Coppedge Advent Calendar

As we enjoy these days of Advent and look with great expectancy to Christmas and the birth of our Saviour, we want to share some praises with you. Our family is going to pray through the advent season, praising Jesus for His faithfulness to us here in this area of Africa over the past three years. Would you like to join us in praying for our friends and thanking Jesus for His faithfulness as we walk toward Christmas together!?

November 29-Jane and Susan-Dear friends and co-laborers in Jesus' work here in Arua.

November 30-Denis, Simon, and Innocent-the Watchmen assigned to our compound. These men have cared for us and prayed with us and walked with us faithfully through the last three years...and will remain as we come back to the states, to keep an eye on our properties left here as well as prepare to welcome us back next August!

December 1-James Ouma and Emmy Mugisha-Two pastors in Africa Gospel Church who will be traveling up this day to help us with our final evaluation in Nebbi on the second. They will also be overseeing the training in Nebbi while we are in America the next 8 months.

December 2-Final Evaluation in Nebbi-Pray for our dear pastors and friends as they share stories and walk through observation, interpretation and application of those stories in their final exam.

December 3-Tom and Gertrude, Faith, Cathy, Sandra, Gloria, and Emmanuella-our next door neighbors who have been such a blessing the last three years. Tom just got a promotion and will be probably moving the family to Kampala before we get back from our time in the states. They know and love Jesus!!!

December 4-Simon and Gladys, Derek, Eddie, Lorna, Sharon and Hope-Another family here in our neighborhood that is seeking Jesus. Please pray especially for these children...Sharon gave Jesus her WHOLE heart two years ago, but the older three are struggling to stand for Jesus in their schools.

December 5-Imam and Tina Ottafire and Angela-Our dearest Ugandan friends! They will be having their "introduction" this day. Meaning, Imam will take his bride price to Tina's parents. Billy will travel down south for this really important event in our friends' lives with some others from his bible study. Pray that Jesus is the center of their marriage, home and family!

December 6-Andrew and Joyce-Two of our Nebbi pastors. Pray they might remain faithful to Jesus and He might provide for them during this coming year!

December 7-Mambo Charles and Joyce-Some of our dear friends from Arua that we will really miss this next year. Pray with us that Jesus might bless them with a baby!

December 8-Jeff and Katie Borchet and their children Fatu and Osobie will live in our home while we are in America. They are Americans working with the CDC who alternate between Arua and Colorado every other six months. Pray our home might be a place they meet Jesus every day and through which they can share His love!

December 9-Elsie Jayne and Lucy-please pray for our precious little girls as they begin a year of constant transitions...saying good-bye today to many friends in Arua...that Jesus might undergird for them and be their deep peace and strength!

December 10-Today we travel as a family to Kampala. We will be there for a week of meetings. Pray for safety in the journey one more time!

December 11-Africa Gospe Church General Council meets today. These leaders in the church will be seeking Jesus as to the coming year's training and how Nebbi needs to be included in the church's other trainings as well as what place Bible Storying should have within the pastoral curriculum.

December 12-Uganda Field Board Meeting-Please pray for us both as we join in this meeting with our Kampala colleagues, that Jesus might give wisdom and discernment and love and great attitudes!

December 13-Benson and Cosmas-Two more of our Nebbi pastors. These men make up the Servant Team that leads the Nebbi pastors with Andrew as well. Pray for a unity for all three as we are away and so much responsibility will now rests upon them.

December 14-Reuben and Joseah-our Kenyan colleagues working in Sudan will be home with their families for the Christmas season, but also raising support to travel back in January and work among the Dinka. They are incredible men of God we are honored to work with...will you pray Jesus protects and keeps them as they say YES to Him in a nation running quickly toward yet more instability!

December 15-Joy Phillips-our Sudan field director and friend. Pray for her as she leads in the coming year expectant for Jesus to work in a mighty way among the Southern Sudanese people! Oh, that they might come to know Him in this year where so many expect many difficulties for them...may we all be surprised by the PRINCE OF PEACE!

