Merry Christmas to our family and friends! Please take a minute to view our Video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1YCbEuEpw God Bless
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas to our family and friends! Please take a minute to view our Video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1YCbEuEpw God Bless
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Hello friends and family,
It has been awhile since I last communicated. Part of the problem is that I have had a serious problem with dizziness for about two months. The dizziness would increase when I looked at computer screen so I was staying off the computer as much as possible. The good news is that things are much better now and I decided I needed to give an update on our ministry here.
In January we completed another phase of our building project. This phase included the restrooms, the kitchen and the foyer or reception area. We raised a building pledge in May of 2010 and it pushed us to about October when we received some help from a church in Singapore that enabled us to complete that phase. We raised another building pledge in April of this year, 2011 for the completion of our building. This last phase includes a multipurpose room that will be used primarily as a “house of prayer”, where we hope to hold prayer meetings 24/7 in the future. In the short term we will hold daily prayer meetings AM and PM and increase as we go along. We are pushing hard to complete this phase by September this year. So far we have managed to raise enough money to put up the roof. Keep praying for us, the completion of the building will be a great relief to myself – having been involved in this project for over ten years – I am tired of being both Pastor and foreman.
Then in February we had a great tragedy that struck one our Pastors here in Kampala. Pastor Kafus had been married for less than two years when his wife conceived their first son. During the pregnancy his wife had some complications that culminated during her delivery. After giving birth to a healthy baby boy, she herself was not able to sustain the pregnancy and she died three days after giving birth. As you can imagine the grief this brought to the husband, words cannot describe the pain all of us have felt concerning this tragedy. We traveled to a distant district about 5 hours away after church on a Sunday and buried the wife in her home village. Hundreds of people came from near and far to bury this young godly mother and wife.
In April I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya for a Teen Challenge Leadership Training with TC leaders from Africa and the States. It was during this conference that we got news that David Wilkerson had died in a tragic car accident. It was sobering news for many us at the conference. Some of the guest speakers from the States knew Bro. Wilkerson well and had ministered with him on many occasions. Personally, I had always looked at David Wilkerson as a mentor in many ways – through his preaching and teaching ministry he greatly affected my life. On the last day of the Teen Challenge Conference (Friday, April 29th) riots broke out in Uganda and spread throughout the nation. I was due to fly back in the evening with some brothers from the Pacific Northwest area Teen Challenges. But due to the situation we felt it better they travel back to the State. For me on the other hand I needed to get home to my family who were in Kampala at the time. My wife was supposed to pick me up at the airport – but I told her not to leave the house. I called one of our Pastors to go get my car and wait for me at the airport, but he got arrested along way. He was falsely accused as being one of the rioters. Some of you know Pastor Henry, he had ran into the rioters on the way to my home where he was forced to join them or get beat up and possibly killed. That is when the police came along and rounded them up – him included. By the time I arrived back in Uganda at about 7 PM that night the place looked like war-zone. Military and police were out in force while all kinds of debris and rocks were laying everywhere on the roads.
We recently held our elections at the end of February and for the most part they were peaceful. They were peaceful, but not without irregularities. The opposition claimed rigging and other unfair practices by the ruling party. One thing that was evident was that the ruling party had spent about 30x more than any of the opposition on their campaign. The city reminded me of communist rule where everywhere you turn you see the President’s picture either on a billboard, a poster, the TV, on T-Shirts – you hear his name being blasted loud speakers throughout the city and other forms of media. Though the President won the elections by something like 68% to 27% - it seems he does not have the popularity he assumes or claims he has. In the weeks following the President’s victory the opposition began flexing their muscles by holding political protests. They were intended to be peaceful and for the most part they were until the government began blocking them – which stirred up the riots. The government has successfully been able to squash the protests – but they have done it by militarizing the police and putting fear into the opposition or anyone who opposes them. Although there seems to be peace for now and things have settled down, you can now see that this country is no longer a free democracy. The government is quickly changing laws and passing measures that restrict anyone (especially the media) who speaks out against them.
