Our April Newsletter comes to you with great joy over what
the Lord has been doing; even though what surrounds us produces sorrow and
grief. In Uganda, we have not lost any person due to COVID-19. Up to 27 April
the total number of cases has been 79, with 46 recoveries. But because of the
government lockdown there is no work; no public gatherings for the safety of
people; and many people are jobless. Up to Covid-19 our economy has been bad, but
now we are at our worst. People are starving; there is no food for many; and no
sanitizers or liquid soaps for people.
We are so thankful for the people who have stood with this
ministry to help and save lives through giving out free foods e.g. posho, beans,
and sanitizers, liquid soaps etc. As you see in the pictures, many families
have been helped. Most of these people are from our church, and a few from
other churches. We have also had some Muslims come to get food. Our motorbike
has given us the means of saving people from hunger. It has done a great job.
The picture above is of Mama Gladys with 5kg of posho in the black bag. She is in her seventies and it is difficult for her to do hard village work. She was so thrilled for such a kind gift of love from this ministry to the local people. She comes to our church and prays with us.
Through
this difficult time, God has enabled us share the gospel with people, and we
have had four people give their lives to Jesus. Some of these we had never met
before, but they came to know how they could give their lives to Jesus. Like
Margret, a mother of twins, who was tired of living a life of sin. She shared
the testimony how her family had been living and serving demons, and how they
had met so many witchdoctors. She was tired of it all and wanted to receive
Jesus. She really needed help.
The beautiful kids in the picture are the ones Margret came with.
Some of them are hers and the others from her mother. Once the pandemic is over
it will be so good to have them come to our Sunday school
😉. Simon gave them a cup
of tea. We are so thrilled for this heart touching ministry which the Lord is
using to touch the hearts of people. In her testimony, Margret says she was
working in Kampala, cooking chips. She was a bread winner for her family, but when
the Corona virus lockdown came she was forced to vacate her job. However, it
has been a real help to her to get food relief from Lungala Bible Ministries.
Above are three young men (From left - Osbon, Jonathan
and Violah). They came to see us, asking how they could come to know Jesus. We
prayed with them and Osbon and Violah received Jesus as their Saviour. They were
also in great need for food.
The ministry of Bibles:
We got a call from one of the village Pastors who wanted two Bibles for this
lovely
mama (with such a joyous smile
after she got them). She says that the only hope that most people have is the
Word of God, and a church where they can find comforting messages of God from
the Bible. She took the Bibles with great joy.
As most people are indoors in this lockdown, many have found
the Bible to be their source of hope. As you saw from above, we are amazed at
the number of people who have come to Jesus in this hard time.
With the mama is Alex sitting on the
motorbike, with the helmet on his head, and wearing a rain jacket.
Because we have Bibles, we can share the gospel. In this
picture are a couple of our church members sharing the gospel with the man on
the left dressed in white. This was before strict Covid-19 measures were
imposed by the government.
We
believe that the block spotted white pig is three months pregnant and will give
birth very soon
We had to sell off most of our pigs to sustain us during
this time, so we are left with very few pigs compared to other seasons.
Alex is still reading the book of Jeremiah and it has been a
wonderful journey. But the sad thing is that like most of the prophets,
Jeremiah was inspired by God to pronounce judgements on the nation of Israel
because they had forsaken their God and were worshipping idols. In the first 29
chapters Jeremiah speaks of calamities, disasters, and pestilences that would
come upon them because of their sinfulness. And even worse than all that, God
was about to send them into captivity for seventy years under Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
But there is another wonderful thing that stands out through
the prophets, and that is the constant reminder of God's love and grace, and
His call for His people to return to Him so that He could once again bless them. For example see Jeremiah 3 vs 12-14.
Then in chapters 30 to 33 Jeremiah prophesies about the
restoration of Israel, and he worships the Lord for His awesome greatness,
power, and His authority over all things. See 32:17-20. A summary of all the
evil that Israel and Judah had done in the sight of God, and then the
restoration and renewal of their hearts is found in 32:30-44.
A fitting point here is that the whole world is going through a
time of disaster and epidemic where many thousands of people have died. Is this
something that God is doing because of all the evil in the world? Is He
allowing people to be in desperate situations where they would call out to God to
help them? God is the Sovereign Lord over all things, and nothing is too hard
for Him. See 32:17 & 27.
Just for your encouragement, God has given us many encouraging Psalms and other scriptures. One that I would suggest you read, as it is very suitable in our current pandemic situation, is Psalm 46.
We love you
