What am I getting myself into?

Returning to Uganda is on my mind. I have been back in Canada for almost four months. It has been a great time to connect with people. Reflecting on my time here I can see that it has been an important season to get refreshed and equipped for the next chapter in Uganda.

I am excited to be returning to my role at Engineering Ministries International. I really love the organization and the people. I look forward to seeing what is going to happen over the next three years.

During the past year in Uganda I spent a lot of my free time volunteering with Doors Ministries. You can read a bit about my experience this past year in a previous post. Upon returning to Uganda my involvement at Doors with expand. Doors is expanding and growing, it has been exciting to see how God has been working to prepare the way. One of the areas that they are expanding is in their Doors home. The current home has been open for almost three years. It has been amazing to see how God has worked in these boys lives, taking them from the streets of Kampala and transforming their lives through His love. As these boys become young men, we want them to continue to mature, grow, and take on more responsibility and independence. So Doors is opening Joshua Home, where these young men will transition as a step towards living independently. Upon opening the four oldest boys in the current home will be shifting there along with two "uncles". The role of the uncles is to live life along side these young men and help guide and disciple them. Joshua Home is a bridge for these young men between the current home and living on their own.

So why am I telling you all of this. Well I am going to be one of the uncles at Joshua Home. I am very excited about this opportunity. I am also quite nervous about it. Sometimes I think "what am I getting myself into?" But I feel that God is leading me to this. The four young men I will be living with I have gotten to know a bit over this past year. I am excited to deepen those relationships and continue to invest in their lives and to be a part of the transforming work that God has been doing through Doors Ministries. My responsibilities at Joshua Home will be outside of my working hours so this will not affect my work with EMI.

This is going to be a big transition for me. My living arrangements are changing from living in an apartment by myself to living in a house with 5 Ugandan men, sharing a room with one of them. I will be taking on additional responsibilities. It will be a lifestyle change and occupy much of my free time. Despite all of these changes, I am looking forward to it. It is a worthwhile investment and an opportunity for me to learn how to serve better. It is interesting to see how God can work in our lives. I remember praying a while ago for God to make me less selfish. In this role I see lots of opportunity/necessity to be less selfish.

Prayer Points:

Praises
-I am returning to Uganda in two weeks fully supported. God has been faithful to provide.
-My time in Canada has been encouraging and fruitful. I can see God's purpose for this season.
-God is doing great things at Door Ministries, I am excited to continue to be a part of it.

Requests
-I foresee living at Joshua Home will be challenging, in a good way. I won't be able to do it in my own strength. I need God to give me his heart for people and strength each day to work at EMI and at Doors. I don't always feel equipped for the role I am stepping into. I see the temptation to take on more responsibility than I need to. I need to do my part but it is God who is doing the work. I need to let him do it.
-God has been doing a great work in my life and the lives of the young men I will be living with. I ask that God would use us to continue the work that He has begun.
-God has been faithful to provide for Doors. It is very clear that if God had not been providing, Doors would not have survived and grown to what it is. Pray for God to continue to provide. If you would like to be a partner with Doors you can give here.

God will provide, but I need to let him

A few weeks ago I sent an update and request for my support raising. At that point I was a little under half way to my support goal and starting to feel the pressure. I believe that returning to Uganda to continue working with Engineering Ministries International is where God is leading me. I know that he will provide for whatever I need to make that happen. But often there is a disconnect between what I know and what I truly believe. There is part of me that was uncertain if God would provide in time to return. As a result I was trying hard to do everything that I could to raise as much support as possible.

So as time has been drawing closer to my return date I was getting worried about it not happening in time. When I asked God what I should be doing to raise the remainder of the support, he told me to pray and ask other people to pray. That wasn't the response that I was anticipating. I was expecting that I would need to do something. But God wanted to show me that it is in his control and I needed to stop taking control myself.

So that is what I did and God has been faithful. In the following few days support came in and God has met my monthly budget as well as my initial startup costs. I am blown away at the generosity of God's people and how he uses community to do his work.

So I ask you to join me in thanking and praising God for his provision and desire to grow us through the process.

I am getting excited to be returning to Uganda. I leave Canada on January 1st. Soon I will share some of the things that I am excited about happening when I return.

Blessings,
Matt