Its slightly shorter this time
 
This place is crazy!  Their main mode of transport, is on motorbikes, called boda boda, where the ladies sit ‘side-saddle’ and millions of these guys take people at crazy speeds, zig-zagging through the traffic like flies, and carrying all sorts of things that you would never believe could fit on a motorbike.  We have seen chair, mirrors, mattresses, and last night a swaying coffin hurtled down the main road during the night…. Swerving…  its classic.  On our long drive home last night, we sat in a muggy, hot humid car, with poor vision through the windscreen, smashing through potholes, listening to happy Ugandan music, with 5 people in the car, and 2 chickens clucking away at their feet.  Africa!! You gotta love it.
 
There really are ups and down to this though.  I must say, that though some of you might think I find this easy, I don’t.  It really is a challenge for me.  I really am living in the slums.  I never thought I would, and it is VERY different from the open spaces and the beauty of the KZN village I am used to, and the convenience and quiet of my place in Umhlanga.  It’s not so much the toilets, bucket baths, different food etc that I struggle with but more the clutter, the dirt, the smell, the noise, the lack of privacy, my desire for nature and open space versus the pollution and litter, and the sadness of life for people who have only known life as a struggle from the start.  However, in this, God always manages to shine His light.  I hit a bit of a low, but God is always good.
 
Shortly after my last email, I was hit hard with an intense headache which lasted most of the weekend.  Then on Saturday, I spent the day in bed, with a bad stomach, nauseas, very weak, and with that feeling of very sensitive skin.  Just to give you a picture of the situation, using pit toilets in the squalor of the townships can be challenging at the best of times, but when you have no energy, and are feeling nauseas from the start, using these toilets, where the maggots are visible, and sometimes crawling out the pit and around the place, is not the best of situations.  Added to the fact that my room is the lounge, with no door, just a sheet separating me from the house, with the kids screaming and crying particularly more than usual that day (one kid cried solidly for 45 minutes), the delightful sounds of an exceptionally loud drill in my room as they are putting lights in the room, added to the delightful smell of burning plastic wafting through the window, it left me feeling quite sorry for myself.  I may be making it sound worse than it was, but it’s just funny how one day you can feel like a warrior for God, ‘taking ground for the Kingdom’, and the next, be reduced to a little girl crying in bed wanting home!   (ok it wasn’t quite like that, but I like writing stories).
 
Funny thing is, I know with all my heart, I will be back here next year, and can’t wait!
 
During this, I managed to minister to the church a few times, and on one night, a young girl came forward after the word, for prayer.  She did not know Jesus, but was there because she has a recurring dream, every night, that people are cutting her into pieces.  Can you imagine dreaming that every night??  We prayed for this young girl, that the power of the Lord was going to set her free from these dreams.  We then spoke to her about Christ’s authority over the enemy.  She then told us she wanted to be born again, (we didn’t even know she wasn’t), and we prayed with her as she accepted Christ.  It was awesome.  It is always hard to know how genuine these ‘salvations’ are, and I am not one to quickly shout about how someone ‘got saved’, because it is our lifestyle that shows Christ lives in us, but when she came to the church service a few days later, we were abundantly blessed.  She stood up, in a church she did not even know and had only visited once, and testified that the night she was prayed for, the dreams had ended, and that she is born again and has since already been getting involved in the church family!  Mokama yebazibwe - Praise God. 
 
I want to share briefly how when a seed is sown in the kingdom, it can have profound, deep, lasting and eternal effects.  Wilson traveled to Australia to visit friends, (as far as I know they flew him in there), and while he was there, a few of the families gave him a financial love offering.  This man could have taken it and renovated his house, which is very much a need, or used it for something personal, but this man of God went and bought 4 acres of land about an hour out of the city.  He has already planted crops, and they are half grown, and the produce will provide money for their orphans, for their school (he has 1st and 2nd grade at the church), and for the future of the ministry. He also has a long term vision of doing much with the land, and even dreaming of setting up a ‘village’ system, where people can live on the land, take in orphans, and even run a church there as there is no church anywhere in that area and many people needing one.  So this love offering blessed Wilson, and has blessed the ministry, but it doesn’t stop there.  The lady he bought the land from, was desperate for finance, and has been so blessed that she was able to sell it.  Wilson has become special to her, and we stopped in and shared God’s love with her and had a special time.  It doesn’t stop there.  With her money, she was able to renovate her house, (Wilson told me it was in a very bad state), and she was able to employ some men to come and paint the house too.  From a love gift to the right hands, it ends up blessing a ministry supporting orphans, a desperate poor woman, and some men needing work.  Who knows what they used their pay for, but knowing the majority of these gentle Ugandans, it probably went towards family support.  We as the church need to ask God where to sow our seed, and we need to be generous in doing it.  What an amazing thing for me to see the effect of these generous aussies!
 
I have ministered to Wilson’s church, and had an awesome time with them, as well as speaking very openly about life issues, with the youth that evening.  We were also invited to spend the afternoon with St Johns school for their year end ‘leaver’s party’.  I discovered how intricately connected the school is with Wilson’s church.  All the pupils are solid grade 7 Christians, and all the teachers are members of the church too.  It was like sitting at a family function, as the speeches, and awards, were like parents to their own children.  Surely this is what God had in mind for educating our children.  A place where their teachers are like loving caring parents, and part of the curriculum, in spelling, goes like this:  Jesus died for our s_ _ _ _.
 
It had rained incredibly through one night, and the next morning we had to wade through knee deep water to get anywhere from the house.  Not the nicest water to have rushing past your legs, as it has swept through kilometers of the slums, but this is life here in Kampala.  That day we had a 4 hour each way journey to a rural fishing village and ministered to the church of a very poor community of 400 ppl.  We were then given a delicious lunch of fish and had a tour of the little village.  It was a privilege to be a part of their lives, and God gave us some very encouraging messages to share with the pastor and her congregation.  Wilson has taken in the child of the pastor as her husband died a few years ago and she could not look after him then.  Wilson is a very special spiritual father to this woman, and they are in the process of raising up a man in the church to take over the leadership.
 
Wilson has been given a clear call from God, to be a father in the community, as well as to challenge the prosperity gospel, that is rapidly growing here in Uganda, and sadly seducing many leaders away from the true call of Christ.  He has such a love, and such humility, and with the way people have recognized him as a leader and father, no doubt is walking his calling in honour.  It is a privilege to walk alongside him.
 
I only have a few more days here, and we will be visiting some more pastors, as well as some homes and churches.  On Friday night, we have a final night celebration where I will be sharing on ‘His presence’.  We are praying that God will deeply touch lives and more powerfully.  Please pray with us for that.
 
I am really going to miss my Ugandan family.  They have all been so wonderful to me.  Here at Wilson’s house, I have sat with the kids at night going through homework, lying on the bed talking about God, having fun, playing games, laughing singing praying and worshipping.  It has been very special and in many ways am not looking forward to going home.
 
With love
 
Rich