Erica Mbasan's Blog

When God is too Late

 

“The harvest is past,

  the summer has ended,

  and we are not saved.” – Jeremiah 8:20

“Now Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’” – John 11:21

 

I spent a lot of time thinking that I somehow missed something, because I was single longer than all of my family and friends. I had a failed engagement and I lived in such an obscure place, I thought that it was too late for me. I was looking at others, comparing myself, when I should have trusted God that His plans for me are unique and beautiful.

 

Have you ever thought that you must have missed the bus? Maybe all of your friends were married and you were “left behind.” Maybe children come easily for some of your loved ones while you and your spouse have cried, struggled, and lost hope over the years. Maybe your prodigal child seems like they will never come back to the Lord, and you feel like there is no more hope.

Maybe, just maybe, we have at some point in our lives (or multiple times), wondered why God was ignoring your prayers or taking too long in His purposes.

We thought God would act, we thought He would swoop in and intervene; but time goes by and we see no answer. Sometimes years or decades pass and we think God has forgotten about us; or maybe we heard Him wrong; or we have done something wrong to mess up His plans.

 

We don’t understand God’s ways or His timing.

 

Sometimes we think we do, and then we are left disappointed, feeling abandoned. That is how Abraham must have felt (you can read his story in Genesis chapters 12-25.). God gave him a promise that he was going to be the Father of a great nation, and even of many nations. His wife was going to give birth to a son. The problem? They were both way too old. Sarah his wife was barren. Everything pointed to God being too late. After God made the promise, years went by. They thought they should “help” God fulfill His promises and ended up making a mess. They lost sight and they lost hope.

Jesus had a friend named Lazarus. When Lazarus was deathly ill, Jesus delayed in coming to visit his friend. Lazarus died, and his sister Martha basically told Jesus: God, You’re too late. You should have come sooner. Now there’s no hope.

Over and over we see this in the Word of God. God’s people get tired of waiting, thinking God was too late. In the case of Abraham, God would fulfill His promise and show His sovereign power. In the case of Lazarus as well, God would show His power over life and death and would resurrect his friend from the grave.

Time and again, God is faithful…

 

…just not always in the way, or in the timing, that we expect. God’s plans are different from ours. Our expectations are sometimes smaller than what God actually desires to do in our lives. He allows us to go through times of waiting in order to develop our faith and prepare us for what’s ahead.

Don’t worry, He hears your prayers. He hasn’t forgotten about you. He has a bigger plan than you know.

 

He is not always going to give us what we want, but He will give us what is best. He is our Heavenly Father who knows what we need before we ask Him.

Keep trusting in Him. He is never late.

 

What do you think?

  In what ways has God kept you waiting?

As you look back on your life and your walk with the Lord, can you see how God used those times to strengthen and prepare you for what was ahead?

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post When God is too Late appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

 

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials

 

How do we feel when we are going through storms?

 

Last Friday, my husband Robb had to drive two hours away (to a town called Gulu) to get something repaired for his business. They are doing construction on the dirt roads, grating and eventually paving them. It had recently rained and they poured the slippery top soil onto the road. He slid off the road and the car flipped over a small cliff and was stuck. The windshield was cracked, the side mirror came off, the body of the car was crushed in various places.

 

 

Looking at the pictures, it was obvious that at the very least Robb should have been severely injured ¾ And yet, there was not a scratch on his body.

 

At the time, though, I didn’t realize how serious it was. I just knew that he was stuck on the side of the road and we needed to call a tow truck. It’s not like the US, where this is easier to do and they are plentiful.

 

When I came back from the village, I made phone calls to friends and eventually got a tow truck to go meet him and tow him to Gulu town. After several hours, he arrived and was able to begin filing a police report.

 

 

By the time he finished that it was after 10:00 pm, and so he stayed the night at the training center of friends of ours. The next day he waited for the traffic policeman in vain. The man said he was coming to the office, but in fact he wasn’t even working or around until the next Tuesday.

 

After wading through the corruption and frustration, Robb took a bus back to Kitgum on Saturday night, knowing he would have to return in a few days. He was exhausted and shaken up, but he was alive.

