After months of preparation, a team of our brothers and sisters in Christ - men, women and children from West Texas - are at work in the east Africa nation of Uganda for Christian mission. The 2010 Uganda Mission Team from First Presbyterian Church of Midland will be sending back regular reports from Uganda, along with photos.
Update #9
Our devotional by Garrett Lang this morning was based on prayer and it was a fitting chapter to study on the day we would have the first worship service at the new church in Kanyumu.
It was truly unbelievable--the sight of all the people as we approached the church. As we arrived, the church was already filled with the new congregation. We joined them in their opening ceremonies of prayer and song before breaking up into men's, women's, and children's Sunday school.
There were at least 90 - 100 men in the class that Steve led under a tent by the church. He taught on prayer using I Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." He taught on the importance of prayer in the new believer and challenged the men to find their gift that will help build the community of faith and help assist Pastor Stephen in ministering to the needs of the congregation as it grows.
Karen Williams led over 100 women in the women's class. She taught the women how to be faithful to the church - emphasizing that we are "called ones" gathering for fellowship, service, instruction and worship.
Children's Sunday school was led by Melissa Rendall where she told Bible stories and taught them the hand prayer. They were delightful as they sang, danced and praised the Lord.
After Sunday school, the people gathered back in the church to a packed house, overflowing to the aisles where they had placed mats on the floor for the children to sit. It was so full that by the time we made our way back to the church, there was standing room only at the back - and then that filled up, too. So we enjoyed the wonderful service from outside until the Muzungu Choir (that's us) was called to the stage. We sang a rousing rendition of a Ugandan song that we had been practicing all week followed by "I've Got the Joy Down in My Heart" accompanied by Karen Lang on the guitar. We actually sounded pretty good as the congregation joined in with clapping and singing.
Walter preached on Philippians 1:9-11 which encouraged the congregation to grow into a tree which would produce fruit. We enjoyed the beautiful sound of Ugandan prayers, lifting up the Lord with passion and joy. Pastor Morris gave a passionate and powerful sermon on the importance of being a community of faith. He charged Pastor Stephen with having Bible-centered authority over the church and the importance of leading a faithful congregation. His wife Beatrice was sitting faithfully beside him as he was commissioned. When it was all said and done, we worshiped and sang with our new friends for about 4 hours. IT WAS GREAT!
We enjoyed one more delicious meal by our cooks - Christopher and James and made our way back to Mbale. It was bitter sweet leaving our new brothers and sisters in Christ but it was so rewarding to leave such a vibrant and happy congregation.
We arrived back at Mt. Elgon and began preparing for the Pastor's Dinner. This is one of our favorites events of the week because it is the time we share Holy Communion with our Ugandan family. It is like getting a 'peek' of heaven - all of us gathered around the table sharing the Lord's Supper and praising God. We then share a meal, share some laughter and share a few tears during the evening. What a blessing they have been to us this week - walking hand in hand with us translating and spreading the gospel to the countryside. We could not do this without them. Please keep them in your prayers.
It has been a wonderful week. We have had the opportunity to live out our mission statement, "Loving and leading all people to deeper life in Jesus Christ" on the red dirt roads of Uganda and look forward to continuing to live it out at home.
Our devotional by Garrett Lang this morning was based on prayer and it was a fitting chapter to study on the day we would have the first worship service at the new church in Kanyumu.
It was truly unbelievable--the sight of all the people as we approached the church. As we arrived, the church was already filled with the new congregation. We joined them in their opening ceremonies of prayer and song before breaking up into men's, women's, and children's Sunday school.
There were at least 90 - 100 men in the class that Steve led under a tent by the church. He taught on prayer using I Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." He taught on the importance of prayer in the new believer and challenged the men to find their gift that will help build the community of faith and help assist Pastor Stephen in ministering to the needs of the congregation as it grows.
Karen Williams led over 100 women in the women's class. She taught the women how to be faithful to the church - emphasizing that we are "called ones" gathering for fellowship, service, instruction and worship.
Children's Sunday school was led by Melissa Rendall where she told Bible stories and taught them the hand prayer. They were delightful as they sang, danced and praised the Lord.After Sunday school, the people gathered back in the church to a packed house, overflowing to the aisles where they had placed mats on the floor for the children to sit. It was so full that by the time we made our way back to the church, there was standing room only at the back - and then that filled up, too. So we enjoyed the wonderful service from outside until the Muzungu Choir (that's us) was called to the stage. We sang a rousing rendition of a Ugandan song that we had been practicing all week followed by "I've Got the Joy Down in My Heart" accompanied by Karen Lang on the guitar. We actually sounded pretty good as the congregation joined in with clapping and singing.
Walter preached on Philippians 1:9-11 which encouraged the congregation to grow into a tree which would produce fruit. We enjoyed the beautiful sound of Ugandan prayers, lifting up the Lord with passion and joy. Pastor Morris gave a passionate and powerful sermon on the importance of being a community of faith. He charged Pastor Stephen with having Bible-centered authority over the church and the importance of leading a faithful congregation. His wife Beatrice was sitting faithfully beside him as he was commissioned. When it was all said and done, we worshiped and sang with our new friends for about 4 hours. IT WAS GREAT!We enjoyed one more delicious meal by our cooks - Christopher and James and made our way back to Mbale. It was bitter sweet leaving our new brothers and sisters in Christ but it was so rewarding to leave such a vibrant and happy congregation.
We arrived back at Mt. Elgon and began preparing for the Pastor's Dinner. This is one of our favorites events of the week because it is the time we share Holy Communion with our Ugandan family. It is like getting a 'peek' of heaven - all of us gathered around the table sharing the Lord's Supper and praising God. We then share a meal, share some laughter and share a few tears during the evening. What a blessing they have been to us this week - walking hand in hand with us translating and spreading the gospel to the countryside. We could not do this without them. Please keep them in your prayers.
It has been a wonderful week. We have had the opportunity to live out our mission statement, "Loving and leading all people to deeper life in Jesus Christ" on the red dirt roads of Uganda and look forward to continuing to live it out at home.
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