Esther and Isaac

Here is some video footage of Vernon and Adam telling Esther and Isaac that the arrangements for their surgery are underway!

Update from London

Hey Everyone!
We have reached London safely. By the way...Adam and I have no idea how people make it in London financially. We ate dinner tonight at an "average" place and it cost almost $70! We didn't even have dessert either!

Anyway...Sunday was amazing! We went to the Mosque and were able to meet with some of the most influential Muslim leaders in Uganda. They had a huge function to attend so instead of cancelling everything with us we were invited along. I hade time before the function to sit down with them again and talk about the importance of getting in discussions of Truth. They all agreed of the importance and want to continue our talks. Adam was able to get some great pics and we will get them up on the blog in the next few days. I was able to address over 250 Muslims at the function we were invited to for about 5 minutes. It was incredible to publicly testify of being a Christian and also wanting to get into discussions on Truth. The event was attended by the mayor of Kampala (who is a Muslim) and many other Muslim leaders. I pray this will open up dialogue for discussion. Our new Muslim freinds were very humble and hospitable. I pray we will be able to continue with our discussions in the future.

Thank you so much for praying for us. Please continue in your prayers on our behalf. We greatly appreaciate and love all of you.

Love Truth

Time in Morobo

Hey Everyone!
Our time in Morobo was great today. We were able to meet with Esther and tell her about her surgery. We were also able to get it all on video!!! Obviously this does not help to much now, since we can't seem to get the video to send. We will try to send some video's tomorrow night when we get back in Uganda. We will also send some video's from the hotel in London on Monday.

Adam was able to get some good video of the children in Morobo, along with some great pictures. I am pumped the Lord has allowed Adam to be here with me. He is an incredible brother and I believe the Lord will continue to use him in powerful ways.

Please continue to pray for our time on Sunday with the Muslims. I believe that this Sunday is the Global Day of Prayer also. I pray the Lord will use our words and actions to draw men to Him. I pray this will be the beginning of an incredible dialogue between Christians and Muslims. I truly want the world to see that both sides are able to discuss Truth together in a peaceful way. This does not mean that Christians should compromise on beliefs in order to keep physical peace. Instead we are to be people who find our peace in Jesus alone and because of this reality it would be unpeaceful to to try and not lead others to True Peace. I pray that all who read this will stay strong in the Lord. I pray that His goodness will be personally known by each person.

On another note...I told Amber a couple of nights ago to please pray for what we are going to do after graduation in a year. For some reason it has been on my mind more. This time is has not caused stress, but hope and excitement. My pastor(John Durham aka "Pastor Big Guns) gave me an incredible verse about a month ago. Hebrews 11:8 says, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." Please pray we will be diligent in seeking out what God has for us next. I still have the same desires as I did several years ago. They are in three areas which I believe God has equipped me, but I do not know how they work together. The areas are teaching/preaching, Sudan, and a pastoral heart. I do not neccessarily think this will be a full time vocational pastor (although it may). I say all of these things so you know what has been going on in my head and how to specifically pray for me.

As per Adam...He is getting married in a year and we have been discussing how he and Anna would like a LARGE FAMILY and VERY QUICKLY (HA!). Well...I guess he didn't really say this (I have just been taking time to encourage him in having a child right away. I think ol' Marie Reed wants to be a grandma soon). Seriously...pray for Adam and Anna to grow closer and closer to the Lord because then they will know how to encourage one another in Him (since He is our eternally consistent Joy in life). Also pray for Adam's transition to University of North Texas. He is transferring in the fall from Texas Tech.

We love you all a ton!

Love Truth

Update from Vernon

***this is the text vernon sent me today. They tried to send the slideshow but for some reason it is not coming through. We will keep trying.***

Hey Everyone!
We just spent the day in Lura and hung out with 10 new orphans. It was an incredible time. Adam has made a slideshow and we are hoping it will lead many to pray for these incredible kids.

The comment which stuck with me the most today was made by a 10 year old orphan, his name is Joseph. When we showed them where they were going to sleep at night Joseph went up to his bed and said, "Even if I do not eat I will stay here." It is so amazing to see how a bed with a mosquito net over it can encourage a child. My prayer is that these children will see everything done as a physical manifestation of the love that Jesus has for them. I pray these children will be strong leaders of Sudan.

