Rhetorically Speaking...

A generation of wanders,
With a heart to do “God’s will”, yet clueless to see where they fit into the grand picture,
Whether a path is right,
Whether their hearts align with God’s,

Born out of good intentions and a love for Christ, yet this hesitance turns to a plague,
Afraid to be led astray,
Afraid to leap without a sign,

As one fails to act, the world continues to spin,

The cords of injustice tighten and the shackles of the oppressed grow ever increasingly heavy,
The glisten of freedom within this life, seems to fade.

The world continues to spin, struggles continue to arise, and without a generation to stand upon Gods promise, the Evil One rejoices,

Is God silent admits the strife,
Why does He not point the chosen path?
We need not a booming voice, but only a clear sign to show us “what is right”

Thousands of callings,
Thousands of paths,
Each different, each diverging,

‘You are the God that created us,
You know us better than we know ourselves,
“I know the plans I have for you,” you said,
Just show us the way!’

As urgency arises, we call out in desperation,
We know the way of the world,
We want to stand for you Lord,
We just need only to know where…and how


We are fearfully and wonderfully made,
Yet fearful to look inside ourselves,

Could it be the answer lies with us?
Could it be that God doesn’t have anything inparticular?

What would it look like to follow a path that we want,
Would it be wrong?
Would it be self-indulgence?

Blood Ballot

While the timing is wrong, the conviction remains.
I had to write this...

Thrust into a life a fear,
A time when turmoil and pain are the only constants,
Where convictions are forgotten and freedom fades.

The shouts of propganda and the threat to those who do not conform,
The sound of a gunshot ringing out,

It's the story of millions,
The story of injustice and corruption,
The story of a country on the brink.

A world away...

Lives of complacency,
Of complaint without action and a failure to recognize the freedoms held,
Of ignorance and bliss,

Unaware of the importance, of the strife and the trouble a world away,..

As one man tosses his ballot away, another dies clutching his

Out Of Africa

Time in Uganda is priceless,
Whether it's spending that time with playing football with old friends,or finding yourself in a familiar tiny embrace, singing and dancing or generally making a fool of yourself (see singing and dancing),
Uganda has a way of making every moment a special one.

The children, with there smiling faces, individual and unique personalities, make every day an amazing one.

There is little that can compare to their unbridled joy,

This is what Christ meant when he said we should be like children,
This kids are alive, alive in a way that is indescribable,

The way they observe things, the way the enjoy creation, and the way they humble themselves,

Harriet is a child that has spent her live suffering with HIV and AIDS,
In her short life she has faced more challenges, more heartache then most experience in their entire lives,
She has lost family, she has lost friends, and yet, she smiles.

Harriets story could have jaded her, could have taken her impressionable mind and twisted it,
But Harriet is one of the kindest, happiest and humblest girls I have ever encountered,

She doesn't have the energy to dance and skip and run with the other girls,
But Harriet sits and watches and smiles, her heart is for others, and she is genuinely glad that the others are having fun,

Listening to Harriets story, it is easy to question where God has been all her life,
It is easy to say that God doesn't care, and it's easy to say that our God must be an angry God to allow this little girl to suffer as she has,

But to spend a day with Harriet, is to realize that God is there,
God has cradled this little one, and stolen her away from death time and time again,
And what's more, God has instilled in her a joy that is incomparable,

The relationship that Harriet has with God is deeper than anyone could possibly imagine,
And it's evident in the love that she has for HIm,
The way that she sings and the way that she prays,
The way that she worships and the way that she carries herself,

Where her trying past and long sufferings could have hardened the hearts of many,
Harriet has let it soften hers and it has brought her closer to God,

Spending time with Harriet has taught me these invaluable truths,
And her life speaks more to me than she could ever know;
And it's her story and testament I take with me this time,

"Thank you Lord for this beautiful little girl,
Thank you for the way that you cherish her, the way that you comfort her and the way that you bless others through her life.
Lord I pray that you continue you to keep her close to your heart, and that you continue to use her in the ways that you have.
Thank you Lord for all the children, and I pray that you continue to hold them close,
Give them good health, and grow them in their understanding of you Lord.

Lord, allow us to trust you,
Because trust is all we have, we can never comprehend your plans for this world and our lives Lord,
So help us to live by faith, for I know you only want the best for us.

You are a glorious God,
The One True King, and Father over our lives.
And it's in Your Name I ask all these thing My Father,
Amen"

Grace Like Rain

It's a shock to the system,
Flying into Uganda, looking out the plane window;
Fields of green, forests, mixed between the red dirt roads,
Rain clouds, and the lake, water for the soul.

To touch down in Entebbe was a piece of Heaven for this weary travelers,
Nothing short of bliss,

There is a feeling here,
It lingers in the air, and on the smiles of the people,
It is gentle and warm,
It is refreshing.

This is country alive,
The culture, the people, the environment,
a stark contrast to the heaviness of Egypt.