December 16-Jonathan and Lisa Mayo-our Uganda field director. Pray for Jon and Lisa as we welcome many new missionaries in the coming year. This answer to prayer will also be a big responsibility on their shoulders as they orient and welcome new families!

December 17-Jennifer and Eva-two great friends that have been in Arua much of our time here, but now live in Kampala for work. Pray both young ladies might continue to hunger for Jesus!

December 18-We fly to Hungary to celebrate Jesus' birthday with our sister and her family, Dan and Katy Beth Searls!!!

December 19-Please pray for the Searls Family...that we might be a blessing and not a burden to them and that Jesus might let their year end with incredible joys of SALVATION STORIES among those they are ministering to and loving these days!

December 20-Kisa, Ochamringa, Opio-Three more of our Nebbi pastors. Pray for faithfulness to Jesus as they seek Him in the coming year. Please pray Jesus provides food for their families this Christmas!

December 21-the Church in Hungary-as we live and love alongside the Searls, pray with us that the Church in Hungary might be a LIGHT in a dark place and lives might be won for JESUS!!!

December 22-Congo-As we head toward the new year and celebrate new life in Jesus...pray for His work in Congo in the coming year...that we might walk in Him and He might open the doors He desires us to walk through!

December 23-Sudan-Pray that this nation might know Jesus' PEACE and that the lost might be drawn to the truth of HIM...pray for pastors who were at the storying conference...that the stories of the Word might eternally change their hearts.

December 24-Uganda-That the field might continue to look outside ourselves and multiply...that we might expand into more cities, like Arua and see what Jesus might do beyond our boarders for His Kingdom.

December 25-HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!! That the world might KNOW HIM!!!! and LOVE HIM!!!!

Thank you for joining us in these advent days of PRAISING Him as we expect His coming...to our hearts and those we love in the coming year!

Snapshots from the team

The past two weeks we have been blessed to have a team from the States join us in our life and ministry here in Uganda. They spent time with our pastors in Nebbi and got to see a bit of the daily realities of life in Arua. We are so thankful to Jesus for the time we shared together.
The team visited small groups that our pastors are working with to together learn God's stories and share them with their communities.
Above is a group acting out the story of people bringing their children to Jesus!

After three years we humbly admit we still have MAJOR mis-communications at times.
We asked our pastors to share their stories with a small group from their communities.
Many of the small groups were well over fifty people like the one above!

Matt Burton led the team from Ooltewah UMC in Tennessee and preached in Akaba one Sunday morning. Jesus helped him at every point and he was such a blessing to us!!!

The ways Jesus freed the vehicle from mud were evidences of His hand upon this team throughout their time here.

They brought bibles to share with Elsie Jayne's friends!!!
She really has been much more excited about that than this picture shows.

It was an INCREDIBLE BLESSING to us to have our sister Cricket here!!!
She was a great blessing to the team as well as a super story teller and a joy to all of the children she met! Our children particularly enjoyed meeting a REAL auntie! :)

Some of you pray regularly for pastor Cosmas...this is his wife Joyce!

Bonnie Burton stepped in and was involved in every aspect of the story telling ministry.
She is pictured here with Benson after training on a Saturday.

Billy is here with some of men from Opio David's church (Opio on the left).

Another happy part of teams is sharing with them Uganda's beautiful wildlife! Here are some elephants we got to see from the Nile River on a boat ride!!!

"Then after I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people!" Joel 2:28

The great thing is...our Lord doesn't just stop with the physical needs...He sends His Spirit. As we finish up our first term with WGM here in Uganda...will you pray with us that the Spirit of Jesus might be poured out on all people!!!

May His Spirit be poured out on us afresh...so it's HIM that loves in and through and in spite of us.

May His Spirit be poured out on our Ugandan friends and neighbors.

May His Spirit be poured out on our Sudanese team and the Dinka people, as well as the pastors we have been working with over this term.

May His Spirit be poured out on YOU ALL as we come home to say THANK YOU and make preparations to return here...might we relate IN HIM as we are together.

How happy that He doesn't just stop with the rain...He gives HIMSELF!

