Well, I've said many times that our lives in Uganda are far from dull, and this one has certainly fit that description! It started early for me with things like these:
1. Helping a former prisoner (woman) start a business,
2. Meeting with the woman who is taking care of one of our sponsored children and giving her money for food and care,
3. Dealing with the local councillors about a part of the government that has been stealing from us for 4 years (they are going to lose their "tender" for the business they do for the council, plus if they don't pay us back, we will take them to police),
4. Making sure to put the money in the bank for one of our young men who is in school in Kampala,
5. Getting one of our Sunday School teachers (who is HIV+) in the hospital for severe malaria,
6. Sending one of our staff ladies to the clinic to get treatment for a chronic abscess that she has and then giving her medicine for it,
7. Getting J.B. ready to go to the North tomorrow to do the Introduction/Traditional Marriage of his nephew,
8. Talking to the young man that we have raised since he was in the 7th grade about his graduation from University in two weeks, and about the big party that we as the "parents" must throw for him, :-)
9. Sending out several mandatory emails,
10. Sending money to one of our village pastors whose children are sick and whose wife is in the hospital after having a miscarriage,
11. Making sure the volleyball court has all the weeds dug out of it before the youth conference next week, and also getting a huge hole dug to find the queens of "the termite mound that refuses to die" (beside the volleyball court),
12. And then all the "everyday" things like planning the daily menu with Irege, having Julie go and pay the water bills, getting Davis to repair our only bicycle, feeding the cat, and giving thyroid medicine to the dog.
BUT the MOST interesting part of the day happened between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. Two children were abandoned at our gate. Their story is this: they have been living here in Jinja with their mother - their father died several years ago in Busia, their home. The girl, Grace, is 16 and was stricken with polio when she was 13. Over time, she has lost the ability to walk, and her hands are also affected. She weighs probably 50 pounds and seems to be very intelligent. Her younger brother Bosco is 7 and is all boy. Our staff describes him as "a bit stubborn." Their mother died in the hospital two weeks ago, and the hospital turned the children over to the police. They have lived at the police station for two weeks, but today the police decided they couldn't do anything with them and so went and "dumped" them at a local ministry for the handicapped. This ministry gets a large amount of funding from the U.S., but it only goes into the pockets and stomach of the Director of the ministry. Anyway, those people paid a boda-boda (person who provides transport on a bicycle), put the children on his bike, and told him to take them to Calvary Chapel and just drop them at the gate - not to bring them inside, but just to drop them. The boda-boda man did just that, so Grace and Bosco came to us for help. They have nowhere to go and do not have any relatives that they know of.
J.B. and I spent some time trying to find an orphanage or charitable organization that would take them in, but we were unable to contact anyone that could help them. The staff woman that was at the clinic came back to give me her results and get medicine, and she had great sympathy for them, so she is taking them home with her for the night and will feed them and give them a place to sleep. I will continue to call around and see if I can find a place for these children to go. I do pray that we can get some help for them. I am just not sure what to do with them at this time, but I know that the Lord will provide what is best for them. (Will you please also pray!)
And it is only 5:30 - with several more hours to go in the day. I wonder what else will happen before the day ends!
I posted on Facebook a couple of days ago that sometimes I am so very tired.... Now I am beginning to suspect the reason why!!
And this is only MY day! Jesse's was equally busy! We always have way too much fun!!
Blessings and love to you!
Bev
Friday, January 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Update from last Newsletter
Dear All,
Well, it's time for a newsletter again, and I know that because some kind person has just asked about the results of the things he was praying about from the LAST newsletter. Since I still don't quite have time to do an entire newsletter, I WILL respond to some of his questions (thanks Brian!) so you can all "catch up" a little bit!