As for our family, we are fine but I thought I would let Lorraine give you update on us. Hello – Lorraine here…..Well, let me talk about our newest addition Alyssa Davina. She is now 8 months old and she is truly a bundle of joy to the entire family. Joshua and Breanna just adore their little baby sister. Both of them would want to carry her, hug and kiss her lots. They would want to feed her with their food. In the morning, when Alyssa wakes up, they would want to pick her up from her crib. In the night, every now and then they would go into her room to watch her sleep. Alyssa eats very well. This is the best stage for any mother. At this point, she is not picky. She eats everything that I feed her. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, soft mushy rice, porridge, carrots, peas, beans, bread, and whatever I give, she takes, no complains ☺ She is crawling now. Just like any other baby, she likes to explore everywhere. She would pick things up from the floor and puts them in her mouth. We have to be more watchful of her. Joshua and Breanna have their own little ways of making the baby laugh. She is very playful too. The sounds of the children’s laughter fills the home with such warmth and love. We are very thankful to the Lord for giving us 3 wonderful children.
Until next time, God bless you all you so much and thank you for your prayers and support, You’re a blessing!
Support Address:
290 North Melrose, Vista, Ca, 92083
Make checks to Vista AG
It has been awhile since I last communicated. Part of the problem is that I have had a serious problem with dizziness for about two months. The dizziness would increase when I looked at computer screen so I was staying off the computer as much as possible. The good news is that things are much better now and I decided I needed to give an update on our ministry here.
In January we completed another phase of our building project. This phase included the restrooms, the kitchen and the foyer or reception area. We raised a building pledge in May of 2010 and it pushed us to about October when we received some help from a church in Singapore that enabled us to complete that phase. We raised another building pledge in April of this year, 2011 for the completion of our building. This last phase includes a multipurpose room that will be used primarily as a “house of prayer”, where we hope to hold prayer meetings 24/7 in the future. In the short term we will hold daily prayer meetings AM and PM and increase as we go along. We are pushing hard to complete this phase by September this year. So far we have managed to raise enough money to put up the roof. Keep praying for us, the completion of the building will be a great relief to myself – having been involved in this project for over ten years – I am tired of being both Pastor and foreman.
Then in February we had a great tragedy that struck one our Pastors here in Kampala. Pastor Kafus had been married for less than two years when his wife conceived their first son. During the pregnancy his wife had some complications that culminated during her delivery. After giving birth to a healthy baby boy, she herself was not able to sustain the pregnancy and she died three days after giving birth. As you can imagine the grief this brought to the husband, words cannot describe the pain all of us have felt concerning this tragedy. We traveled to a distant district about 5 hours away after church on a Sunday and buried the wife in her home village. Hundreds of people came from near and far to bury this young godly mother and wife.
In April I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya for a Teen Challenge Leadership Training with TC leaders from Africa and the States. It was during this conference that we got news that David Wilkerson had died in a tragic car accident. It was sobering news for many us at the conference. Some of the guest speakers from the States knew Bro. Wilkerson well and had ministered with him on many occasions. Personally, I had always looked at David Wilkerson as a mentor in many ways – through his preaching and teaching ministry he greatly affected my life. On the last day of the Teen Challenge Conference (Friday, April 29th) riots broke out in Uganda and spread throughout the nation. I was due to fly back in the evening with some brothers from the Pacific Northwest area Teen Challenges. But due to the situation we felt it better they travel back to the State. For me on the other hand I needed to get home to my family who were in Kampala at the time. My wife was supposed to pick me up at the airport – but I told her not to leave the house. I called one of our Pastors to go get my car and wait for me at the airport, but he got arrested along way. He was falsely accused as being one of the rioters. Some of you know Pastor Henry, he had ran into the rioters on the way to my home where he was forced to join them or get beat up and possibly killed. That is when the police came along and rounded them up – him included. By the time I arrived back in Uganda at about 7 PM that night the place looked like war-zone. Military and police were out in force while all kinds of debris and rocks were laying everywhere on the roads.
