to partner with us and minister to us.

Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Kevin for the Tribe

December 11, 2006

I am losing track of what I have already written about, so please forgive me if I repeat old news. We have had our dog for one week now and she is adapting to our family very well. Her name is Paska (pronounced very much like pasta), which means Easter in Swahili since that is when the previous owner obtained her. She is a great guard dog and really enjoys playing with our boys and our boys with her. Her favorite thing to do is chase lights. She chases reflections of our watch dials, flashlights, and laser pointers. She will do it as long as you will play the game. She looks pretty stupid sometimes as she claws at the light and tries to pick it up in her mouth. The boys never seem to tire of teasing her with this chase of futility.

The rainy season seems to be winding down and we have not had rain but once in the last four days. The weather is great right now, and we have been to the pool for three straight days. This is really one of the few activities that we can do for fun without driving for an hour or more. We can be to the pool in about 10 minutes and it is in a beautiful setting by Lake Victoria. It is a nice treat and retreat. The sun is really strong since we are only a few miles from the equator and we have to careful not to burn. Also, since we are on the equator, the sun rises and sets at the same time every day. Sun up at 6:40 am and sundown at 6:40 pm. I will miss having the longer days that I am used to in summer, but it is great to have 12 hours of sunlight during the “winter”.

Our landlady is finally back in Uganda and has been by the house 3-4 times. She is being very friendly and taking care of most of the problems we were having. She is acting as if she will also pay for some electrical problems that we had fixed, which would be a huge blessing. We were not sure what to expect, but she is treating us well and having many minor things corrected.

We had a good weekend of worship. I was able to preach at KIU for the 4th consecutive week and felt that it went well and was received by the students. They start their break this week, though, and will not return to school until early February. So, we will not be ministering to university students for almost 7 weeks. This comes at a good time, though, with Christmas and our boys also being out of school for the same duration. Last night, we were at the International Fellowship, which is comprised mostly of missionaries. Pamela led worship and I preached. We had a very good response and several people said that it was the best service that they had experienced there. I believe that God was honored and we praise Him for the opportunity.

We are very excited about tomorrow as it will be one of first good opportunities to start orphan ministry. We will be going with the Jones family to an orphanage of 60 children from Gulu. Gulu is the area where the “Invisible Children” are from if you have seen the video. They have been orphaned as a result of war activities in the northern portion of Uganda from the Lord’s Resistance Army. The Jones are from Canada, and have four boys that are almost identical in age to our sons. They run the orphanage and we are going to help provide Christmas presents. We believe that we have enough items with us to give each child a gift. We will do an assessment of ages and sizes tomorrow and begin preparation for later. After we go the children’s home, we will be looking at some property that the Jones have already identified for an additional children’s home. It is already partially developed and sounds perfect for a large ministry. It is 12 acres and already has multiple structures and includes a sewing room with machines. I will let you know more after we look at the property, but it sounds very encouraging.

Email communication continues to be a challenge, so bear with us during our slow response times. It is likely that we will not have internet in our home before February, which requires us to always go somewhere to use the internet. You cannot use a laptop in the internet cafes here, so we have to find a place with wireless internet. On many of the wireless systems, I can receive email on my Mac, but I cannot send unless I compose while online. We generally don’t have much time while online, so we are limited in what we can get out. Receiving emails is not a problem. Composing emails while offline is not a problem. We just never know when we will get a chance to get them sent.

Only two weeks to Christmas…it just doesn’t seem possible. I remember how different that my first Christmas in Florida felt with the weather so much warmer than I had been accustomed to in Tennessee. I am not sure how Christmas is going to feel with warm weather and everything different. We are trying to focus on the true meaning of the season and are reading an Advent story each night with the boys. This should be our first Christmas where we are much more focused on others than on ourselves, and I expect that we will experience immense joy. We hope to bring Christ’s hope to many children who have never had Christmas before, and we get started tomorrow.

sorry that we have been out of touch. I have just a moment to let you know that we are having trouble getting internet access. We will try to do better if God allows. I have posted two new blogs today that are dated as I composed them. We are doing fine but just having trouble getting internet since we cannot get it in our house yet.

Kevin

December 3, 2006

I am writing this before I have had a chance to post previous blogs and will post them all simultaneously. We have had some good experiences the past week, though I find myself extremely homesick and melancholy as I compose this blog. I think that it is mostly that Christmas is approaching and we REALLY miss our family and friends. We also really miss America and the ease of daily living. We set up a Christmas tree this week (thank you Denise Melendez for providing it), but it is rather small and modest and reminds us that we are not in America anymore. Interestingly, we gave our tree away before leaving because we didn’t think we would need it or have room for it, but now live in a house with 9-ft ceilings. Oh well, just one more thing that our flesh has to die to.

