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

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.

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!

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."

Also, while we are in the middle of our Women's study inside the church, Lilian is teaching Bible stories to the children outside underneath the Sunday School hut!

Women Learning the Bible!

I started to write on Thursday about what a great time we had at the ladies' Bible study in Iguluibi (where there is a Calvary Chapel) and I was just so tired I couldn't stay up even one minute later to write. But just a quickie about it tonight: One of the things that most women here in Uganda cannot do is read or hear the Scriptures and understand what it means. There are several reasons. One of the main ones is that very few women here can read - whether it be English or their own language. Especially in the villages, most women went only a few years to school and they never learned to read. Another reason is that they have not been taught and have not practiced hearing a passage and understanding it. So most people here learn "what they believe" about Jesus, salvation, and Bible from listening to someone else read (or not) the Bible and then telling them what it says and means. Many "Bible teachers" here will just pick one verse of the Bible and read it and then "teach" for one or two hours on whatever they want to teach about, whether it pertains to that Scripture or not. So people can so easily be led astray by false teaching because they have no way to refute what is being taught. We have a bit of an advantage in teaching the Gospel because Calvary Chapel believes in teaching through a book of the Bible expositorially, verse by verse, so that people can hear the actual Word for themselves and cover virtually every subject God speaks about instead of just touching on favorite topics. When we teach through a book, people can hear the continuous Word of God for themselves and that is so important! But the schools here do not teach you to read something and then understand it, so for the last few years the Bible studies I teach do something a little bit different. We do teach through a book of the Bible - and I do read it aloud - and one of the wonderful Ugandan women who work with me translates (sometimes three different translations in three different languages all at the same time), and then I teach on the passage. But I don't teach for the full Bible study time. I prepare in advance a question sheet about the Scripture we are studying that day, and then the women break into small groups led by our Ugandan staff women to answer those questions. This was incredibly "foreign" and difficult for them at first and the questions had to be incredibly simple and specific. For example, the Scripture that says "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," would be followed by questions like "When were the heavens and the earth created?" and "Who created the heavens and the earth?" Now when I ask questions, there can actually be some thought and discussion about the answers. The women LOVE learning the Scriptures this way! And just the last three months, I not only have been asking questions, but also am starting to list verses that deal with our topic and without my teaching that verse, they read it and discuss it among themselves, again with our Ugandan staff ladies leading the groups. This way the Ugandans teach as much as I do, and the ladies learn in their own languages. And they really are learning! And last Thursday, they were understanding so well that they could actually point out specific examples that they had seen in their lives and the lives of others and they were LAUGHING about these things together! This may sound really strange to our "Western" ears where we have a totally different way of learning and this is fairly commonplace to us, but here in Uganda it is SO DIFFERENT and I am so excited about two things: One, that our Ugandan staff (Julie, Mary, Lilian, Rodah, and Grace) are leading the groups and doing the teaching themselves, and Two, that the women in the groups are learning, enjoying the study, and applying it to their lives! This last Thursday in particular just gave me such joy, watching them discuss and laugh and work together to learn God's Word! I just can't really describe it, but I hope you understand a little of what I am talking about!
God bless you, and please pray for these ladies!!

Food for the Hungry

J.B. just returned to Jinja from a trip to two of our northern churches, CC Ogongora and CC Olele.
The people in the area of these churches have been experiencing famine for the last several months. Crosspoint Community Church in Reno, Nevada, had given us a gift of $4,000 to use for some special ministry. This turned out to be the exact amount needed to give to each of the 150 households contained in those two churches a 50 kilo bag (110 lbs) of maize meal, the staple food for all of East Africa. Several people there are on the verge of starvation and a few have died already. This maize meal (posho) is enough to sustain life for each of these families for about a month. It has just started raining and so in about a month crops should be grown enough to eat. It's amazing to me how God can provide exactly what we need when we depend completely on Him. And truly, the money was the EXACT amount we needed. God is good and we are so grateful.