Good Old Oswald

I was doing a bit of reading and I found this passage about prayer. Considering that I ask many of you for prayer quite often I thought it might interest you. I thought it was helpful. Here it is,

It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray; I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask and ye shall receive.” We grouse before God, we are apologetic and apathetic, but we ask very few things. Yet what a splendid audacity a childlike child has! Our Lord says—“Except ye become as little children.” Ask, and God will do. Give Jesus Christ a chance, give Him elbow room, and no man will ever do thing unless he is at his wits’ end. When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get into touch with Reality. Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits’ end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.

–Oswald Cambers, My Utmost for His Highest, August 28

Sorry I’m Late/God is Good

I’m not sure where I left you last time I updated this blog, so I will recap this entire week just to be safe. After about three trips to the emigration office, I finally was able to bring all of the paperwork that was required to request an extension on my visitor’s visa. It was actually a really productive day. I got a taste of what Suzanne goes through on a regular basis while she tries to keep things running at Father’s House. In order to acquire one piece of paper we had to drive across town several times. We visited banks and offices. We dropped off papers to be signed and picked others up. It was crazy, but it actually went pretty smoothly. Suzanne said that it was one of her most productive days in a long while; this all happened on Tuesday (Aug 21). I found out that same day that the filming people were going to be at our house on Wednesday. Wednesday was then busy because of the filming that needed to be done. It actually went smoothly, but it did take a long time. Thursday was Bosco’s birthday and it was sort of a normal day. Bosco got a new mp3 player and asked to use my computer to copy files onto it. The next morning I went into town again to try to pick up and pay for my visa. I went to the counter and handed in my receipt and my passport was handed back to me. The lady showed me the stamp and it said I had 40 more days. I asked, “What do I do now?” meaning, ‘where do I pay?’ and she said, “You can go. It is approved.” What a blessing! I was getting ready to hand out my last 50 USD. It is kind of tricky getting money out of the bank here, but I should have plenty to last me until I get home. That evening (Friday), when I sat down to write this blog, I found out that there was a fairly serious virus on my computer and stayed up late into the night trying to eradicate it.

The virus is now eradicated (at least I think) and it is back to work on editing and posting.

There was some inappropriate behavior coming from one of the boys tonight that I had to deal with a little harshly. I really hated doing it because it partly felt like being a bully, but it really needed to be done. Please pray that there will be no hard feelings between the two of us. He gave me a sincere apology not too long after it all happened. I just really hope that I am being a help to these boys in whatever discipline I give, and that I never do it out of anger or frustration. I want to see these boys grow and mature, and I know that it comes through discipline sometimes. Anyway…I’m a little torn up about the whole thing, so prayer would be nice.

During my year at Augustine College this past year I had a philosophy class which began in the book of Ecclesiastes. Last night I was looking at some outlines and things and one of the points of the lecture stood out to me. The professor made the point (and this may not be completely accurate) of taking joy in our work (Ecclesiastes 3:22). If we work just of ends that are seen here on earth (under the sun) then we find that we are chasing after the wind. We should rather see any work that our hand finds as a gift. The work we are given—whatever it may be—is given from God, and we ought to do that work well. At this time in my life, my work is to teach these kids here. It was encouraging to be reminded that this work is a gift. I do my best as a way of offering this work back to God, and by doing so I can in some small way bring it out from ‘under the sun.’ If I can get it out from ‘under the sun’ then it ceases to be vane. I ask that whatever you are doing that you do it with all of your might, offer it up to God as a sacrifice. Don’t go to work just so you can buy food to eat and then eat food so that you can go to work.  Instead, do what you do with joy; do it with perseverance. You are not doing it for some immediate gain. Rather, you are doing it for the glory of your Father in heaven.

I have everything I need to come home for my sister’s wedding. I would love to thank everyone that I can for helping me in whatever ways they did. Your prayers were fulfilled in ways that you and I could never guess. Please keep praying for these kids.

I want to work on some things that I can show to my home church when I get back, and part of it should end up on here too. I apologize that this post is getting up here so late. I pray that Father blesses you in this week, and that you can enjoy the work He gives you to do in it. God bless.

Power is Back! That little droid did it!

I'm sorry about the star wars comment. I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to those movies.

Anyway, the power really is back! After about 12 blisters and a sore back we finished digging a roughly 80m long trench from the main power line to the side of the house.

Then all we had to do was lay in the wire and call the power company to connect it. Now the power is even better than it was before! So that means it is time for me to get back to work on some editing and other projects.

The Mumfords could use your prayer. It seems that the cost of the wire will becoming out of their personal expenses. They have a daughter in college as well as many other expenses baring down on them presently, so adding this whole electricity thing is really stretching and testing them.

Just thought I would send a little update. Talk to you later!

Still No Power, Well, Regular Power

First off, you might be interested to know that this week’s post was first written in pencil. You may also be interested in why that is. Power outages are frequent here at Father’s House, so the fact that we lost power on Sunday [August 12^th] didn’t really upset anyone, and things went on as they usually do when the power goes out. What was odd was what happened when the power came back.

We first noticed something was strange when people were getting quite a in their hands from flipping the lights on and off. Then our dinner was slightly delayed because the stovetop was zapping everyone. Those of us who didn’t feel what the others professed were getting annoyed that the stove wasn’t getting cleaned. I was one of the doubters who for some reason weren’t getting jolted by the stove. I placed my hand on the stove and said, “See, there’s nothing to worry about.” I then reached out to take the reluctant stove-cleaner’s hand and show him everything was fine. I can only imagine the supprize on my face when the electricity suddenly passed through me and the young man’s well-grounded bare feet.  There was clearly a serious problem with our wiring. Today [Tuesday the 14^th] we have an electrician checking out the problem, and hopefully he will find a solution.

