Uganda Update

Wow! July went by so fast! And now the countdown is on… I booked my Ticket for September 14, which means that there are only 35 more days until I Leave!

God is doing some Amazing things both with my preparations, and in Uganda as well!
The Doctors office that I was working at gave me all of my vaccinations for free! It was such an unexpected Blessing!! I need a 12 month visa for my trip, but the Ugandan Embassy has decided to only give out 3 month visas… This became quite discouraging because I did not want to have to keep changing my ticket every time I renewed my visa every 3 months. Just after I broke down in tears of frustration, God lead me to a travel agent through a friend on facebook… and she has been awesome! She was able to find me a missionary discount and also helped me sort out my ticket and visa issues!!!!!

My Mom read me a story a few weeks ago about a woman who felt called to go somewhere. She knew that God wanted her to go, but she was hesitant. She knew that God will never force us to do anything we don’t want to do… He wants us to go willingly. Then she heard God say, “Well, I’m going to go… You can come along if you want”. This story hit so close to home for me. I have known for a long time that I needed to be back in Africa. But I was not ready to let go of everything here. God waited and waited patiently for me to finally be willing to come on this adventure with Him. He has already gone to Uganda ahead of me, and was only asking if I would like to join Him in the wonderful things He has in store for the People there! I Love it!!!!!!

So now, I will fill you in on the things that God has been doing there. Since my prayer letter went out, so many things have happened:
My Host brothers also run a ministry called “Pastors Discipleship Network” (PDN). Most Pastors in Africa do not have formal training. They are the ones in the village or town that know the most about the Bible, and who have a passion for Christ. So, PDN holds seminars where Pastors from Villages can come and get some of the training, books and information that they need to be the Pastor that their congregation needs. There are 2 conferences per year… 2 years ago, their first conference had 24 pastors. Each conference has grown in numbers, and last month they had over 500 pastors attend! 7 different countries in Africa were represented and God is moving in ways that we cannot even image!

The Government of Uganda had built houses for workers in the Naguru / Nakawa area. Years later, they sold the land to a company in the UK and told the people that when the company built there, they would all have to move. For many many years, the company did not do anything with the land and people continued to build little houses and shacks, The Church I was going to be attending was in Nakawa, and many of the people in the congregation live there as well. Also, one of Uganda’s Compassion International centers was located at the Church. Anyways, I’m not sure all of the details, but the UK company made their plan for developing executive apartments on the land. So, the government of Uganda gave everyone in that area (6,000 people) 2 days warning to move all of their belongings and be out of their homes before demolition started. With only 2 days warning and no compensation, these people had nowhere to go, and no money to move their things to a new place. The government gave the church one extra week to get everything out, but that too was demolished. The UK Company is not planning to start building for at least one more year… in the meantime, thousands of people had to watch the houses be bulldozed whether their things were in it or not. Most people took their things back to the rubble of their houses because of nowhere else to go. They take turns watching over their possessions so that no one steals anything. Some that could afford to send some of their Children to live with relatives or friends in other areas so they would not have to be living outside. Please pray for the Lord to provide for these people as they try to find places to live. The Church is trying to find a place to meet for worship on Sundays.

Good news in the Village of Bukeka where I will be teaching 3 days a week…..
They have started a Church and last week had about 32 people attend. 15 people came to the bible study they recently had as well. They say that people are becoming very eager to learn about God! Yay!!
The School (Ssuubi Children Center) has just broken off for “school holidays”. The school is still made of poles, a roof, and plastic bags tied together for the walls. They have been trying to raise funds for a real building for the school…this week Ronnie wrote and said “ The foundation of the school is complete and we are believing for provision to build the walls of the school through this school break for the school to have a permanent structure. Please pray with us”…..

Well, that’s about it for now. God is doing amazing works over there… but satan just jumps at every chance he can to “kick em while they’re down”… Please pray for the people of Uganda that their eyes will be open to the wonderful blessings that God is bringing, and that they will hold on to the trust that God will bring them through these hard times.
Sorry this was so long! Thanks for reading and I pray that you all have a wonderful week! God Bless!!
~Alicia