Anyway, on to the past week… Thursday night we were invited to a dinner at Speke Resort that was with Nigerian kings. They were traditional African kings and each of them ruled a tribe in Nigeria. The thrones that they occupy had been steeped in witchcraft and sorcery and Satanic sacrifices. These men were giving testimony of how God broke that chain when He called them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It was so encouraging to hear what God was doing and His power over darkness when men step into the light. They are changing their nation for Christ though proper leadership based on humility and scripture. It was extremely cool to see them in their African garb and ceremony. We had a great time and fun evening. On a side note, of the 400 people in attendance, only two of us were white. We are comfortable with it, though it still takes getting used to.

Yesterday I attended a Christian leadership conference. Again, there were 400 people and this time only one white person since I went alone. The speaker was incredible. He was from Ghana and directly addressed many of the leadership problems in Africa. It was all based on scripture and very applicable, sound, and challenging. He spoke of Joseph, Daniel, David, and Nehemiah and showed how each man led by Godly principles. I hope that I will have an opportunity to spend more time with him. Those in attendance were either government leaders or business leaders and I am using this forum to make relationships. They seem happy to have me there, and being the only white dude, it is easy to meet people. I am meeting many people of influence and am anxious to see how God will use it.

I preached for the third consecutive week at KIU (you should know this acronym by now if you are reading my blogs regularly). This week I spoke from Joshua chapter 5 where the Captain of the Lord’s host appears to Joshua. I emphasized that it is not about us, but about Him and that the battle belongs to the Lord. There is an extreme emphasis here on spiritual warfare and how to fight it. Much of the teaching talks about all we must do in our flesh to win the battle (e.g., pray all night, shout loudly, say the exact right words). I was trying to teach that victory belongs to the Lord and it is not about saying “the magic words”. Their cultural influence of witchcraft and sorcery makes spiritual warfare very real and frequent here, but this same influence can result in them fighting a spiritual battle in their flesh. I am trying to balance this teaching by showing that God has already defeated Satan and victory comes from Him and Him alone. Our fighting posture needs to be one of humility, dependency on Him, holiness, and obedience. Joshua 5:13-15 clearly shows all these things. Please pray that God’s word will sink deep into the hearts of the students who have been taught some very unbiblical things recently about spiritual warfare including carrying clubs and axes while praying in order to gain victory. I hope that you understand that I am not downplaying the importance of spiritual warfare and I recognize how real it is. However, I also realize that Satan isn’t behind every sickness, sin, and difficult circumstance. They are busy trying to cast out “lust demons” instead of teaching repentance and crucifying the flesh. It seems to me that they are giving Satan so much credit, that it actually glorifies Satan and empowers him in their lives. As I read about the many battles of the Old Testament, in particular I Samuel 17, Exodus 14, II Chronicles 20, Joshua 7 & 11, and Judges 7, I see that victory comes only from God and that He is the Commander. We have to seek Him in holiness and hear from Him how to win the battle. The battle plan was different in almost every case. Sometimes, they do nothing while God fights the battle (Exodus 14), one time they sing while God turns the armies against themselves (II Chron. 20), David uses a sling, and Jericho is defeated by marching and a shout. I have been told that demonic influences are only defeated after years of praying and that you have to the words exactly right. That sounds like victory is too much dependant on us. The battle belongs to the Lord, and the victory is by His strength and for His glory. Pray that God will continue to teach me more about what this means and that I will be able to communicate clearly the truth of His Word.

Pamela was playing Christmas music yesterday and I heard the words “I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams.” How true,.

November 28, 2006

This will be a long blog because it has been 9 days since my last update. First off, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all! We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend, and we praise God that it was a time of refreshment and encouragement. The holidays could easily be a depressing time as we spend it here without our friends and family from America. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Jinja, which is the source of the Nile River. It is beautiful there. We were with most of the Baptist missionaries in Uganda and their families. We had delicious food and great fellowship. The following day we had Thanksgiving dinner with the people from World Gospel Mission, which is a much smaller group but very fun. The food was excellent there, too. So, we had plenty to eat, including turkey. One turkey here is $75, though.

This has been a good week of ministry as well. I preached again at the church at Kampala International University on Saturday night. I was very encouraged because they seemed excited that I was back for a second straight week. I preached on doing everything for the glory of God. Last week, I spoke on how we need to be right in our relationships in order to be right with God. They are responding well and appreciate Bible-based preaching. Too many preachers here read a text from scripture and then just talk about whatever they want to. Sunday morning I preached in two churches that are more village-like. The first church is called Riverside (even though there is no river in sight) and was started by my Ugandan friend, Patrick. Patrick was my interpreter when I was here in 2003 and we had stayed in touch by email for the past 3.5 years. His church was started on Easter of this year and is doing very well. I received a very warm welcome from them. I went straight from there to Restoration Assembly Church in Kawempe. This is the church that was started during my visit in 2003. I preached there on a daily basis for the first week of the church, which according to the locals makes me the father of the church. It was exciting to see people who were saved almost 4 years ago still being faithful to the church. It is very common here for many people to make professions of faith during crusades, but without any proper follow-up or discipleship to fade away. I recognized many faces and they said that they remembered me, too.