We recently held our elections at the end of February and for the most part they were peaceful. They were peaceful, but not without irregularities. The opposition claimed rigging and other unfair practices by the ruling party. One thing that was evident was that the ruling party had spent about 30x more than any of the opposition on their campaign. The city reminded me of communist rule where everywhere you turn you see the President’s picture either on a billboard, a poster, the TV, on T-Shirts – you hear his name being blasted loud speakers throughout the city and other forms of media. Though the President won the elections by something like 68% to 27% - it seems he does not have the popularity he assumes or claims he has. In the weeks following the President’s victory the opposition began flexing their muscles by holding political protests. They were intended to be peaceful and for the most part they were until the government began blocking them – which stirred up the riots. The government has successfully been able to squash the protests – but they have done it by militarizing the police and putting fear into the opposition or anyone who opposes them. Although there seems to be peace for now and things have settled down, you can now see that this country is no longer a free democracy. The government is quickly changing laws and passing measures that restrict anyone (especially the media) who speaks out against them.
As for our family, we are fine but I thought I would let Lorraine give you update on us. Hello – Lorraine here…..Well, let me talk about our newest addition Alyssa Davina. She is now 8 months old and she is truly a bundle of joy to the entire family. Joshua and Breanna just adore their little baby sister. Both of them would want to carry her, hug and kiss her lots. They would want to feed her with their food. In the morning, when Alyssa wakes up, they would want to pick her up from her crib. In the night, every now and then they would go into her room to watch her sleep. Alyssa eats very well. This is the best stage for any mother. At this point, she is not picky. She eats everything that I feed her. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, soft mushy rice, porridge, carrots, peas, beans, bread, and whatever I give, she takes, no complains ☺ She is crawling now. Just like any other baby, she likes to explore everywhere. She would pick things up from the floor and puts them in her mouth. We have to be more watchful of her. Joshua and Breanna have their own little ways of making the baby laugh. She is very playful too. The sounds of the children’s laughter fills the home with such warmth and love. We are very thankful to the Lord for giving us 3 wonderful children.
Until next time, God bless you all you so much and thank you for your prayers and support, You’re a blessing!
Support Address:
290 North Melrose, Vista, Ca, 92083
Make checks to Vista AG
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Happy New Year
Well we hope this New Year is off to a great start for you. Hopefully, I will be off to a better start of keeping this blog updated. Our family is doing quite well with our newest addition and the New Year looks promising.
We ended the year with a big disappointment. The church was broken into by thieves on Dec 26th in the evening (known as boxing day here in Uganda-which is always the day after Christmas). We had service on both Christmas day and the next day - being it was Sunday. The thieves came on Sunday night and stole both of the offerings - plus other monies that we were going to deposit on Monday - the total being almost $2500.00 USD. That's a lot for us in this part of the world. They came in by using a ladder to climb up and then cut the bars on one of the windows. Yes, we were very disappointed by this - especially when it looks like it was someone who knows the church well. But we have done our best to give the whole thing to the Lord and try not to let it get to us. It's His money and He can do a much better job of handling our church finances than we can by worrying about the whole situation.
We finished our ICPC International Church Planting Conference at the end of October. The conference brought delegates from around the world and focused on celebrating the fact that our denomination has planted close to 3,500 churches in the last 2 1/2 years. The conference was held in the National Stadium and lasted for 4 days. We worked like horses to pull this event off and by God's grace we finished up still alive!
Otherwise, here is a video I posted on Facebook. I recently took a staycation (a vacation when you stay home) and taught Josh to do video editing - something he is getting interested in. I know you will enjoy this.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Alyssa Davina Woodson
Hey friends and family,
Announcing the arrival of the newest member of the Woodson clan. Born on Sept 21st - two days before Josh's birthday which on the 23rd.
Lorraine woke me up at about midnight and said she thought the baby was coming. We were not really planning on the baby coming at this time - so we were a but ill prepared. I woke the kids up and began trying to figure out everything that we needed, but time was against us so we dashed out the door as soon as we could. Before we left I called the Dr. and we arrived at the hospital about 15 minutes later. Josh said "Daddy, I never saw you drive so fast" well it's a good thing I did - because the baby was coming quickly. Once we were at the hospital I called the Dr. again and told him to hurry. The nurse said she was 9 cm dilated (10 cm and your at full dilation) the Dr. then says he wants to talk to my wife. I hold the phone to her ear and you will never believe what asks - are you ready for this............he says "When is the due date?" I kid you not. I figure this Dr. does not want to get out of bed. So it's me and the nurses. About 10-15 minutes on her second "push" we had a baby girl in our hands............and NO the Dr. never made it in time. He showed about 30 minutes later - looking like he was taking his wife out for dinner. Freshly ironed slacks and shirt - smelling like "Brut" cologne.....while I was the one who had blood all over their clothes (no joke). Anyway, enough drama - Alyssa was born about 1:25 am at Kololo Hospital in Kampala Uganda. Unlike her brother and sister - Alyssa was born with hair (Josh Breanna were both bald for some good YEARS, before they got their hair).