As long as I am on the subject of Father’s House maintenance let me briefly share another story. A problem of similar significance happened about a month ago. An extremely large crack was discovered in the water tank on the boy’s side of the house. This tank also serviced the kitchen and landry room. One afternoon (a Wednesday I think) we hulled jery-cans full of the remaining water in the tank to the girl’s side of the house. This simple task took 9 people around 4 hours to complete. Then the real work began. The entire surface of this enormous water tank had to be hand chiseled away so that new concrete could be poured. The entire process took close to two weeks and all the while we were without forced to hand was an enormous amount of clothes that piled up with two washing machines out of commission. We also had to lug water from the girls side to the kitchen. It was a little difficult to work around, but it was kind of fun at the same time.

Now we find ourselves working around no electricity, but by the time you read this it will already be fixed. In the mean time we continues to pray that God will give the gift of a soft, repentant heart to some of the boys here that they might grow father into God’s kingdom.

I have more good news. I have found out that I have plenty of funds to get home in September. I just need to send an email to affirm the purchase. The only thing I have yet to see God do is extend my visa until the departure date (I will need the ticket to do that).

Here ends the penciled update.

Now, to get things up to speed.

The electricity is still out, but we run the generator every once in a while for a few hours to pump water, wash cloths, charge computers, check emails, and various other things. This, however, is very expensive. The problem around the electricity has been discovered. It appears that the original electrician only used the proper wire on the visible parts of the house.  The longer portion of the wire is running under ground to the power company’s pole and is of subpar quality. It seems that the electrician swapped out a cheaper wire and pocketed the extra cash. This now has to be replaced at a great expense to Father’s House, and we are already pressed for resources as it is.

We went into town to request my visa extension, but we had the wrong form, so we will have to try again on Monday. I now know that there at least used to be a 10 day grace period to get an extension in, so my fears are greatly calmed. I am very happy that I waited on the Lord, and I am confident that He will take care of this matter. Getting another visa when I return will be another adventure.

I picked up I and Thou by Martin Buber today, and it made me reexamine the way I was looking at God taking care of things. He said, “Every means is an obstacle. Only where all means have disintegrated encounters occur.” I was thinking of God as a means to staying in Uganda among other things. I had completely forgotten that He called me to be here. He was the initiator of this adventure and that He wouldn’t just leave me such a state as needing Him for something else. I forgot that I need Him for Him. I forgot that I need to encounter God. I need relate with Him as a son to his Father. I’m no expert on Buber’s philosophy, and I often am confused by the things he said in his book, but I am often amazed by the things I do understand, at least a little. I find it very challenging in the right sort of way. I need to quit trying to use God out and begin to enjoy every grace filled encounter I am offered. 

Power is out

Sorry that there wasn't a weekly post  yesterday. Our power is out, and I am penciling a post. I don't really have time to type it out while we use the generator. There is a story that goes along with the power outage and it will be in the next post. Right now I need all of the prayer I can get concerning getting my visa extended. Mainly I need to just in God's word to me which was "Wait." I will be waiting on the Lord to work this out.

One Step at a Time

It looks like the internet isn’t going to let me post this evening. I’ll just write some things down and post them when I get a chance.

This week was good, but there have been some challenges. One of the boys is still having trouble with math, and I even caught him trying to cheat. The problem isn’t that he can’t learn the concepts; he knows how to do the problems. I’m not really sure what the root of the problem is, but I think it has to do with his general hard-heartedness. It is a struggle to get him to do anything that he doesn’t really want to do. These boys are in Father’s house physically, but I find it hard to believe that they grasp what it means to be in Father’s house spiritually. Just as the Israelites desired to go back to Egypt when they were delivered so too these boys seem to want to continue in their selfish ways. They don’t seem to want to go into the promise land. They are constantly pushing the limits as far as what they can get away with, and lately it is wearing me out. It makes me wonder if I act that way toward God in anyway. These boys often remind me of certain parts of myself that God is still working out of me. My prayer is that God will show me when I am wrong, and that I will be willing to be corrected by Him.

By request of one of the boys we have moved away from reading Proverbs to reading a linear story. My favorite Bible character is King David, so we are simply starting with I Samuel. They are reading a portion and then telling it again in their own words (that was a piece of advice from my mom). Supposedly telling a story in your own words is the first step toward learning to write papers and such. We’ll see how it goes. I partially wanted to keep reading the proverbs, but I’m not sure if the boys were understanding them very well. Typically stories, and the lessons contained within, are much more understandable.

In other news Friday was even crazier than I thought it would be. We had our grand viewing of the videos that the class made last Friday. It went fine, but then we began filming the teaching videos and that is when it got crazy. There lots of kids running around for the last day of Fridayschool, there were water-trucks coming in and out to fill the pool which had just been fixed, there were loud announcements broadcasted from the valley, the power kept going out which made one of our mics stop working, and there was even a disco party of some kind blasting away outside. All of these things made the filming quite difficult. I’ve been going through the footage (which is really difficult) and it looks like we may need to film some sections again. I had really thought we had finished, but I guess it will be okay. I would like to get behind one of the cameras myself next time.

I have a praise report! I have been informed that $700 has been sent to my account in Lifechangers. I am desperately hoping that will be enough to cover my plane ticket. I am going to need to get my visa extended before the 17^th rolls around. God sure likes to keep me leaning on Him, and I’m learning what David meant when he said, “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me” (Psalm 131:2). I will continue to lean up against my Father and trust in His timing. He is faithful.

God continues to stretch and mold us here at Father’s House. I greatly appreciate your prayers. If there is anything I can pray for you please don’t hesitate to ask.

My email: mjstanton21@gmail.com