Update 7

The pastors & leaders conference has started in Kampala and there has been a huge turn out. It has been amazing seeing how the Word of God is changing lives. Pastors have traveled in from as far as Pakistan, Congo, Somalia, & Sudan. The workshops are dynamic, and there has been great interaction between the attendees and our team. Worship has been awesome- half of the songs are in English and half are in Lugandan. With the African flare,as you can imagine, the congregation really gets moving. The conference closes tomorrow with a full day of teaching and workshops. Please join us in praying the Word of God will continue to change the hearts of the people here.

Our Entebbe outreach started off very rough. There was a second team that merged with ours once we got to Kampala. It was to establish team unity all over again with a whole new group of people.

The outreach team went to some islands off of Victoria Lake yesterday. These islands have literally been abandoned by the Ugandan community. The boat was a banana shaped, old wooden rig with a little motor in the rear of the boat. The nationals were in the center of the boat wearing life jackets (because they do not swim), and our team stood on the angled sides for over an hour in the cold choppy water. Once arriving to the first island there were hundreds of children jumping with joy greeting the team. The team hosted a VBS, spoke at a school & did hut to hut evangelism. Not only were their emotions rocked from the boat ride, but more so by the things they saw this day: barely standing shacks made of wood that certainly would be hauled to the dump in America, malnourished children wearing torn, soiled clothing, and some with no clothing at all. These islands were a far cry from the fun, sun and umbrella drinks we often think of when we picture visiting an island. However, in the midst of the suffering, the Gospel went out. A man wanted to recommit his life to Christ, but wanted to do it in front of his wife. He invited a couple of team members to come into his small hut and surrendered to Jesus.

As the team returned to Entebbe, the boat became stuck on the rocks close to the shore and they had to bring out small boats to evacuate the team. One thing I know for sure is that the group has a new- found understanding for what the disciples went through on the Sea of Galilee.

Tomorrow the team will do street evangelism and continue with the last day of the conference. Brent, Rich, Kerry, Danielle and Rob will start the journey to South Sudan. The first leg will be a flight to Kenya with a bit of rest before traveling into Sudan. We love you all and are so thankful for your prayers..