His list and my responses:
1. NGO Application
Jess started getting the local paperwork for our application last September and we finally got the last signatures and stamps from local officials the week before Christmas. Then all the government offices shut down until after the holidays. We took a short one week break as well, and when we came back I locked myself in my office for two weeks from 10:00 to 5:00 every day and didn't even teach my usual Bible studies, just worked on all the paperwork we needed from the past five years so we could get recertification for 5 more years. The NGO office in Kampala almost NEVER accepts the application the first time you try to turn it in, as evidenced by two other NGO's that were sent back from there for "more information" at the same time I was about to turn mine in. But I went prepared with everything I could think of including three copies of the reports I was going to turn in, extra file folders, NGO stamp, NGO seal, inkpad, staples, hole puncher, paperclips, and extra recommendations, all of this covered with your prayers! The man was very difficult, but I humbly and meekly (NO JOKE!) kept my head a bit bowed and said "Yes, Sir" a lot, and he sent me back outside to do "one more thing," or get other information three times, but he finally couldn't find anything else wrong with it and ACCEPTED the application. Then he surprised me by smiling and telling me that I might get lucky and he would turn the application in to the board that week instead of waiting the usual two months. He told me to check back in two weeks. I almost broke into a "Happy Dance" in the parking lot, but was afraid he would think I was crazy and run out and give me my papers back! And then I went back in two weeks and we have been approved!! I have to go back again in two weeks to get the new certificates! Last time we did this it took us 8 MONTHS! God is good and we are blessed! Thank you for your prayers!
2. Women's Ministry
I think I told you that we had our very first Pastors' Wives conference in December, and although a few of the village wives did not come, the rest of us were incredibly blessed!! It was a great time of learning and fellowship, and all the ladies who came were SO glad that they had taken the time and the trouble to join us. Kelli and I were the teachers, and we based some of the teaching on Proverbs 31, and two of the wives said they did not realize how important they were to their families and their husband's ministries, and that they were to DO so much. They were so used to expecting the husband to just provide everything. And one wife even admitted that she realized she was totally destroying her husband's church and ministry and that she needed to change. And I was as blessed and learned as much as these ladies did, and God was just so present through the whole conference!
As for other parts of the Women's Ministry, the group at the village of Iguluibi is great and they are growing so much! The Wise Women's Bible study here at Calvary Jinja has gotten smaller but the ladies who come don't want to discontinue the study because they are so interested in what they are learning, so we each gave a verbal invitation to all the ladies in our church last Sunday to see if we can spark interest again.
And the two Bible studies in the Women's Prisons are going really well also. Danielle, who teaches in the Main women's prison has had some health struggles lately and is even in Kenya today to see a doctor, so Mary (one of our Ugandan ladies) has been teaching in her place. And Kelli is in the States on furlough, so her Tuesday teaching in Condemned Women's Section has been covered by Julie, another of our Ugandan ladies. And I am still in Condemned on Sundays and loving being with them and helping them to learn through the power of the Holy Spirit more and more of God through His Son, The Word, Jesus.
3. Pastor's Conference
The Pastor's Conference that was held in December was GREAT, with Calvary Chapel pastors from all over Uganda attending, and the teaching done by our Jinja staff, both missionary and Ugandan, and by some of the missionaries from other areas as well. I took some of the men to the taxi park after the conference and they were all still talking about it, and one asked me, "Why weren't we taught these things years ago?" And I told him it's because they weren't mature enough then, but they have been growing so much in the Lord that now was the time. He said I was right, but that they were so blessed by the conference. There is another scheduled for next week, and men from other Calvary Chapels will again be teaching. The theme is
Phil 3:17 "Join with others in following my example...." and the men will be teaching by using an example of one of the godly men from the Bible.
4. School of Ministry
Jess weeds through the students during the year and usually ends up with the ones who are serious about learning who Jesus is and how to share His Gospel. If they are in the class for money or prestige or a certificate to hang on the wall, they usually drop out or are asked to leave before the year is over. This year there are only four men remaining with one and a half months to go, but they are solid and strong in the Word, and each will face persecution in his home church when he returns there because of the false doctrine that so many of the churches teach here. So please continue to pray for the guys in the School of Ministry as they prepare to go out and MINISTER!
5. Small business loans to pastors
Not always a winning situation. This is the month to find out about the man who makes bread and sells it. We loaned him one of our motorcycles to help increase his business. From his projections he should have earned enough by next month to purchase one on his own. We will continue to pray for this. One chicken business has failed and the pastor sold off all his hens (they were supposed to be laying eggs and he was selling the eggs but they didn't lay enough), and we do not know where it will go from there. The other who failed couldn't sell his chickens for enough to start over, so he followed advice from others (and from me) about different food, medicine for a certain disease, and leaving a couple of eggs or a light bulb or two in the nests so the hens lay better. His business is increasing again through God's grace. The guys who are selling shirts will report in during next week's pastor conference. And Apollo, who is raising sugar cane to support his family, plus fund other pastors' projects, has had a terrible time getting the sugarworks to accept everything properly and then pay him! First the men who had the sugar cane loaded onto their lorries and took it to the factory stole 10 tons and Apollo couldn't prove it, so had to buy another piece of sugar cane to go along with his because you have to turn in a certain amount. Then after it was all turned in, he had to go back between 15 and 20 times to try to get all the paperwork cleared and the money in his account. Each time he went, his file was "lost" until he came up with a bribe. He soon got tired of that, so each time his file "went missing," he would call Jess and Jess would have to go out to Kakira and see the manager and the file would be miraculously "found" on someone's desk. FINALLY they approved all the papers and told Apollo the money would be in his account in a month to six weeks. That should be at the end of February or the middle of March.
