Hello Friends,
Thank you for all of your prayers for this trip to Uganda.
The trip has gone smoothly and there have been many great connections and experiences.
Some great answers to prayer have been the following:
- Peace returned to Kampala before we went through the city. It was interesting to hear from some of those that did go through the rioting. The mobs were burning cars at random. Life is an amazing adventure. It is awesome to go through it with the Lord.
- The curriculum and other details were all ready before leaving on the trip.
- We have been through the first step of oral testing of the students. They are being tested on the second semester material which is 450 verses from 14 stories of the Old Testament. How would you do if you were memorizing 450 verses every 14 weeks. They are doing great and are growing in their knowledge and confidence of the Word of God. It was fun to hear them answer each other regarding questions that people on the street were asking them.
- The meeting with the ELCU went well and we were able to talk about some of the differences in how we see things.
- This past Sunday service included four baptisms, 23 confirmations and communion. Basically the whole congregation had never been through confirmation. The pastor went through confirmation last January, so it is cool to see him passing it on to his people. Question: How do you do communion in a culture where there is neither wine nor grape juice?
Prayer requests that remain include:
- That we could finish the testing and that the students would put their whole heart and soul into the training.
- For the vision of the church of Uganda and for an understanding of how they can begin to stand on their own.
Let me introduce you to Soka Grace. He is the host pastor of the church where the training takes place in Butagaiya. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and they have seven children with one on the way. He would give the last meal in his home to welcome guests. He struggles with how to pay the school fees for his children and that is a common problem in Uganda. As the host for this training he has brought a sense of unity among the pastors in the county so that they are working together to bring the Word of God to the people rather than being in competition with each other. Now when one of them is in need they all join together and attend each others events. I was at Soka’s house for lunch on Monday. They asked me “Who is a Christian?” and we decided that the title Christian should be the name that someone else gives us rather than what we call ourselves. Instead when we are asked if we are a Christian our response should probably be that “I am a sinner, that is depending on Jesus.”
I have a lot to learn from Soka. He is humble example of Christ lived out in daily life.
Another man that I want to tell you about is Jimmy. Jimmy’s father died some years ago. Since then he has been the head of the house. His mother and grandmother and younger brothers and sisters all live at the same home. He has not yet married, but he is leading a congregation in a near by village. His family will provide food every single time there is a training and the training is held outside of his house in Naigobia. He led his brother to faith in Jesus and his brother Saulo has brought many of the young men in his area to Christ. Now the group numbers about 10. They are pastors and leaders of three churches in the area. Jimmy is soft spoken, but even as a man in his twenties, but Jimmy carries an air of respect.
Pray for Soka and Jimmy the hosts of the training in Uganda!
Thanks for joining us in the ministry to the rural pastors of Uganda.
Kevin
