March 2012
Joshua Nations Schools This Month: Northern Uganda South Sudan India Training More Leaders New Initiatives and Needs
The Heart of Jesus Jesus died to redeem the lives of the lost from darkness to spiritual light, to separate their souls to Him, and to minister to the physical man. We do well with the spiritual part, work with the sanctifying graces, but many times neglect the physical part. These are the hurting and diseased bodies, the poor and castaways that litter the landscape of the country sides and the cities of the world in incredible pain and suffering. Our hearts are burdened by what we have seen and felt in Northern Uganda, South Sudan and India. Therefore we are undertaking a greater holistic approach through Joshua Nations. A couple of these are in this newsletter.
4,351 Schools in 35 Nations 77,500 Students, 8,399 Graduates Dear Joshua Nations Partner, Â Northern Uganda Lana and I have returned from Northern Uganda having spent time with our team host, Diane Brask. We have been around the world many times over, but I do not know of a time when our hearts have been so profoundly broken, troubled or moved as they have been by this trip. We had heard about the army of children forced to serve Joseph Kony, a madman driven by Satan, but nothing could have prepared our hearts for the horrors we experienced. Our spirits and our emotions will be affected for a long time! We heard stories of leaders who have had their loved ones butchered with machetes. We listened in gutwrenching anguish about the nine to twelve-year-olds who were forced to eat the cooked body parts of their friends. This was to instill fear into them from Kony's rebel army so they would join the rebels in their systematic reign of terror, torture and murder of the Ugandans. Many of these kids were also made to kill their parents. Lives, families, entire communities have been massacred. These are just a few of the barbaric acts committed on the people of Northern Uganda.
Even under such cruel and unthinkable circumstances, we still experienced the manifested glory of God's presence. One day I was teaching a group of students under the shade of a tree. Before I began teaching, their teacher instructed them to get their notepads from their rooms, and that is when I saw him: a student who was lame (non-functioning legs) dropped off his chair and "scurried" across the ground on his white, calloused knees to get his notepad. He then "scuffled back," pulled himself up onto his chair, and with a huge smile began to take notes. Personal tragedy had not taken away this man’s joy for his Heavenly Father. Pray for the suffering of the nations and for Jesus to stir all of our hearts toward those for whom He died.
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Ugandan students, man with crippled legs
Please send your tax deductible gifts to Joshua Nations Dr. Russ & Lana Frase P. O. Box 745728 ~ Arvada, CO 80006-5728 ~ U.S.A. ~ 303.940.6407 www.JoshuaNations.org ~ rlfrase@joshuanations.org