Speak, Spirit...

Wow...what a week...so much to tell you all...but I have 35 Bibles to sign (we're giving one to each of the candidates for ordination in the morning), and we're leaving right after the service (remember there is a seven hour difference between home and here) and I haven't even started packing yet...

So I'll just say this...today wasn't technically a ministering day, but it may have been the most profound so far on this trip...I'll tell you all about it when I get back to CITN...

I don't use the 1611 KJV very much, but there's a phrase in that translation that just keeps rolling around in my spirit tonight, and it really summarizes this whole week for me: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly..." (1 Timothy 4:1)...

Don't know how to explain exactly why I can't let go of that phrase...don't know why I'm drawn tonight to the Elizabethan English word "expressly"...but I know that that's how the Spirit is speaking here in Uganda, and there at home...

I also don't know what my computer situation will be for the next 2 days of traveling, so this may be the last post until I am on Georgia soil...

If my phone gets back in the zone, I'll tweet as much as I can...

In the meantime, go ahead and post any comments you may have...I can put them through on my Blackberry at certain points...

I'm hoping we can stream the Sunday service from the Entebbe airport, and if we can, I hope to see a full house ITB @ CITN...

PEACE...

The Whole Earth is Filled With His Glory

Our day began with the entire team setting out on the long, tedious, three-hour drive to Kimuli, the first ministry event that we've all done together this week. Apparently, it's a pretty big deal that I/we visit these places like Kimuli and Bewenge, because, from what I hear, a lot of American ministers come to Uganda to preach, but refuse to leave the big city of Kampala, and go out to such remote areas. The people in these villages are honored and amazed that we are willing to come...

I preached in Kimuli last year, but today we went there because we were on a mission. We heard Jesus say, "I was an orphan who had no school supplies, and you visited Me, and gave Me my own bookbag filled with pencils and pens and paper and crayons and math sets"...we drove all the way to Kimuli just to visit the 75 beautiful little ebony-faced "Jesuses" who live at Good Shepherd's Touch Children's Home...the least of these...and it was totally worth it.

Once we got there we were welcomed by the children, and then we toured the grounds to see the improvements they have made since last year. In the dormitories, all the little bunk beds were neatly made up (by the children)...the farm where they learn agricultural skills was productive...we saw the brick "piggery" that they just built with funds from Kids In The Now, and also the improvements made with that money to the little chapel. We visited the young women, many of them pregnant and HIV positive, in the sewing class of the vocational school that they built on the grounds there since we were here last year. The building where the young men will learn carpentry skills is still under construction...

Then we sat down and the children sang for us...little angels, every one of them. After that we lined them up and handed out the bookbags, personally putting them on their little backs (I know I'm over-using the word "little"...but there's just not a more appropriately descriptive word for them)...then we had to leave to get back for the service...beautiful children running after the vehicle, wanting to shake your hand one more time before you go...thanking you in their broken English...dozens of little hands and faces in the car window...leaves a lump in your throat...

Lunch in Jinja on the way back...wonderful...

Then we went by the hotel to change for the evening service.

The traffic in Kampala was insane, which caused us to be quite late for church. Good Shepherd's is currently located in a bustling and very crowded hillside ghetto, with winding, narrow, rocky dirt roads that would be impossible to navigate without four-wheel drive. After you park, you have to balance your way through some rather treacherous terrain to get inside the new building (built mostly with funds from CITN).

When we walked in (to shouts and a standing ovation), the place was packed, and the service had already been in progress for a couple of hours. The dust rising up from the dirt floor had created a sort of haze that took a minute for our eyes and lungs to adjust to...

But the praise and worship was beautiful. Pastor Ben brought many of the songs we do at CITN back to Uganda, and as they began to sing "To Worship You I Live" (using the keyboard that Karen Long donated to them), he motioned for me to come take the mic. So I did, and as I began to sing with them, the haze from the dust turned into the cloud of the glory of God.

When we finished singing, I ministered briefly about the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil' paradigm vs. the 'Tree of Life' reality. They definitely responded well to the revelation. Then I called for the Pastors so that I could lay hands on them (many of them will be going back to their villages tomorrow), and as I prayed for several hundred of them, I experienced a connection with them that is hard to describe...

While I was laying hands on their heads, the choir was singing "How Great is Our God", but as I prayed for the last 50 or so, they began to sing "You Said"...

