3...2...1...LAUNCH!

The anticipation has been building all week. When we arrived 30 minutes late for Sunday School, it was already standing room only! We “prepared the site” by worshiping about 30 minutes with powerful songs and prayers.

Then we broke up into groups. The children (at least 250) met outside on mats under a tent. There, Rhonda, Sharon, Jayne, Ali taught them the 10 commandments on their fingers (write me if you want to know it…it’s easy!). They also taught them a “hand” prayer, where they associate each finger with a group of people to pray for.

We also passed out about 1500 crayons (several colors) to the children.  They were ecstatic and went right to coloring the papers we handed out.  Not only crayons, but paper is also a premium here for schoolchildren. 

The women stayed inside the church while Judy Langdon taught them on what it means to be church, how to pray, and the benefit of covenant groups. The small group idea fit very well within their culture. Judy delineated a true faithful sharing covenant group from a group of women who just get together to gossip. They all nodded with complete understanding.

The church was fairly full with just the women, an indication of the spiritual strength of Ugandan women. Of course, you could also read that as the men abdicating spiritual headship and responsibility in the family.

The men met outside the church on the porch, led by Matt Mitchell. Several hundred men studied the “marks of the church” from Acts 2: teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, prayers, giving, signs and wonders, evangelism, and community. It was a whirlwind crash course in Christianity but so many things that were needed for a good foundation.

When asked if there were any testimonies or encouragements, one man stood up and gave all glory to God in describing how his daughter lost her eyesight. After a month of prayers by family and friends, she was able to see again. He then told the men about how this same daughter some time later fell ill for a few days.  After much prayer she died after sundown. His response was “all we could do was praise God for her life.” They continued praying all night and into the morning. He gave testimony that after 12 hours, she gasped and was alive again. She was in church this morning.   Signs and wonders still abound. 

After an hour, we tried to gather back into the sanctuary, but there was not enough room. People kept coming! There were around 1000 people there! It was standing room only on the inside, with a few hundred looking in the windows and doors on the outside.

With the help of the generator that YOU purchased, the worship service was led with a public address system that pumped the sound inside and out. We also provided a keyboard, speakers, amp and microphones.

Every aspect of worship was full, rich and amazing! People truly gave themselves to the Lord as they sang, waved, danced, prayed and shouted.

After a great aerobic warm-up (worship here is like a workout!), Carl preached on Acts 8 (Ethiopian coming to Christ on the road). Instead of “Ethiopian” he used the word “African” which spoke volumes to those in attendance. He explained how one man who wanted to know about Jesus came to faith, was baptized and then took the gospel to Africa. They cheered and cheered when Carl said, “YOU can help spread this message as this African did. You will change the world for Jesus Christ.”

When he asked if any in the room had not yet trusted Jesus, 10 came forward! More came forward later in the afternoon!

Then the Presbytery moderator addressed the pastor and the church, and the Presbytery installed the pastor. All the pastors (Mzungu and African) laid hands on Pastor Julius, Leo prayed the commissioning prayer, and there was great rejoicing!

Pastor Julius addressed his new flock for the first time and gave an invitation to the Wednesday Bible Study. He said at that meeting, the congregation would establish what each day would bring. (Traditional pattern is Monday - visitation, Tuesday – Choir, Wednesday – Bible Study, Thursday – Women’s Bible Study, Saturday – rest, Sunday – worship)

The whole congregation had lunch on site, and we continued to give thanks to God for all the many blessings for this week of work.

Right before we left, the team walked over to the school where we drilled our water well. Being the third attempt, seeing the pump bring water brought more water to our eyes!

The van ride home was tough. Knowing we weren’t coming back to Mukongoro the next day was sad. Our prayer is that we will come back next year to disciple this burgeoning family in the faith. With your continued prayer and support, they will grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Seriously, only through prayer will this church be sustained.

In fact, we have been covered in prayer 24 hours a day since we got on the plane. When was the last time we held vigil for 2 weeks. They began praying when we took off…they haven’t stopped and won’t until we land Wednesday.

With prayer coverage like this, how could we NOT succeed for the Lord? To God be all the glory!