I am writing this
letter as a way to express the path that God has laid out for me to walk at
this time in my life. My hope is that through reading it you might be
encouraged by the work God is doing in me, and that you might come along side
me so that we may begin to venture farther into a relation with the Triune
Godhead through the example of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
In May of 2010 I traveled
to Uganda to assist in a short term medical mission in the slums of the capital
city, Kampala. While in Uganda I stayed with the medical team in Father’s House Uganda where I was introduced to the Mumford family, including
their 13 adopted Ugandan children. While at Father’s House, the medical team
prepared for the days of outreach to the slums. I was part of one team which
would spend half of the day making house calls to the various sick people in
the slums of Kampala. My responsibility was to carry the medications and have
them at hand whenever the doctor of our group needed to hand them out to treat
the person. It was hard to imagine how a little bag of pills could really make
much of a difference in the long term, but as the medication was distributed the
people noticed that we really did care for their well being. Their hearts became
more receptive to the love of God that we desired to flow freely through us and
the various organizations which were working with us, such as Ray of Hope and others who helped us
serve the people. It was not the distribution of pills that was our end goal,
but through those simple pills hearts were opened to the love of God. After the
mornings down in the slums the teams reassembled into new groups for an afternoon
of clinic work. My group was a community health education team. We were
training some women to be leaders in educating the parts of the slums where
they lived. Part of what was taught concerned only health and sanitation, but
our little team was often confronted by questions that dealt with the spiritual
condition of the slums. Tribal prejudice was often the cause of the filthy
living conditions in the slums. One of the days, while listening to one of the
women’s story, I was reminded of Jesus’ story about the good Samaritan and
realized just how pertinent it was. By the story I encouraged all of the women to be like the Samaritan and love their neighbors, no
matter what tribe they were from, as they loved themselves. By the end of the
sessions we were able to purchase sanitary equipment so they could clear the
garbage clogging the drainage systems outside their homes which had often
caused bad flooding in the past. One woman was able to put her faith to work as
she cleared the area in front of her house. Her neighbors where often verbally
abusive to her, but her accusers found themselves silenced by their own wives
and children who joined to help clean the alley that they all shared with the
women who decided to not shout back at her accusers this time and just love them
with a servant’s heart. With the help of a simple gift, a woman in the slums of
Kampala was able to follow Christ’s example to love her neighbors in a more
concrete and meaningful way.
The following summer I worked at a grocery
store to save up for my first year of college. I was planning on staying at
home and simply commuting to my classes every day, but God had a different
plan. He prompted me to apply for housing on campus, and I did. I applied to
the Service and Leadership ‘Learning in Residence Community’ (LRC) and was
accepted. It was an additional $1,000 per semester to participate, and
considering that I only had enough from financial aid to cover the tuition,
additional housing was going to be impossible. However, God had told me to do
it, so I trusted and prayed that He would provide. It came to the Wednesday
before the bill was due. That afternoon I was reading Malachi 3 which says in
verse 10,
Bring the full
tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put
me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of
heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
I prayed and then realized that I
had forgotten to bring my tithe to church the previous Sunday. I decided to
take it straight to my pastor who then invited me to talk with him. I told him
how I thought God was calling me to live on campus, but I was also very willing
to stay at home if it was His will. We talked for a little while about various
other things and I felt a little better knowing that at least there was one
more person praying for me, whatever the outcome. That evening my pastor gave
an envelope to my mother with my name on it. I opened it and there was a check
for the amount I was lacking to stay on campus. I was overwhelmed and gave
thanks and glory to God for quite some time that evening. The thought that God
would take care of the costs and in just the way I needed Him to was amazing. I
really did need Him to come through at the last minute so that I could know
that it was Him who wanted me on campus.
