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What a time of ministry in Uganda! From the 2 Sunday services at CC Kampala shortly after landing in Uganda, to the wonderful conference with pastors and wives, to the Sunday service in Naluko, it was a blessed and memorable time. It had been over 2 years since my last international ministry trip, so it was especially meaningful and I felt a presence of the Lord in all I did, including the teaching, praying with couples, conversations with pastors and our team, and more. However, it was all tempered by the absence of Debbie with me. There was definitely a void and a degree of emptiness.

So, I am writing this from the airport in Doha in Qatar. I will board in a few hours for the 15+ hour flight to Seattle. It’ll be great to be home with Debbie and the rest of the family. While I was in Uganda, I received numerous invitations for ministry in other churches and countries. I will have to sort all of that out. But first order of ministry business is the development of my curriculum.

I also want to say that I worked with a great team from Anchored Relief: Pastor Gary Kusunoki and his wife Carol, Pastor Andrew Drey and his wife Sarah, and James Vaca. There are a great team and a lot of fun as well.

Many thanks for the prayers and love. I have to say that I think I actually saw maybe 2 mosquitos! That is always a concern, as some of them carry malaria, but it was all good.

Blessings to you all,

David

Well, not what you think. I’ll explain. The leaders of the team I am with have adoptive children here in Naluko. So, yesterday it was time for a birthday celebration for 4 of them. We drove the 5 minutes or so to the home the pastor of CC Naluko (his wife had been one of my students at the School of Ministry at Soroti, Uganda in 2018). When we arrived there was a large bonfire in the courtyard and around 20 people seated around it. After a while, dinner was brought out for everyone, fried chicken, fries, and pizza. It was all delicious! Then after a while, everyone went into the small home for a birthday celebration. There must have been close to 30 of us crammed into the living room. When the kids came in, everyone yelled “SURPRISE” and sang. It was so much fun. Then they cut 3 cakes and handed out pieces of cake to everyone. It all ended around 10:15 PM. I commented to the team that I’ll write about my wild time of partying late into the night!

After a good night’s sleep, I got up at 6:15 and prepared to preach this morning. We arrived at the church, open air on all sides, at about 8:45. Soon began a joyous and energetic time of worship. All the ladies wore their very colorful Sunday best. After a while, I was introduced and invited up to preach. I would say that there were close to 200 in attendance, amazing for this small village. I had a great time and I thought that the message was well-received. I taught from Matthew 7:12, “Do unto others”, the Golden Rule. I worked with a very good translator who made it so easy.

The remainder of the afternoon consisted of lunch and resting/getting ready to head back to Entebbe tomorrow (Monday). It is just gorgeous here and the people have been so gracious.

Thanks for the prayers. I’ll write more again before I head for home.

David

Well, I am now in Naluko, Uganda, in what seems to be the middle of Uganda, far away from the cities. But first, I’ll tell you about the final day of the conference.

There was a morning teaching session by a man named Andrew, an American, who is considering moving his family to Uganda. He did a very good job. After that, we had a time of communion and worship. It was a blessed time for everyone. We then broke for lunch and for everyone to say their goodbyes and head home. I would say that, of all four of these conferences, this was the best, but without Debbie with me, it wasn’t the same. I look forward to returning next year WITH Debbie.

We then drove for a couple of hours to the present location. It is really off the beaten path. It is a medical compound connected with the church here. It is surrounded by villages and village life. We arrived in the late afternoon, and it was just beautiful, with a cool breeze blowing and gorgeous cloud formations. There are very nice quarters for guests and staff. The room has a mosquito net over the bed (although I do not believe I have seen a mosquito this whole trip) and a nice modern bathroom/shower. I had my first full night’s sleep since my last night before traveling here. Today we walked through the village to the site of Calvary Chapel Naluko. Wow, walking down paths and past huts and small brick houses and being greeted by so many people, especially children, was a wonderful experience. After about 20 minutes we arrived at the church, where a group of young people were cleaning off the plastic chairs for tomorrow’s morning service. I was told that there may be 200 in attendance, and nearly as many kids. I am looking forward to it.

I was able to change my homeward flight today when there was a clear wifi signal, so I will leave Entebbe on Tuesday morning as planned, but after the layover at the Doha airport in Qatar, I will fly straight to Seattle, not having to connect in Los Angeles. Praise the Lord for that!

OK, thanks again for the prayers. Keep them going!

Blessings,

David