December 2009

Prayer Requests for the Webers:
Please pray for God’s provision and for our support team to grow.
The Lord has really impressed on our hearts that our part is to share about New Hope and the rest is His department. Please pray for opportunities to tell others about what the Lord is doing in and through New Hope Uganda.
We are still hovering at 25% of our support goal. Please consider supporting us on a monthly basis. Our monthly need is for an additional 120 units of $25/month. (1 unit = $25, 2 units = $50.00, 3 units = $75.00 etc.)

Many of you, our friends have asked the question: When are we leaving for Uganda? The simple response is when God has supplied and raised the required support, and when that support has come in consistently for 3 months. We continue to pray for opportunities to share the mission of New Hope and the passion and calling that God has placed on our hearts to serve with New Hope Uganda and meet the needs of “the orphan and widow in their distress” (James 1:27). If you would like to learn more about New Hope Uganda and our ministry, please contact us at tjweber6@msn.com or call us at (719) 502-5583. You can also visit our blog . We would like to encourage those of you who have been praying and thinking about supporting us, to contribute to God’s work in Uganda. In Paul's letter to the Philippians, there is a clear depiction of the early missionaries dependence on the church to support the work of those who are called. Some of us are called to pray, others to encourage, still others to go, and other to send. We have felt God’s call, but without the prayers, encouragement, and financial support from the church how can we go? Please consider partnering with us in some way to fulfill God’s plan to help the children of Uganda. For those of you who are already participating in sending and supporting us in this calling, we sincerely appreciate and thank you for all that you do. May the God of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you and your families now and in this next year. We can’t wait to see what God has planned for us in 2010.

Musana Camps in Gaba, Uganda

View of camp and lake Victoria









Setting up the tents. These tents will be placed upon concrete slabs once the pads are poured.







Katie with her crew taking down a rather large ant hill.









Jen and Renee painting new shower quarters.








Jen and Katie will be at the Musana Camps until this Saturday, when they return (7 hr drive) back to New Hope in Kasana. Then they will have a couple of days in Kasana to be with the children, before they go off for the next part of the mission trip. Please pray that God presence will go with them, where ever they go.

"Why are you still praying?"

Recently, I read through Exodus 14. The scene is this: Pharaoh's army is at the Israelite's heels, the people are panicking, and Moses finally speaks up: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today...the LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (vs. 13-14)
An inspiring, brief speech (which is my favorite kind). But then, Moses must have gone back to praying something like, "Oh Lord, I just told all these people you are going to save them. So, any time now, if ya don't mind. We're waiting on you."
I love the way God responds in the next verse: "Why are you still crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water . . ." In other words, God answered, "Moses, you dummy! What are you still praying about? Take action! I'll show up, trust me!"
I think that God requires us to take action before he shows up sometimes because it takes more faith. Could you imagine what an idiot you'd feel like if thousands of people were watching you to lead them to safety, you held out your hand, and then nothing happened? And yet, God told Moses to take the risk, with only a promise to rely on.
In the book, "Wild Goose Chase" (which I highly recommend), Mark Batterson says this in reference to Joshua 3:9-13 (this passage tells the story of when the Israelites are on their way to the Promised Land, and God tells the priests to step into the river: "You know why some of us have never seen God part a river? Because out feet are still firmly planted on dry ground. We're waiting on God while God is waiting on us!"
There is a time for everything:
A time for waiting, and a time for pursuing.
A time for silence, and a time for boldness.
A time for praying, and a time for worship and faith through action.

Jen and Kate are Uganda bound!

We can't believe the time for our mission trip to Uganda with Mountain Springs Church is here! Katie and I leave this Wednesday, June 3rd. Please pray for our safety and our effectiveness while we are in Uganda. Please pray for Tom, Emily, Josiah and Lydia. This is the longest amount of time I have ever been away from them. We will have very little, if any, opportunity to communicate back to the U.S. but the church will send out updates (see below).

If you would like updates on the team going to Uganda this summer, you can subscribe to:
uganda09-subscribe@elevateonline.com , and follow the prompts.

Thank you, in advance, for your prayers on our behalf!

In Christ's Strength,
Jen

Isn't She Lovely!... And Silly!

Emily is graduating! Crazy! We could have swore it was just a minute ago she was born. Time really does fly. It is a bitter-sweet time for us, bitter because Emily is no longer my little girl who needs me all the time, but sweet because she has grown into such a beautiful, woman of God. We are so proud of her and we can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her next!
Here are a few pictures of our beautiful, funny, smart, deep daughter.

