Uganda

Allow me to share with you, right here from the get-go, in the form of an iPhone screen shot, exactly how it’s going in Uganda today:

Sure, I began an art career later in life, at almost 50 years old. But it isn’t talked about enough that this man began “Tim Atchley Global Ministries” at age 60.

This man is seeing his God-dreams come true…

Here are images of some of the altar calls, in Kasese, Uganda:

We don’t do anything without teamwork. And so, for this, the “maiden voyage”, the first international crusade with Tim Atchley Global Ministries (I can’t say that without a smile), we think the Lord assembled the sweetest team:

(l-r: Dr. Douglas Damron, MD, Tim Atchley, Mark Machen (pastor of Life of Faith Church in Birmingham, Alabama) and Harvest Church elder and full time fine-art artist Jonathan Howe )

A beautiful mix of friends - joined upon arrival by pastor Neckson Muhindo of Uganda. They were also joined by a brother who is the bishop of over 2,000 churches in Uganda

Here is only one of many, many testimonies:

A young girl came to the crusade, carried in by family, having never walked since she was four, due to a debilitating illness.

She is walking.

This particular trip included three days of leadership training (for local pastors and leaders) equipping them in “What Is The New Covenant Gospel”. The number of pastors and leaders in attendance was about 2,000!

Then, each night, there is an open-air field crusade, with an emphasis on evangelism, healing, signs, and wonders. They have one more crusade to hold - then, after that, the next day, the whole team will go on an African safari…to “rest and digest”, onboard all that glory, for team bonding and building and making “manly memories” together.

This entire first, initial crusade outreach was over 90% funded - miraculously - by Harvest Church members. To the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

They’ve sown wholeheartedly, and the results are already speaking for themselves.

We are overwhelmed at the goodness of God.

All The Poets

All the poets and Real People (who can never be ugly) have left the social media building.

Instagram gets one-fifth of the attention and care I used to give it, back when I thought Poets and Real People were my friends there. Seriously - maybe I devote 20% of the concern I once gave it (and any other click-bait, heavily advertised platforms).

The other 80% has been re-upped into making physical things in the physical world, and to embodied friendships who are either right here in my Scruffy City, in my church, or who are a car drive away. And my soul and my bottom line are much healthier for it.

And if that ever changes, I will be one of the first to come back to those weird-ass squares, bringing more of who I am to each post.

I am one of those who believes I must take myself into every interaction. Ghosting is not beautiful to me. If I run across you, and I appreciate something about you, your image, or what you said…

…I let that thumb twitch. “heart”.

So simple. In fact, that is so utterly simple, that to purposely withhold that much to someone I used to call a dear friend, and with no explanation, is some kind of weirdness that absolutely does not feel beautiful to me. (Yes, I am speaking autobiographically…)

The only reason I bring it up, is this: as usual, I saw it coming. Now, seriously, all the poets are gone. Oh, they might post, but they’re not there.

I want to be a practitioner of beauty. Not just a consumer, or even a chaser. (But do go buy Tim Willard’s book called “The Beauty Chasers”.). If I can’t pass into it (beauty) and fellowship with it, and participate with it, I feel like a fraud.

I would be a fraud.

Listen to this quote from Freya India about Instagram, as to why she left:

“Oh well! We’re having fun, right? We’re entertained! We’re all more connected, apparently. But who said I want to be connected to people like this? I don’t even feel connected to myself when I behave this way. …I hate how these platforms convince humble, modest people that they are lacking—they should be sharing more; building a personal brand; playing the game. Take more photos! Tell us more about you! It’s all free! Just pay with your humility. Trade with the time you could be spending thinking about anyone else but yourself.”

That sits heavy and hearty with me. Truth.

As long as I have patrons and collectors on those squares, I will show up in some form. Because that is beautiful. It’s beautiful because I mostly pop in only to say hi to YOU. As for my square, it will usually be some easy stream-of-consciousness sharing, or dinking around with a reel as I have something urgent to say, or as I learn new video technique (for applications other than social media) or I am showing a new painting or class…or, and most often, in some pre-loaded scheduled post of something else I said years ago, back when IG was fun.

But the best of me goes to the rooms where I can see the faces - mostly physical, but even if they are virtual rooms, at least I know who is there, ghosts can’t emit their energies, and I can know that the faces that show up are, for the most part, for me.

As I am for them.

Beautiful.