On another note...I saw that Amber wrote yesterday about the 3rd anniversary of the death of my dad. As I have been thinking about him during this time the Lord gave me a Scripture which gave me incredible encouragement. Proverbs 24:10 says, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." When I read this I was reminded of how great God provides for us in adversity. He wants everything from usbecause of how great His provision is, not because He is sadistic and takes some cheap pleasure in seeing His children hurt. He tells us to be strong in Him and the strength of His might (Eph. 6:10). What great encouragement we have that God has provided for us such an incredible amount of strength in Him that it would be sin to
not grow in strength during tough times. He says we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us (Rom. 8:37). We serve a God of all comfort and compassion so that we can know and feel His comfort in order to comfort others in their times of weakness (2 Cor. 1:3-5). I state all of this so that if you are struggling today (or know of someone who is) then encourage them if Him. He tells us that we can become partakers in His divine nature through His very great and precious promises (2 Pet. 1:3-5). I pray His promises will encourage you to Live unto Life!

Adam and I love all of you and we thank you so much for the
encouragement through the blog.

Love Truth

A Great Day in Sudan

Vernon called me today, after working on getting the video sent...or so they thought. He said if they added up all the time trying to get the little 5 min video sent, it has taken them 4 hours! So I went to my mother-in-laws house to check the my email (they tried to send it to me so i could load it up because the Internet is having problems there..see previous post) I opened my account and found...nothing. so sad. SOOO I guess tomorrow when they are checking the blog they will read that i didnt get it. So pray that their frustration will be little and patience will abound!
Other than the crazy technology problems, that are much to be expected in when trying to send communication to and from such a location, the day was GREAT! Adam and Vernon traveled to Lura the home of the second orphanage. They got to meet 17 of the orphans who are moving in. They told stories of their life and Adam got to get great footage of this! They got great pictures and of the sweet children and of the building progress. Adam was able to get a lot of footage of the Building Structures and the land.
Today was the third anniversary of Vernon's dad's death. He said it was tough, but God did a great work through this. Vernon said as the children told stories of how they became orphaned, he was able to tell them what today was and that he was grieving. He said they immediately had a deep connection and that the children really opened up to him. To God be the Glory.
Hopefully in the next couple of days they will be able to get the computer problems figured out. If not they said they are going to try while they are in Uganda.
Tomorrow they head for Lura again.
Thank you for your prayers!

Technical Difficulties

So the boys are experiencing some technical difficulties. It seems as though our sweet German missionary friends who work at the same compound in Yei, have turned the computers to "German mode" so they are not able to understand Google and Blogger until they have them change them back to English! So for now I (Amber) am updating with what is going on.
Today they flew into Sudan. It was a great flight with little delays. They made it to our home and got settled. They met up with Issac and had a great visit with him. They sent me a video to upload but it was the wrong format so stay tuned because Adam is reformatting it and sending it to me again! He said it is just a rough clip from it.
Tomorrow they will be traveling to Lura, the home of the second orphanage. They are excited about meeting all the children and celebrating with them. They will stay there for a couple days. Please pray for their travel to Lura, it is not exactly the safest roads to travel.
Thank you for reading and for pray! Check back for the video!

Good and Bad

Hey Everyone!
This morning Adam and I were able to have some great conversations with our guy on the ground in Uganda (Victor). Are talks were based in theology. I always love talking theology with Victor. He has an incredible mind! He wants to come and study business and international leadeship in the States...I guess I have another thing to work on when I get back.
This afternoon we were unable to meet with the Muslims. We were disappointed at first, but we have arranged to meet them on Sunday for the whole day. It seems like we were delayed because they wanted to get some more well known leaders for our discussions. I am totally fine with that and would love for it to be as fruitful as possible. Please pray this time will be great and that our dialogue will glorify Jesus.
We take off for Sudan tomorrow. In the afternoon we are planning on interviewing Isaac (the orphan who is the burn victim). We will also try to have a short video clip of this interview up on the blog by tomorrow night.
Please continue to pray for us and thanks for all the encouragement.