Lose it to Find it!

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39

Recently, I started reading a book to my children that I read a few years ago called, “In the Meantime”, by Rob Brendle. It is an excellent book about hearing God’s calling, and waiting with intentionality, on God’s timing to fully live into that calling. Because of circumstances in our lives this book is speaking to me in ways it didn’t the first time I read it.
Yesterday, as we were reading, this phrase jumped off the page at me: “Embrace the losing season as much as you do the finding season. Maybe embrace it more because the degree to which we authentically lose determines the degree to which we authentically find.”
David from the Old Testament is a great example of waiting well. In I Samuel 16 David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel, then he took his shepherd’s staff and harp, and went back to his father’s sheep. Later, David is called upon to sooth Saul’s demons by playing his harp. The king liked David and put him in charge of his armor. God planted the dream of being king to Israel, and then made him servant to Saul. David went back and forth, taking care of his father’s sheep and serving King Saul. He was losing himself in service to his father and to the king. David humbly served, pondering the dream of being king in his heart while he gave his life away to serve others. This was the training ground to be a great king, and David humbly submitted to God’s season of losing his life to find it. He became the greatest king of Israel and a man after God’s own heart.
I have been in a losing season for a few years, and it hasn’t always been pretty, but I want to embrace it like King David. The hope of the season of finding is to come. This is the training ground Jesus has chosen for me for my future. When I see my Savior face to face, I want Him to say, “You are a woman after my own heart, well done!”

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Mark 16:15

After a long delay, we are finally released and blessed by our church to start support raising! Tom and I had a meeting with two of the pastors from our church and they agree, it is time for us to move forward, toward Uganda. We are so pleased and so ready to get to New Hope Uganda.
Please pray for us as we make plans. We are praying about our next steps in this process. We appreciate your prayers and your support, dear friends.

In Christ's Mighty Name and in His Power,
Jen for the Webers

Psalm 50:10 "...for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."

I have such a good story to share! Our God really loves us and He really does provide!

Okay, so here goes... Yesterday, I was on my way to Costco and Tom called me on the phone. He was home for lunch and had just gotten the mail. He said, "Who is Mary (last name)?"

I tried to put a face with that name and I couldn't think of anyone. Naturally, I asked, "Why?"

We received a card in the mail from Mary, thanking us for our kindness when her mother died. Both of us racked our brains to remember who this nice lady might be. Not only did Mary send us a beautiful card, she sent a check, a big check, for $500!. She said, "Please use this for your mission, in memory of our mother."
Finally, I remembered who Mary is. She is the mother of my sister's friend who we helped about a month ago. Mary's mother had passed away and they needed to clean out her apartment. My sister's friend called and asked for help and we gladly volunteered. Tom and I showed up but there was a mix up and we didn't connect, so we went home. A few hours later, while we were on our way to church, Mary's daughter called and asked if we were still coming to help. We took a vote and we all agreed, we should lend a hand instead of going to church. It was such a fun evening. The Weber kids were great and we were joking around as we worked. We got our reward because we had such a fun time together, and it felt good to help someone.

Here is the lesson: You can't out-give God!!
We gave a few hours of our time but Our God provided according to His glorious riches! Jesus is making our monthly payments for our short term trip to Uganda this summer.
Jen

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.”

The Lord has placed this dream in us to serve Him, by caring for the children of Uganda. Yet we come up against opposition. These Corinthians verses state how we feel some days; pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, abandoned and struck down. But when we feel like we are living these painful words we must remember the other side. We are not crushed, abandoned and we will not be destroyed. Our victory will come. We will fight the good fight and not give up just because it is hard.
His words and this dream of serving Him in Africa are fire in our hearts, and “a fire shut up in our bones” of which we are “weary of holding it in.” We must press on because of the love the Lord has placed in us for His precious children, who are forgotten by the world, yet are valued as precious jewels to our Father in heaven.
Our hearts are passionate to be a part of God’s healing in children without hope. The Lord is working mightily in Uganda, where He is giving a “New Hope”. We know that God has called us to be a part of His healing in Uganda, and we will “run and not grow weary and we will walk and not grow faint,” as we pursue what the Lord has burned into our souls.
Isaiah 6:8 says “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’
“Then I said, ‘Here am I, send me!’”
In Christ's Strength,
Jen for the Webers