Dear Partners in Ministry,
"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect." Psalm 18:32
I now know a little how David Livingstone felt as he was carried across much of the interior of Africa while being racked by malaria. One veteran missionary to Uganda told me his pain was so acute and consistent during malaria that he thought death was coming. I agree the pain is harsh, but what complicated things for me was the fact that I became dehydrated and could not keep down the medicine needed to battle malaria. For five days the shaking, sweats, high temperature, and delirium continued. Exhausted, I finally went to the hospital where a British doctor gave me a thorough physical and diagnosed me with acute malaria and extreme dehydration. I was admitted to the hospital immediately put on an IV of liquids, then later given an anti-malaria injection. Praise the Lord.two weeks later my strength has almost returned, but more importantly the malaria symptoms are gone. Kristy shares her enthusiasm with my feeling better. Now she only has to take care of one baby instead of two! I want to thank every one who prayed for me and sent encouraging e-mails during my illness. Our national friends said with a smile that I have been officially welcomed to Uganda.
Adjusting-to-Life Update:
We think we understand things are different in third world country. Kristy and I even spent 10 months in Uganda. Yet we have some adjusting taking place. Power has not been on ONE full day since our arrival in Uganda. Every other night the power is off for several hours. With flashlights, candles, and lanterns, we make the best of the darkness. Several weekends we have not had power for over 12 hours each day. Since our generator has not yet arrived into the country, we open our refrigerator and freezer infrequently during long power outages. The water comes from the faucet cloudy or brown, but somehow our clothes get clean and our bodies get clean (at least we think so!). Praise the Lord for the provision of a vehicle. We thank all of you again who contributed to our vehicle fund. We also moved into our house 2 weeks ago. It needs a couple months of work, but we are excited to be living in it.
Culture Moment:
Ministry/Orphanage/School Update:
God is doing many things in the ministry--too many to mention. I want to highlight this last Sunday with you. (January 27th) Pastor Diton, a national pastor from Kalisizo, brought the majority of his church to the service in the back of giant pick up truck fitted with benches. Hearing them singing while driving onto our church property made my heart rejoice. Pastor Diton preached and then baptized 8 of his congregation. One man, Sylvester, was baptized from our church, and a visitor accepted Christ. Four young men also joined the church. Keith and I were overjoyed to see how God worked. Please continue to pray for us as the discipling and follow-up responsibilities are mounting. We do not want to let anyone fall through the cracks.
Address Update: Our new address is Tony & Kristy Applegate, P. O. Box 407, Masaka, Uganda, EAST AFRICA. Our new phone numbers are 011-256-78-903-147 (T) and 011-256-78-903-137 (K).
In His Service,
Tony & Kristy Applegate
tony@theapplegates.net / kris@theapplegates.net
phone-011-256-782-903-147 / 011-256-782-903-137
CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISES:
Praises: We found a tutor for Luganda (Start March 8th ); Tony's malaria is finished; we found a 4WD vehicle
Prayer requests: Container to arrive safely to our house in March; remain focused on our purpose amidst many tasks to be done