Love Truth

Great News

Hey Everyone!
We had a great day. We attended church at Kampala Pentecostal. It is the home of the "Watoto Children" (it is a choir that comes to many places in the US to raise money).
After church we went to the Mosque. It was an incredible time. We were able to speak with an Imam and a Sheikh. We have set up a time tomorrow in order to meet. Today we discussed the importance of having communication in order to talk through Truth. I spoke with them and asked if they would show us around the Mosque tomorrow and discuss how they have arrived at Islam being the ultimate truth. I told them Adam had not been in a Mosque and I thought it was important for them to tell him first hand about the beliefs of Islam.
We were also able to establish that we do not worship the same God and yet this is the ultimate reason to have loving dialogue. I told them it would be unkind and sadistic to put their arm around me a smile, while believeing I was goign to hell. I also told them it would be terrible for me to do the same thing. They were excited to talk and are looking forward to meeting tomorrow.
Please pray for us. The names of the men we talked with are Imam Muhammad and Sheikh Genza. Please pray for open doors. The Lord has allowed a delay in getting to Sudan for a reason. Please pray we would be bold in sharing the love of Jesus.
I will try to post more tomorrow.

Love Truth

New Schedule

Hey Everyone!
The new schedule is as follows:
Friday:Travel
Saturday: Arrive Uganda, rest, have some meetings
Sunday: Go to church and continue meetings
Monday: Go to the Mosque
Tuesday: Travel into Sudan, Interview Isaac (the orphan who is getting surgery in Kenya)
Wednesday: Travel to Lura (the second orphanage), get pictures and video of the orphans.
Thursday: Same as Wed.
Friday: Travel to Morobo, interview Esther (the orphan who will have surgery done in the States), hang out with the orphans.
Saturday: Travel to Uganda, meet with some Muslims
Sunday: Go to church, meet with some Muslims
Monday: Start the travel back home

We are not going to have the big governmental opening this time. At first it was disappointing, but I believe the Lord is delaying this in order that Adam and I have more time with Muslims in Uganda. Please pray for our time. I have been a little anxious today for some reason so please pray that the Lord calms my soul in Him. Please pray that Adam and I will not be satisfied in anything other than the Lord. I was reading in Ps. 78 this morning and one of the warnings was that the people of God were allowed to be satisfied with what they wanted (physical food), but they were seeking a false satisfaction. I pray the Lord will focus us all on what truly satisfies, which is mainly Him!

I will update again in a couple of days. Thank you all for praying!

Change, Change, Change

Hey Everyone!
One thing that is learned when being involved in missions in Africa is constant changes. I will be arriving in Sudan a day later than expected, yet this will allow me to visit with some Muslims in Uganda on the way to Sudan. I was only going to be able to meet with them after, but now I have been praying for new and exciting doors to open for us. Please continue to pray for us on this issue.

The meetings today were incredible! We were able to make progress on some pastor training ideas along with some great strides on the orphanages. I would type more, but it is about 11:30 P.M. and if you know me well your first reaction would be, "I can't believe that he has actually spelled a single word correctly, let alone forming sentences." For this reason I think it would be better for me to write in omore detail tomorrow.

I love you all so much and appreciate your prayers.

Love Truth

Another Journey Begins

Today Vernon leaves on another journey. On his way to Sudan he will be stopping in London for some meetings. SGF, Basic Ministries and EPC are having a strategy meeting to make sure we are all on the same page and that it is exactly where EPC wants to be heading. (EPC is the local Sudanese Church we partner with) After the meetings in London, Adam will meet him and they will fly to Uganda. While in Uganda they will try to make some arrangements with the Islamic leaders to meet up with them on their way back through. They will then head up to Sudan. While in Sudan they will be doing several things. First of all, they will be attending the official opening of the second orphanage in Lura, Sudan. Vernon will be giving a speech. They will then go to Bor, Sudan which is the site of the third orphanage. The final part of this time will include getting the video biographies of two orphans who we are trying to help. The orphans names are Isaac and Esther. They both need surgery. Isaac will get his surgery in Kenya, while our goal for Esther is that she is able to come to the States. As they travel home, the hope is that they will stop in Uganda and continue to dialog with the Islamic leaders.

We are excited about all that is going to be taking place over the next couple of weeks.

If you would, please join us in prayer.

• Pray for traveling mercies. Pray for ease in airport transitions and hotel stays.


• Pray that while in London they are able to be efficient with their meetings so that they can also go share the gospel in the city.


• Pray for Adam as he connects with Vernon in London.


• Pray for open doors with Muslims


• Pray for boldness to present the gospel and that they would be able to articulate it in a way whomever they are speaking to can understand it.


• Pray for Vernon as he prepares for the speech in Lura. Many Sudanese leaders will be attending this ceremony. Pray for their hearts to be open to the Gospel.

That's all for now! thanks so much for keeping up with our Journey!