Field Address
PO Box 210
Bombo, Uganda
US Address:
202 Beckenham Road
Englewood, OH 45322
Support Address
New Song Church on the Heights
13434 Cedar Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
(support should be marked in the memo "NMTC-Uganda", but not our
names)
Carrolls News: April 2006
Hi everyone,
What do plane tickets, water tanks, filing cabinets,
books, and pigs have in common?
The answer is below...keep reading.
Well, it is 6 weeks and counting. We have confirmed
flight reservations for June 7. It seems like it has
suddenly come upon us, even though this has been by
far the longest furlough time we have ever had in the
States and it seems like we have been gone forever.
Though a lot has been accomplished even from a
distance since we have been here, we are looking
forward to getting back on site and diving into the
work in a much deeper way.
The Lord has been gracious to us in our time here, and
we have been able to raise a lot of the much-needed
funding for the work of Nile Ministry Training Centre.
But there are some urgent needs that still remain
unmet.
First of all, we need funds for our family to return
to Uganda. That total cost for one-way tickets will be
about $5,000. This is the most urgent need, as we need
to buy tickets very soon (first week of May).
Second, we need additional water sources on the NMTC
site. There is no running water, and we need to put
water tanks next to the chapel building and adjacent
to the NMTC student houses. Our students will use this
water for bathing, cooking, and will also collect it,
boil it and cool it for drinking water. This is an
absolute essential, which if we don't have, we can't
begin classes (planned to begin in August with a group
of missionary trainees from the Pentecostal Assemblies
of God - Uganda). The total cost is about $3,000.
Third, we need to finish furnishing the NMTC student
houses (shelves, bunk beds, nightstands, etc.) and the
newly renovated NMTC library/office building, which
was formerly a small guest house (desks, tables,
bookshelves, chairs). The total cost for this is just
und $3,000.
Fourth, we need to continue to develop the NMTC
library. Missions and Christian resources are scarce
in Uganda, and we need to stock the library well with
books for the students to use. And not only our
students, but we want NMTC to be a missions-resource
centre for Ugandan pastors and ministry leaders to be
able to come and use. We can do very well with $2,000.
Finally, we are developing businesses for generating
long-term income for the ministry, so that it can run
without depending on funds from outside of Uganda. One
of those is a pork business (a very good business in
Uganda). We currently have 20 pigs, and want to expand
to 100 pigs. If we can do this, the income from this
alone will pay salaries for a full staff (agriculture
team, administrator, and 2 full-time teachers/pastors
whom we want to bring on this year). This is a
wonderful investment that will last for many years to
come. To expand the pig business will take just over
$2,000.
We really appreciate the faithful support of so many
of you over the years. Whether you have been a regular
supporter or haven't been a part of our financial
support team, we are asking in this situation if you
would prayerfully consider a special gift (you could
even involve your Sunday School class, family, etc. Be
creative!)to help us to raise money for these special
needs.
It's not about pigs, or books, or filing cabinets, or
water tanks, or plane tickets...it's all about people.
People God loves dearly and wants to reach with His
wonderful love. Those things are just part of the
necessary tools in our toolbox to train and equip the
men and women who will carry His love to those people
He treasures so much.
Again, we love you all and appreciate your partnership
in ministry with us. You have a real part in every
life transformed by the love of Christ.
In Him,
Dave and Jen
Carrolls News: February 2006
“Satisfaction”
I was watching a football game, and during a timeout I saw a commercial for BASF, one of the world’s leading chemical companies. They go through a range of different products that people buy, and the unique role of BASF in the process: “We don’t make the helmet….we make the helmet tougher. We don’t make the dress….we make the dress brighter. We don’t make the computer screen…we make the computer screen sharper...
And then it closes with the big message: “We don't make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy…BETTER.”
Having been a communications major in college who planned to do a masters in advertising and write TV commercials (before God stepped in with other ideas), I thought it was creative advertising.
But then it struck me that it was also a good picture of the role of ministry training, and it defined a lot of what we are doing at Nile Ministry Training Centre (NMTC). Being in an equipping ministry, it is sometimes hard to define a lot of what goes on. But maybe BASF and NMTC actually have a lot in common.
We do get lots of direct ministry opportunities, but it is the equipping of those who will go out that is at the heart of what we do. BASF can look on great products on the market with satisfaction, knowing that they have a very key part in the quality and success of those products. And we get to look at the quality and fruit of ministries with great satisfaction, knowing that the Lord has given us a key part in it all.
We don’t start orphanages…we don’t plant churches…we don’t live among an unreached people group in a pioneer missions situation. We don’t do a lot of the ministries that are on your heart…but by discipling and equipping those who will go out, we make the kind of ministries that are on your heart…BETTER.
While on furlough, we are enjoying doing our part in the ministry of our home church. I get a few preaching opportunities, we are leading a small group, and building relationships with people who come for mentoring, counsel, etc. And the most exciting thing is not only the way that the Lord uses it to change lives, but to think about the lives that the Lord is going to change through THEM.
I had a wonderful opportunity this week, teaching a session of the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course in Columbus, OH. Perspectives is a wonderful program that has radically altered the course of thousands of lives, including our own in 1996, by giving believers all over the country (and now all over the world) a clear look into the world of missions. Knowing that those in that room were likely to become missionaries, missions mobilizers, or at the least, believers who are much better equipped to engage the world they live in with the love of Jesus Christ, it was a thrill to have a part of getting them there.
