Uganda update: Day 1 on the ground complete

It was so good to sleep in a bed last night… It had been since Thursday evening that we had slept horizontally, and it was SO GOOD!! After woke up, we got straight to work. The guys headed into a small village nearby for evangelism rallies while the girls headed to a meeting with some women that are wanting to start a sewing academy. The goal of this academy will be to train the women to tailor clothes, which would provide them with a steady source of income.

After the meeting, the girls were excited about what was happening with the academy, and eager to help in any way that they could. We decided that a portion of the ministry fund money that the team raised would go towards helping this academy get off the ground. So to help them get started, we will be purchasing two sewing machines. The ladies can use these machines to learn how to sew and eventually make things that they can sell.

I am sure another reason that the ladies liked this was that they were able to put in orders for purses and jewelry that one of the ladies in this meeting makes. So you can expect that all of them will come home adorned in authentic, hand-made African accessories

While the ladies were pouring into the sewing academy, the guys went with Ken Galyean (our missionary contact) to do evangelism rallies in the village of Masese. This place was intensely beautiful and poverty stricken at the same time… It is nestled in the hills on the banks of Lake Victoria. Looking out onto the lake reminds you of a post card that you would see on a shelf in a gift shop. That is how stunning this place was. The flip side of the coin was much different though… When you began to look around, there were houses (if you could call them that) that were made entirely out of sticks and mud. The walls were barely holding together on some, and others had roofs that looked as though they might collapse in at any moment. There were countless animals wandering free around the village, trash piled wherever people felt like throwing it, open sewage pits, and smoke billowing from fires burning. Many of the children were wearing severely worn out shoes (if they were wearing any at all) and others didn’t even have any clothes to wear. It was a heartbreaking, gut turning sight that spurred a deep love for these people.

Despite the dire straits of most of the people we encountered, they were very excited to see us, and eager to hear what we had to say. For the better part of the day, the guys did the rallies without the women. We were led by a team of people that Ken calls the Rally team and they showed us the ropes. They are awesome!! It is a team of Ugandans who volunteer their time to go out and make much of Jesus in these little villages. Their passion is so contagious!

Togeth with the rally team, we put on puppet plays, acted out skits (I must say, if you are ever in need of a person to play a strong man in a skit, James Riggins is most definitely your guy!!), preached the gospel, and loved on the beautiful people of Uganda. The ladies showed up the village and ministered with us in the early afternoon, and they all instantly fell in love. I think that every baby in that village had a turn in our ladies arms. I was nervous that I was going to have to explain to an angry mother why my wife had tried to smuggle her child onto our bus… but thankfully that didn’t happen. Cammy keeps reminding me that it is just the first day…..

In all, it was a spectacular day. Many people responded to the gospel, and Pastor Henry has begun to connect those that made decisions with churches that are very close to their homes. Pray that the Lord would sustain those that He has called out of death and into light… It will be a difficult struggle for them to grow from here.
It is so amazing to see the Lord move in the way that we saw Him move today. I am trusting that “greater things are yet to come” as we set up for day two on the field tomorrow.

Until then, keep us in prayer and pray that the Lord would go before us and prepare hearts to hear His Word!!

in HIM,

pastor matt