Uganda: Update #5

A team of our brothers and sisters in Christ - men, women and children from West Texas - are in the east Africa nation of Uganda for Christian mission. Here is a report from Midland's 2008 Uganda Mission Team.
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Uganda Update 5

This morning we met together with the team from Oklahoma for our devotional time. It was led by Missy Grimes and was out of the book “Humility” by Andrew Murray. She did a wonderful job and serves as a beautiful example of a servant with a humble heart. I think we forgot to mention that the previous two days the devotions were led by Robin and Jeff Darr. These times of worship and singing praises spent together in the mornings seems to get our hearts prepared for the day ahead. We have used Murray’s book for our devotions in years past but we feel the importance of the subject warrants more study.

It was another blessed day as we continued our work in Uganda. As we have over the past few days, teams were sent to the schools, the prisons and to the church site to walk the trails in Nalubembe. But an additional team had the joy of going to the Lulwanda Children’s Home for a special art activity. The trail we walked today was a short drive from the church and we visited huts scattered among farms. Some of the team from last year recognized the area. It was near the village of Kanyolo, our previous year’s church.

We sent a small team, Kathy, Hannah, Missy, and Audrey, to the Lulwanda Children’s Home to provide an art experience for the children there. It was pure pleasure to teach children who were so focused and so eager to learn. Each of the five classes was framed around the idea that God is THE artist and that He created not only a beautiful world but each of them. He delights in their creativity. We will be bringing home a beautiful sampling of their unique artwork to share with the congregation and the community. An added blessing of the day was witnessing everyday life in this loving orphanage family.

Jim Alsup, Lisa Zachry and Susan Strange visited one primary school and two high schools today. The schools were located in a beautiful mountain setting. Each of the women shared testimonies and Jim preached. The primary school had over 630 students. It was a great day for all.

Steve and Thomas Schorr and Cynthia Howard did prison visits today. Pastor Stephen who is the chaplain of the prison ministry for the Presbytery in Eastern Uganda accompanied them. What a powerful man of God! His love for sharing Christ with those in prison is so evident. He served 17 years as a prison guard before he became a pastor. Steve gave the message and Thomas gave his testimony while Cynthia spoke with the women.

What a wonderful morning Louisa and Page had on the trail today! Their very first encounter of the day was with an older man named Paul. We were excited to learn that Paul spoke very good English and their entire conversation with him was in English. He told them that two nights ago he dreamed that we came to tell him about Jesus. They didn’t think much of it at first, but Paul continued telling them about how people had come last year but he hadn’t accepted Christ. (This area is adjacent to the church area that we planted last year). He said that now he knew for sure that he wanted to trust Christ because God had told him in a dream we would arrive. They then got to share with Paul, and he accepted Christ. If it weren’t for that seed planted in his heart last year by our team, he might not have been ready to hear and receive the message today. As they say here, “God is good---all the time!” We were reminded and encouraged that God is the one doing all the work and we are so blessed to be vessels used by him!

Steve Schorr had the privilege of walking the trails with the pastor of our new church, Robert, as his translator. Pastor Steve and Pastor Robert visited a home and discovered that the District Health Inspector lived there. This was a HUGE contact for Pastor Robert as they begin to set up the medical clinic next to the church. Much to our delight the family is Christian and had been at the crusade the night before. They are very excited about the church and are looking forward to being involved. Once again, God is well out in front of us!

The crusades were as inspirational and lively as always. Louisa Musselman, Maddie Spinks and Joey Willis gave their testimonies and Randy Willis preached his sermon on Moses and the plagues. He told them that the God who took care of Israel during that time is the same God who is with them now in Uganda and He wants to have a personal relationship with them. Very powerful. The children’s chapel was again packed with hundreds of children. They learned about Noah and how he was obedient to God. They actively participated in the “calling of the animals”. With baas, meows, woofs roars, moos and mak mak’s (monkeys), the rafters echoed with the sounds of the ark. It was loud, chaotic and FUN! What a blessing to have all the children to love and cherish.

The medical outreach portion of our trip will begin tomorrow. We want to thank Dr. Greg Bartha for his time and hard work procuring all the medical supplies and medications that will be used at the clinic. We anticipate extremely large crowds, given all the illness we have seen on the trail. Please keep Dr. Patrick and his staff in your prayers as they minister to the physical needs of the people of Nalubembe.

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Please, keep them all in your hearts and on you minds, in your thoughts and in your prayers.

Want to know more about Uganda? You can visit the Uganda entry in 'The World Factbook' maintained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. You can also visit the official Uganda tourism website maintained by the Uganda Tourist Board. And Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church of Houston, Texas, has a webpage devoted to Mbale Presbyterian Church of Uganda.