Hello Beloved Partner,
Glad tidings in the mighty name of Jesus; I am privileged to once again reach out and connect with you at this awesome moment when we all look into the year with anticipation eager to engage and embrace the new opportunities opening before us. I am truly excited because such opportunities have not ceased to come knocking at our doors even as I write to you now. Surely this year is proving to be unique with new ministry doors opening with each evangelistic and humanitarian step we take. We already have 10 districts lined up for us to reach and replicate our programs into from the North, South, West, East and not forgetting the central where we are rapidly replicating these programs.
I am greatly move by what God is already doing and for this reason would like to share some of these experiences/testimonies even as we look ahead to the end of the month praying that you will be encouraged and moved to believe for even greater opportunities to embrace.
CHILDREN AND TEENS CONFERENCES
These conferences are designed to help address the different challenges children and youth face in their day today living. These conferences involve parents as well being that they have the greatest influence in the lives of these children. This month we therefore undertook our first two conferences in Mbarara and Rakai Districts 267Kms and 174Kms from Kampala city respectively.
These four day conferences have greatly impacted 623 children and teens between the ages of 318 years of age in areas of education, life, spirituality, choices, careers and above all the decision to follow Jesus. This has been possible through the different related activities including the life skill sessions, prayer moments, evangelism, positive parental sessions, praise and worship sessions and distribution of Christian Literature. A total of 800 booklets were distributed through the program with 337 children and youths giving their lives to Christ. Through the conferences better still 35 parents were trained on effective and positive parenting. With the positive response and effectiveness of the program, this has been incorporated in our programs to be carried out annually. We thank God for the new initiative.
LEADERS TRAINING
The leader’s trainings are conducted to equip and raise trainers from the different leaders for implementation and multiplications of the different programs in the communities.
The training process is divided into three phases with three months between each phase in order for trainees to practice and implement what they have learned.
We had the privilege of sharing and training up to 41 Leaders and Pastors in and around Kyotera and Rakai Districts. The leaders hailed from the local churches in the communities where the need for the church to bear fruit and impact the community is most needed. The communities are highly scourged with poverty as a result of the effect of the HIV/AIDS scourge in the 1980’s robbing the communities of a whole generation. As a result since the would-be bread winners died due to the scourge, many homes are vacant or basically Child led homes. Coupled to this, there are high cases of witchcraft and traditional worship of the gods. These therefore are some of the challenge the church has to encounter.
Through the training, we empowered the leaders on different ways to reach and transform their community’s one of these being through children and youth. Many churches in the ‘less developed’ world are largely comprised of children and young people. In spite of this, ministry to children is often under looked, under resourced or not happening at all. This is tragic, it’s for this reason that through these trainings we try to empower and emphasize the value of investing in these young ones. Through the training one parent attending surrendered her life to Christ. 400 booklets and teaching materials were given to the pastors.
THE PURITY CAMPAIGN
This program was started with the aim of addressing the issue of sexuality highlighting the value and benefits of keeping sexuality pure and why God requires of us to stay pure until marriage. With the increasing cases of teenage pregnancies, defilement, rape, STD/STI among teens, and this program has become necessary as a means to empower and equip the teens/children so as to prepare them as they turn into or live through adolescence. For instance in Uganda, adolescent pregnancy rates stand at 43% and the rates of STD/ HIV infections among adolescents is higher than in the general public.
We encouraged the teens to refrain from engaging in sex before marriage and commit to staying pure and abstain from sex. We introduced Christ as an enabler who empowers us to stay committed to his will by the Holy Spirit a moment we used to also ask the children to commit their lives to Jesus.
98 of the 167 teens between the ages of 10-15 years who participated in the program surrendered their lives to Christ. Clint an 11 year old boy who attended and gave his life to Christ at the end when asked how the program had impacted him stated that he had never heard such counsel from anyone and not even his teachers at school. “Everything you told us is new to me because nobody has ever told me anything like this before. Actually now I understand why people die of Aids” said Clint. Fortunately 53 parents participated in this program and were encouraged to live pure and exemplary lives. 200 children Life skill booklets were distributed by the end of the program.