We keep getting closer to being settled in our home. We are currently trying to resolve some pretty significant electrical and plumbing issues. The landlord is trying to save money and is not taking full responsibility for repairing the problems. Please pray that they will act responsibly and fairly. We are also trying to get furniture made. We have very little in the house because we left most of our stuff in Florida. We need three beds, many bookcases, a kitchen table and chairs, three dressers, and an entertainment center. They use beautiful wood, mostly mahogany, but the craftsmanship is not to western standards. We hope that we have found a good carpenter. We are almost totally unpacked and pretty much just lack unpacking our books, which will need to wait on the bookcases. We never found the missing items, so it is likely that they were stolen. We lost almost all of our tools, which can be replaced, but they are much more expensive here. The pearls have never shown up and are likely gone for good. This is just another test of trusting that it all belongs to God and that He can do with these things as He pleases. We are ok with it, now, and just disappointed that the pearls, if stolen, were likely taken by someone we know.

We are supposed to be getting a dog this afternoon. It is half German shepherd and half African mutt. She is around 7 years old and very sweet and playful. She belongs to a British man who is returning to England. She has grown up with small children and interacts very well with our boys. We will probably get a black lab puppy in a couple of months, too, if Pamela allows it.

We arose at 5 am yesterday to call our church home group in Niceville (Bartees, Mathers, Nelsons, Orrs, and Rhodes). It was so good to get to talk to them all and catch up. We found out about a phone service that allows us to call the US for about $8/hr, which is actually less than local calls in Uganda. It is bitter sweet to visit via phone with folks, though, since it makes us more homesick even while being encouraged. I was able to share with them some of the details of how difficult it has been here. If you only read the blogs, it may sound like not finding a home and just going through some minor difficulties discouraged us. Most of our discouragement was coming through ministry relationships that I did not think appropriate to place on the blog. Just know, that we are doing much better and God has both protected us and provided clear direction.

If you are praying for us, please include the following:
• Protection from illness, people, and especially while we drive
• Clear discernment about spiritual warfare and how to combat
• Joy for our boys
• Direction on how to pursue business development
• Discernment on who to trust
• That this would truly become our home
• Joy for us all as we spend Christmas in Africa

Every blog includes a bit of culture shock (also known as whining). This week’s came when I got an oil change. I had to go to the Toyota place to buy an oil filter ($13) and fuel filter ($35). I also needed a spare key made so we had to drive across town to another place for that. My alternator was acting up a bit, and we had to drive to another place to have it checked and repaired. By now, I had already spent 6 hours and still did not have my oil changed. The next day, I got the oil change and had the fuel filter installed. The oil is $5.50 per liter and it takes 8 liters. So, an oil change took a day and a half and around $65 ($5 for labor). Labor is generally cheap here, but supplies are outrageous, especially if you try to get quality materials.

Thank you to the many people who have requested a list of items that could be sent to bless us. We have all of our needs met so this list is strictly a list of wishes for things that might make life a little “sweeter”. The grocery store has many things but is lacking many of our favorite things. So, here is a list:

Macaroni N Cheese (we can get the noodles but no cheese; cheese here is very expensive)
Sugar-free powdered drink mix (Walmart brand is fine: lemonade, iced tea, fruit punch)
Chocolate chips/ peanut butter chips (these are no where to be found)
Muffin/ brownie/cornbread mix
Pickling salt (no pickles here, I must make my own)
Maple (to make syrup – it is almost four dollars a bottle)
Fruit snacks, granola bars, snack items for Sams/Walmart
Flavored coffee creamer in powder form (hazelnut, cinnamon-vanilla)
Raisins and nuts (pecans, almonds)
Cake mixes or other boxed mixes
Tuna or salmon packets
Jell-o/pudding mixes
Candy for the boys of any type


We have been told that regular airmail to Uganda should have packages arriving in less than two weeks. There is sure no guarantee here but the service to our missionary friends has been about two weeks. So, we have been told that it is not necessary to pay for faster service because it would be a waste. Ship to:

The Ironside Family
c/o World Gospel Mission
PO Box 11788
Kampala, Uganda

There is no zip code and that is the whole address. They are out of PO Boxes so we must share with others and the WGM folks have been kind enough to share with us.

I am supposed to be meeting some African kings on Thursday night at a dinner for Christian businessmen. I will provide an update in our next blog.