The team returns from Nebbi tonight and then hopefully soon I can share some pictures and stories of their adventures...
They are all doing well. Nelson received Jesus yesterday!!! So, this fabulous team is seeing ETERNAL fruit from their efforts!

RAIN

"Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains He sends are an expression of His grace!." Joel 2:23

Jesus is so kind to give us His Word and His promises! I had a moment yesterday between various visitors and meals and babies and I said, "Oh, Jesus, this is our moment, please meet me!" He DID!!! I read the first two chapters of Joel really fast, but He spoke to me and I praise Him for that.

This verse reminded me of you all...we needed rain and asked you to join us in prayer and He sent rain!

We have needed water at various times and we asked you to cry out with us and Jesus responded!

Rest has seemed unattainable at various moments and we have petitioned you all to petition Him with us and He has provided.

Once again He has out-done Himself!!! We REJOICE today! We needed just a loving Hug from Him and He sent our precious sister!!! Cricket has arrived safely and we just feel so loved by Jesus that He might give us more than we could imagine...a precious family that loves us and is willing to make such major sacrifices to express their love!!! Thank you for praying with us for our dear team from Tennessee...a lot has happened in their preparation and Cricket is joined here with only Matt and Bonnie Burton(dear friends and supporters from Ooltewah UMC).

This morning Billy, Aaron Heinrich, Cricket, and the Burtons left for Nebbi. They will be there through Wednesday. Today is a prayer time to prepare the way for the week. Tomorrow is training with our pastors...Andrew is leading again this week. Sunday they will join in worship at a couple of different churches and then Sunday afternoon through Tuesday they will meet with all of our various pastors' small groups that they have been sharing their stories with! Some small groups are the pastors' children and wife...some are church members, some simply community members. The team will be staying in a guesthouse in Nebbi. Thank you for praying for them and for us as we MISS them!

We do REJOICE in JESUS today!!! He has brought great rains to express His grace to us.

The last few weeks in review...

Lucy started eating yummy fabulous "solids!"...

This wonderful new world opened up to her while daddy was leading a bible storying conference outside of Akot, Southern Sudan
and the day after she woke up with bites all over her face...
from something that was INSIDE her mosquito net!

We all traveled to Akot for a few days and had a really amazing time meeting some of the people Billy had been with in training the week before,
sharing with our teammates that stay there
and praying over and planning our goals as a team for the coming year.

Our home away from home was a fabulous safari tent...
that was affectionately referred to by our first born as "Elsie's Tent!"

We all loved seeing "Akot town."
The main road has about five or six buildings on either side of it.
We greeted town officialls and friends of our teammates, Reuben and Josiah.
The word traveled fast that there had been a "miracle in Akot today."
People there had never seen white children, so we were quite the display and somehow our presence was seen as "miraculous!"
If we could really just show up and people might meet HIM!!!

The girls are pictured here with Uncle Josiah (left) and Uncle Reuben.
These two men are the heart of our team...they live in Akot and serve Jesus "on the ground" in Southern Sudan for our team.
We really loved the time seeing where they live and realizing some of their daily realities.
As a team we can pray so much more specifically now that we know some of their relationships and can picture their little spot on the map!

We got home and finished up some last minute details on a ladies retreat for the missionary women of Arua.
Our field pastors came from the States and Janie shared from the Word!
Our hearts were truly fed and Jesus met us!
Thank you for praying!
...these women and their families really represent our "colleagues" here in Arua


November 3rd marked two years for precious Elsie Jayne!!!
Jesus has been so faithful and we are so grateful for her little life!
We celebrated at the local pool with lots of friends and yummy food.
Daddy and Elsie Jayne shared a story...the storm story for all of our friends at the party.
Everyone got in the little pool and acted it out!


Our time with the Heinrich family is winding down...that doesn't really seem possible.
They head out in just a few short days.
Keep praying with us that Jesus opens doors back into Khartoum for them.
We are thankful to Jesus for the blessing of their presence and ministry
with us these past months!
They have been more than we could have dreamed of!
Jesus is so kind!