6. Healing for three children
Innocent with epilepsy, age 10, still has seizures daily in spite of prayers and seizure medication. Please continue to pray.
Jesca - 9 years old with abdominal cancer, was doing well on her chemotherapy, but her brother took her to the village to see her mother, she contracted malaria and died. But before she started her chemotherapy, we prayed with her to receive Christ, so she is in heaven with Jesus today, and that makes her completely healed.
Apollo's son Jessy - 2 years old with Sickle Cell Anemia. Jessy almost died in December and we spent two days searching the country for blood for him. Uganda was out of blood over the holidays. J.B. finally drove 2 hours away to a place that had blood, and Jessy was transfused. His blood level was below the line that sustains life. Please keep praying for Jessy.
There are other things that we asked you to pray for, but I need to close now and finish preparing for the Proverbs 31 study that the Calvary Chapel staff ladies and I have been doing for the last 16 months. It is one of the best times of the week, and we ALL are so glad we are doing this study. We agree that we have ALL changed greatly! A real blessing from the Lord!
So I guess I shall close here. I will try to answer some of the other questions later. I DO want to say that Brian reminded us that Jess and I need to take "together time" with each other or things in our marriage, and consequently in every part of our lives, will not do well. We did take a week off after Christmas, and we DO take time for each other. We are so blessed that we work well together - Jess doing his part to lead and guide spiritually (and to fix everything that breaks), and I doing my part to lead the women, but to get the day to day work details of the compound taken care of through our staff. Our love for each other grows stronger every day, and we are so blessed that God put us together as man and wife. Please continue to pray for his health as the Parkinson's Disease continues to progress, but please also know that we will continue to serve God here as long as He wants us to do so. We love each other, our lives in Uganda, our ministries, and especially our God. May He bless all of YOU in every way!
With love in Christ,
Bev
Well, it's time for a newsletter again, and I know that because some kind person has just asked about the results of the things he was praying about from the LAST newsletter. Since I still don't quite have time to do an entire newsletter, I WILL respond to some of his questions (thanks Brian!) so you can all "catch up" a little bit!
His list and my responses:
1. NGO Application
Jess started getting the local paperwork for our application last September and we finally got the last signatures and stamps from local officials the week before Christmas. Then all the government offices shut down until after the holidays. We took a short one week break as well, and when we came back I locked myself in my office for two weeks from 10:00 to 5:00 every day and didn't even teach my usual Bible studies, just worked on all the paperwork we needed from the past five years so we could get recertification for 5 more years. The NGO office in Kampala almost NEVER accepts the application the first time you try to turn it in, as evidenced by two other NGO's that were sent back from there for "more information" at the same time I was about to turn mine in. But I went prepared with everything I could think of including three copies of the reports I was going to turn in, extra file folders, NGO stamp, NGO seal, inkpad, staples, hole puncher, paperclips, and extra recommendations, all of this covered with your prayers! The man was very difficult, but I humbly and meekly (NO JOKE!) kept my head a bit bowed and said "Yes, Sir" a lot, and he sent me back outside to do "one more thing," or get other information three times, but he finally couldn't find anything else wrong with it and ACCEPTED the application. Then he surprised me by smiling and telling me that I might get lucky and he would turn the application in to the board that week instead of waiting the usual two months. He told me to check back in two weeks. I almost broke into a "Happy Dance" in the parking lot, but was afraid he would think I was crazy and run out and give me my papers back! And then I went back in two weeks and we have been approved!! I have to go back again in two weeks to get the new certificates! Last time we did this it took us 8 MONTHS! God is good and we are blessed! Thank you for your prayers!