 

 

The truck he was driving belongs to friends of ours who are on furlough in the US; we have been using it until they come back. Now the truck needs to be fixed, the police report needs to be settled (somehow finding a way to do that without paying any bribes), and we have a team of visitors coming this week.

 

Robb went back to Gulu by bus on Tuesday morning to meet with the police. After waiting for several hours, there was an officer willing to go to the car with him for inspection. Then he realized- he forgot the keys to the truck in Kitgum. Yikes! The next bus leaving Kitgum wouldn’t depart until 5:00 pm and would arrive around 7-8 pm, so I decided that I had to drive the ministry car to Gulu to bring him the keys. My friend Angela came with me, and God protected us on the road.

 

We got there and then turned around and drove back. It’s been a tiring week, with all of this plus ministry and preparing for a team to come. We are so excited for the visitors and know it will be a refreshing time! But all of this together equals a recipe for exhaustion and stress.

 

It seems like when it rains, it always pours.

 

There’s never a steady flow of a little bit of good and a little bit of trials. Not here in Northern Uganda.

 

There are tsunami-type trials that seem to come with torrential downpours and damaging winds that knock the wind out of you and cause you to fall on your face. Can anyone relate?

 

We can easily become overwhelmed in the midst of trials and storms. We can look at all of the negative, all of the stress, and allow it to derail and destroy us. OR- we can look to God.

 

We can trust that He allows things in our lives for a reason.

 

His hand protects us at the same time from so much. (I certainly am in awe of God’s protection upon Robb and I, knowing that He sent angels to hold him up and save his life!!)

 

How can we count it all joy when we fall into trials? How can we have His peace through the storms?

 

Because we know that God is on His Throne. He is still in control. Nothing slips by Him.

 

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

 

He is allowing the trials to build up our character. We can have HOPE that He will do a work through this storm that we are going through. He sees what we go through, He cares, He uses it.

 

We can be confident that our loving Daddy is doing something good in our lives ¾ and something good through us ¾ as a result of the trials He allows us to pass through. We also know that He only allows a certain extent, and then He puts up His hand. He will not allow more than what we can bear in His strength, and what He will use to accomplish His good purposes in our lives.

 

Hang on through the storms, and have joy. Our God is on the move!

 

I know that is easier said than done when your world is ripped from you and everything is shaken. It takes faith; faith in the great God who has proven Himself again and again, who has not left us alone but Has sent His Spirit and given us His Word and other believers to lean on during such times.

 

What about you? What things has God taught you through the storms that you have passed through? How has He shown Himself faithful on your behalf?

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Count It All Joy appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” Romans 4:17b

 

 

 

Are you a coward? Or are you fearless?

 

I am naturally a coward. Head in the sand, don’t want to stand up, just want everyone to be happy and life to be comfortable. God has a sense of humor, calling people like me. He doesn’t let us stay the way we are. He empowers us for so much more. It makes me think of Gideon, one of the judges who God raised up to deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies (Judges 6-7).

 

Gideon was a wuss.

 

He was hiding from the Midianites grinding wheat and trying to keep to himself. (His head was- in the wheat.

 

“For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

 

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

 

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

 

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

 

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”   Psalm 139:13-18a

 

“ The Lord your God in your midst,

The Mighty One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

 

 

When I first moved to Kitgum Uganda, I helped coordinate a sponsorship program and went several times a week to a school for the disabled. There were many children disabled here due to disease, war, and lack of nutrition. I loved spending time with them. They were the sweetest, most affectionate and appreciative children. Deaf, blind, physically handicapped, and mentally challenged beauties were all lumped together.

 

In this culture, being disabled means that there is a curse on your family. If there is something about you that is not “normal,” you are less valuable and not worth their time. A lot of women go through shame when they have children with physical or mental problems. They are encouraged to loosely tie their small children on their backs, then go to the nearest river to wash clothing and “accidentally” let them fall into the water and drown. They believe that their blood will not be on their hands, so it will be okay to do that. (This sounds perhaps very barbaric to your western mind, and indeed it is; but with the slaughter of the unborn in the west, are we any different?) It is a despicable practice. Those who keep their children go through years of hardship, sometimes being rejected by their peers or clan members.

