In Transition But Still Partners

Take a very close look at the photo on the right. Really! You've got 5 seconds to take a careful look at it.

For some strange reason, I think this photo captures a good part of the transition I am in. One season of ministry has come to an end and another one is beginning.

The season that ended came uninvited. For more than 15 years I have called Jinja, Uganda, home because I lived there with my wife as we directed the work we founded called Next Generation Ministries. The recent global pandemic put a stop to that. For two years we were unable to even fly internationally. Fiscal responsibility required terminating the rental we had lived in for the past ten years. We could not afford to pay rent and hold that compound without living in it.

The silver lining in the dark cloud of the pandemic and its restrictions was that our staff in Uganda maintained the work of the organization very well. The Lord directed us to move forward assertively toward our end goal which was to leave the work we started in the hands of Ugandans. The Board of Directors in Uganda are adding members and taking a more hands-on approach to guarding the vision, overseeing the work and staff, and directing them. I have retired as Executive Director and was honored to receive the title of Director Emeritus and Financial Liaison between American donors and African recipients.

All of that to lay a foundation for the NEW WORK I AM BEGINNING.

I am now a short-term missionary volunteer with Next Generation Ministries and I am so excited to tell you about this new upcoming venture.

On July 14 I will board a plane for a SHORT-TERM MISSION with NGM. I will be the team leader for a team of 9, four of whom are teenagers. Four of those short-term missionaries will be in Uganda for 10 days for the first part of the mission and then return to the United States. The rest of us will travel to Western Uganda for the second part of the mission.

Our on-the-ground leader in Western Uganda will be my daughter, Rebecca Hunter, who is a third-year medical student on her way to becoming a doctor. She has enlisted the help of five medical students who will help us on the mission both with interpretation and medical care. Dr. Dan Muwanguzi, a surgeon who works closely with NGM, will be our primary medical consultant and Meddie Luyonda will be our driver.

This work in Western Uganda is a pioneer work. There are very few NGOs or mission organizations working in this primitive location. The needs are many and obvious. Rebecca's heart has been moved by the Lord to share His love with these people and has solicited our assistance.

We have needs for this mission in Western Uganda that are foundational:

• medical supplies
• medical equipment for medical students who don't have them
• finances for the Africans who volunteer to translate and administer medical care but have no financial resources for lodging, food, and transportation necessary to carry out the mission
• finances to purchase food for the hungry in the villages
• finances to pay for medical care and/or surgeries

This mission is all about going to the people. As Rebecca says "We are not people of the office. We are people of the dirt and villages."

We are going to the people in the villages who often sleep on compacted dirt or a piece of clothing and struggle to find one meal per day; people who could not afford medical care even if it was available!

Will your partner with Next Generation Ministries in this 2022 Summer Mission? You can end hopelessness in the lives of people deep, deep in the village. Any amount will enable the team to express the love of God and the goodness of the Gospel.

Please mail your check for any amount to NGM, 29940 S. Dhooghe Rd., Colton, OR 97017. Whether you join this team by check or online HERE please make sure you designate it for the 2022 Summer Mission.