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!

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