Long overdue expense report & update! My mother's passing. Fence project.

[EcoMercy International]

Dear friends,

For those of you who are making recurring monthly donations, I apologize for the lateness of this report. As usual, 100% of your donations minus the small PayPal fees are going toward the needs in Nakyaka, Uganda. Scroll down if you want to skip to news from Uganda and the expense report.

My mother’s passing

This summer we found out that the reason my dear mother was so sick for the past three years is that she had bone cancer and toward the end it spread to other areas. She had refused to go to the doctor more than once and the one time she went in 2021 they didn’t say she had cancer. She died on September 12th. She was 79 years old. I wrote a tribute to her here:

I said the same words at her memorial service and we buried her body in the WJ Ward Memorial Cemetery on the top of a hill overlooking the town of Brookings and the Ocean. See the temporary marker below. I could not have asked for a better mother! May God be merciful to her!

Losing monthly supporters

During this time in which I’ve been silent on Facebook and Email we’ve lost a couple supporters. And one lowered his giving. I would like to thank them for their support. I hope they will keep us on their radar and consider donating again if God so leads. On the other hand if there are needs closer to home that God is leading you to help with, by all means do that or consider doing both if you can.

Christ was all about people helping those in need, even if it wasn’t through his own charity organization if you will, his own ministry. And he even prioritized that. He told the rich young ruler to first give his wealth to the poor before he would even be allowed to follow. To put this in our modern context, Jesus does not mean for us to give money to the United Way or UNICEF or some other charity which is in direct competition with Himself. I believe he means for us to help people whom we already know who are in need. Maybe the rich young ruler had some slaves or servants or neighbors or family members that desperately needed his help. What good does it do if I follow the devil down the long, steep road to the Kingdom of Man and drag a bunch of people with me—let’s say I work as a loan shark or in some other questionable occupation—and then I change course and leave my companions along the road somewhere while I become a monk. No! I should first use whatever wealth I’ve acquired serving money to undo the damage—to set people up to be able to depend on God. And then follow Christ. 

I am also reminded of the Gadarene demoniac from Mark chapter 5. He didn’t have money, but Jesus didn’t let him follow either. Jesus told him to tell everyone what great things God had done for him.

Both of these stories show that Christ was always thinking of what would bring the most glory to God. He didn’t want to just myopically gain another follower. He was aware of the bigger picture. He was never vain.

In the same way, I wouldn’t want anyone to give to EcoMercy International if it took away from a critical need in their own family or their own church. Do you have a local church that you attend? If not I would encourage you to look into Eastern Orthodoxy or Western Rite Orthodoxy where I have found my home.

Only Christ forgives. Only He Saves. Only His grace is sufficient. Make sure your are following Him in the most basic, fundamental ways you can think of.

Crisis and uncertainty

Life is so short. I’m now 43 and I’ve been feeling old. How can I use the remaining time I have to best serve the Lord? How can I avoid vanity? What have I done that has been from God’s voice and what has he blessed? Can I manage to stay faithful to what I know is true? Can I walk a narrow path? Is running EcoMercy International still part of my path?

I believe EcoMercy is still part of my path as long as I can do it while prioritizing my studies to become a priest and the needs of our local mission. I’m intrigued with the monk Fr. Silouan’s ministry in Uganda and I wouldn’t mind helping him with a project that aligns with the EcoMercy International vision. And Fr. Stephen Lunagula has been so polite and faithful in his use of donated funds that really do want to continue helping him as we are able. I want to at least finish this current perimeter fence project. And then I’ll decide what to do next, perhaps something at St. John Chrysostom School or at another one of Orthodox Africa’s missions. Or perhaps I will ask supporters to help me with something right here in Brookings, Oregon. But I would run those donations through our mission parish, not EcoMercy International.

The fact is that I am desperate for change right here in the USA. I would like to have a parish school for my own children and our own dedicated worship space.

Continuing EcoMercy International

I am always reminded of Luke 16:9: "And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Jesus built a Kingdom of friends. And that’s what I want to do. I don’t consider myself a brilliant, attractive personality. Just the oppose actually. But Fr. Silouan Brown has been a friend to me and I’m intrigued by both the struggle and opportunity presented by building the Kingdom in Africa. And Fr. Lunagula has been a friend.

Again, life is so short. If you gave $35 per month or another amount, would you miss that money or would this charity be an inspiration to you to build the kingdom in your personal life?