2. Women's Ministry
I think I told you that we had our very first Pastors' Wives conference in December, and although a few of the village wives did not come, the rest of us were incredibly blessed!! It was a great time of learning and fellowship, and all the ladies who came were SO glad that they had taken the time and the trouble to join us. Kelli and I were the teachers, and we based some of the teaching on Proverbs 31, and two of the wives said they did not realize how important they were to their families and their husband's ministries, and that they were to DO so much. They were so used to expecting the husband to just provide everything. And one wife even admitted that she realized she was totally destroying her husband's church and ministry and that she needed to change. And I was as blessed and learned as much as these ladies did, and God was just so present through the whole conference!
As for other parts of the Women's Ministry, the group at the village of Iguluibi is great and they are growing so much! The Wise Women's Bible study here at Calvary Jinja has gotten smaller but the ladies who come don't want to discontinue the study because they are so interested in what they are learning, so we each gave a verbal invitation to all the ladies in our church last Sunday to see if we can spark interest again.
And the two Bible studies in the Women's Prisons are going really well also. Danielle, who teaches in the Main women's prison has had some health struggles lately and is even in Kenya today to see a doctor, so Mary (one of our Ugandan ladies) has been teaching in her place. And Kelli is in the States on furlough, so her Tuesday teaching in Condemned Women's Section has been covered by Julie, another of our Ugandan ladies. And I am still in Condemned on Sundays and loving being with them and helping them to learn through the power of the Holy Spirit more and more of God through His Son, The Word, Jesus.
3. Pastor's Conference
The Pastor's Conference that was held in December was GREAT, with Calvary Chapel pastors from all over Uganda attending, and the teaching done by our Jinja staff, both missionary and Ugandan, and by some of the missionaries from other areas as well. I took some of the men to the taxi park after the conference and they were all still talking about it, and one asked me, "Why weren't we taught these things years ago?" And I told him it's because they weren't mature enough then, but they have been growing so much in the Lord that now was the time. He said I was right, but that they were so blessed by the conference. There is another scheduled for next week, and men from other Calvary Chapels will again be teaching. The theme is
Phil 3:17 "Join with others in following my example...." and the men will be teaching by using an example of one of the godly men from the Bible.
4. School of Ministry
Jess weeds through the students during the year and usually ends up with the ones who are serious about learning who Jesus is and how to share His Gospel. If they are in the class for money or prestige or a certificate to hang on the wall, they usually drop out or are asked to leave before the year is over. This year there are only four men remaining with one and a half months to go, but they are solid and strong in the Word, and each will face persecution in his home church when he returns there because of the false doctrine that so many of the churches teach here. So please continue to pray for the guys in the School of Ministry as they prepare to go out and MINISTER!
5. Small business loans to pastors
Not always a winning situation. This is the month to find out about the man who makes bread and sells it. We loaned him one of our motorcycles to help increase his business. From his projections he should have earned enough by next month to purchase one on his own. We will continue to pray for this. One chicken business has failed and the pastor sold off all his hens (they were supposed to be laying eggs and he was selling the eggs but they didn't lay enough), and we do not know where it will go from there. The other who failed couldn't sell his chickens for enough to start over, so he followed advice from others (and from me) about different food, medicine for a certain disease, and leaving a couple of eggs or a light bulb or two in the nests so the hens lay better. His business is increasing again through God's grace. The guys who are selling shirts will report in during next week's pastor conference. And Apollo, who is raising sugar cane to support his family, plus fund other pastors' projects, has had a terrible time getting the sugarworks to accept everything properly and then pay him! First the men who had the sugar cane loaded onto their lorries and took it to the factory stole 10 tons and Apollo couldn't prove it, so had to buy another piece of sugar cane to go along with his because you have to turn in a certain amount. Then after it was all turned in, he had to go back between 15 and 20 times to try to get all the paperwork cleared and the money in his account. Each time he went, his file was "lost" until he came up with a bribe. He soon got tired of that, so each time his file "went missing," he would call Jess and Jess would have to go out to Kakira and see the manager and the file would be miraculously "found" on someone's desk. FINALLY they approved all the papers and told Apollo the money would be in his account in a month to six weeks. That should be at the end of February or the middle of March.
6. Healing for three children
Innocent with epilepsy, age 10, still has seizures daily in spite of prayers and seizure medication. Please continue to pray.
Jesca - 9 years old with abdominal cancer, was doing well on her chemotherapy, but her brother took her to the village to see her mother, she contracted malaria and died. But before she started her chemotherapy, we prayed with her to receive Christ, so she is in heaven with Jesus today, and that makes her completely healed.