 

What a blessing this school was, giving them a chance at life and education.

 

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When Jesus walked this earth, the culture was similar. There were certain people that others would not touch or come close to. They had to walk around saying “unclean” to make sure they didn’t contaminate anyone else.

 

Jesus, however, is no slave to culture.

 

He is the Creator of the supposedly unclean and those who are deemed mistakes. But God doesn’t make mistakes. He is perfect. His creation is flawless. Every person is worth more than we could ever imagine to the heart of God. In His eyes, we are all valuable of His touch. He takes no more stock in the prayers of kings and presidents than He does in those of the homeless bum who has lost his will to live.

 

He rejoices at the thought of you.

 

He sings over you. You’re not subpar, and you’re not a mistake.

 

Those children at the school for the disabled, the old widow in the US with no one who knows how much she has to offer, the person who has just been downsized from their job, or the one who just feels irrelevant or lost in this world: it is you He sees. It is you He desires to touch.

 

There’s not something wrong with you. He created You, fearfully and wonderfully. You are His masterpiece.

 

It doesn’t matter what culture or society or anyone else has to say, because God is the One who lovingly created You and cares about you. What He says is truth, and in light of that truth we can rest knowing who we are, and knowing whose we are.

 

Subpar? A mistake? No way!

 

I challenge you this week: Write down the two scripture verses at the beginning of this post, and find others if you’re able! Whenever you feel in any way inadequate or less than someone else, look at those scriptures and remember how very valuable and precious you are.

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Jesus Rejoices at the Thought of You appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

What is the value of your life?

 

Luke 12:7 – “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

 

I meet so many women in Uganda who are in polygamous relationships. They don’t understand their value. They think they are just wife #3, or a baby maker, a cook, a house cleaner.

 

Who they are is so much more than that.

 

And God’s design for their lives is drastically different (and better) than they have ever heard of. It breaks my heart to see their tears and hear them say that this is just the way it has always been.

 

The truth is, things don’t have to be the way they’ve always been. Especially when they are not the way God intended them to be.

 

I talk to women in the US as well who feel that they have a mundane, purposeless life. Working 9-5, making lunches, raising kids, trying not to lose their minds. They, too, don’t realize their great worth before God. They sometimes don’t understand how important those lunches are, how the little mouths they feed now can grow to conquer enemies and cure diseases and fight fires and be the next generation of the Church.

 

Those who have no children, the single, the widows, all have an opportunity to love someone.

 

Every day is an opportunity to be a light and an example, even in the littlest things.

 

In both of my worlds, I have met people who want to give up. They can’t seem to find the motivation to put one foot in front of the other for one more day. They believe the lies on the TV that says they’re not beautiful enough, or the hurt of their reality that they are just another wife that was purchased to take care of the home.

 

These are lies, plain and simple.

 

God sees each of us as valuable and beautiful. It is His opinion that matters. Period.

 

There is beauty in the day to day, in the seemingly mundane, in being loved by God.

 

He says His purposes for us are good and important. He created us for a reason. Don’t lose hope and don’t give up. You mean something to Him, a great deal in fact. He sees your struggles. Whether they are third world or first world issues, they matter to Him.

 

You matter.

 

Enough for His only Son to die. That is how much your life is worth to Him.

 

In Northern Uganda, people buy wives. They pay dowry to the families, which is sometimes exorbitant and takes them quite a long time to pay off. God, however, paid the ultimate sacrifice for us. Not so that we can be His slaves, but His daughters. His beloved.

 

Please don’t give up hope, and please understand how valuable and loved you are by the Only One whose opinion is truth.

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post The Value You Bring appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

Luke 21:1-4

 

“And He [Jesus] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

 

What do you do when someone with so little tries to honor you and give you so much?

 

This is often my experience with the women here in Uganda. Though they are poor, sickly and struggling to survive, they show love and kindness that humbles and amazes me.

