Homesick, in more than one way...

After getting home tonight from rafting on the Nile River today, I got on the computer to check my email. In my email, I have a list of many different blogs of people I know, which update whenever they add a new blog.

And that's when I found out.

I read my sister's latest blog and learned that my grandfather had passed away. Then I got on Skype and sure enough I had voicemails from my mom and sister telling me the news. I knew that this was coming, and in the recent weeks since my time here, I just have felt in my heart that I wasn't going to be seeing Papaw when I got back home, maybe even from the moment I saw him in the hospital on July 30, the day before I left for Tanzania, when he told me he loved me and was proud of me as tears were filling his eyes (and mine).  Maybe this was God's way of preparing me for what was to come. This is the first grandparent to leave my sisters and I, and being so far from home makes it difficult for me to really grasp. I don't think it will really seem palpable or real until I get home in December and he's not there...

Despite the loss in our lives, today was a wonderful day. God is still God, and the victory is still His. I can only think of the things that I saw today, the beauty of God in the nature of Africa, and I wonder what I was looking at during the exact time that Papaw went to be with the Lord. This morning I saw my first sunrise since being here, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It was truly breathtaking. I saw more than 20 miles of the Nile River, experienced the fury of powerful rapids. I saw the bluest sky and the whitest clouds, so amazing and somehow different than any I have ever seen. All these things created by the God of the universe, and now my Papaw is in His presence worshipping Him. No more frail body or bruised bones, no aching or hurting. A new creation made for an eternity of being in the presence of and worshipping the Almighty God.

I wish that I could be at home with the rest of my family during this time, but I know that God has called me to be here serving Him. Just as Matthew 10:37-39 says, I must continue to take up my cross and follow Christ. I must realize that there is still work to be done here, all over this earth, that there is still a race to run (Hebrews 12:1-2). Even though I feel homesick more than ever, missing Papaw and friends and family back home, I can look forward to a day when I will be back home, and the day when I will truly be home with Christ, just as Papaw is. May we strive to live for Christ, spreading His name and renown wherever He takes us, that the words of 2 Timothy 4:6-8 might be true to our lives when God calls us home.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."    Matthew 10:37-39 (ESV)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."    Hebrews 12:1-2

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to al who have loved his appearing."    2 Timothy 4:6-8 (ESV)


"Homesick" by MercyMe

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me, Lord, cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why, I wonder if I'll ever know
But even if you showed me the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ there are no goodbyes
And in Christ there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now

In loving memory of

THOMAS "JACK" HOWARD SHELTON, SR.

Husband, father, and Papaw

September 2, 1921 - September 26, 2008

Christmas comes early in Africa...

This afternoon felt a lot like we were opening presents as Hannah, Breanne, and I were over at the Shelton’s house looking through all the things that were sent to us from home with the mission team from Mississippi. Kind of funny, since we knew most of the things we were getting, but I guess that’s a lot how Christmas usually is, too. My parents sent me some Barbeque Pringles (they have them here, but the store down the street has been out for a couple weeks), grape jelly (yay!), fabric softener sheets (hard to find here; smells throughout the house...), peanut butter filled pretzels (that got mostly crushed in transit haha), CD-Rs & DVD-Rs (always come in handy), iPhone armband (gift to myself to use when running), and my favorite: cards from friends at church. I cannot tell you how much the messages in each of these cards mean to me. Even the simplest “praying for you” or “miss you” means so much more and brings more encouragement than anyone could ever know. Thank you all so much for encouraging me and praying for me.


Today was a good day. The team from Mississippi got here this weekend, so today was their first day of ministry. We went with them this morning to an area called Bootabika (no clue if that’s spelled right, but that’s how it sounds). We did door to door evangelism and encouraging, as the Kampala Urban Team is looking to start house churches in this area. We were witnessing to people, but also looking for persons of peace in the area to use a house or a courtyard for people to meet and fellowship in the future. Some of the groups saw many people come to Christ! My group met many who were already believers, but we spent most of our time with one woman, who did not choose to accept Christ today. I hope that you will pray for her, as we will, that God will convict her heart with the words she heard from us today, that she might have visions and dreams so that she will realize that she is in need of a Savior.


For lunch, we introduced our new friends to I<3NYK (I Love New York Kitchen) at the Garden City Mall. It was quite delicious, and they were grateful that we showed them that little gem. While we were eating lunch, the sky fell out and rained out the plan for the afternoon. I think the team ended up going shopping, but the 4 of us came back to the compound for much needed rest. It’s amazing how exhausting going out can be. After resting, Hannah, Breanne, and I went to the Shelton’s an picked up our “care packages” and Hannah stayed to watch the Shelton’s girls so that they could go out to eat with the mission team. Breanne and I came back to plan for tomorrow. We will be going to a school nearby during their lunch hour and doing a presentation of sorts. We pretty much have the hour or so to do what we want, so we decided to have a little church service. Breanne, Hannah, and I will lead four or five songs and then Steven will bring a message. That is what is on the agenda, but God could totally have something else in mind. We’ll see.