Apollo's son Jessy - 2 years old with Sickle Cell Anemia. Jessy almost died in December and we spent two days searching the country for blood for him. Uganda was out of blood over the holidays. J.B. finally drove 2 hours away to a place that had blood, and Jessy was transfused. His blood level was below the line that sustains life. Please keep praying for Jessy.
There are other things that we asked you to pray for, but I need to close now and finish preparing for the Proverbs 31 study that the Calvary Chapel staff ladies and I have been doing for the last 16 months. It is one of the best times of the week, and we ALL are so glad we are doing this study. We agree that we have ALL changed greatly! A real blessing from the Lord!
So I guess I shall close here. I will try to answer some of the other questions later. I DO want to say that Brian reminded us that Jess and I need to take "together time" with each other or things in our marriage, and consequently in every part of our lives, will not do well. We did take a week off after Christmas, and we DO take time for each other. We are so blessed that we work well together - Jess doing his part to lead and guide spiritually (and to fix everything that breaks), and I doing my part to lead the women, but to get the day to day work details of the compound taken care of through our staff. Our love for each other grows stronger every day, and we are so blessed that God put us together as man and wife. Please continue to pray for his health as the Parkinson's Disease continues to progress, but please also know that we will continue to serve God here as long as He wants us to do so. We love each other, our lives in Uganda, our ministries, and especially our God. May He bless all of YOU in every way!
With love in Christ,
Bev
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
| Greetings from Uganda! We pray all is well with ALL of you! Here's our update for the month - we have certainly not been idle! I'll try to hit the high points and not bore you with the details, but you know how hard that is for me! There are many praises here, and many things that we ask you to pray about. Blessings to you all! 1. PRAISE - We had a pastor's conference in November on "The Word of the Pastor" and it was EXCELLENT and had pastors from Entebbe and Fort Portal as well as our own guys, plus Pastor Mohan from Kampala came. 2. PRAISE - We had a pastor's WIVES conference in December on "A Beautiful Woman of God - The Pastor's Wife," and IT was also EXCELLENT! We had five languages represented, but among our staff, we actually had translators for everyone! 3. PRAYER - Just before the wives' conference, Pastor Apollo and wife Betty's two year old son Jesse had to be admitted in hospital and they did not know if he would live. He was given two units of blood and diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. Betty is devastated because she has lost so many children to this disease. She has delivered 11 living children and has 5 who are still living. We will help with the best care that we can, but there isn't a lot you can do except fluids and vitamins. 4. PRAISE AND PRAYER - Pastor Apollo has been harvesting the sugar cane that we started for him as an income generating project. He is doing GREAT, but the driver and the asst manager assigned to him are trying to steal 10 tons of the sugar cane from him. He is in talks with the manager. 5. PRAYER - We have had to close one of our churches and remove the pastor - Simba James from Osia (near Tororo). PRAISE - But we have another pastor there - Michael Sande - who is starting a church in Tororo Town itself, and he already has as many members in his church as James did after 6 years. Michael is a good and godly man, and we pray God uses him greatly! PRAYER - After we closed and locked the church in Osia, James broke the locks off and still held services there so we had to involve the local government. We will see what happens now. We will be selling that land and church in March. 6. PRAISE - Three weeks ago Jess ran in the MTN half-marathon in Kampala. He did really well, and finished in a little better time than last year - 2 hours and 15 minutes. For a man with Parkinsons, that is an accomplishment (and I, Beverly, am really proud of him). He was happy to have done so well, and has started running in the mornings again when it's not pouring down rain. 7.PRAISE - Speaking of rain - the prayers of the Saints are working in this area this rainy season! It is probably the best rainy season Uganda has had in 5 or 6 years and it seems that almost everywhere in Uganda crops are growing this year! Maybe we will have a season without quite so much hunger! 8.PRAISE - Jess and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on December 7th! Hurray! Two thirds of our married life has been spent in Uganda! 9. PRAYER AND PRAISE - Don and Danielle Pierce, the couple who works with us, have had a difficult two months. Danielle has been having what appears to be seizures, and this has never happened to her before. She went for treatment in Kampala, but there isn't an MRI machine or even a proper EEG machine in Kampala, so she was referred to Nairobi. They traveled there and after extensive testing, the neurologist says Danielle is not having seizures but has some sort of nerve problem/disorder. She is in the process of changing medicines, is growing stronger and not having so many seizure-like episodes. PLEASE keep her in prayer. 