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2012 Prayer

"My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make ever effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus." Philippians 3: 10-12

Friday, July 16, 2010

Visiting Ugandan Schools with the Gospel!!

"We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks,
For your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works."
Psalm 75:1

It is my desire to continue to declare the wondrous works of our Almighty God today as I share with you what happened on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 in Uganda.

What a day today has been!! I awoke this morning after a quick night's rest. I think my body clock is finally adjusting to the time change. After breakfast and a devotional about the armor of God, we listened to Nathan's verse and prayer. He was so sincere and sweet and I could visually picture him in my mind as he spoke those blessed words. (By the way, we have tried and tried to find a way to upload just audio so that we can share with you the kids verses and prayers, but have been unsuccessful. Any ideas would be appreciated.) I hurried to get ready as Jamie as I would be headed to the schools today. All the public and private schools in Uganda are open to have people come and share with them on various topics. This includes sharing the gospel!! It is beyond comprehension since we can't even do that in America. Anyway, it would be my first time and as with all first time activities I was nervous and did not know what to expect. I did know that I was to pack my own snacks because we would not be eating lunch!! That was a scary thought to me, but I survived!!

We drove for over an hour to get to the first school. Upon arrival we were told that we could not share because they already had another program later that afternoon. Evidently, the school was hosting another school that afternoon for an athletic event and the students needed some time in the classroom to get their work done!! So we loaded up again and headed toward the next school. Jamie and I had a good visit on the van ride and then we stopped at a restaurant. Some of the Ugandan school team members had a bite to eat, while Jamie and I ate some of our snacks and had a soda. We are not allowed to eat food that is not prepared by our designated cooks for health reasons. Thus, the reason we have to take snacks when we are visiting schools.
Millet Bread--A cheap favorite for the Ugandans

Little boy wanting to see a white person

Jamie enjoying a soda and waiting to go to the school

We went to the next school (a primary school, children ages 5 to about 14) and our school team got the sound and everything set up for the presentation. The headmaster gathered all the children together under some trees where we began with praise and worship by the school team. Then I shared my testimony and Jamie preached and shared the gospel. While Jamie was preaching, the younger children decided to begin to talk. I began to pray that they would be quite so that they would not be a distraction to the other children. Before I knew it, two older boys began walking around with a switch and hitting the children who were misbehaving!! I told God that isn't exactly what I had in mind, but if that is how he wanted the distraction taken care of, I guess I wouldn't argue. :) Several children prayed to receive Christ and when it was all over, the headmaster got up after we were through and praised all the kids for being so good. I was wondering if this was typical good behavior for children at schools, but Jamie assured me in the van that it wasn't.

The whole time we were there, I felt like there was almost a spirit of oppression or resistance against us. This became clear why I was feeling this way when we found out later from one of the teachers that the school we were at has Muslim roots. The resistance and oppression we were feeling was the "struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12) How appropriate it was that the devotion on this particular day focused was about putting on the full armor of God!! Thanks Kayla for being faithful to what the Lord laid on your heart!! We were only able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil because we had put on the full armor of God that morning. (Ephesians 6:11) The teacher at the school told us that all the teachers were Christians and they wanted the children to hear the word of God. They do offer a Scripture Knowledge class, where I believe is sort of like a chapel class for anyone who wants to be a part of it and we encouraged the children to attend. The teachers also said that the children were afraid to become Christians because their parents are Muslim. She asked us to pray quote, "for this little school out in the middle of nowhere" so that the children would come to Jesus as Lord and Savior. I wish I had the name of the school, but if you just pray for the school out in the middle of nowhere, I know God will know who we are praying for!!!
Mike, Pauline, and Francis (part of the school team)
Thank goodness for beef jerky and Chex Mix!!

The atmosphere at the last school was drastically different. Before Jamie and I even began, we had already had "church". The headmaster himself led the school in a worship song along with the school choir. Again, I gave a brief testimony and Jamie shared a message and the gospel. Several accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. The intense desire from all the children just to touch our hands overwhelmed me as I thought about how many people chased after Jesus. For instance, the woman in Matthew 9:20-21, "And a woman who had been suffering form a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Hm and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, 'If I only touch His garment, I will get well.'" Now, I am in no way comparing myself to Jesus, but all of us who are believers do have the cure for the lost and dieing world around us!!
School Choir
After we finished at the school we loaded up once again to head back to the hotel. However, God was not through drawing more people into his kingdom. Since we ride around in vans that are taxis, our driver stopped to pick up two ladies and give them a ride into town. I felt in my spirit that I needed to ask them if they had a personal relationship with Jesus. Come to find out they are from the village of Muyembe which is the village we went to the first time Scott and I were in Africa three years ago!!! I was able to share with her that I had been to her village and shared the gospel with both of them. They both accepted Christ and we were able to tell them who to contact when they got back to their village so that they could continue to learn more about God and be discipled.
Miriam and Nayamba from Muyembe

Unsure and nervous when leaving the hotel that morning, I arrived back at the hotel in awe of being able to be in the presence of God working firsthand in the lives of individuals.

"The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous;
The LORD protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
The LORD will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!"
Psalm 146:8-10

2 comments:

  1. Amazing!! I love the verse about the woman who just believed if she touched the edge of Jesus' cloak, she would be healed! May our faith be like this and may we pour out the life giving gift to those who don't yet know about the Good News!! I wish I could have been with you on this trip...so awesome to see how God touched so many lives. Thank you, Jesus!!

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  2. There were so many divine appointments like the ladies from Muyembe in your van. It just causes me to scratch my head as to why we don't see more of those divine appointments back at home. Love ya Alicia, and I love the Lord more because of you!

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