Well, let me tell you...you know I love that song...and as the last of the Pastors returned to their seats, I once again took the mic and sang with them (about a hundred times, I think)..."Ask, and I'll give the nations to you...O Lord...that's the cry of my heart...distant shores and the islands will see Your light, as it rises on us"...

It was an unforgettable experience...

This year has been different from last year...the schedule, believe it or not, hasn't been quite as full...as I said, the AIDS clinic didn't work out, nor did the prison camp to minister to the condemned men...

But this week has been all about building relationships...the second trip means something special to them (and us)...

That's all I can say right now, other than it's all good...

Peace...

He's Got the Whole World In His Hands

Hey bloggers...I tweeted earlier that I would blog about the day, but it's been a very full and long one, and it's quite late now (even for me)*...and we have to get up in a few short hours to take the long trip to Kimuli to deliver the bookbags full of school supplies to the kids at the children's home...so...I'm going to be brief...

In a word, today was heaven on earth...all day...seriously, one of the best days of my life...

I/we ministered at Good Shepherd's all day, and it was...I don't know...I don't have words for it...

We didn't go to the AIDS clinic as planned because the one on the schedule was a different one from the one we visited last year...this one didn't have full-time patients, and was Roman Catholic run, and the administration didn't want us praying for people...so we opted out of the visit because I'm interested in people...not in simply touring a medical facility...

But the meetings at Good Shepherd's...oh..........my........

I love these people, especially these Pastors, so much...I can't begin to tell you...

The CITN community would be surprised to hear the way that I preach here, because I don't really "preach" at home...I teach...I exhort...I communicate...

But here, I preach...and prophecy...

It was...well, it's hard to explain...

I am very much at peace in my calling here...

After church tonight we went to Pastor Ben's house for a wonderful dinner...and it was just...family....

Such a wonderful day...and Rosette (P. Ben's wife) showed me the book bags we'll be delivering (we gave them the money for them, and they bought the supplies and assembled them)...

When I looked inside the bags (which all have tags attached to them which say "Donated by Church In The Now")...when I saw their pencils and writing pads and crayons and books (also stamped with "Donated by Church In The Now") and other school stuff, I nearly burst into tears...

You can't believe how beautiful these children are...many of them are HIV positive or even have AIDS...but they're all beautiful...and they want to go to school...

Thank you to those of you who contributed to buying their school supplies...

I heard dad did great last night...thanks for supporting him, and for giving me good reports...I love you all...

Well, I guess that wasn't so brief, after all...

I've got to go to sleep now...

Mookama Yebazibwe!



*The blog is on EST, so whatever time it says this was posted is seven hours away from when I actually posted it...

Great Day in Uganda

Today was wonderful...excellent...awesome...of course, things were immediately better once we finally got our luggage...except for P. Chad...they brought him the wrong suitcase, so he had to wait a few more hours...but he finally got his, and he and Lori and Erik and Karen went back to Kampala and had an amazing day at Good Shepherd's Touch...Erik will probably blog about their experiences later...

Because of the luggage drama we missed the morning meeting in Bewenge, but after lunch the Pastors Rogers and Joel and I took the long, arduous journey back down there for an afternoon service. First, we toured a school that is in dire need of help, met with the Headmistress, and had a good prayer with her. Then we returned to do a session at the church with the bats (they were a little more subdued today, but P. Avery said she counted about 50 of them, still...)...

The church was filled...about twice the number of people that were there yesterday, and many of them had testimonies of healings from the outdoor service yesterday when I laid hands on them. After the teaching I laid hands on all the Pastors that were there, which is really the thing I love doing the most here, while a kind of monsoon swept in. After the service we ran for the car and headed back to Kampala to attend a cultural center there that has a really nice and impressive kind of outdoor dinner theatre where they do an evening if tribal dances and Ugandan ancestral music...

The presentation was absolutely amazing...the energetic dancers were incredible, and the rhythmic, percussive music is very powerful and dynamic. What was really, really cool about the evening, however, was what happened when the emcee/producer was doing his part of the act. He was in the middle of doing a kind of semi-stand up comedy routine when he noticed that I was sitting in the front row. I still had on my clerical attire (with collar) because we had gone to the theatre straight from the afternoon service. Suddenly, he became very serious, even tearing up, as he talked about how honored he was that a Bishop (he referred to me as "Lord Bishop") would come to see his show, and approve of it. He said that the European missionaries had stolen so much of African culture, telling the people that the drums and the ancestral dances were pagan and even demonic...he talked about how his mother became so religious and would only sing the hymns of the high church, telling him that he could never dance again. Then he began to say, nearly verbatim, the things that I said last year in Pastor Ben's church when his young people did the native African dances in church...he shared amazing revelation about how his ancestors were worshipping the one true God, and how my/our presence there tonight was a confirmation of that. I don't think I'm explaining it well enough, but it was really something...