 

Several weeks ago, our team went for a home visit. There’s an old widow named Manjiri who comes to our weekly Bible study fellowship faithfully. She broke her hip about a year ago and has been limping and walking a far distance with a wooden crutch to get to the fellowship. We brought her to a clinic in town to see if there’s anything that can be done, and they advised us that she needs to eat a lot of green vegetables and a balanced diet so that her bone can grow back well.

 

That’s easier said than done for her, but we help where we can and she works hard (even with a broken hip) planting crops to eat and sell.

 

When we went to visit her, we wanted to give her a solar audio Bible that a friend gave me to hand out. I thought she would be the perfect candidate, because her eyes are getting weaker and she is so hungry for the Word of God.

 

When we arrived there, we found about 10 children. She takes care of most of them alone in her home, and others were neighbors who were hanging around. We shared some encouragement with them and they responded well.

 

We learned that she has a husband who is alive but left her for another family seven years ago and has not supported her since. She has seven grandchildren living with her that she takes care of.

 

After sharing, we told her that we had to go to Bible study and she told us to wait a minute. She had a meal prepared for us to bless us. They gave us millet “bread” and chicken stew. They took one of their own chickens to bless us.

 

This old woman, who is a widow taking care of all of these children alone, went out of her way to bless us. She has nothing, but she gave me everything. On top of that, she brought me a whole basin full of tomatoes fresh from her garden.

 

To say I was humbled would be an understatement.

 

I wanted to say no and instead give her what I had, but it would have hurt her deeply. Instead, I prayed that God would multiply back to her more than she could even ask or imagine.

 

As it’s been said:

 

We can never out-give God.

 

This is something that He has shown me over and over again to be true. Interestingly, the most generous people I have met in my travels around the world are the poorest and most destitute. They give when it sometimes means they will go hungry or lack.

 

They give until it hurts.

 

I want to challenge the rest of us ladies to give generously and love deeply. Give until it hurts, give to those who minister to you and those who are in need around you. Do it secretly when possible. Do it for Jesus. (See Matthew 25:40.) God will bless you more than you can imagine.

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Giving When It Hurts appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

 

Last Sunday, as I was dropping the teenage girls off at Tender Trust Orphanage after our fellowship time, a man came and greeted me. He said he was Grace’s husband. Grace is a beautiful woman who lives near the orphanage. She attended a marriage training that my parents taught in early August. On that day, as my mom shared, Grace came forward crying and rededicating her life to the Lord. She shared a testimony of how people were so cruel to her and thought she was cursed but she sees that God loves her. She was deeply impacted by the love of God that day. I recently saw her in town, she was smiling from ear to ear and waving to me. When I met her husband on Sunday, he said that Grace wanted me to come over and talk to her children, to instruct them on how to stand firm in Christ. I said I would be honored and we would arrange a time that worked. I left and went home.

 

Early Wednesday morning, I got a call from my friend Lois who runs Tender Trust Orphanage. She said that last night at 9:00 pm there were gunshots nearby. At 11:30, someone came to her room to give her the terrible news that someone came and shot Grace and rode off on a motorbike. Grace died. No one knows why it happened. It is a senseless tragedy.

 

So many thoughts are swirling through my mind. First of all, I feel horror and sadness. What a wicked world where someone can be gunned down in front of her family like that, as she’s just outside of her house. No warning, she’s just gone. At the same time, I feel an incredible sense of comfort and relief that Grace rededicated her life to the Lord just recently. I’m so thankful for my mom being faithful to share what God put on her heart for the women, and how He used it to make an eternal difference already.

 

Thirdly, I feel a sense of urgency once again. Today is my mom’s birthday. I am so thankful for her life! She teaches women in New York, faithfully serving there. Because of that, God equipped her to come and share with the ladies here. If she had not been serving already, I am not sure if she would have been so free and comfortable with these women. The Bible says that we should be ready in season and out of season. We should be serving right where God has placed us. We never know if it will be someone’s last opportunity to hear about His love and forgiveness. Time is short for all of us, but for some it is even more so. We just never know.

 

We are all called to be missionaries. Not just those of us who are overseas. God has called you right where you are, for such a time as this. Share His Love, whether you are a stay-at-home mom pouring into your children, an executive surrounded by people with worldly ambitions, an accountant, or whatever it may be. Where you are is your mission field. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He can equip you to show His Love through your actions, your words, your smile and your prayers. It may make an eternal difference in someone’s life.

