ECLEA: Jonathan leaving for Uganda on Friday

Dear Friends and Supporters,

After the longest home stay I have had in 8 1/2 years, I am leaving on Friday for three weeks in Uganda. The first week I will be at the Masindi-Kitara Diocese of the Church of Uganda (Bishop George Kasangaki), the second week at Mukono, hosted by Bishop Stephen Sempala, and the third week in Kampala teaching at the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology.

From a personal standpoint, this has been a very important home stay: most importantly, two of my sons were married to wonderful young women whom we love very much. I was able to preach several times and get a number of ECLEA-related matters done.

Please pray for this trip and for my pastor, Wade Hetrick, and his wife, Annette. They were planning on coming to Uganda with me, but Wade underwent an emergency appendectomy recently and his ability to come to Uganda is up in the air at this point. I will be able to change the program from Biblical Marriage & Parenting, which Wade and Annette were going to lead in both Masindi and Mukono, to Biblical Interpretation (which I also will be teaching in Kampala), but I know that if they end up not being able to come it would be a disappointment.

In any event, please hold them and this trip up in prayer, and I will endeavor to send you a report from the field while I am in Uganda (as well as a report upon my return). God bless you, Jonathan

PS: There will have to be a temperature adjustment. As I write this it is -4F (-20C), which I like, but it will be considerably warmer in Uganda!

Rev 15:2-14-"Victory"

I just posted on the "Sermons" page of the ECLEA website (http://www.eclea.net/sermons.html#revelation) the sermon I preached yesterday at Community Church. The passage is Rev 15:2-4 and the title of the sermon is "Victory."  

In symbolic form, the Bible tells us the "end of the story," i.e., that God is working all things out for good for those who are Christ's. This passage reassures those who are faithful to Christ that defeats now are only apparent, are only at the surface level, and are only temporary. Ultimately, the real victors are those who remain faithful to Christ.

The sermon is is both audio and PDF formats and may be downloaded for free. Enjoy.

Rev 6:1-17-God and Evil

I just posted on the "Sermons" page of the ECLEA website the sermon I preached yesterday on Rev 6:1-17 entitled "God and Evil." It deals with the important issue the world faces and we face as individuals, namely, the existence of radical evil in the world and God's relationship with it.

Many people cite the presence of such evil as a reason why they don't believe in the God of the Bible, but such an objection is not valid. Indeed, paradoxically, the recognition that there is universal and objective evil itself is evidence that God does exist and that he is good.

The sermon (both audio and PDF) is available at: http://www.eclea.net/sermons.html#revelation.

Why ECLEA is so valuable

Happy New Year everyone!

I just received an email from Frederic Harerimana, ECLEA's national coordinator in Burundi. In his email, Frederic attached a report of Pastor Nkengurutse Emmanuel of the Burundi Anglican Church. Pastor Nkengurutse has attended three ECLEA training sessions taught by ECLEA's Burundi partner, Rema Ministries. He outlines the eye-opening nature of what he has learned.

You can read pastor Nkengurutse's report on the "News" page of the ECLEA website (http://www.eclea.net/news.html).

A nice commendation

I just received an email from a missionary teacher who works in West Africa. Here is what he said:

"I am reading through your MINTS course on Expository Preaching.  I have read through the first two lessons. You are to be commended on a job well done so far.  I look forward to reading the rest of the course. I am planning to use your course in Ghana the end of Jan and beginning of Feb. Keep up the good work."

The Expository Preaching course book is on the "ECLEA Courses" page of the ECLEA website (http://www.eclea.net/courses.html). It may be downloaded and used for free.

Additionally, I preach on a fairly regular basis at Community Church, Appleton, WI. I post both the audio and written sermons on the "Sermons" page of the ECLEA website (http://www.eclea.net/sermons.html) in order to bot illustrate thee principles I discuss in Expository Preaching and to expound a variety of biblical passages. Those sermons also may be downloaded for free. Enjoy! (And have a joyous New Year.)

The situation in Burundi

Yesterday I received the following email from Felibien Ndintore, director of Rema Ministries in Bujumbura, Burundi. (Rema Ministries is ECLEA's partner and "feet on the ground" in Burundi):

Following the degradation of the security situation since very early this morning, I would like to let you know that our office, like many other work places in the capital Bujumbura, has remained closed this Friday and this has a negative incidence on meeting deadlines for the ongoing projects. Should this be the case with you, please do bear with us. I would however, like to assure you that RM will try its level best to minimize the side effects this might have on the joint projects.

What happened? While it is clear to everybody present at Bujumbura at this time that the situation is bad enough, very few are able to precisely give reliable accounts of what happened and is still happening. Actually many people have been coerced to remain in their respective homes following heavy fighting that started very early in the morning. We were woken up by heavy shootings, spread across the capital city and without interruption for most of the time. This was probably the heaviest fighting since the attacks started early this year following the contestation, by one group, and support, by another group, of the third term by President Pierre Nkurunziza.

As I write this email at 4:30, there are still sporadic shootings in some areas including Nyakabiga, 2.5 miles away from RM’s office. The spokesman of the army confirmed the attack and stated that 12 persons died and 20 arrested. Unverified sources reveal heavier human loss.

With hope that the situation will soon return to normal, I sincerely thank you for your support. Felibienm, Rema Ministries’ Director

Please pray for the good people of Burundi.

ECLEA 2015 Year-End Report

I have just posted my 2015 year-end report for ECLEA on the "News" page of the ECLEA website: http://www.eclea.net/news.html.

Please check it out to see a summary of the exciting things that have been happening in East Africa as ECLEA works to build Christ's kingdom through equipping the East African church leaders.