10. PRAYER - We had to fire a man who had worked for us for almost 5 years because of excessive drunkenness. It was a difficult thing to do because he has a wife and four children, one of whom is just a month old. But there were many problems because of his drinking, not the least of which is that he works for a church and a pastor, and that was damaging the reputation of the church badly. So we paid him 6 months salary and transported him and his family and possessions back to his home area of Kitgum in the North. Please pray that God changes him and that his family does not suffer. 11. PRAYER - We are in the process of getting ready for our Christmas Prisons Program that our kids will perform in 6 prisons in three days the week before Christmas. Then they also do the performance at our Christmas Day service as well. It's a lot of work, but it's an incredible blessing for the men and women that are ministered to in prison by this program. 12. PRAISE AND PRAYER - There was a court ruling that affected many of the men and women on Death Row - the Condemned Section of the prison. The ruling states that if you have not been executed within three years of finishing your final appeal, it is cruel and unusual punishment and your sentence is commuted to "Life." "Life" under the Commonwealth law is 20 years. So 110 men - mostly the members of our church in the prison - had their sentences commuted to life and were moved from the "Condemned" to the "Convicted" section of the prison and are now serving what is basically a 20 year sentence, starting from the date of their conviction. We are thrilled about some who will eventually be released, but also realize that there are some men in this group who should never, under any circumstances, be released from prison. Pray that God touches their hearts and they realize it is only through His grace that they will be free, and that they come to Him completely. 13. PRAISE AND PRAYER - Kelli has gone back to the States for two months. We are all missing her terribly, but hope she has the BEST furlough possible. 14. PRAISE AND PRAYER - Jess and I will be taking furlough from April through June. We haven't made a schedule yet, but will be doing that VERY soon. 15. PRAYER (for School of Ministry Students on holiday) - This is the final week for School of Ministry until after Christmas, and our guys will be going back to their villages for the holiday. Jess had to dismiss one student for immorality, and the man's pastor was adamant that he was being framed, but in truth, he was guilty, so he isn't here any longer. 16. PRAYER FOR STRENGTH (AND WISDOM) - Last Saturday, Jess had to conduct and wedding and a burial on the same day. The bride and groom got here 2 hours late, and then it was a 2 hour drive to the village after the wedding, so the burial also started late. At the same time, there were at least a dozen other things going on here at the compound, including the new "Street Kids" ministry, and it was quite a zoo. I usually would be around coordinating, but I had to take an elderly woman to Kampala for some things she needed there - she is a widow and her husband is the one who is buried here on our property. So it was a fairly "normal" day here - absolutely crazy! So after all that, please keep us daily in prayer! And we will never take your prayers for granted! They cover us with God's grace! Bless you and keep you always! With love in Christ, Bev and Jess |
Monday, November 16, 2009
Ugandan Burial
Today Jess, Ryan, Kelli, and myself, along with ALL of our Ugandan staff members went to the burial of the son of a very good friend of ours. Mama Agnes has been in our church as long as it has been in existence, I think. She is in her early 50's, which is old for Uganda. And one of her sons just died of complications from AIDS. He's only about 30 years old. Agnes was inconsolable. Our Ugandan guys did most of the visiting and planning with her yesterday, and we helped pay for a lot of the food that was served. J.B. and Martin went and bought the coffin this morning, and J.B. drove Agnes and some of her family out to the village, while the rest of us took various family members plus friends and church members as well. And on top of that, three "Coaster" buses were hired to take friends and relatives to the burial. Customs here are very different than in America. The body was on display at Agnes's home, and when you come to do "visitation," when a woman steps into the yard, she throws her arms on top of her head and starts wailing. This unites you with the mother and/or family in grief. And no one is ever buried in town. You take the "dead body" back out to the village that your family comes from, some young men - friends or family - dig the grave and then either brick it in, or make a cement floor and walls, and then the ceremony is held in the front yard of the family. There is usually a quarrel over who will do the ceremony since the family members come from different faiths and churches. Today the mother, Agnes, had asked Calvary Chapel and Jess in particular to do the service. J.B. made sure that this happened. Jess spoke beautiful words of salvation, and several gave their lives to Christ today. Then we went up the road a ways to where the grave had been dug, and the coffin was lowered into the grave with ropes. Then people threw dirt into the grave, and an iron sheet and a steel mesh was put over the top. Then a thick layer of cement was put over that, and everyone went back home, trecking through someone's sweet potatoe field on the way.