 

 

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Time is Not Guaranteed appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

Our Missionary God

 

Last month I shared just a few stories of people here and how our paths have crossed. I would like to share today about how God has used those people, God the missionary that is, to impact MY life.

 

Are you a naturally fearful person?

 

Do you struggle with stepping out and letting God use you for more than you feel you are able?

 

If so, you are in good company. I am that way, and I take so much comfort as I see in the Word that I am not alone. Everyone God used seemed to doubt their calling, question if God had made a mistake, argue with the Lord about how they were not qualified, and so on.

 

I’m so thankful that God continues to call us and equip us, despite the fact that we sometimes feel overwhelmed and perhaps run in the other direction. (See- Jonah.)

 

 

“I am NOT alone.”

 

 

As I have met the disabled, the displaced, the suicidal and the sick here- there has been one constant. They are all desperate for Jesus. They don’t need someone who thinks they have it all together.

 

They need one who has felt like “the least of these”, who has felt invisible and insignificant, who is DESPERATE for a touch from God on a daily basis- to share with them this Glorious news of salvation and minister practically to them through His Grace alone. I suppose that is what makes me qualified, the very fact that I am not.

 

“I know that I can’t do anything without His empowering, but empower He does.”

 

There have been days when I was so sick that I felt I couldn’t share or minister, but that’s exactly what God had me do at certain points. The end results are usually incredible and miraculous things happening. Why? I believe it is because the heart of the Missionary God is displayed, and all of the glory and honor go to Him.

 

I know, as well as most people around me, that I cannot do the work or anything else at the time. We are all left marveling at His faithfulness and love.

 

Through the years, I truly believe that God has taught me far more than I could teach anyone here. He has shown me His heart, love, and grace through the lives of the people here.

 

When I saw Mercy’s smile in the midst of her pain, God showed me that I can rejoice in all things.

 

When I saw Kenneth’s courage to come forward and confess Christ in the midst of the mockers (his friends), I was encouraged that I can step out more courageously as well.

 

As I watched James dying of Hepatitis and yet set free, after a simple pray and a drum, I marveled that God truly works all things together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)

 

Vincent’s life showcases God’s miraculous intervention and pleasure. Today he can do so many things that we never thought possible. He could have died or ended up crippled, but instead he is physically restored. What a reminder to me that God wants to do above and beyond what I could ask or hope for (Exceedingly and abundantly above!!- See Ephesians 3:20).

 

“He has shown me His heart, love, and grace through the lives of the people here.”

 

I would like to challenge each of you who reads this to think about some of the people that God has brought into your life. Maybe they are your mentors, maybe you are theirs. It could be a parent, a friend, or maybe a beggar on the streets.

 

How has God used them to impact your life?

Write out specific promises from the Word and traits of the Missionary God that you have learned from their lives. Please feel free to share below what God speaks to your heart!

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Our Missionary God appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” Matthew 25:40

 

I vaguely remember Mercy from 2009, but it was a year filled with so many memories (good and bad) that I can’t fully recall it. It was a year when I battled Typhoid and Malaria almost constantly, when I drank dirty water for months without knowing it and it messed up my immune system. Needless to say, it’s a bit of a blur.

 

When I saw Mercy’s face early this year, and her grandmother reminded me that we helped her those years back, it started to refresh my memory. Not about the specifics of the help we gave, but her beautiful face. It is unforgettable. She had not grown much at all in those 6 ½ years. While my life had progressed and changed drastically, precious little Mercy still lay down, helpless and completely dependent upon her grandmother for everything. It was hard to swallow and hard to see God’s mercy in such a situation. She was suffering, and on top of that trapped in her own mind, unable to speak out. She looked like she had so many stories to tell, but she wouldn’t be given the chance. And yet, in the midst of her suffering and isolation, God allowed our paths to cross once again.

