Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You”
Dear Friends and Family,
First of all we would like to thank you for praying for us and the ministry here. We know that many of you have worried about us as Uganda has been on the news quite often this year with reports of riots and violence. We have been blessed by your concern and want you to know that while we have experienced the unrest we are fine and in no danger. We thought we would use this newsletter to inform you of some of the events that have been taking place that have led to the countries unrest.
The unrest began after our presidential elections in February. The opposition party and its supporters were not happy with our president, Museveni’s, win.
Following the elections many types of protest ensued. The most memorable one that made the news and almost spiraled out of control was the “walk to work” protest.
The opposition leader urged people to protest against Museveni, blaming him for the rising fuel prices. These protests led to much violence from both sides: the protesters and the government.
The violence following these protests, we experienced personally as one afternoon we could not leave church as all around us riots were taking place and the police were spraying teargas and rubber bullets. The following pictures were taken from the church windows. We praise the Lord for His protection and that it ended after only a few hours.
After the elections and its aftermath were over we thought the riots would end also but as you have probably seen on the news it has become almost a weekly occurrence. The #1 reason given is the economy and the rising fuel prices, which is effecting the price of everything.
The first big protest about rising prices was a traders strike. For two days local traders refused to open shop or sell anything in protest. They also threatened to burn down any business that did not join in their strike. This affected us in that our church meets in a commercial building. The Landlord locked the building and would not allow us to open to have our midweek service in fear the traders would take it wrong and burn the shops inside.
The next protest occurred the following week and it was the taxi drivers. If you have ever been to Kampala you know that taxi’s are the main form of transport. There are literally thousands of them on the road at any given time. They were on strike for 2 days which for us meant less traffic but for many it meant no transport or having to take boda bodas which are dangerous and who quadrupled their price during the strike. Any taxi caught running risked being stoned.
The most recent event was the burning of Owino Market. It is famous for being one of E. Africa’s largest outdoor markets and is located just a couple blocks from the church. On Sunday when we were driving to church it was like driving through a thick fog and smelt like burnt toast and rubber.
During our second service riots broke out and though Brian continued to preach calmly gunshots and the tear gas cannons could be heard all around us. Up to now the police have ruled the fire as malicious but with no known arsonist or reason why.
We thank you again for your prayers and continued support through these trying times.
Prayer Requests:
· Please continue to pray for peace in Uganda
· Pray for Brian as Josh is on furlough for two months and he is overseeing till he returns.
· Pray for Jill as she continues her two studies, Be Committed and the book of Revelation.
· Pray for many people to turn to the Lord through the difficult times the country is facing.
· Pray for all the ministries and teaching at the church.
· Pray for our support as we would like to come on furlough this September and need to purchase tickets.
Pray for opportunities for us to share while we are back
In Him,
Brian, Jill and Luke Mukisa