There were several times today when my heart was really touched for Agnes and I grieved with her, but the moment that I will remember forever is when I had my turn to give my condolences in her house as she sat by the coffin, and when I walked in, she had the other women unwrap Eric's face in his coffin (they wrap the body in several bedsheets) and she touched his face and said, "Mama Bev, this is my son. This is my son." And then we cried and cried together.
Eric had prayed with Jess to receive Christ two months ago when he realized that he had little time left. We do believe it was a true decision for Christ, and this gave Agnes some comfort. Please pray for her - she is a widow and lost her husband a few years ago. When we arrived today, she found that because the family doesn't want her and her family buried there, all the cement had been broken off her husband's grave - a great insult and dishonor - and that was almost as hard on her as burying her son.
There were several times today when my heart was really touched for Agnes and I grieved with her, but the moment that I will remember forever is when I had my turn to give my condolences in her house as she sat by the coffin, and when I walked in, she had the other women unwrap Eric's face in his coffin (they wrap the body in several bedsheets) and she touched his face and said, "Mama Bev, this is my son. This is my son." And then we cried and cried together.
Eric had prayed with Jess to receive Christ two months ago when he realized that he had little time left. We do believe it was a true decision for Christ, and this gave Agnes some comfort. Please pray for her - she is a widow and lost her husband a few years ago. When we arrived today, she found that because the family doesn't want her and her family buried there, all the cement had been broken off her husband's grave - a great insult and dishonor - and that was almost as hard on her as burying her son.
Friday, November 13, 2009
News From Condemned Prison!!
Today an incredible thing happened!
I have written in a couple of our newsletters that the Death Penalty laws in the country of Uganda were changed about a year ago. The Uganda Supreme Court upheld the Death Penalty and said that men and women could still be condemned to die under the law. But they also ruled that once a person had exhausted all his or her appeals, if they were not executed (execution is by hanging in Uganda) within three years of the end of their appeals, their death sentences were to be commuted to life in prison.
The problem with this is that there is no such thing under Ugandan law as a "Life Sentence." A life sentence actually means 20 years, with an actual possibility of being released after about 14 years because of "good time." This caused a big question within the prison system because about half of all the Condemned Prisoners have finished all their appeals but have not been executed within the next three years. And since there is no "life sentence" actually on the books here, the prison system did not know what to do with them.
It seems that the ruling came today, and Jess got a call that 110 Condemned men were transferred today from the Condemned section to the Convicts section instead, and now they just have to serve out the remaining years of a "life" sentence!
Most of these men were members of the "church" that Calvary Chapel leads in the Condemned Section in Kirinya Prison - in fact, all of the church leaders were a part of this group! And three men had been in prison so long that they were actually released!
The Bible does support the death penalty, but we are so happy for most of these men because they truly show changed hearts through the fruit in their lives. Now there is a HUGE chance that in the next few years many of them will be released to go back to their villages and give testimony to what God has done in their hearts and lives - they will go back as completely changed men!
Of course, Jess, J.B. and Steven have been with these men for so many years now that they have made good friends among them, and it was hard to think of those men with whom they had a relationship being hanged to death.
Now there will be a big task ahead of Calvary Chapel Jinja as our pastors see who will possibly be released next and then will need to find a way to go ahead of those men to prepare the families and villages for the homecoming of people that personified "evil" when they went away to prison.
But it was an exciting day full of joy and prayers and worship. Jess went and spent the afternoon at the prison, rejoicing with those who got the good news, and sharing God's Word and praying and praising the Lord! It was an amazing day!
There is one woman in the prison where we minister who is also possibly eligible for this release. Her name is Charity, and her heart has changed completely from the nineteen year old girl who murdered two people in jealousy to a woman who helps lead the prison church and the other women to stand firm for the Lord. Please pray that God would grant her mercy. She is a friend to Kelli and I and to our Ugandan staff women, and we would be very happy to see HER be given a news chance at life as a witness for Christ!
I have written in a couple of our newsletters that the Death Penalty laws in the country of Uganda were changed about a year ago. The Uganda Supreme Court upheld the Death Penalty and said that men and women could still be condemned to die under the law. But they also ruled that once a person had exhausted all his or her appeals, if they were not executed (execution is by hanging in Uganda) within three years of the end of their appeals, their death sentences were to be commuted to life in prison.
The problem with this is that there is no such thing under Ugandan law as a "Life Sentence." A life sentence actually means 20 years, with an actual possibility of being released after about 14 years because of "good time." This caused a big question within the prison system because about half of all the Condemned Prisoners have finished all their appeals but have not been executed within the next three years. And since there is no "life sentence" actually on the books here, the prison system did not know what to do with them.
