Our last week and a half in Uganda was
amazing!! We had recognized the need for Bibles in the church at the
beginning of the month and began praying for God to somehow provide
them. The pastors were just about the only people that owned Bibles,
and the church did not even have any for the church members to use
during services. On Friday nights, the church had a prayer session
from 8pm-midnight and since we didn’t have transportation, we would
usually just break up the time by hour and pray at our house. On the
second Friday we were there, Greg and I were praying during the
11pm-midnight time slot. As I was praying more about the Bibles, God
gave me a vision:
I saw the church
members entering the church in their regular clothes, and when they
came out they were running with swords in their hands!! As I asked
God what this meant, He revealed to me that the swords were the Word
of God, the Bible. In Ephesians, it talks about the armor of God. The
sword is the only offensive weapon that we have to attack the enemy.
The rest of the armor mentioned in Ephesians is used for protection.
These people have been suppressed for so long by the enemy, making
them weak, and they have never had any way to fight back! I was
really excited about what these Bibles would mean for this church. It
would be a way to empower them and allow them to fight off the enemy
when he attacks.
We continued
praying over the next few days for God to provide a way for us to get
Bibles for the church members because there is so much power in the
Word of God. In God’s sovereignty, He provided the funds for us to
purchase 50 Bibles for the faithful church members! At the beginning
of the month Pastor Alex kept talking about us bringing a revival to
the church. As we prayed more into that, we felt the Lord telling us
that the church members were going to be the ones to bring revival
after we left. So once we were able to get the Bibles, our ministry
eventually changed from door-to-door evangelism to visiting the
church members to encourage and empower them. They were all so
welcoming and truly loved us well as we entered into their homes to
encourage and pray for them.
[with a church member and Pastor Samuel]
During our last
week, I felt the Lord telling me to speak to the church about
spiritual gifts and how to use them in the body of Christ. The
pastors are capable of doing everything, but they are eventually
going to get burnt out when they have to do things that aren’t
necessarily their giftings. The church will be much stronger if each
member discovers his own gift and learns how to use it to benefit the
church. I used to hate public speaking and I would usually be the
last person on our team to volunteer to preach a sermon, but I felt
like the Lord was giving me a specific word for that church. I
decided to obey the Lord’s voice by teaching the last Sunday we
were there. I know it was nothing I said, but only the words that God
had given me to say. I have never felt so empowered and at ease when
I was up in front of the church that week! I wasn’t nervous and I
really felt like I spoke with the power and authority given to me by
the Holy Spirit. Everyone seemed to be engaged and excited to hear
about the different gifts and how to use them practically in the
church. Praise God!
[preaching]
We easily could
have left it at that, but we had two days left and I still felt like
the Lord had more for us in that place. God had also placed on my
heart the idea of sitting down with the pastors to have a meeting
with them. I just wanted to talk about our observations, give them
suggestions, and talk about how to get people plugged into the
church. Previously when Americans came to preach, many people would
come to church but they would leave the church as soon as the
Americans left. The pastors wanted to know how to maintain their
church members and asked us for suggestions. We told them we think it
is important for them to be visiting the church members and really
investing in them, especially now that they have Bibles. We talked
about finding out people’s giftings and figuring out practical,
tangible ways that they can be used in the church. We also mentioned
the importance of taking a Sabbath day once a week to spend time
alone with the Lord, away from ministry. They were all very receptive
and excited about our suggestions.
[washing feet]
Lastly, God had spoken to me about somehow commissioning the pastors
to go forth and continue the progress with the church after we left.
I thought a great way to empower them to go on from there was to wash
their feet, like Jesus did for His disciples. It was an amazing
experience and I really think God used us to spur them on in their
ministry. Afterward, they were so grateful and each one took a turn
saying how much they had enjoyed us being there and that they had
learned so much from us by our genuine love for people. They saw the
importance and the impact we had made by sitting down to spend time
with people, getting to know them, rather than just preaching at them
before we even know where they’re coming from or what they’re
dealing with. I am so excited about what the Lord has in store for
Pastor Alex and his church, and I can’t wait to hear from him in a
few months saying they have outgrown their church building and need
to expand!
