Book Trailer. Living in the Shadow of Death: From a Child of War to an A...

It has been 15 months since our first book launch (November 2017)! After being able to share the story with Samuel’s family - reading it to them in the village, as we sat under the stars, outside of our mud hut with grass-thatched roof - we have decided to edit the title and a few small details, and to print it again.

The book is on Amazon and Kindle - and coming to iBooks and bookstores soon!

Click here to see our Amazon Author Page

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UPDATED: God's Faithfulness During Earthquakes and Natural Disasters

After feeling the whole house shake for a few minutes tonight, and checking the Salvadoran earthquake report, I am soberly reminded of the volatile world that we live in, and our need for God's grace. The earthquake, felt here, was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, near Palmercito, Chiapas, Mexico. Thinking of our Mexican brothers and sisters, and remembering God's words in Romans 8: For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorio...

What do so-called “False Teachers” teach, and how can we know it is false?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 I feel compelled by a biblical mandate, to say something about a huge burden that I have had for several year now, and that has been growing - to warn people about false teaching! Anytime a doctrine or teaching or movement is presented as biblical truth to the church in general, every individual Christian, and leaders in particular, are to rightly judged such teachings ...

Oh Uganda, may God Uphold Thee

(Warning, this is a "political post": but, we believe without a doubt that it is God who sets up and takes down kings, and ultimately they SERVE Him - God IS the KING over all kings and HE is on His Throne. Uganda needs PRAYER, above all. This is not a post against Museveni, but about democracy , and for the people!) Samuel wrote a beautiful post about his country, and the need for peaceful change, that I wanted to share. It is in response to the recent unrest and protests over the proposed Constitutional change, allowing for President Yoweri Museveni to continue as President, even in his old age. He has already changed the Constitution, to allow himself to "serve" as President for more than two terms. He has been in power since he was sworn in, after (during) a war on Obote, as the new president. Museveni promised a return to democracy at his inauguration on January 29, 1986: "The people of Africa, the people of Uganda, are entitled to a dem...

If my Prayers Drew Blood

I have been looking through an old journal (2007) and have felt convicted to live out more of my past persuasion, and to not become complacent nor stagnant. Here is a note that I wrote about [imagination and] prayer, which I need to re-arrange my life to pursue more: "When one has an imagination like mine, it is often best not to to recall certain things, [like news] spoken second-hand. Yet, some thoughts and especially prayers must be suffered through. I wonder what thoughts, what painful knowledge was so burdened on Jesus that while praying, He was caused to bleed. AT TIMES I CHOOSE TO EVEN REFRAIN FROM PRAYING, ONLY TO SAVE MYSELF SOME REALLY INSIGNIFICANT PAIN, AND AT WHAT COST? If my prayers were so fervent that they actually drew blood then perhaps they would be more effective! "

Reflections on Rwanda from 2004

A City on A Hill Written by Charity Pilkey, January 2004, after visiting Rwanda ( the land of a thousand hills ) Teardrops falling on a thousand hills Somehow invisible Footprints marching on a thousand hills Somehow silent Bloodstains rolling on a thousand hills Somehow transparent Echoes crying on a thousand hills Somehow muffled Tears that fell, now fall from mourners Survivors march to make new prints Blood now dried, remains a vivid reminder New cries resound on a thousand hills So, if you are remaining Keep walking and learning Keep striving and yearning For His light to shine brilliantly From this land of a thousand hills.

In an INSTANT world, am I willing to work & wait -even a lifetime- for anything?

I just came across this old post from September 2010, and was reminded again of the need to be patient and diligent; to not give up! I could never have imagined the waiting and trials and testing of our faith that we would still have to walk through over the next 7 years - to date. And, I know that there will still be waiting, and testing and trials to come! There have been times, when I DO want to give up, but we know that God has called us to execute this vision, and we refuse to give up! He is with us in the waiting, and has been sovereign over it all -looking back, we now know some of the reasons why we had to go through some of the trials, and the waiting. We HOPE, that in 2018, we will finally be able to move to the village, where we have been sharing the Gospel and discipling people, and that we will be more effective there. AND, that we will finally be able to do staff training, and bring in our first orphaned children. We will not give up! I just read this encourage...

Is it dangerous to be a missionary in El Salvador? Our experience and a little history lesson

I noticed that this blog had been looked at a lot lately, and hadn’t realized that when I last changed my blog layout, it had affected the style and flow of this post. I think I have fixed it now...though this could be edited a lot more! This is not exhaustive on the topics of travel, safety, gang violence, or missions in El Salvador, but is part of our story, and some of the history of the country that we serve in. El Salvador was voted as one of the top ten countries to visit, by Lonely Planet in 2010 and 2016. Is El Salvador safe for tourists? My short answer is, " Yes . It is (relatively) safe". It is generally safer than being a tourist in Mexico, and people travel there all the time . Tourists are (generally) not a target. As is the case even in LA, or even downtown Vancouver, there are certain places where you should not go, especially at night, but there are lots of places where you can explore, hike, walk, shop, eat, surf, zip-line, etc. and...

Walking the path marked out - by Charity Okurut (early 2000's)

No matter what the circumstances, no matter the happenings, know this: He holds you in the palm of His hands and He has wonderful plans for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Along the way, don’t look down so long that you don’t see the road ahead. Don't keep your head up so high that you don’t see the path, and so trip and fall. Don’t look back so long that you forget where you are going, nor keep your eyes fixed so far ahead that you forget where you came from, and what made you who you are today. Memorize the faces of those travelling alongside you. Identify those who need your help and recognize those who need to help you. And no matter what - never give up! ~ Charity Okurut nee Pilkey

Excerpt from Chapters One & Fifteen of Samuel's testimony/book

1 Ingoratok: People from Ngora From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. Acts 17:26 MY FAMILY COMES FROM WHAT is now the District of Ngora, in Uganda, East Africa. And before that, as history tells it, my people were traveling for generations. My ancestors originally came from the Mediterranean, which perhaps is why even today our language has some similarities with the romance languages of the Mediterranean. Words such as emesa which means “table” in my mother tongue of Ateso, is very similar to the Spanish translation mesa, to name but one of many examples. From the Mediterranean, we travelled down through Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and then down through Uganda and Kenya. We arrived in Uganda around 1600 AD. As we travelled, we left settlers along the way, including the present-day Kalenjin, Maasai and Jie peoples of Kenya, the Kuuku of Sout...

Reflecting on Child Soldiers and IDPs in Soroti, 2004: Journal Entry and Poem

Child Soldier (Reflecting again on meeting child soldiers in Soroti, Uganda in 2004) Although I didn't know it at the time, I met my husband - and even interviewed him- in Soroti Town in 2004. That visit will forever be etched on my memory. We have just published the second edition to Samuel's story now. Having freshly re-read and edited every page, I have again re-lived his story as if it is my own (which is probably why I have been feeling so exhausted lately!). Imagining life as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), living on a battlefield and surviving in the jungles, is one thing; remembering the child soldiers and child wives that we met is another. The picture on the right, and the one below, are of IDPs in Soroti. They have beautiful smiles, and while they were completely displaced and spread out throughout the city, seeking safety from Kony's army that rampaged villages in the district, they were still "innocent". The children that we me...

A Call to Discern, Contend for & be Sanctified by Truth

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