THE KALUNGU MEDICAL/EVANGELISTIC OUTREACH
In partnership with the Uganda Christian Medical Fellowship, Rock Church Ministries and different hospitals in Kampala, we undertook a medical outreach in this newly formed district carved out of Masaka district in 2010 located 174Kms from the city centre.
As we engaged the district during this outreach, we were ready to face off some of these challenges through the support and donations from different friends and partners of medical supplies worth millions of shillings. With a team of medics from the Christian background, we The program ran simultaneously with evangelism done by different pastors and children workers on the scene.
The five day medical outreaches treated reached over 2,500 people from the communities giving drugs, administering minor and major surgeries, eye clinics, counseling, HIV and Cancer Tests and many other medical cases. We also conducted gospel crusades each day through which the Gospel was shared and multitudes received healing, deliverance and Jesus as their personal Lord and savior. At least 100 children booklets, 2,500 tracts were distributed at the medical centers and crusades and over 520 people gave their lives to Christ through the program.
THE COOMMUNITY FILM OUTREACH
The Jesus film is one key ministry tool that we use to reach communities. This ministry is so effective that everybody denomination or tribe get hooked to the show and a result we have witnessed even Muslims who come to watch the movie converting to Christianity of Kalungu showing the Jesus Film in the towns trading centre.
Through these outreaches, we reached 722 people seeing at least 332 giving their lives to Christ. Two of these shows were at the crusade whereas the third show was at the conference. These shows brought about a total of 400 tracts and 400 children booklets to be distributed. We rejoice in how impactful the shows are to the communities. Through these Jesus film shows we strive to see that those who don’t know Jesus develop an understanding of who He was, why He came, and of what He did and also for new believers to become grounded in their new faith.
PRAISE REPORT
On the 25th of January 2015, we graduated the first 36 children from the Mailbox Club course that children are undertaking in different communities. Emily Maiso happened to be one of the graduates on this special occasion.
Aged only 13 years, Emily argues out her points with such confidence and faith that it becomes almost impossible to change her perspective of what she has come to believe thanks to the Explorers club discipleship program and her two influential teachers; Derrick and Patrick who faithfully took her through the program. Like 35 of her other contemporaries who participated and also graduated from this 12 week program, Emily has a story of her own to tell in line with the program.
“I am so happy because I didn’t think I would graduate with my friends. I had a lot of challenges including coming to church every Sunday.” She narrates her ordeal as she points to the church building.
Like Emily many of these teenagers have been lured into church through friends, the community bible clubs and awesome discipleship programs running in the communities in partnership with schools and churches like Kansanga Healing Centre where the graduation took place. For Emily’s case, the program attracted her attention after having witnessed children graduate from a previous program she had missed.
“Did you Know that the rapture is going to happen in the end and that the anti-Christ will come and rule the whole world?” she asks me with such a glare like it’s the worst thing that is yet to happen to mankind. This turns into a conversion that would soon attract her counterparts who immediately take me through the different things meant to happen during his (the anti-Christ) reign. She takes center stage as the discussion winds up making sure that she mentions all the other things her counterparts missed out.
This leads me to ask her what she is planning to do with all this information she has obtained. “I will have to tell my friends at school when school resumes. My friends don’t know this and I must tell them so that the anti-Christ doesn’t find them here” she explains with such concern, “I don’t want them to suffer because of him”. Besides this plan, she also looks forward to enroll for the next discipleship program scheduled for February 2015. With children like Emily empowered and bearing a vision of sharing what they have learnt with others, we are set to see their stories changed and the communities transformed with the support of partners like you.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We are set for the following ministry outreaches that we would like you to believe God with us for
· Four Prison Outreaches
· A church Planters Training
· Three Jesus Film Outreaches
· An outreach to Eastern Uganda
We are truly grateful for your generous support for these programs. We can’t help but thank the Lord for this great beginning which we believe is yet to bring a great transformation in these communities especially through the programs and trainings. As we celebrate yet this great achievement, we would also like to take this privilege to thank you for the encouragement and great support you have given us all through.
Yours in Service
Mr. Robert Sebunya
Director