I am so excited about Wednesday. We found out yesterday that Hillsong is in town. If you look in my older posts, you’ll see that I posted the lyrics to a song sung by none other than Hillsong. I am stinkin stoked that they are here and we will [hopefully] be going to see them in concert Wednesday night. I told the Berry’s that I would have to see if I could take Darlene Zschech and the band to lunch (haha). I have no idea how big of an event it will be, but I am so excited for some Mzungu worship and songs… or better yet Australian worship and songs!

That is all I have for now. I’ll try to update again this weekend. Pictures are being uploaded constantly and randomly, so check often to see the ones I’ve added. Thanks again for your prayers and support! God is good!!

Photos Added!

Click "Photos" on the right side, a little further down the page. I added photos from Tanzania and some from Uganda so far.

Humility and the Mzungu

The book I am reading right now is Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness by Andrew Murray (thanks, Jared). It's very convicting because I am discovering just how much I am not humble. And I'm realizing just how difficult it is to be humble, especially here. As mzungu, or white people, we are automatically looked at as wealthy and well-off, and all things considered, compared to the majority of Ugandans, we are. My prayer is that they would not see earthly wealth, but that they would see Christ! Please pray that for increasing humility so that Christ can shine through us. 

"True humility comes when before God we see ourselves as nothing, have put aside self, and let God be all. The soul that has done this, and can say, 'I have lost myself in finding you,' no longer compares itself with others. It has given up forever any thought of self in God's presence; it meets it's fellowmen as one who is nothing and seeks nothing for itself; who is a servant of God and for His sake is a servant to all." --Andrew Murray

RECAP OF THE WEEK:

Steven and I had the opportunity to go to Fort Portal on Wednesday with Anthony and two Ugandan pastors, Deo and John "the barber." It was quite the adventure! I took the back seat of the Land Cruiser Prado and tried to sleep most of the 4 hour drive to keep from getting carsick (I didn't get sick, by the way).  I was also listening to my iPod, and my headphones pretty much block out any surrounding sounds (that's important to the story). There was one moment where I was in that in-between area of almost asleep, but still just a little awake.  I thought we were speeding up really fast because I felt my body moving, but then I woke up a little more and realized that my body was moving toward the front of the vehicle, meaning that we were slowing down quickly and not speeding up. As my friends back home who have been to Uganda before know, there are speed bumps in the road that can be quite terrible. I'm not talking about little speed bumps you brake a little for, these things can be monstrous and can do some damage if you're not careful (my car wouldn't survive here).  Anyways, I could feel that we were slowing fairly quickly, so I grabbed the back of the seat to brace myself (meanwhile I'm still lying down on the seat and can't hear anything) and next thing I know I'm a good 8 to 10 inches off my seat and in the air. I'm pretty sure that had I been in a "safer position" it would have actually hurt, being that I definitely would have hit my head on the roof pretty hard. I actually think I was in the best position possible. It ended up being pretty funny, but needless to say, we watched for that speed bump on the way home...

In the back seat of the Yota

The trip home on Thursday was another adventure.  About halfway through the drive, the A/C went out in the Cruiser.  Then, probably less than 30 minutes later, something happened noticeably with the engine.  Turned out, the radiator blew.  Luckily, we were pulling up to a somewhat populated area at the time. Definitely a God thing. Anthony called the BMU and got someone to come meet us. We ended up staying there for about an hour before we decided to buy a jug of water to keep refilling the radiator and move on.  We were trying to get to the next town because there was a vacant mission house that the IMB owns (to leave the vehicle) and plus there was food.  We had to stop a couple times between towns, as the engine would get a little hot, and add some water till it cooled back down.  Once we finally got there, we ate and waited for Fred to arrive with another vehicle and to show us where this house was. We ended up having to stop again on the way to the house to add water.  This house was pretty cool. It had a large backyard with an incredible view of Lake Victoria. We were in the compound for a while as Fred removed the radiator from the Cruiser to take back to Kampala, so I took this opportunity to take many pictures. We left the cruiser at the mission house (I think it's actually still there) and finally made it back around 6, about 7-8 hours after we originally left. TIA... :P

The sad, broken-down Prado

Fred removing the cracked radiator

A tree swing and the view from the house we stopped at

Friday night we went with Anthony to one of the more established churches, Kampala Baptist Church (KBC or KBC Baptist Church according to Steven...haha) for something they have for university students called TGIF.  We got there after fighting through traffic for a while (absolute craziness; typical). We got out of the car and I made a comment about something going on next door, because I heard loud music and assumed that it was a club or something next to the church. To my surprise (and delight) the sound was coming from the church.  We got to meet about 15-20 students there, and the program for the night was a movie. We were expecting a Bible study or something, but it was cool because we just got to fellowship with and meet some new people.  We will be going to church at KBC in the morning so I am excited about that. I love how different the house churches are, but I am excited for something more contemporary. 

