Life goes on.

Well it has been 8 days since my good bye to Judy and Malia. At times it seems as though it has been a lot longer than a week. I am trying to stay busy so that I don't have to think about them to much. I don't know if it's a part of my copeing or if i'm in denial. Sometimes I think that they are just on furlough and they'll be back in a couple weeks but then i'm reminded that they are now living in MI and I honestly don't know when i'll see them again. I have been able to talk to them on skype a couple times so far and that has really been helpful. Malia is adjusting well and loving the fact that she gets to be around her grandparents. :)

So this week has been hard but not as hard as I thought. God has been so faithful. He is bringing new people into my life everyday and renewing old friendships. I am so blessed to be able to have so many people who love me. I have also learned to not take for granted the things the Lord has blessed me with. Everyday there are children in my life and this expirence with Malia leaving has made me want to invest into the kids around me. God has renewed my heart and instead of being bitter or angery that he allowed me to love those two and then he took them away, I have been able to use that love I have for them to love others. God is teaching me to love with my whole heart. Not worrying about if it'll be broken or if these others will leave, but looking at life as my chance to show people how much God loves them.

So I guess the point of this blog is just that even when our hearts break and we may feel like God is pushing us to far. We can know that He is our comforter, protector, Saviour and most of all our Father. God is and will always be there for us. It doesn't mean we will never have broken hearts or go through tough times but it does mean that He will always be there to hold us, comfort us and bring us through whatever trials we may face in this life. I know that loving people is hard and it is a risk. But I also know that it is worth the risk to love someone. It is better to have loved and lost then to not have loved at all.

God Bless!

In the words of Malia "Listen, Obey!"

This blog is really hard for me to write and i'll probably shed many tears while in the process.

Judy and Malia have gotten their answer to prayer. Last week the US Embassey in Kampala called Judy and told her that she and Malia have been approved and that they could leave Uganda and soon as this week! It is really exciting but at the same time very hard. I'm so excited that Malia will be able to give big hugs and kisses to her Grandparents, uncles and Auntie's but at the same time I wish I knew that her and her mom would be coming back to Uganda. The more I think about it the more heart broken I become because I really have no idea when I'll be able to see either one of them again. Over the last eight months I have come to love them as my family. Judy has been a wonderful, Godly big sister to me and Malia has been a complete joy with her random hugs and kisses, to her sweet and caring personality. They have both found a very special place in my heart. I didn't realized it would be so difficult and I know they haven't left yet so I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I just spent the morning up in their apartment talking to Judy and taking in every silly and endearing thing that Malia did to heart knowing it may be one of the last times i'll be able to witness this part of her life. I don't know how I'll say good bye when friday rolls around but I know that I will make the effort to keep in touch with them and keep them always in my prayers.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to pray for Judy and malia and please don't stop. They have a lot of ajusting to do still and will need all the prayer they can get.

On another note I found out that my work permit was approved and now I just need to go pay for it and hopefully pick it up shortly there after!!! Praise the Lord!!!

I wasn't going to share this but the Lord keeps putting it on my heart and I think that others can learn from my mistakes. A couple weeks ago I was walking the 3 miles home from Our Own Home and I passed this man who was pushing a bicyle with large water containers on the back and one of his flip flop straps was broken. As I passed him by I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to give the man the flip flops I was wearing. Well i kept walking and started to argue with the Lord. "Why should I give him my shoes Lord? what am I going to walk home in?" But as I continued to walk away from him the Holy Spirit kept speaking the same words "Give him your shoes." So I finally turned around and started to walk very quickly back up the hill toward where the man had been and as I walked I looked for him and it was as though he had disapeared. He was no where to be seen. I felt dejected and my eyes were already filling with tears because I knew I had openly disobeyed the Lord. Well needless to say I went home in tears and heart broken. The scripture that came to me was Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
The lesson I learned, that I hope to encourage you with, is that when the Lord ask's you to do something, don't ask questions just do it. If it's the Lord, know that he has your back.

Thank you all so much for your love, support and your prayers! If there is anything I can be in prayer for you about just shoot me a message at rmbishop09@gmail.com.

God Bless!!!

God is good and all the time!

I still have a peace that is surpassing all of my understanding. It's completely God and not I. It brings me such relief to know that the Lord is in Control and that I am where I am today because of his great will and timing. I know without a doubt that I'll be living in Uganda for the rest of my life serving where the Lord calls and doing whatever he asks of me. Please continue to pray with me. In all things, doors to open as I move forward, finances to be all that is NEEDED, and for all that I do to be of the Lord.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33

I am excited for the future and what God has planned for me but at the same time I am also excited for the here and the now of what his IS doing in and through me.

Some specific prayer needs:

Moses has been sick. Pray for a full recovery.

My work permit still isn’t done. Pray for the immigration officers to be quick.

Judy and Malia have been delayed. Please pray that the Lord would give Judy peace and work everything out in his timing.

A place to live when the pastor and his wife come back on the 1st of Oct. Somewhere safe and somehow close to Our Own Home since I don’t have a vehicle and will have to walk to and from.

Pray that the Lord would continue to bring people into my life that I can pour out God’s love on and encourage.

Thank you all for reading and for praying with me. May the Lord bless you as you have blessed me.

In Christ,
Your friend, Daughter, Niece, Granddaughter and sister,
Rochelle

Learning...

