Christmas greetings to you all. We bring to you our December Newsletter, and we praise the Lord that Christmas is just around the corner – the year is coming to an end.
At our church we had a Christmas family day where we gathered together to pray; to worship God with songs of praise; and to have a meal together. The church members had to bring cooked meals (although some were cooked at our home). We had Mrs. Alice, the wife of the retired Rev. Bakunda of Resurrection Church, Bugolobi – a residential district of Kampala. The church they planted caters for over 1000 people a week. They had been in ministry for over 30 years and are so influential in church ministry. This was their second visit to our church. Mrs. Alice was a blessing to us – especially the ladies.
As she was coming here with her group, it had rained heavily and their car got stuck in the mud on the road heading down to our home. The church members had to use hoes and timbers, etc. to pull it out. You can guess how the smartly dressed people came out of it ☹. We need to get some work done on this minor road, it’s so bad.
During the time we have been pastoring, we have come to know that village churches such as ours face major problems with parenting of children – similar to any other city church. During our family day Mrs. Alice had one on one discussions with the ladies, who are the majority in our church. We came to know that many men leave their homes and abandon their families, which leaves the children in destitute situations. She prayed for them and encouraged them to trust God and to serve Him more faithfully as hard working Christians.
We want to praise God for His faithfulness. Our church ministry is in an area where a number of people are deeply involved in satanic worship (witchcraft). Recently we had a horrible situation in which about 15 witchdoctors came to attack our church. They were dressed in their charming clothes and blowing pipes as they were calling on demons. It was so sad that even 10-15 year-old kids were also being recruited into witchcraft. Innocent kids!
We took the situation calmly with other church members, and we joined in prayer as they watched. Later on they followed each other one by one and went away. For our readers, if you haven't been to Africa, you may not realise how common and active witchcraft is. The picture below was taken 3 years ago when we had just come here, and it shows witchdoctors passing by our church. When they are doing their rituals, they don’t wear shoes, and in most cases they are dressed in white attire.
However, on the good side of it, we have three people who have turned away from witchcraft and given their lives to Jesus – Male, Joyce and Nakaye. These people have become very strong agents for the kingdom of God in this ministry. As a church we have to stand strong, and biblically confront witchcraft.
One time a witch stood in front of me and warned me to stop preaching the gospel that turns people away from following the demons of their ancestors! These are some of the unfortunate things happening around the church. Will you join us in prayer for this witchcraft group that Jesus will shine His light on them (John 1:9).
Next year (2020), we will be holding seminars for church leaders each month, mainly at our church. We will be focusing on cults and apologetics. So far we have 15 pastors who are willing to come and attend these sessions. We believe that if we train these pastors, and they then pass on the information to their congregation, effectively we will have trained many people. Pray that God will provide financially for these seminars. We will also need Bibles and any other materials that can help these pastors to grow deeper in understanding and sharing the Word of God. Any resource provision will be of great help. We are thankful to God, because this will be like reaching a milestone. The meetings with these church leaders will be in our church tent, on our plot. This will reduce all the other expenses of hiring a hall.
We want to thank you for being our ministry readers over this past year. We do take time to pray for you; that God will be with you, even in 2020; and that He will use you mightily for the extension of His Kingdom. We are thankful to God for you all. We trust that this festive season of Christmas will be a good reminder to us all of the purpose for which Jesus was born into the world. Let us praise God for His amazing love and grace as displayed in His Son Jesus, and for the salvation that He has freely offered to us all.
- Continue to pray for the Sunday school
- God's provision for us and the ministry
- Pastors seminars next year
- Raising more spiritual leaders in this ministry
- This ministry to flourish in the hearts of the people we reach out to
Love to you all,
Alex and Simon