The family is ecstatic and the kids are really enjoying their new sister. We praise God for a normally delivery and a healthy strong mother and baby. God is good and has been faithful to us once again as all three of our children have been born without any complications. Lorraine has always had a lot of faith concerning the birth of our children and has been steadfast in her resolve to believe God for a quick delivery without complications.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Bomb Blasts
As we were watching the World Cup (my wife and I) we heard two loud "booms" that sounded quite close. I assumed they were fireworks - about an hour we received a text message that bombs had went off in two places in Kampala. One was at a nearby Rugby Club were people were gathered to watch the game. It is about a mile and half from our house (but no worries - far enough from us - we are OK). Sirens were heard throughout the night,as they tried to help those who still had a chance of survival - while many others were being whisked off to the mortuary. We are still reeling in the details (Today is July 12th the day after). But we are deeply saddened by these terrorist attacks (as they have have now been confirmed to be terrorists in Somalia). Pray for for the victims hanging on to their lives and and pray for the rest of us as Kampala has now become a target for these Somalia Terrorists. At this time 64 are confirmed dead.
Friday, June 25, 2010
A day in the life - Ugandan Style
The only way travel. A great view and A/C.
Fresh bread delivered daily.
Top Rate Security
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Uganda Call
The controversy comes in because of one particular part of the bill that states that a person who is infected with HIV AIDS that infects a minor under 18 - would be deserving of the death penalty. This is is already the existing the law for heterosexuals that commit this crime.
The church wants to see the bill's penalty lowered to from the death penalty to a prison (For both homosexuals and heterosexuals) sentence - but the homosexual agenda around the world is calling this bill - "kill the gays" bill and have made it into something that it is not.
Anyway, Lou Engle who is the Founder and leader of The Call has held prayer rallies in the US - most notable in San Diego to raise a trumpet call for prayer and fasting in favor of marriage between a a man and woman.
So the media stirred up lies about The Uganda Call as a rally to incite violence against gays.
Numerous media outlets were on hand for the event. I was personally interviewed by Al Gore's network called "Current TV".
Jesse Engle - Lou's son - joined his father on the trip along with Stuart Greaves from IHOP (who has lead the prayer at the International House of Prayer for the last 10 years for midnight to 6 AM session for six days a week). Stuart and Jesse both had a chance to minister in our church in separate sessions. Lou Engle also had a chance to visit our church and prayed over us. It was the same Sunday that our own Pastor Rick Seaward from Singapore preached in our church for the first time.
So it was quite an eventful Sunday
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Latest from the Woodson's
Since our return from the States – God has been refreshing our church with a renewed freshness. Somewhere towards the end of February we gathered our leaders for a meeting – God came in a very special way that night and filled people with His Spirit. Some cried, others laughed with joy, many were healed – above all the fruit that came from that night was changed lives. Since that night we have seen an increase in every area of our church but most especially in the area of an increased hunger and thirst for God. We thank God for this season and do not take for grant it – only pray that it will continue.
At the end of March a Team from Teen Challenge representing the Pacific Northwest Region of the US came and begun a partnership with our local Teen Challenge Chapter here in Kampala. It has been something that we have prayed for and longed for – for many years. We have needed this boost for this ministry and are excited about this new partnership we have begun. The week the team came we went on local TV and Radio Stations as well as schools and youth groups to spread the message of God’s healing power to save and change lives from addictions.
Lou Engle who represents a Ministry called The Call is coming to Uganda and I am part of the team arranging for the event. This ministry focuses on repentance and reconciliation and targets young people. The date is scheduled for May 1st this year. It’s not an easy task to bring churches and Pastors together – but we believe that this day will be a historic event in the life of this nation. Please pray along with us and stand with us as we plan for TheCall Uganda.
Our Family is well and we expect to have a new addition by October this year. Everyone is excited! Josh wants a baby brother and Breanna wants a baby sister. Whatever God has for us – we believe they will be a blessing to family and the nations of the earth.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Another day in the life..........
