A Trip to Remember - Ntungamo

Last week we travelled to a village called Ntungamo. It was about a

5 hour drive from Kampala. I had been asked my one of my “spiritual sons” if I would travel to the city where he recently had moved to plant a church. I accepted and told him that if he wanted me to I would go into the village and do some ministry there. For sometime now I have been feeling like I wanted to take our family into the village so they could experience some real village ministry. We have been to the village on several occasions for ministry, funerals and sometimes just to meet some friend’s relatives. But this would be the first time we would take the kids. We left it up to our host as to where we would stay (whether we would stay in the village or drive back to the nearest town). We arrived in the afternoon and by the time we got to the village church – our daughter Breanna was having a fever with Diarrhoea– she was sick before we left Kampala – but she did not have fever. We ministered in the church in the evening and ate some real village food. We then headed out into the night and deeper into the village to spend the night. Getting to the church was not too bad – but getting to the house where we would stay the night was another story. The road turned into what looked more like a walking path than a road – a few times we had to get out of the car to see where they road went - to see if we could make it. We travelled down an incline and arrived at a stream that looked a quite deep (especially at night). With Breanna still having a fever and us heading deeper into the village – it looked like we were in for a real adventure. We crossed the stream and finally ended up at the house we would stay the night at. By this time it seemed that most of the village children had followed us (not many cars would travel into the village this far – so they wanted to see what this was all about). We entered the house and met our hosts – a humble dwelling with only two beds – they gave us their two beds and they slept on the ground (no mattress). During the night Lorraine got bit by bed bugs – they got her real good - biting her over 100 times. Even today the bites are still all over her body (pray for her -as she has had trouble sleeping for two weeks now do to scratching in the night). We made it through the night but Breanna’s fever was still high. We kept giving her adult tablets of Ibprophen- because that’s all we had. After another day of ministry - in the afternoon we headed back to one of the major towns called Mbarara where we spent the night. The next day being Sunday we ministered in the town church– Breanna’s fever began to reduce and we saw her Diarrhoea dry up. Praise God! That is the short version of the story but we are glad we went and God is always faithful and we are better for having gone through the adventure.

Please check our the video clip in the blog prior to this one.

Dancin' - Village Style

Last week we were in the village doing some ministry. This clip is from a presentation some the believers did in the conference we were ministering in. I think you will find this clip quite interesting. Enjoy!

I will add another blog giving the details of our trip. It was quite a journey!!

Thinking from the Heart

Last week, I was out catching bugs with kids on my day off. A man selling “trinkets” (from china) came walking along. He was carrying his “portable store” on his back, he told me he had walked about 10 miles, which would quite a distance since his “store” weighed about 20-25 pounds. Anyway, the only thing I could find that interested me to buy was “clothes pins”, he was selling for about $1.25 – I bought two packs. He was also trying to get me to buy a small baby doll for Breanna – but she didn’t need another doll – even if it was quite cheap. After talking with him for a few minutes as we were going our separate ways – he gave the doll to Breanna. I wanted to give it back so he could sell it and get some money – after all even the clothes pins I was buying was to just help him out (didn’t really need them). But this is how the people are here – I can’t totally explain it – but one thing is that people think differently here. They think from their heart. Maybe , just maybe - this could explain why things are so often mismanaged here. And maybe that is why people in the first world miss out on some of the more quality things in life that we enjoy here – like relationships. Ever try to manage a friendship? Just the wording of that sounds awful – managing a friendship – managing a marriage? Yet that is what we often try to do with our life – we try manage it – control it. We want to control how things go by managing them. Well let me encourage us all to learn a lesson from the Ugandans – love with your heart not with your head – you my not get as much done – but you may slow down enough to not miss out on the more important things in life.

Doreen has a great story of courage and faith that I felt was worth sharing with you. Doreen joined our church about 2 years ago with her husband. At the time she began attending she was having a good paying job that was a blessing to her and her family. But there was a problem she had acquired it under false pretences. In the course of attending the church she heard a message about “burning her bridges” and pushing ahead into all that God had for her. She knew she could not burn her bridges because the job she had she obtained with a “fake” diploma. It was a good job, but it was not right for her to keep it under those circumstances and she knew it. She had never had a proper education and she was too old and settled to really go back school - but she knew she needed to do the right thing. She decided to quit her job without telling anyone why. She waited a long time before God finally opened the door for new job. But recently God did bless her with a miracle job that was defiantly the hand of God opening a door for her.

What can we do?

This last week was rather difficult as we had a member of our congregation died – his name was John Sentonyga. I personally took this a bit hard as I was visiting him regularly in the hospital. His family for the most part abandoned him. So as a church we took on the responsibility. We paid for medical costs and formed a team of people to be at his bedside at all times. He was a young man in his thirties, he had worked for the church at one time as the janitor. He was one of the leaders of both our prayer and hospital ministry. Ironically he was the one who visited most regularly the hospitals in our area as an outreach ministry of our church. He died of either meningitis or a fungus on the brain, we were also told he was HIV positive.

Death in Uganda is common and in many cases it could have been avoided. From reckless driving to disease to war and famine many people lose their lives much too early. In the case of the John, at the time of his death the Dr’s were not even treating him. He was to go for a CT scan the following day of his death, but on the day of his death he was simply lying on his bed vomiting and losing his mind. Whatever the cause was, it seemed that the Dr’s had given up and were not communicating anything to us. It was a sad situation that grieved my heart wondering if there was something else we could be doing. But the Dr’s had been so causal and calm - they gave impression that the sickness was going to be a long term type of situation.

“Time waits for no one” and death knocks on everyone’s door. Of course John was at God’s mercy. But these days the question I am asking is “How do I fit into the plan of God in a person’s life?” What I am to do as person not a pastor. My answer lies in my conscious effort to get my eyes off myself and onto others. In the stress and business of life God gives us pleasures to enjoy – most of the time we look for them in the form of entertainment. Not many of us look at the Beattitudes for an answer as how to be happy or have pleasure - But Jesus said:

Matthew 5: 4 “Blessed are those who mourn - For they shall be comforted”.

Another way I might say this verse is. “Happy are those who mourn for others – for they get their eyes off themselves and enter a deep pleasure few ever find”. I have discovered that some of the comfort found in mourning for others is in pushing hard to simply “Suck it up” and get your attention off your own problems. When I do this – I feel as if I am actually getting a hold of life instead life getting a hold of me. It’s rather simple “God in you is bigger than all that life is throwing me” – I tend to believe this when I am actually lining up my life with the truth of the verse and I send a message back to myself “God’s word is true and it does work when I obey it and apply it”. I have been finding great strength in applying the Beatitudes in my life – though it is difficult – my baby steps are helping me to run the race with perseverance in a nation that many times is easy to despair in.

I hope I have made sense and I hope your passion in life is found in helping others and not helping yourself or might find yourself being swallowed by temporary issues that were meant to bless you instead destroy you.