Then the whole team came back to the hotel and had a great time of sharing about the things of God, and the things that had happened during the day...they really are an extraordinary group of people...

Tomorrow we're in Kampala all day...

Love to all...

Hey bloggers...I won't go into the long version of the story...bottom line is that the luggage has finally been picked up and is being brought to the hotel...should be here within the hour...suffice it to say, we couldn't have gotten through another day without it if you know what I mean...

Anyway, I had said yesterday that we would be ministering in Jinja, but I was mistaken. The meetings were actually in the village of Bewenge, about a 2 hr drive from Kampala. It's close to Kimuli where we ministered last year, and where Good Shepherd's Children home is (where we'll be going later in the week). In the morning we held a really wonderful Pastors' conference with the theme of 'Excellence in Leadership'. I used the outline from the series I did years ago called 'The D-Force' (The Power of: Dreams, Desire, Decision, Determination, Diligence, Discipline, and Demonstration)...it was really cool...I had a great interpreter (one of the young Pastors we ordained last year), and the Pastors soaked it up like a sponge, taking copious notes, and showing that they have a great GIF ("get it" factor)...

The only challenging thing from yesterday morning (besides the long drive there, which is actually better than it was when we were here before because they have greatly repaired and improved the road), was the bats! The church is sort of a semi-open air building, and, hanging upside down, right above my head as I ministered, were about fifty of the largest bats I have ever seen. I really had to put it out of my mind and focus on my word because bats sort of creep me out, and these creatures were definitely NOT nocturnal (as I thought all bats were)...all during the teaching they were periodically swarming around and swooping overhead...in my peripheral vision they looked like small pterodactyls...and I wanted to avoid being decorated with guano, which I think might sort of push me over the edge...it was really something, but, at least there were no malaria-carrying mosquitoes around (or any other bugs, for that matter) because those big boys had eaten them all...

Then we drove back up to Jinja, which is on the Nile, and had a very good lunch with Pastor Ben and some of his staff at one of Idi Amin's old haunts...then we went back to Bewenge to meet with the Mayor and some of the City Council, who took us on a tour of one of their health clinics and a very primitive open market, both of which are badly in need of some modernization. I don't know what we can do for them, but I may look into buying the clinic a refrigerator and some bedding...about 35 babies a month are born there, and it's really under furnished...

After that we did a big open-air meeting in the village...very powerful anointing there...I preached (P. Ben interpreted) and did a more conventional type alter call, telling the people that God had made peace with them, but that they needed to make peace with Him...the whole area in front of the staging filled up with people in response, and Holy Spirit gave me an effective way to lead them in a prayer of reconciliation...then I laid hands on hundreds of people for healing...all of that was awesome...

Then we (Pastors Ernie and Avery and Joel) took the long ride back to Kampala to meet the rest of the team for a wonderful dinner...they had ministered at Good Shepherd's, and had had a beautiful day, as well...

The rest of the evening was spent in trying to connect with our luggage...and, as I'm writing this, P. Avery just called my room and said it was going to be another hour before our stuff gets here, so I don't know if we are going to make it back down to Bewenge as planned, or not...

The rest of our meetings for the week will be in Kampala, except for when we take the school supplies we bought to the boys and girls at the childrens' home...then we will ordain about 35 new pastors on Sunday...

Now if I could just have a change of clothes...

Greetings from Uganda!

Hey bloggers...those of you who are Facebook friends and Twitter followers already know that we're here in "The Pearl of Africa"....the trip was basically perfect, except for the fact that our bags haven't found us yet...we got the owner of the hotel gift shop to open up the store so that we could get some things to improvise with until our stuff gets here...meetings in both Jinja and Kampala start in just a few hours...obviously, we have wi-fi in the hotel, so I'll be communicating with you as much as I can...when you see the Ugandan flag over there on the spinning globe you'll know that it's probably one of us online...

I re-posted the slideshow pics of last year's trip so that you'll have an idea of what we're doing this week...

Thanks for the good feedback here and on FB and Twitter about last Sunday...I'd love to hear some more of it...

Peace to all...