I can't seem to keep up on life these days, at least my blog life - I just somehow forgot about it.
Well Happy New Year! Who knows when you will be reading this at least I am trying to get in a blog before Feb.
So much has been going on - I am not sure where to start. We have now been back in Uganda since Dec 29th ( about a month now) and things are going great - I can sense God doing a new thing in the coming year. It was really good to get away and get a fresh perspective on ministry and our spiritual lives. We often need such times to move on in life.
Uganda is changing so fast these days - buildings are going up everywhere and land prices have sky rocketed - we paid $30,000 USD for the land our church building is on about 8 yrs ago and today the same piece of land is worth somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000 USD (that is for a 1/2 acre). Food prices have also gone way up and it's getting hard for the average person here to get along in life with the basic necessities.
The other day someone jumped into our yard (over the wall) and stole our son Joshua's bike - it seems it was in broad daylight and then they stole the mirror on my car that was parked in front of the church. Oh well - another day in the life....
And so we press on - knowing that our destiny is before us- realizing that it's more necessary than ever before for us to find a place of daily prayer and still our hearts before the One who gives life meaning.
Praying and Hoping that this Year is more than you could ever expect. God Bless!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Hello friends and family,
Another year has passed and Christmas is upon us once again. We hope this last year has been a great blessing to you and your family.
As for the Woodson’s, it has been a year of reflection and refueling as we have taken the last three months of 2009 and spent them in the States. Although we still have a few weeks left, the time has gone by very quickly and we will soon be headed back to Uganda.
We have traveled over 5000 miles starting out in California – traveling up the west coast to Vancouver then over to Montana, then down to Colorado Springs, up to Minnesota, back down Kansas City and then back to California. We visited the Redwood Forest, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon as well as seeing many of our friends and family scattered throughout the many States we visited. All in all we have built many precious memories and have a lot to be thankful for. We thank all of you who put us up your homes and extended your hospitality to us, may the Lord bless you in return.
Although, there were many reasons why we took these three months leave from the field – one of the priorities was to spend some time at International House of Prayer in Kansas City. We took the month of November and spent that time really seeking the Lord for His purposes in our lives, concerning our future. We felt that after being in Uganda for over ten years now that we needed to take a step back and wait upon the Lord. Although we came with some preconceived ideas (you know us humans), God made it very clear from the onset - that this time would not be so much a time of impartation for “vision and plans for the future” but this would be a time for getting ministered to by the Lord - spending time in His presence and being refueled and refreshed. I would have to say that this has in fact happened and the Lord has been able to work in our hearts for His purposes.
During this time I have been doing a personal study on the life of Jacob and have learned some valuable lessons from his life that have spoken much to me during this season. One lesson I have been pondering over is found in Chapter 28. God shows up in Jacob’s life in a profound way and reveals himself to him with an “open heaven” – Jacob is so overwhelmed by the experience that he calls the place Beth-el meaning “the house of God”(Genesis 28:19). Yet not much change takes place in His personal life. This demonstrates clearly that one can have a genuinely electrifying emotional spiritual encounter without the effect of one’s character being changed. You see, it would not be for another 20 years that Jacob would wrestle with an angel and his name would be changed from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32:28). At that point he would never walk the same again – he would walk with a limp, he would lean on God instead of his own strength. After wrestling with this angel, a short time later Jacob would return to that same place he called Beth-el, but now Jacob would call it El-Beth-el meaning “the God of the house” (Genesis 35:6,7) . The lesson for me is this: You can’t always know what God is doing in your life – but you can know who God is. You can learn His ways in every season you find yourself in. Instead of seeking God for direction – the Lord has beckoned me to simply seek Him. As I have done this – the Lord had been faithful to reveal His purposes to us.
As we return to Uganda in two weeks – there is a firing burning in our hearts to continue to serve Him in this great nation. We are ready to see all of God’s will fulfilled in our lives for such a time as this. We covet your prayers and know how much we need Him to do His work through us – we are vessels of His purposes.
God Bless all of you who have prayed for us. We thank God for all you have been able to do for us as He has enabled you. Merry Christmas and May next year be a fruitful year for you, your family and your church.
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