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Testimonials
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We are Keith and Lisa. We come from Mobile Alabama originally and in fact, have lived there most of our lives until God told us to go to Uganda, Africa. We surrendered to Him and prepared to move but we felt certain that we should not go without some sort of cross-cultural training. After much research we discovered a place in North Carolina that offered what we needed. It is Equip International, located in Marion, N.C. It is a farm that has been made into a training center for people serving in third world countries. The courses that are offered come in segments so that you can choose them in accordance with your work, time and money. We took three of the four segments: Appropriate Technology, Missionary Medical Intensive, Community Health Evangelism/Education.
That is a brief introduction and now we want to truly share our experience. I cannot list here all that we learned because it is by far, deeper and richer than what the classes offered. The knowledge and experience of the teachers and the deep devotional insights from the owner, served to heighten our awareness of life in a cross-cultural setting and serving the Lord.
We have now lived in Uganda for 4 years and honestly, a day does not pass that we do not use something of what we learned at Equip. The MMI has been one of the greatest blessings and has helped us not only better serve and reach the people through helping them and teaching them but it has also helped us better care for our own children as we face many sicknesses that are not found in the U. S.
We have come to know many missionaries that have been here for many years longer than we have and they have even gone back to get this training at Equip. It has also helped us understand how to grasp the worldview of those we serve thereby understanding why they do certain things and make decisions as they do. We have come to rest in the fact that everyone coming to the mission field should not even think about it until they have been through training such as this.
Appropriate Technology opens your mind to living and working with what you have available where you are. There are no stores like Walmart and Home Depot or Auto Zone. You can be quite creative. This also includes training in Agriculture and food stuff. There is hands-on practical training as well as lessons on application and teaching others.
Missionary Medical Intensive opens a new world for you in one of the most vulnerable areas of life- sickness. Often in the foreign field the medical establishments are not only behind but sadly, they are corrupt. Your knowledge will not make you a doctor but will enable you to be more discerning and when needed you can, in fact, be able to diagnose and treat.
Community Health Evangelism teaches to train others and also instills the understanding that you as a missionary cannot fix the problems and shouldn't. But instead you can teach and train and assist in helping them help themselves and rely on God not you.
Peppered throughout the training are devotions in the word of God and lessons on the difference between relief and development. These lessons will under-gird what you have learned with the wisdom needed to know when and how to use it to best serve the people and glorify the Lord.
We highly recommend that anyone who has answered God's call should go through Equip to better prepare themselves to bring Glory to God through their service in the field.
Keith and Lisa
Missionaries to Northern Uganda
Thanks brother. The BioSand trip to Uganda was a wonderful, wonderful, success. I was glad that I had done the refresher with you because we used several of your suggestions. We installed 3 filters in orphanage homes in Bethany Village (a few miles from Gaba) and if you could have seen the look on their faces when they saw the first clear water (other than catchment water) for their homes. It was one of those defining moments in my life when I more clearly understood what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Glory be to God and thank you and the brothers and sisters at Equip for enabling me to better serve my Lord Jesus.
Tim
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