The Giant Uganda Report (originally published 2/03/07)

1. Talking About Abstinence On The Radio
2. Bombo Family Gets HIV Test
3. Tag-Team Preaching To A Youth Group
4. Waking The Dead In Gulu
5. Street Evangelizing & Praying For Muslims

1. Talking About Abstinence On The Radio

The church we're partnering with in Uganda, Makerere Community Church, has just launched a Christian radio station in the heart of Kampala. 106.1 University FM was established to reach out to college students to promote sexual abstinence and articulate the message of the Gospel. Our team members are the voice of the radio station and we have recorded multiple abstinence messages and testimonies that are played daily on the airwaves across the capital. The DJ was heard to exclaim that our "accents are perfect"!!!

2. Bombo Family Gets HIV Test

Last week Maleea, Abby Cramton, and Jean-Michael presented a teaching on HIV/AIDS and shared Christ with a group of about 50 villagers in Bombo: a tiny, desperately poor area that our team has been ministering in for the past month. This is the same village where we met Kaye, the young HIV+ boy whose family we have become profoundly affected by and committed to. Today we went back to the village to check on Kaye and his family and we transported Kaye, his siblings and his grandmother Margaret to the clinic so that they could all be tested for the virus. We were able to pay for all of this for the family with funds that Jessie raised through her church and friends and family back home. The test results revealed that, contrary to the grandmother's beliefs, Kaye is the only one in his family that is positive. At the clinic Margaret was vocally thanking God as she went from person to person and wrapped her arms around them tightly.

3. Tag-Team Preaching To A Youth Group

Beginning last week we started working with a youth group in Kampala. The first week Abby Cramton and Jean-Michael taught HIV/AIDS prevention and appealed to the young people to commit their lives to Christ and all that that entails. We made lots of friends and we were able to challenge, encourage and pray for the teenagers that we met. We went again last night and Maleea and Rachel preached a gripping sermon on holiness and shared their personal stories of sexual purity and the temptations that they dealt with in their respective dating relationships. The tag-team element worked brilliantly and the intensity only kept on escalating each time they would tap the other person Invisible Children in to add on to what they were saying. The conviction of the Holy Spirit was really strong in the room that night and I believe that many students' lives were changed.

4. Waking The Dead In Gulu

This past weekend our team realized a God-breathed dream when we traveled to the war ravaged northern district. For those who haven't seen Invisible Children, the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) has been abducting children and forcing them to serve in their bloody campaign against the current government of Uganda going on 20 years now. A large number of the population have abandoned their ancestral homes and relocated to the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps for fear of the rebels. During our stay we worked in one of the camps doing HIV/AIDS education and calling the people to salvation.

In the first group that we spoke to everyone in attendance followed Rachel and dropped down on their knees in the dirt and raised their hands to invite Jesus into their hearts. Crowded together in a claustrophobic hut six HIV+ widows shared with us their heartbreaking stories of contracting AIDS through their husbands and then being left alone to care for their children who are also infected with the virus. By the time our girls finished sharing what the Lord had put on their hearts all of the widows in the room were born again. Each of our girls embraced the women and wept over them as they prayed for God to extend mercy and heal these women.

At the start of the weekend Rachel and I met a young businessman named Morris that we preached to until we ran out of verses. He couldn't deny that what we told him was true and he was on the brink of accepting Christ but in the end he decided he would only accept Christ when he felt inspired to do so. Arghhh! We were somewhat deflated as we walked back to our hostel but then we recalled John Bills encouragement that the ones that plant and water the seed are just as vital as the ones who harvest.

Furthermore, the team performed dramas, did prevention education, and shared personal stories before a small church. We met with a formerly abducted child soldier and listened to the account of his experiences with the rebels. If you can't come to Africa to see and hear about the situation with child soldiers you should go out and see Blood Diamond. This movie gives an alarming picture of what is happening in Africa right now. At the government hospital we presented the gospel message in the outdoor HIV/AIDS wing and we counseled and prayed with people who were there to get tested. Right before leaving Gulu we visited the offices of Invisible Children and let the staff know how much we were all affected by the documentary. On the way out of town we passed out fruit to some baboons that had assembled to wish us a fond farewell.

5. Street Evangelizing & Praying For Muslims

The team has been going out to evangelize in the markets, salons, bus stops, stores, and anywhere else that people gather in the downtown area. Juliana's method was to go from salon to salon talking about Jesus to every girl cutting hair as well as the people getting a haircut. She led at least eight people to Christ this way. In the hospitals Jean-Michael has been determinedly praying for a man from an Islamic family background week after week. The man's wife, a devoted Muslim, would laugh in his face every time he came to pray and she would say if your God can heal my husband then I will believe in Him. Another time we came for a hospital visit the man's brother was there. Jean-Michael informed the man that his Ugandan name was Muwanguzi and that he was there to pray for the sick. The man replied that the name Muwanguzi means "Conqueror" and that on that day Jean-Michael was living according to his namesake. He told Jean-Michael, "Today you have conquered because I am a Muslim and you are a Christian and I will allow you to pray for my brother".

We are falling in love with the people here more and more every day! And so we continue to press on in the work that the Lord has for us in Uganda. We love and miss you all!!!