Uganda Trip July 2012 Report

GateWay East Africa

Uganda Trip July 2012 Report

The long flight never gets easier although I am thankful that we were kept safely in the kind hands of our God.  We arrived late Saturday night at Entebbe and then traveled to Mpigi Sunday morning in time to gather with our brothers and sisters for worship at Mmembe Baptist Church in the Mpigi district.  My first ever 9 hour worship service was followed by Ugandan potluck.  Yum.  I was so encouraged by their love for God and His word as evidenced by their desire to worship corporately all day.  

Monday morning we traveled by van to the village of Busombo to help Pastor Wasswa and the church in their efforts to reach their village.  Busombo is an area filled with witchcraft and drunkenness which has greatly contributed to their spiritual darkness and financial desperation.  We appreciated a lunch prepared by the church members and spent a few hours providing Bible teaching to the core group of the church.  We also provided money for a wheelchair for a 3 year old boy inflicted by an unknown malady which is causing abnormally large swelling to his head.  We shared the gospel with some of the people in the village and showed the “Passion of the Christ” movie that night in the Lugandan language.  Pastor Wasswa is faithful in a very difficult context for ministry.  Response to the gospel is low and the church is few in number but they are shining the light in a dark place.  

Tuesday we traveled to Bukasa where Pastor Frank serves a small congregation.  Frank is very evangelistic and appears to have good relationships in the small community.  While sharing the gospel in the village I was able to share with a man named Simon who grills meat for sale.  I shared the gospel with him and a few others gathered together.  One man said he was a follower of Christ but Simon and Matthias both made professions of faith.  Simon then went next door and brought his friend, Herman, over to hear the message I was sharing.  He also professed faith in Christ.  This village was also filled with drunkenness and spiritual darkness but about 300 gathered for the showing of the “Passion” film.  We arrived back at the motel at midnight.

Wednesday we spent the day witnessing around Mmembe Baptist Church.  We had some great visits and some professions of faith but overall the level of response was less than what I have experienced in other parts of east Africa.  I was especially impressed with Pastor Gingo’s work ethic, faithfulness, and doctrinal integrity.  He is truly a man of God who is loving people and teaching the Bible in a context that would discourage lesser men.  Two special highlights of the day were watching Nathan Bural preach at the school in Kalagala and Landon Northcutt preaching on the street near Mmembe BC.  Nathan boldly declared the word of God with precision and power and many students received Christ as Lord.  Landon started slow from Isaiah 53 and rose high as he called the people to trust Christ and avoid eternity in Hell.  We had dinner at a restaurant and discovered they could fry fish and chicken.  Although it was different than our customary fare, it was appreciated after a few steady doses of matoke.

Thursday began our two day Pastor’s Conference.  In attendance were 17 pastors from the Lake Wamala Baptist Association which began in 2000, representing 9 churches and other mission efforts.  Jacob Rowe did a great job teaching the pastors and church leaders.  The need for pastor training is great and Gingo is putting forth great effort as their Director of Missions, but he needs more help.  We shared the Scriptures with the students at the Green Valley School and about 20 made professions of faith, notably a few of the students were coming from Muslim families.  That evening we had an evangelistic meeting in which Harold “Smitty” Smith shared his testimony and Robert Whitefield delivered a great sermon.  We found our way back to the fried chicken and fish that night and back at motel at 9pm.

Friday we continued the Pastor’s Conference with Robert sharing from John 15 and I shared from Psalm 51 and Romans 6.  The afternoon was spent witnessing on the streets of Mpigi and we had an evangelistic meeting on an empty lot in the town.  The “praise team” of Mmembe BC led in music which joyfully continued for 45 minutes.  I preached from Mark 13 on the subject, “What You Can Expect When Christ Returns.”  Although the crowd was much smaller than we expected each night in Mpigi, there were many passersby and a couple of hundred gathered for the showings of the “Passion” movie.

Saturday was a productive day of witnessing on the streets of Mpigi.  Landon and I shared the gospel with one lady named Teresa who was so thankful to hear God’s Word.  She received the gospel of Christ with joy unspeakable and rejoiced unlike few I have ever seen.  Her response strengthened my soul.  A young man named Absalom said he recently had been experiencing many “disturbances” and had been asking God to show him the truth.  When we shared the good news of Jesus with him, he said that he had been “longing for the message” and gladly received Christ as Lord.  We held another meeting that night and Jacob Rowe delivered the sermon with earnestness.  After the meeting we found our way back to the fried chicken.

Sunday was a great day of worship with our Ugandan brethren.  Jacob preached at Gateway BC, which is a plant of Mmembe BC.  Gingo preaches at Gateway at 9am and then returns to Mmembe BC every Sunday to preach afterward.  Robert preached at Bukasa and I preached at Mmembe.  God blessed the service in so many ways.  Of those responding, one young man is of particular note.  He had been at one of the schools where we had shared earlier in the week.  He came from a Muslim family and his father had told him not to listen to the “born-agains” for they spoke silliness.  The young man said, “I want silly things, I want to follow Jesus!”  We all rejoiced in the faithfulness and benevolence of our God.  We enjoyed a going away dinner hosted by the dear ladies of Mmembe BC and then departed for Kampala.

Sunday evening in Kampala brought us closer to some of our cultural comforts as we had pizza at Nando’s.  It is very sad to see all of the street-children and beggars in the streets.  Every time I go to Africa I want to bring a plane load of children back with me.  Although I don’t have the resources to give them many things, I take comfort in knowing that what we offer in the gospel of Jesus Christ affords immeasurable riches.

We arrived at Entebbe Airport at 6:30pm and departed on our long flight home at 11:30pm.

I thank God for the work he is doing among the people of east Africa and the work he does in our hearts each time we go.  I pray that He will continue to provide the resources we need for GateWay East Africa to grow and help in the areas of church planting and pastoral training.