We went to the Shelton's this morning for a youth pastors tea so that we could meet with youth pastors from the Baptist churches in the city. We were mainly trying to meet with the ones who are in the more established churches to see how they have been able to effectively impact the youth in their communities. We ended up being there for a while, but I think that it was really good for us to meet them and to get a better idea of ways that we can reach the youth.  I'm really excited about working with the bigger churches to try and fill the gap between them and the house churches. Some of us are looking at doing a choir program with Bible studies and hopefully being able to do a Christmas program before we leave in December! I'm so excited about this (as you can imagine). Hannah plays the piano, Breanne plays the guitar, and I sing, so I'm confident that God can use us with this, and I'm excited and eager to see Him work out all the details. Steven is not so keen on music, but he's got other things he's looking to do, so that's good. 

Monkeys Breanne and I saw on our walk to the Shelton's

I'm excited about the days ahead and all the doors that God is opening. Continue to pray for us as we take advantage of the opportunities that we have to reach the youth of Kampala. I challenge you to look at the doors that God is opening for you and areas that have been opened to you to reach others for Christ!

Loving and missing...

I decided to add a list of things that I love about living here in Uganda and of things that I miss about home. They are both on the right side underneath Blogs of Friends. I'm thinking that both lists will be pretty long by the time December rolls around!

Please note: the lists are sorted alphabetically, not based on how much I love or miss something.

Encouragement and Discipline

So, I just got done reading through all of the blogs of the other Hands On missionaries (those who have blogs), and I am nothing less than encouraged. Please take the time to read about all that God is doing on this continent through a handful of students surrendering to God's call! I feel somewhat inadequate compared to what they have recorded of their journeys thus far, but I know that God still has great things for me here.

Please continue to pray for me here. I am seeking more discipline as I try to be more productive with my time, even if I have nothing to do. I am trying to limit my time on the internet to just once a day, either in the morning or afternoon, especially the time I spend looking at Facebook. While it helps me to stay connected with what is going on back home, I fear that it may be taking my focus away from what God has placed before me here. Please pray that I will be strict on myself in this area and that I will seek to spend my time in the Word and with God.  The missionaries here have talked about their experiences here as journeymen and how the best part was the time they were able to spend with God. I have that time as I am here, but it is so easy to distract myself with other things. I also challenge you to look at the things that are distracting you and pulling you away from spending time with God. Take some time to spend with the One who has redeemed us. It will be well worth your while...

Thank you so much for your prayers. I am praying for all that God is doing back home and all that He is doing through my friends scattered all across this continent!

Packages and such...

For those of you who would love to send packages, gifts if you will, to me here in Africa, but have been hesitant to do so because of the cost of shipping said items, you are in luck!  There is a mission team from Brandon, MS coming here on September 18, and they will be able to bring things to us from the U.S.  You can send things to the following address:

Stephen Shelton - Baptist Mission of Uganda

c/o First Baptist Church of Brandon - Vickie Buys

309 S. College Street

Brandon, MS 39042

We are not sure if the team is getting here on the 18th or if they are leaving the states on the 18th, so if you send anything, be sure that it will get there by the 15th to be safe.  Letters and small things can still be sent directly here anytime to the P.O. Box on the right under Contact Info.  If anything, letters are extremely welcome!  Thanks!

He Is LORD!

Oh blessed Lamb once slain

Will reign forevermore

His hands once bound now save

Our God will never fail

He is Lord, He is Lord!

Sings my soul, He is the Lord

And He lives, yes, He lives

I'm alive cause Jesus lives!

'Tis at the cross of Christ

Where earth and heaven meet

Where sin is overcome

To God the victory

He is Lord, He is Lord!

Sings my soul, He is the Lord

And He lives, yes, He lives

I'm alive cause Jesus lives!

And now let the earth resound with praise

For our Savior, God, He reigns

He is high and lifted up!

Arise, for the King of glory waits!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is Lord, He is Lord!

Sings my soul, He is the Lord

And He lives, yes, He lives

I'm alive cause Jesus lives!

And now let the earth resound with praise

For our Savior, God, He reigns

He is high and lifted up!

Arise, for the King of glory waits!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

He is coming back again!

Everyone needs to get this album and listen to this song! It is so powerful! HE IS LORD!!