North Uganda Report 1 - 5/9/2017
We are now in Jinja in the beginning of our second week.
Here in Jinja, Robert said: "The problem we have in Uganda is this: The blind are leading the blind."
He went on to explain the reasons. Because pastors have little to no training, they don't know how to handle the Bible. This isn't the situation of spiritually blind people. They love Jesus and to the best of their understanding are seeking to pastor churches. Robert praised the Lord for this teaching on Romans and he desires to see a continuation of such teaching in the future. That is the hunger for God's Word which we continually encounter everywhere.
Your prayers are making a difference in this training. We are meeting with this same response in each conference.
The first week was a challenge. When we arrived after a 10+ hr car trip, two of our members had not received their luggage. Three days later, Nathan got his, Ray only got his on Sunday when we travelled to our second conference. We prayed those pieces of luggage in. In Nebbi, the lights went out each night at 11 and they didn't come on until morning. It was very hot, the windows had to be closed at night which means the temperature in the room was hotter with the loss of the fan. Internet was very weak and intermittent. And each night we studied for the next day. The conference church building was even hotter each afternoon. But in the midst of these challenges, God moved each day in a mighty way. Around 150 pastors were present and we could see the interest build.
Moving through Romans brought surprise to them as they progressively learned about the depth of our sin which became the backdrop for the magnitude of God's sovereign grace. It was clear that their understanding of the cross, grace, justification and sanctification began to link together.
At times we broke them into small groups, they discussed and summarized what was learned and then stood up and summarized before the entire assembly. God had clearly imparted understanding as the testimonies had a common theme: "I avoided Romans, didn't understand it. Now my mind is changed in understanding the book. I have learned how to study and understand this book. This has changed my life and my ministry."
The comments went on and on. It was so encouraging to finish five days of intensive teaching with the knowledge that church history has happened to these isolated churches on the Congo and South Sudan border. Out of the ashes of their long-term suffering and neglect, they were moved to embrace Christ in a fresh way.
On the way home, we saw lots of elephants by the road, a baboon decided to stop us while driving on the road by casually walking in front of our vehicle driving down the road and turning towards our car, he waited for us to slow down. He then proceeded to jump on the hood of the car, looked at us and turned forward to enjoy his ride. It was hilarious. George tried everything, he hit the brakes, speeding up, weaving back and forth. No way was the baboon getting off. He looked back at us as if to say "what is your problem people?" Finally hitting the breaks harder convinced him to exit about a quarter mile down the road. We spent the night in a rhino reserve, the next morning we tracked and found two groups of White Rhinos with a guide, and then moved on to Jinja.
We have now completed two days and already we are observing the same openness and grasp of Romans here.
Please keep praying for God to move in this conference with clarity on the part of the team, understanding on the part of the pastors, and the Holy Spirit's attendance in each session.
Joel McCall