Dear Partners in Ministry,
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thess. 5:18
Adjusting-to-Life Update:
We celebrated our first Thanksgiving away from home and family. Homesickness sets in during this time of year, but having other missionary friends to celebrate and fellowship with is a blessing. Praise the Lord to be able to have turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin and apple pie! We even were able to watch a taped football game from last year.
Culture Moment:
Spending a day being questioned by police as a suspect in a missing person case was a new experience for me. I do not have enough space to give complete details, but here is the short version. A young man was disciplined out of the church for impregnating a young lady who also attended our church. After working with both of them for several days, the decision was made for them to return to their homes. He lived in Gulu, and she lived in Iganga. We saw them both off at the bus station. A few days later we had a report that they both went to Gulu and were now living together. We were completely deceived by both of them. The girl's brother is a prison warden here in Masaka. Since she never reached home in Iganga the father was supposedly worried because of her being missing. The brother filed kidnapping charges against me because we were the last ones to see her. Needless to say, the whole situation was a ploy to extract money from me. The saying goes that a white person will pay money quickly to keep things quiet - not this white missionary. By the end of the day, and after many phone calls, the Lord worked it out for the police investigator to have proof that this young lady was not missing but was residing in Gulu. I thought maybe I was going to have a great opportunity to start a prison ministry. :-) Joking aside, corruption is very prevalent in Uganda's police force, and God answered our prayers to keep me from having serious difficulties.
Ministry/Orphanage/School Update:
Another wedding has taken place. Praise the Lord for Vian and Florence's decision to make things right with God. The angels are rejoicing with the salvation of two men in the recent weeks. The first man, Emmanuel Kirogempaka, lives 25 kilometers away and heard the Gospel over our radio station. He came to visit the radio and our station manager, Sebyoto, was able to lead him to the Lord. Shortly afterwards he was baptized, and now he is faithfully traveling the 25 kilometers to attend church. Eleven of the 25 kilometers he walks. His third Sunday, after learning the importance of tithing through his discipleship lessons, he brought a large stalk of bananas for his tithe. What a rebuke this man is to me through his zeal to serve and know more about God. The second man, Robert Twesigye, came to church after being handed a tract during visitation. He accepted Christ after the service. I thank God that through trials come blessings.
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: Salvation of 2 men; continued meeting of financial needs
Prayer requests: Bible/Missions Conference on December 9-11; completion of school building; diligence in language study