Then, while on
campus, I became frustrated that I could not communicate the gospel in a way
that my fellow students and professors could understand. There was one time in
particular where a group of evangelists came to campus and where shouting at
people to ‘turn from damnation.’ A few of them dealt well with the insults
hurtled from students, but others resulted to insults such as calling certain
women sluts among other insults. What shocked me the most was when I pulled people
to the side and tried to discus with them the true message of the gospel. I was
caught completely off guard by how I could not get even the smallest hint of a
message across. I did not know what to say. I could not express the hope that
was within me. I felt useless. The ‘evangelists’ spoke many words that were
true but they were lacking the love of God which came from ‘The Word’ which
became flesh. Because I found myself lacking in the right words to say, I
concentrated on living out the love of God which was in me, failing at times,
but always trusting that God was leading me where I should go.
There were many
great projects that we did as the Service and Leadership floor that year which
were worthwhile. Among them we raised around $30,000 in a dance marathon for
organizations that reaches out to children, we also raised support and took
teams out to organizations around campus to do some labor intensive projects,
and my Christian roommate and I were able to
encourage each other throughout the year. Despite the many great things I
learned in classes and the faculty’s excellent work in developing my
understanding of the subjects I soon found that I was lacking a good foundation
on which to rest this knowledge. I was interested in the idea of becoming a
director for film, but I wanted to do it because I thought God could speak to
others through me. But If I could not even get a simple idea across in a
conversation then how could I expect to communicate the message of the gospel
through film? I needed a better
grounding in what my faith was and where it came from if I wanted to build
anything on it.
In
the spring of 2011 I traveled to the graduation of a good friend from Augustine
College in Ottawa, Canada. I was very surprised by how welcoming everyone was
and how quickly I found myself able to freely fellowship with this tight-knit
group of Christians. While we explored the capital of Canada friends of mine offered
a chance for me to come to Augustine if I wished to. During the following
summer I prayed for guidance because several other doors were opening up to me
at that time to concentrate on directing rather than writing for film, and some
more last minute decisions had to be made. God came through again at the last
minute and now I find myself still delving into things of my faith and its rich
history which were brought to life for me at Augustine College. The year was
well spent and now I feel that no matter where God sends me I will be more
prepared than I was before. I hope to teach the things I learned to others in
whatever small way I can, and I would encourage anyone to consider spending a
year at the college refining their faith.
God is now
prompting my heart back to Uganda, and over the Christmas break I sent an email
to the man in charge of Father’s House expressing my interest in teaching. I
let him know that I was interested in coming to Father’s House to help with the
mission there. He replied quickly and was excited to hear about the things I
have learned at Augustine College. He expressed that there was a need for
someone to help homeschool the kids at Father’s House because they recently had
to let someone go who was filling that position. I was excited to hear that because
I was homeschooled and have always thought it was a good chance to use an
understanding of God and His scriptures as a means for general education. The
medical team which I was a part of in 2010 is heading to Uganda this May. The
team leader suggested that I write this letter as a life update as well as a
request to my brothers and sisters in the faith of Jesus Christ to join with me
in prayer for direction and leading as I follow God’s direction; also for your
prayerful consideration to help me bring the life changing gospel of Christ to
those living in and around
Father’s House
in Uganda. I am leaving May 16
th and am trusting for God to provide
for my time there. Currently I have the funds to travel to Uganda, but do not yet
have everything I need for the year. The living expenses are around $300 per
month and I will also require money for my return journey. I have been asked to
raise roughly $5,000 for the entire yearlong trip. If you are interested in
joining me financially or would like more information, you may contact either Mark
Duggin at:
mark@lifechangers.org or
me at:
mjstanton21@gmail.com. Tax
deductible contributions can be made out to Lifechangers and sent to:
Lifechangers PO Box 3909 Cookeville,
TN 38502
Office phone: 931-520-3730
(Please include a short note
indicating that the support is directed toward me with your check). You can
also donate online at:
https://www.lifechangers.org/product_info.php?products_id=2604
(also include a short note in the “Add Comments about Your Order” box
indicating where the support is directed to). For any questions regarding these
methods please email me.
Whether it is in frequent
prayer or through financial means I will greatly appreciate your support. God
bless you as you seek to draw ever nearer to Him.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Stanton