To me, charity in Christ’s name doesn’t cost much and yet it can bring a little sweetness to life. It’s about creating. We’ve built a dormitory, two kitchens, teacher housing, rainwater capturing tanks, gates, a gate house, and a house for Fr. Stephen on the campus. We’ve installed a well, painted the secondary school, planted trees, fixed things that were broken, etc. etc.

As long as Fr. Stephen and his son Mark continue to run the school in Christ’s name while preaching the Gospel every chance they get then all the labor has been worth it.

Facebook Fundraising Problem

Sometime over the summer Facebook was alerted that the address I had on file with them was incorrect and so our Facebook fundraising tools have been shut off. And I lost my articles of incorporation with the State of California because I didn’t submit a certain form on time. We are now incorporated in the State of Oregon and I plan to keep a closer watch on what documents are needed by the state. I’m also writing to Facebook and asking them to reinstate the Fundraising tools. But you can still donate through the PayPal button at ecomercy.org.

Fence Project

The cost of the fence is 28 million shillings. I’ve now funded 17 million. So just 11 million is left, which equals $2,958. Here workers are installing the northeast corner.

Almost half of the fence is now completed.

We don’t want cows and goats wandering onto the school property. And it’s good for the school to be seen as private space belonging to Annunciation Orthodox Mission and not to the general public.

Fr. Stephen says that there are 11 primary seven candidates this year. See below:

Don’t they look nice in their uniforms? I would like to fund more uniforms in the future. Please donate for that.

In other news, I’ve never showed you before but Fr. Stephen managed to get his tractor working and he has used it to plant corn and rice:

I believe this is when it they were seeding it:

Fr. Stephen’s wife wears the flowery blouse:

And this is what it looks like now:

Fr. Stephen uses a lot of this crop just to feed teachers and students. I’m truly amazed by his dedication. Through the school he manages to educate his own children and grandchildren and provide jobs for his children who need jobs and for others, but he himself doesn’t do it for money, but as a ministry. In fact there is very little money in Uganda to go around. The teachers aren’t there for money either. May God bless all Fr. Stephen’s labors in Christ’s name.

Another thing that happened earlier this year that I didn’t fund until late July was that wind blew off the dormitory porch roof and folded it up onto the other roof:

This happened because it wasn’t built right. I had sent money to build this porch originally through the orphanage director who is no longer with us. Now it has been built properly:

Expense Report:

Regarding the expense report below I have received photos of everything we have funded.

2023-02-13	Building project	$287.35	(1,050,000) For building a built-in stove with a chimney in the new kitchen in your living quarters at St John Chrysostom School.
2023-02-13	Staff support	$50.09	(186,886) For fruit and milk for Elizabeth who was feeling ill.
2023-02-21	Building project	$234.22	(850,000) For adding a gutter and pipes to the new kitchen/storage building next to the guest house for rainwater harvesting.
2023-04-12	Comm Devices	$343.21	(1,250,000) For a new handset (smart phone). I recommended that Fr. Stephen get a Samsung that is capable of taking great photos and that is what he got.
2023-04-12	Building project	$1098.29	(4m shillings) First transfer for the perimeter fence. This is the largest amount I can send in one transaction via Sendwave.
2023-04-17	Building project	$1093.49	(4m shillings) Second transfer for the perimeter fence.
2023-04-24	Building project	$542.01	(2m shillings) Third transfer for the perimeter fence.
2023-03-21	Events	$372.92	(1,350,000) For Annunciation feast. 100kg of rice (550,000); 2 goats, one for primary pupils, and one for the secondary students (800,000).
2023-07-31	Building project	$1123.91	(4,000,000) For fixing blown off dormitory roof.
2023-07-31	Building project	$297.83	(1,060,000) Remainder of budget for fixing blown off dormitory roof.
2023-09-08	Building project	$1080.02	(3,955,034) For buying cement, aggregate stones and sand for beginning to build the perimeter fence.
2023-10-02	Building project	$270.85	(1,000,000) For the perimeter fence project.
2023-10-18	Building project	$272.10	(1,000,000) For the perimeter fence project.
2023-10-19	Events	$68.02	(250,000) Food for St. Jacob's feast day.

Here is the new built-in-stove for Fr. Stephen’s house:

Simple improvements such as this have made a big difference.

May God bless you for your continued support!

Again, please donate for our perimeter fence project at ecomercy.org and pray that I can get our Facebook fundraising tools reinstated.

A blessed day to you,

Martin Becktell, director

EcoMercy International, Inc.