While at home, we continue to be in touch with those we disciple in Uganda, speaking into their lives from a distance, while at the same time laying plans for the official NMTC programs and activities for 2006. And to think about how many these young people are touching powerfully makes our work infinitely satisfying.
Maybe you saw Mick Jagger on the Super Bowl halftime show, 62 years old and though, as he tells us, he tries and he tries and he tries and he tries, he still after all of these years “can’t get no” satisfaction. But we don’t have to try and try and try and try…the LORD has brought us to a wonderful place of satisfaction in Him that makes us so fulfilled and pleased to be who we are in Him wherever we happen to be - on furlough or on the field, in a big crowd or in a small group, recognized or obscure - and to use what He has given us to have a real and tangible part in the lives of men and women who will go and have a real and tangible impact for Jesus Christ all over the world.
And I know I’ve quoted this song several times in newsletters over the years to express how I feel, but I’ve got to do it again: “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.” And as usual, we appreciate immensely the role that you have in it as our prayer partners and financial supporters. We couldn’t do it without you.
Ministry Headlines
Key Partners
In January, I went to Minneapolis for 2 days to meet with leaders from Bethany International Ministries to discuss a possible partnership in working with the national missions movement in Uganda in the full development of missionary training programs, including ours at NMTC. Bethany has years of expertise which we believe are vital to the full development of missionary training in Uganda, and therefore for the effective training and sending of hundreds of Ugandan men and women to the nations with the love of Jesus Christ.
Key Meetings
I will be flying to Uganda one more time before we all go back as a family in May. I leave this Sunday, February 12 and will arrive back in Cleveland on Tuesday, February 20. While in Uganda, I will be having meetings with my board members and also with leaders of the Uganda Evangelical Missions Agency (UEMA), the newly formed national missions organization. We will discuss the role of Bethany in Uganda as well as to look more specifically at the relationship between NMTC and UEMA. While there, I will also be taking care of some things with development on the NMTC site, and taking some time to be with some of our NMTC students. A whirlwind, but a very important one.
Carroll Family Headlines
If a picture is really worth a thousand words, then I probably don’t have to tell you that Jen’s due date is approaching. Just about more 6 weeks now. We are all very excited!
In the meantime, Jen continues to run the Carroll school, teaching 4th grade, 1st grade, and pre-kindergarten, as well as running the after pre-kindergarten daycare, managing the school cafeteria, and being the school janitor.
We just returned from 2 weeks in the south (I guess this is actually a ministry headline, too), where we shared about the ministry of NMTC with a number of churches in Georgia. It was a great time of ministry, of catching up with some old friends, and (we are trusting) of raising needed additional monthly ministry support. The Lord blessed us so much with the hospitality of those who housed us on our journey. The kids had been a bit nervous about staying with people they don’t know, but were thrilled to find new “grandparents” in Kentucky and Georgia and new friends in South Carolina.
WE LOVE YOU ALL!!
Dave, Jen, Hannah, Elizabeth, Joshua, and ??? (we know the name, but we’re not telling!!)
3-2006
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to give a brief update on some good things
happening:
1) Elizabeth. Many have been asking about her lately,
not having received any update as to how she is doing
(for those of you who might be new to our newsletter
list, this is our 7-year old daughter who has
struggled greatly with an anxiety disorder for over 5
years).
She has made so much progress since we came back last
year. She loves her psychologist in Columbus, a
wonderful Christian who has been so helpful.
Jen and I still see her struggling a lot of the time,
but most of the time she is now able to manage it and
keep control. In fact, most people when they are with
us don't notice anything unusual at all, a sign that
she is really making great strides.
Please keep praying for her, that God will bring to
completion the work He is doing in her. She still
really struggles with transition and change. And we
are about to have lots of both! A new baby will come
any day now, and then in 2 months we will go back to
Uganda. Both good changes, but changes and transitions
nonetheless.
2) My chronic fatigue. Many of you know that I have
struggled with intense fatigue for 16 years, which has
at times been overwhelming and almost debilitating.
And quite often I have literally survived on your
prayers!
But in January, we found out that the issue was that
my thyroid is failing. I have been on thyroid
medication for 2 months now, and I have not felt this
consistently good since I was 25 (though since I am
41, I don't feel like I am 25...too bad!)
3) My quick trip to Uganda was very fruitful. My
meetings with my board members and others were just
what we hoped for, and we did some very important
planning on the NMTC site, too.
The leaders of the Ugandan missions movement are very
excited about the potential relationship with Bethany
International, who we believe will be a key to helping
Ugandan missions and Nile Ministry Training Centre
move to the next level.
Please pray with us that this relationship will be
solidified, and that everything on our site will be
fully ready by the time we get back in May.
Our tentative schedule:
mid-May: return to Uganda
July: university student missions conference at NMTC
August-December: first residential missionary training
program on site at NMTC (our full program will evolve
a lot over the next couple of years, but we are
running a shorter program this year, mainly to prepare
a group of candidates from the Pentecostal Assemblies
of God who are ready to go out)
Thanks for your love, prayers, and financial support!
In Him,
Dave and Jen
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