I am happy to be here,
And as the rain continues to fall outside,
My soul is lifted up.

The faces of friends, and the familiar smiles of the children,

I am "Uncle Brent" ,

The schedule is full, however, the burden is little,
and together with Shaun, we are the Mzungus here in Mpigi.

We are here,
We are safe,
And we are in love with this place.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Historic Chapter Closes...

Like a blur it has come and gone,
I sit now, reflecting on what has been,

Cairo is now a part of me,
It will hold me in it's warm embrace and yet, haunt my dreams in the dark of night.

I look back with no regrets,
I've grown more in this time than any other period in my life,
A year is nothing, and yet it is everything.

I found myself driven with passions, slowed...by passions,
A daunting culture and a desperate need.

Cairo aches still,
I didn't even scratch the surface of it's festering wound,
It still bleeds.

Cairo was for me,
It was a test, it was a challenge and a breeze,
It cut me deep and yet it, brought me joy

I'm leaving as a different man,
I'm leaving with a greater knowledge of myself and yet, more mysteries.
I'm leaving with a greater desire to seek out God,
I'm leaving exhausted,
I'm leaving...

My path now takes me to rest,
My path leads me to hope,
My path leads me to familiar places, and still, to the unknown.

Amidst the trails and triumphs that was Cairo, He was there, He told me, He told us.
And now, on this leap into the unknown, we trust in Him and know that He will cushion our landings.

We seek to know Him more, we seek Him together.

If Cairo has shown me nothing, it has shown me that God, my God, is a patient God,

A God that will be there when we turn to face Him, and pursues us when we don't,

It will be some time before I know fully how Cairo has grown me, has God has grown me in Cairo,
It will be some time before I see all the fruits, and the scars,

I look forward to it,

And now, Uganda,
That country, those people, who have captured my heart,
The burden on my heart, a burden of love,

God go with me,
Friends follow me here,
I'll post when we can and share what we experience,

For now, pray, please,
Pray that I will be filled to serve,
Pray that I will find rest in the midst
Pray for the people I meet,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent

Persecuted But Not Abandoned

To flee your home with nothing but the clothes on your back and your kids in your arms,
To come to and grow up in a foreign country where you are persecuted based on nothing more than the colour of your skin,
To face many of the same hardships in this "country of refuge", as you did back home...

All because of a civil war that has raged for more than 40 years,
Because of intolerance and racial profiling, ignorance and religion,

The Sudanese have flocked to the land of Egypt, Christians and Muslims alike, to avoid the constant heat of battle, to avoid death and destruction, rape and pillaging,

Hoping to feel the warm embrace of a country at peace, the Sudanese have been anything but greeted warmly,

Mocked and spit on, refused services and jobs, here in Egypt, the Sudanese refugees as faced a new form of persecution.

Children and teens suffer the brunt of this discrimination on their walk to and from their learning centers,

Denied access to the public school system, the Sudanese have been forced to open their own "Learning Centers",
With no set curriculum and no officially trained teachers, these centers would never be recognized nor accredited,

However, they have served their purpose, allowing refugee children the access to a basic education,

Property is a hard thing to come by in Egypt, and as a result most of these learning centers exist out of a the bottom floor of apartment buildings,
Contracts must be signed, cultures must agree to terms, and cohabitation must exist... a delicate balance.

This week the balance shifted, and one such Learning Center abruptly found itself closed for the year,

The same Learning Center I have spent the last 5 months in, was closed when the landlord decided he wanted out of the established contract.

Rather than addressing the Learning Center or the faculty themselves, the landlord of the property took the matter straight to one of Cairos largest newspapers, El Ahkbar,, exaggerating situations in his report with claims that; many Egyptian Muslim students were being forced to take Bible courses.

Evangelism in Egypt is not permitted legally, and there are severe ramifications for anyone caught "preaching the gospel",

For a Sudanese teacher, allegations such as these can result in immediate imprisonment with deportation to follow.

The school was swiftly closed and tension thickened, when the Egyptian police and state security officers barred the doors,

The following day, when attempting to retrieve the learning centers finical paperwork, classroom registers and stamp, the headmaster was arrested, detained and threatened.

The word was simple, without a permit, the school would not open, and should it try and open without, the teachers would be rounded up, arrested, and finally deported.

A Sudanese refugee "Learning Center" striving to obtain a permit to operate from the Egyptian government is futile, and the state security and police know this. And so they sit, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

It seems as though without the intervention of the Sudanese government or the Egyptian government, all hope for completing this year is lost.

And yet again the Sudanese suffer.
Poverty and Injustice, the life of a refugee.

The light in the darkness, the education they had, seems to be fading, and there are few options to turn to,

The first causality of war seems to always be the childrens education,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
In His Name,
Brent

The Band-Aid Effect

What does it really mean to be healthy?

As we stand at the brink of ministry, questions like these plague us, and it leaves us wondering, who is it that we should be helping and how?


