The New Year at Terebinth!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year from Terebinth Ministries. We apologize we delayed so long in sending out a newsletter. Between the Nolleys returning, Christmas, and welcoming new teammates we fell behind. So please take a moment to catch up on what’s beeng going on here in northern Uganda!
We had a wonderful Christmas party again this year. It is always a joy to come together and celebrate the birth of our Savior. It’s a beautiful time for our staff to relax, joke, and laugh together. We did our annual ‘secret santa’ gift exchange which always leads to much laughter and joy. The favorite gift was the last, which went to our new teammate, Cassie. (pictured below)

In both classes of the Terebinth School of Discipleship there seemed to be a ‘slump’ right around the year and a half mark. The excitement of the themes in the Pentateuch is replaced by digging through the histories and prophets to see the story of God’s salvation in Israel and Israel’s continual unfaithfulness. The workload increases, and the future holds another 2 years. But in both classes, the students continued to faithfully pursue understanding of God’s Word. Since our last update, the students have completed Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Matthew, Psalms, Provbers, Eccelsiastes, and Song of Solomon. This month they will study Job followed by Jeremiah and Lamentations.
The poetry books can be exceptionally difficult for our Acholi students because poetry isn’t taught as a literary style in most schools. The students not only have to understand the Biblical wisdom books, but they also have to learn a (sometimes) completely foreign literary style. They studied diligently, filled their workbooks, and read late into the night to understand the material. We are very excited for what the new year holds for the school and could NOT be more proud of the men in the school and the effort they put in to learning what God would have for them.
Many of our students and staff also had the opportunity recently to attend a Calvary Chapel pastors conference. It was an incredibly busy 3 days, but was a blessing to everyone who went.
For more information about the Terebinth School of Discipleship, click here

BAM never slows down! With 6,000 chickens in rotation to lay eggs, it can get a bit noisy! We have continued to build, and are currently adding a drying house for our maize (corn) purchases. Due to excess rain this year, it has been a struggle to keep our corn dry enough to store. Adding the new drying house will mean we are able to keep more maize good for longer. The leaders in BAM have continued to dream up new programs and ideas for incerasing income so the other programs can be fully, locally funded. As anyone in business can tell you, it is not easy to go from a startup to a profitable business. Kent, Gerald, and Kasim have their hands full designing different sections to overlap and decrease costs while increasing profits. 
Our staff has continued to grow with the addition of a trained cashier named Sunday, and new day laborers from the community as well. We are also seeking a qualified driver for our lorry truck. It is exciting to be able to offer employment to so many when it is so difficult to find jobs for many right now. BAM will only get busier as the Widows Program expands (see that section below). We are having to produce vast amounts of food to accomodate the growth, and that can be a challenge in the off-season of crops. Pray for wisdom for the staff and leaders as we try and make our farming endeavor fruitful.
Also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray as there is a large locust invasion going on in East Africa right now. Currently, large numbers of locusts are reported only 200km away from our farming project. Thankfully, it is dry season so there aren’t many crops for locusts to eat, but if they persist until the rains come it could mean serious famine for northern Uganda.

For more information on BAM Enterprises, click here.

We finished last year with 50 widows in the program. That meant around 250 fatherless children were also cared for. To start this year off we are adding 150 more widows!!!! You read that right, 150 more!
The widows program has been rapidly impacting lives and making visible changes to the situations of some of these women. One recent story that brought so much hope and joy was that of a widow in one of our churches, we’ll call her “Lydia”. Lydia’s daughter had been facing some very difficult circumstances and was seeking to take her own life. “Lydia” intervened and immediately called the leaders of her discipleship group. They went immediately and counseled both women through the Bible. “Lydia’s” daughter surrendered the pills she’d gathered to the women who came to counsel them and has begun walking in the promises of God. The hard situations don’t just go away for these ladies, but they are learning more and more each day that God’s grace is sufficient.
Please pray for some of the new widows who have been recently added, they face circumstances in live that are unimaginable to many of us. There is deep need and brokenness. We are looking for additional ways to equip our volunteer committees for counseling through the darkest situations, and are amazed by their resolve to walk through deeply dark situations with the ladies in the program. God is at work in the lives of the widows, the committees, and the pastors overseeing the program. Pray for wisdom and discernment as we have to select who to add to the program, the sheer number of applications is incredible in itself. And most of all pray that God would move mightily in the live’s of the widows in the program to make His great name known in northern Uganda. 
For more information on the Widows Program, click here.