July 2020

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night… For you, O Lord have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.” Psalm 92: 1-2,4.

(*This photo was taken by our wonderful teammate, Cassie*)

This COVID season has brought about poverty and hunger here in Uganda. Because of the temporary shut down of businesses and schools, we can see the effects of the declined economy everywhere we look. People are getting thinner and thinner. There is also a spiritual poverty that came with the shut down of churches, and people are getting dryer and dryer. But God is on the move bringing provision to the desperate and giving a tremendous hunger for Himself during these trying times.

July 31st marked the end of our food distribution program. Our team at BAM (Business As Mission) Enterprises had been working literally day and night to produce the quantity of food that was being given at our distribution points. For the last 4 months we have had volunteers handing out food to people pre-approved by the local government. Each food package consisted of more than 30lbs of food, and everyone who received the package also had the Gospel preached to them. By the hand of God, and by your support, we managed to feed more than 60,000 desperate people! And so many people were getting saved that it became difficult to keep track of! During that same time we were also distributing food to our in-patients, and we had certain medicines on discounted prices at our clinic.

We have also seen the effects spiritually. I have seen the results of increased domestic abuse and have personally stopped 2 cases of violence. Suicide and teen pregnancy are on the rise, and hopelessness is through the roof. But God is good and His Word has still been going out through tiny fellowships for these last 4 months. I want to share a testimony of what God is doing through the fellowships in our own home…

(Our dear friend and her 4 sisters made up a whole service. It’s been a blessing for them to fellowship with our family since they are from a different tribe and do not speak the local language, making it difficult to join the other groups)

A few weeks ago two teenage boys from our village were led to our house by a good friend of mine to fellowship with us. They quickly told me that God had been convicting them of their sinful lifestyles and that they wanted to repent and be saved. After they had gotten saved and we had ended the service, one of them asked if we could preach at his home the following week, and that his family was also ready to get saved. When the next weekend came, one of those teenagers brought another of his friends to pray with us and he also got saved. After finishing the fellowships at our house that day we went to the first boys home and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the grace of God almost the whole family came to salvation. This week another of our neighbors brought my family to visit her family home in a neighboring village. As her family gathered (nearly 30 people), we quickly saw that they too were in desperate need of hearing the Gospel. So I asked for them to find a translator for us. We walked them through John 3:16-20, and our neighbor, her mother, her sister, her brother and her mother in law (the local witch doctor) all repented and believed. We left them with instructions to be meeting together to read the Bible and pray, and also to reach out to the other family members in love and patience. And now we are awaiting this coming Wednesday, to honor the invitation to preach the gospel at that third boys home.

(*Ronald (third from the left), the first teenage boy, and his family that recently came to Christ*)

Please pray for us as we are trying to prepare for our furlough, and as we continue to proclaim the Gospel. Pray for those ones who were saved, that they would grow even during this time of little church direction, and also for their families.