It seems that the ruling came today, and Jess got a call that 110 Condemned men were transferred today from the Condemned section to the Convicts section instead, and now they just have to serve out the remaining years of a "life" sentence!
Most of these men were members of the "church" that Calvary Chapel leads in the Condemned Section in Kirinya Prison - in fact, all of the church leaders were a part of this group! And three men had been in prison so long that they were actually released!
The Bible does support the death penalty, but we are so happy for most of these men because they truly show changed hearts through the fruit in their lives. Now there is a HUGE chance that in the next few years many of them will be released to go back to their villages and give testimony to what God has done in their hearts and lives - they will go back as completely changed men!
Of course, Jess, J.B. and Steven have been with these men for so many years now that they have made good friends among them, and it was hard to think of those men with whom they had a relationship being hanged to death.
Now there will be a big task ahead of Calvary Chapel Jinja as our pastors see who will possibly be released next and then will need to find a way to go ahead of those men to prepare the families and villages for the homecoming of people that personified "evil" when they went away to prison.
But it was an exciting day full of joy and prayers and worship. Jess went and spent the afternoon at the prison, rejoicing with those who got the good news, and sharing God's Word and praying and praising the Lord! It was an amazing day!
There is one woman in the prison where we minister who is also possibly eligible for this release. Her name is Charity, and her heart has changed completely from the nineteen year old girl who murdered two people in jealousy to a woman who helps lead the prison church and the other women to stand firm for the Lord. Please pray that God would grant her mercy. She is a friend to Kelli and I and to our Ugandan staff women, and we would be very happy to see HER be given a news chance at life as a witness for Christ!
Pastor Conference
On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of November, Jess and Calvary Chapel Jinja hosted a Calvary Chapel pastors' conference. The theme was "The Words of a Pastor."
Sometimes we think that the only words of a pastor that count are the ones he speaks from the pulpit. And these are, of course, EXTREMELY important, but there are so many other words that a pastor speaks that affect the lives of so many other people.
So 40 Calvary Chapel pastors and lay pastors from different areas of Uganda met at CCJinja for a three day seminar. The pastors from Jinja - Jess, Ryan, J.B. and Steven - taught several of the sessions, and the Senior and Asst. pastors from CC Fort Portal also taught.
Some of the subjects were: gossip by the pastor, words spoken to people on the streets, words spoken to the congregation outside of church, keeping confidences from counseling, words spoken to children, and words spoken at home to wife and family.
For the first time, many of the pastors were visibly convicted by the Holy Spirit and had to stand up before the others and confess that they were guilty of many offenses when speaking to others.
In the discussions, the men actively participated and talked about personal subjects that they had never discussed before. The men also said that the fellowship this time was incredible and they spent a lot of time encouraging each other in their various ministries.
After it was over, in the van on the way to the taxi park, the men were talking about how this was the best conference they had ever attended and how they all needed to change so much about the way they lived and the way they spoke.
We pray that there is going to be MUCH fruit from this conference! There already is some fruit here at CCJinja as WE all try very hard to watch our words and "tame our tongues."
Sometimes we think that the only words of a pastor that count are the ones he speaks from the pulpit. And these are, of course, EXTREMELY important, but there are so many other words that a pastor speaks that affect the lives of so many other people.
So 40 Calvary Chapel pastors and lay pastors from different areas of Uganda met at CCJinja for a three day seminar. The pastors from Jinja - Jess, Ryan, J.B. and Steven - taught several of the sessions, and the Senior and Asst. pastors from CC Fort Portal also taught.
Some of the subjects were: gossip by the pastor, words spoken to people on the streets, words spoken to the congregation outside of church, keeping confidences from counseling, words spoken to children, and words spoken at home to wife and family.
For the first time, many of the pastors were visibly convicted by the Holy Spirit and had to stand up before the others and confess that they were guilty of many offenses when speaking to others.
In the discussions, the men actively participated and talked about personal subjects that they had never discussed before. The men also said that the fellowship this time was incredible and they spent a lot of time encouraging each other in their various ministries.
After it was over, in the van on the way to the taxi park, the men were talking about how this was the best conference they had ever attended and how they all needed to change so much about the way they lived and the way they spoke.
We pray that there is going to be MUCH fruit from this conference! There already is some fruit here at CCJinja as WE all try very hard to watch our words and "tame our tongues."
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