He does not sleep

Psalm 10:11 "he has said in his heart, 'God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will never see.'"

James 4:3 "You ask and do not received, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasure."

We have had a busy couple of weeks inclusive of power outages, internet network problems, political rallies, disciplinary issues at the orphanage, shortage of materials at the various building projects and squeezed in between all that... If we did not know that the Lord is in control, the last couple of weeks would have been much more difficult and hopeless.

One of the bright spots was news from one of the young people we assisted in the past. He is doing well in his nursing studies and can't imagine having ever thought about doing anything else. He looks forward to the time when he will be working full time in the profession and be able to provide more than physical medicine but spiritual medicine to those in need. Another young person came in on Monday to check on one of his assignments from the Bible College program. He is keen to continue to the next module once he sits for review of the last assignment.

The youth meeting on Friday afternoons is progressing well. Two weeks ago the lesson was on the subject: "God Must Be Asleep" and last weeks lesson covered "Give Me, Fix Me, Restore Me, Bless Me". Many of our young people are going through trying circumstances and while going through those valleys they frequently wonder whether the Lord hears them as they cry out for help. What they do not understand, and often we ourselves, is that God's purposes are at work in our lives even through those seemingly silent periods. God is not silent or busy or hiding His face. If they/we are experiencing the "cold shoulder" from God, and can't figure out why, we need to remember that God never changes (Mal. 3:6), we do. If God seems distant and impersonal, it's not because He has decided to ignore us; He hasn't gone anywhere. He doesn't go on vacation. He doesn't ignore us. He isn't busy somewhere cleaning His
heavenly garage and forgot about us. We are not a "to do" item in His Daytimer that he has not gotten to yet (Mt. 6:25-34). There may be times He CHOOSES to be silent, or we may have distanced ourselves from God by our own choices. Truth be known, If God seems to be somewhere else, it's frequently because we have wandered off from Him. The youth were reminded that if they desire to hear God and experience His presence, then they have to give up something for it (Rom. 12:1). You can't have it all. You can't have the world and its pleasures, and the full measure of God's presence (Mt. 6:24). Pray for our young people as they make some discoveries over the next few weeks.

The believers out at Kafubu Block Chapel came into town the other day to advise us of progress on their building and await our visit to see what they have done. They are so excited about finally having a permanent structure that will stand the test of time. Continue to pray for this small gathering of believers as they make the blocks and do the construction themselves and as they reach out to their neighbors with the words of Jesus Christ.

The construction work for Fellowship Chapel is slow, this being a town congregation and many more restrictions, regulations and that old paperwork needing to be filed. At every turn it's something else but at least we have made some progress. Not only that but the town council has demarcated some of the plots nearby for homes and we have noticed our new neighbors beginning to prepare their ground for digging foundations. Pray that when the church finally moves to the new location, these people will join us and come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for this project.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers on our behalf.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry