Changes In Latitude........

Roughly five months ago, we wrote a blog post about the calling God had placed on our family to move overseas to minister to and serve the incredible people of Uganda.  You can read that post here.  At that time, we didn't know a whole lot of details, just that God was telling us to go.  He didn't reveal the when, where, and how immediately, but we were okay with that.  We just committed to taking small steps of obedience one at a time. 

Since then, God has been faithful to open doors and to close doors, and we have praised Him for both.  So after much prayer and fasting, and seeking God's Face, it is our incredible privilege to announce that we have gone on staff as full time missionaries with Four Corners Ministries.

Four Corners is based out of Opelika, AL. Our mission is this:  “Four Corners Ministries is focused on sharing the Gospel of Christ and demonstrating His love through mission efforts in Uganda and South Sudan.  We seek to bring hope through evangelism, discipleship, orphan care, and community health projects.  Our passion is for God to be glorified as we serve others, so that they may know Christ and be comforted in their suffering.”

Our family will be serving with two other missionary families in Gulu, Uganda.  Gulu is in northern Uganda approximately 75 miles from the South Sudan border.  We will be working among the Acholi people group. 

For the last 25 years, Gulu has been at the heart of a brutal civil war between Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government forces.  An old African proverb says "When two elephants fight, the grass beneath is trampled."  In no other place has this proverb been more evident.  Over two decades of brutal war between these two "elephants" has decimated innocent Acholi lives in northern Uganda.  In addition to thousands and thousands slaughtered by both the LRA and Ugandan forces, northern Uganda's infrastructure was also crushed.  Companies and entire industries pulled out of northern Uganda due to fear of the rebel army.  (At one time, in the not so distant past, northern Uganda was among the most dangerous places on earth.)  This, in turn, left the economy devastated and made basic needs such as sanitation, police protection, and medical help vastly lacking, and in most cases, non-existent. 

Heavy fighting died down in 2008, and since then most of the of LRA has disbanded and defected, but the Acholi people will feel the effects of this war for decades to come.  To say there is a feeling of hopelessness is an understatement.  Poverty is rampant and unemployment is around 80%.  That, however, is not the most desperate part of their situation. 

Northern Uganda is a very spiritually dark place.  Most Acholi claim to be Christian, but by saying they are "Christian" simply means they are NOT Muslim.  The primary religion among the Acholi is Roman Catholicism.   Most of the "Christians" still practice some form of tribal, animistic, or ancestral worship, and witchcraft is VERY rampant.  Less than 2% of Acholi are Evangelical Christian.  There is a vast lostness in northern Uganda and a need to make Christ known.

Downtown Gulu

The market in Gulu

Heavy rains downtown

This is where our family is going.  And we are going with the only lasting hope that we have to offer:  Jesus Christ.  Nothing else can remedy the situation among the Acholi.  Nothing.  Period. 


What will we be doing?  Well, our primary focus will be ministering at a community development project and comprehensive children's village called Abaana's Hope.  Abaana's Hope is a 100 acre piece of property about 25 kilometers outside of Gulu.  It is truly "in the bush.”  Nothing anywhere around.  Our jobs at Abaana's Hope will range from evangelism and discipleship to orphan care to basic medical care, and a little of everything in between.  One of our team members, currently serving in Gulu, said the best answer to give when asked what we would be doing is "God stuff.”  Above all, we will seek to glorify God in everything that we undertake.



Newly constructed medical clinic at Abaana's Hope

Constructing the Church at Abaana's Hope

We are looking at a departure date of sometime next summer.  We would like for it to be June or July of 2015, but we know that God is sovereign and we won't get there one second before or after He has ordained us to.  We still have a house to sell and things to pay off.  We nearly have the details of our budget worked out and will begin to raise support very soon.  We will release details on that in the next few weeks. 

That's about it for now.  God has revealed the "where" and "who" to serve, but we still have a lot of unknowns.  We are taking the same approach as always: taking the small steps and letting God open doors and provide as He sees fit.  HE'S ALWAYS FAITHFUL. 

So, if you have stayed with me long enough in this post, what do we need you to do?  That is a very easy answer: Pray.  We ask that you go before the sovereign God of the universe on our behalf.  We ask that you pray as our family begins the long road to Gulu.  We ask that you pray all logistical details to fall into place.  We ask that you pray for our spiritual growth and maturity.  We ask that you pray and see if God would lead you to partner with us financially.  Again, we will have more details soon on how you can do that.  But above all, partner with us in prayer. 

We would be humbled if you would commit to praying for our family daily as we begin this new journey.  I will say this a million times, I'm sure, but we would rather have someone partner with us that is committed to getting on his or her face daily before God on behalf of our family than someone who gives us $200/month but never thinks about us in prayer.  Now, if you would like to get on your face daily before God AND give $200/month, that would be fantastic......but I digress!  (Kidding.......well, not really.)

Prayerfully, we will be posting much more often so those that want to can walk through this journey with us.  We know that it will definitely not be easy.  But Jesus never said following Him to the ends of the earth would be (as a matter of fact, He said quite the opposite).  However, there are two things we know beyond a shadow of a doubt.  One, He will ALWAYS be with us and will not abandon us for a split second.  And two, it will be totally worth it.  We love you all.


In Him,

The Moody Family