There is a village high upon the mountain top,
It is a village deep with tradition,
Men spend their days hunting deer and swine in the dense forests,
Women tend to the rows of potatoes and carrots all the while keeping a watchful eye on their children,
As their mothers and fathers did before them, so do the people of this village.

Perched atop the steep cliffs,
The village stands alone, and solitude is treasured,

Solitude proves a burden however, when the men of the village need to trade.

The only neighbouring village is five kilometers from the base of mountain,

The steep trail down the mountain had claimed many lives,
One miscalculated step near the edge and men would plummet hundreds of metres to the base.

Men would be carted, dead or alive, to the neighbouring village along rocky narrow roads, on the back of donkey carts to the medical facility there.

Trading was mared with death...tradition...
Until one day,

A minister from another country had heard of this village, and he was determined to help.
After a long journey and a challenging hike, he sat down with village leaders.

It was unanimous, the village needed an ambulance at the base of the mountain.
The donkey cart was just too slow to transport the wounded to the hospital in time, many men died in transit.

And so it was,
The minister went back to his church, and through his congregation, they raised the funds and, as promised, he returned to purchase an ambulance and train a driver.

The ambulance worked beautifully and it wasn't long before the shortened trip had saved a life, then two.
And the minister left knowing he had made a difference.

Until one day...
On a routine trip to the hospital, the ambulance caught a corner going slightly too fast,
It turned over, snapping the axle and damaging the engine in the wreak,
The ambulance was out of commission,

Word spread back to the minister and he returned to the country and fateful village,

The villagers demanded for him to fix the ambulance, but he was a clever man,
He knew it was likely for this mishap to happen again and it would only a short time before he was back here again with the same problem.

He knew it would be more cost effective to build a clinic at the base of the mountain rather than continuously paying for maintenance of the ambulance.

It was time to cut his losses and push forward.

He proposed the idea of the clinic to the elders of the village and immediately he was praised for his thinking.
The clinic was to be built, local labour, local staffing, a total solution!

Not more than a couple months later, again with the funding of his church back home, the minister saw the completion of the clinic.
And again, the results were promising,
The doctor saved many lives, only feet from the site of the accident,

But again the winds of change swept in,
The clinic filled to full capacity during the raining season, and the doctor had his hands full,
There was not another medical professional to be found to lessen the burden and no one was willing to be trained.

The excitement and the joy of helping soon fled as the surge of people continued, and the passion drained from the doctors heart.
It was time for him to move on, and with that, he packed his bags and moved along.

Again word spread to the minister about the misfortune, but this time there was nothing he could do,
His congregation was growing, and while they were still very much interested in missions, the twice unlucky village was no longer at their hearts.
The minister reluctantly hung up the phone, and severed the ties.

Years passed and the village continued to face the same problems,
The remnants of the wreaked ambulance and forsaken medical clinic served to mock the villagers and harden their hearts.

And then the day came when two more travelers passed through the mountain top community,
The cold stares and the shut door, tempted them to ask one friendly man, "Why are we shunned?"

The story was told of the minister and his "solutions" and the travelers were intrigued,
They asked to meet with the village leaders to hear the full story.

After much discussion the solution seemed simple,
Find the root cause and tackle it from there using the resources available.

"What is the real problem..?" The travelers asked.
"We don't have any near by medical services to help us when we're injured," was the response.
Still the travelers pushed, "But why do you need the medical care?"
"We mountain is steep and the trail is treacherous, many a man falls to his death."
"Right, but why is it you fall to the base of the mountain?" Further pushing the subject
"Nothing obstructs us, the tree grow on at the top of the mountain," the villagers replied, nearing a solution

Finally one leader stood up excitedly, giddy with a possible solution, "We move some trees to block the narrow curve of the path!"

I took only a little time until the villagers agreed that a fence, rather than a row of trees, was the correct solution.
And with the instruction of the travelers, trees were chopped down, and the fence was built.

The villagers gather and stood with pride and a new sense of confidence infront of their new fence,
And as time went on, the fence proved to be an effective, natural, internal, cost efficient means of prevention.



It's a simple story,
It's the story of our times,
It's the story of modern ministry,

We need a change,

Relief is a method for times of crisis, but ultimately we should focus our attentions on development.

Development with the idea that one day, we, the outsiders, will have to leave, and the responsibility of the community will fall on the hands of that it serves.

Money, food supplies, blankets, clothes, etc. all have their time and place, but if a community continuous diets on these alone, without working to build an infastructure, it will breed dependance.

So what does it look like to build a sustainable community?
What is a healthy community and who are we to judge?

Health is not just a physical state, it is emotional, and it's spiritual as well.

It's four tier.

A healthy relationship with God, with self, with neighbour and with environment

If someone is lacking in one area, can we truly call them healthy?
If a community is lacking in one or more area, can we truly call it healthy?

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
In His Name,
Brent