First of all i have to apologize, I haven't been very consistent in writing blogs. I could make the excuses that I have been busy, which is true, but no excuse. I'm sorry.

As I go through life here in Uganda I become more and more used to the culture and the slower way of life. Know one is in a hurry, which I like, but at the same time it is not very helpful when I have a certain amount of time left on my visa and the people in immigration haven't processed my work permit yet. This last Tuesday a friend and I made the two hour journey on public transport to Kampala. Where we were hopefully going to be paying for our work permits. Well of course we get there and look in a couple different books and find our file number in one but not in the other. The second one is the one that counts because this means that they have looked over your file and have either approved or denied your application. The way things are done here however means that you just never know when things will be done and there are no phone numbers to call to see if things have been completed so you use your time, energy and money to go and see. :)

God has been teaching me his timing and what it looks like to be patient. Yes it is frustrating but I know that God is in control and that there is really nothing I can do except pray and trust him. I have been reminding myself constantly that it was the Lord who opened the doors for me to stay and it will be up to him whether I stay or go. It would break my heart to leave but, it would break my heart more to not be sensitive to the Lords leading.

Please continue to keep the whole process of the work permit in your prayers. And whatever the Lords will is that he would prepare me for the out come.

"Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6

On that trip to Kampala the Lord revealed a vision to me. I have been praying and seeking the Lord about this vision and I would ask you to pray with me as the Lord leads you.

"I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning ANYTHING that they ask, it will be done for them by My father in heaven.
"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18:19-20

As I continue to live by faith I am reminded of Philippians 4:19 "And My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Rochelle

I must decrease so God can increase!!! It's not about me!!

I don't know if I should be writing these things but I have to be honest. So here goes...

Why is it that when we are faced with the chance to live out our faith in God, things seem so much harder?

This last month the Lord has been breaking my heart of pride and self-reliance. I never new I was struggling with these things until someone I love and respect said something that got me to thinking.

My pride was in the fact that I wasn't like the people I was living around. I realized that I have so much being here in Jinja. I am staying in a western style home with almost all the comforts of where I grew up. Yet, was I called here to live so comfortably above the people? Am I called to minister to the Ugandans and then go back to my "rich" mans home? What does it mean for me to be living with these people? How can I show them God's love and not be living like them? Do I think I'm better then they? Am I trying to show them that white people do have money and that if you become a christian you'll have money too? How Do I show people God's love without them thinking that if they come to Jesus they'll be "rich"?

The Lord revealed to me that I was becoming calloused to the poverty and to the people around me. His People. I realized how selfish I was being and that I was becoming a bad witness. My heart is being torn apart. I am being humbled and brought to my knees daily. Sometimes over something I have already been taught. The Lord is "cleaning house" so to speak, with my heart.

Jesus came to the earth as a man. He never seemed to be in want for anything. God always took care of him. Provided all he needed. Yet he wasn't a rich man.

I am struggling with the question. What does it mean to live, serve and become like the people of Uganda?

About a week ago we had a guest speaker come and teach in our mid week bible study. He told us the story of when he first came to Uganda and how God had told him to live by faith.
I was convicted because that is something the Lord has been telling me over the last nine months that I have lived in Uganda. Faith is the key to living as a missionary. People have let me down but the Lord still remains faithful.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Please be praying with me that the Lord would reveal to me what it means to be his servant. I am called to love and serve the people of Uganda. Lord what does that look like?

Some people think me unwise for being here without consistent monthly support and having no idea where I'll be full time.

I don't have the answers. But I do know that God works in mysterious ways. He has already provided ministry opportunities and opened the doors to thing that I never thought would be possible.

This journey has been hard, challenging and stretching for me. My faith and whole person is being transformed and the only thing I want is to be more and more like my Father, Saviour and Redeemer, God.

Random!

So I decided that this bog will be about random things that are normal
to me but may be weird to people who have never been to Africa.

I live in a western style home with indoor pluming, electricity and even Internet access.

I ride side saddle on the back of a motorcycle to get to, and most of the times from, Our Own Home. Then I pay the strange man for taking me.

1000 Ugandan shillings is equal to about 50 cents.

Most of the time I eat food that you could easily find on a dinner table in the US.

The temperature is rarely ever below 80, unless it's raining, and even then the temp. drops to maybe 68.

The roads are uneven and have a lot of potholes.

It is very green here. Uganda is the Pearl of Africa because of it's beauty.

To get to Kampala or any near by cities, I ride in a mini bus called a coaster. If things are a bit closer (like the YWAM base) I take a 14 passenger van they call a Matotu or taxi. They always squeeze at least 6 more people then they are licensed for and the vans are almost always “coming apart at the seems.” so to speak.

We have hot water in our taps. Yes you do need to turn on the water heater before you hop into the shower but it heats up fairly quickly.

Sending boxes to Uganda takes about three months where as large manila envelopes, stuffed with all sorts of goodies, takes about two weeks.

The dirt is red, therefore everything that touches the dirt becomes red as well.

We hang our clothes out to dry. Very effective if the sun is shinning. Then when they are taken off line they need to be ironed to kill the eggs that were lain by mango flies.

Oh Uganda I love it!!!!!!!

Hey so this is going to be a very quick blog. It's mainly a praise report. We were able to turn in my work permit papers which is a huge step towards getting my work permit!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Now all I need is $250 in a week when I have to pay for it! :)

Thanks for all the prayers!

In Christ,
Rochelle