 

I was not only heartbroken, but stirred to action. What would God have us to do in this situation? I pondered and prayed. Of course, something must be done. I thought of my friend Lois who takes care of orphans and disabled individuals. When she welcomed Mercy to stay at Tender Trust, I was ecstatic. She would not be lacking food or care. She would get help that could improve her situation and strengthen her weak muscles. Maybe no one else could hear Mercy’s cries, but God did. He heard and moved on her behalf.

 

I was reminded afresh of the faithful and tender love of God for the precious little children, “the least of these.” Her name was fitting. God reminded me of His mercy and unending love for all of us. This both humbled and encouraged me. Oh, Erica of little faith, I thought, why did I doubt the goodness of God? Why does God bless me so much to watch His hand of Love reaching out to the broken and lost? He delights to use me, despite my small faith and my own brokenness.

 

He is a good, good God and an ever-loving Father. Because He has touched Mercy’s life, and mine, and so many others I have had the privilege to witness, I will never be the same.

 

In what ways has the mercy of God impacted your life? I would love to hear from you!

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

The post Mercy appeared first on Erica Mbasan.

 

I warmly greet you from Kitgum, Uganda. This obscure place, which borders South Sudan, has been my home for the better part of the last ten years. I am originally from New York. How does a New Yorker end up walking the red dirt roads of Northern Uganda, going into unreached villages, and integrating myself into the culture? Only God. I am nothing spectacular, but my God is.

 

When I first heard of a 20-year war that ravaged the Acholi people of Northern Uganda, my heart broke. I had just turned 22 years old and I was in Kenya on a mission trip. They showed us footage of what was happening. I saw people my age who had spent their entire lives running from rebels, displaced from their homes, or worse. While I grew up in America unaware of their suffering, complaining about trivial things, little children fought for their lives and were forced to commit unthinkable acts. There was so much suffering.

 

Why did I never know? Why didn’t our news stations fill us in? Why was I born in New York with good parents while these innocent children were born into a war they never asked for or deserved? These questions plagued my mind. I wept and prayed. I asked God if He would have me go and minister to the people.

 

I knew that if I went, I had to be called by Him and not just go based on my many emotions. I wanted to walk in obedience to the One who had touched and transformed my life. At the same time, I realized that those emotions were His heart pouring into me. He wept for what was happening. Through circumstances and open doors, God brought me to Uganda in 2006. The minute I got to Uganda I knew that I was home. Sure, I would always stand out and struggle through many cultural issues; sure, I would be lonely and feel like an alien; yes, I would sometimes want to run away. But the anchor that kept me here has been the complete confidence that I am walking in the will of God.

 

And on top of that, He has given me glimpses of His incredible power many times over. He took a shy kid and had me run a project, teach Bible studies to children and women three times my age, and He gave me the strength to endure getting tropical diseases and watching friends die. He taught me how to live and love in this place. I know for sure that God has used me to impact people, but so much more than that He has used the people here to break and change me. I will never be the same. Some of the strongest people I have ever met, some of the bravest and most beautiful, are my brothers and sisters, my friends here in Kitgum.

 

Their stories showcase the amazing and miraculous love of God on their behalf. In God Can, I share six of those stories. For each one there are so many more, but this will give you a glimpse into the hearts and lives of the people of Kitgum. I believe this book will encourage you that God is still in the business of doing miraculous works in people’s lives. Just as He has done in the lives of my friends here, He desires to do so in each of our lives. He is ever-present with us, especially as we walk through the darkest valleys. God Can will also challenge you to think outside of your box, your little piece of the world, to think about the Body of Christ in Kitgum and the world over.

 

For those of us who have grown up under better circumstances, may it humble and spur us on to love in prayer and practicality those who are suffering.

 

When we can’t do it, God Can. Please join me in journeying through the lives of six brave men and women who found this out through the most difficult days; who went from victims to more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

Hi, my name is Erica and I am a God-called missionary for Northern Uganda. It is my passion and life-calling to bring God’s word to the people of the world. Each and every one of us can do our part in spreading God’s word to people in need of Jesus’ healing touch and hope. Trying to figure out if God has called you to the mission field? Do you want to learn more about what it’s like to be a missionary? Check out my book, For the Joy Set Before Us – Insights Into the Missionary Journey today.

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