The church building and compound

Wow!!! We are blown away by the church itself. I tried to take pictures from every angle. Just like most others in Uganda, the church has no running water. That means no flushing toilets. Actually only a hole which I am happy to say I have not even seen!! Yes that's right, a miracle for sure. We don't drink much water during the day even though we do get hot!! All the water for cooking comes from the well. The Americans use a lot of hand sanitizer!! The tree behind the church is a mango tree and the sign is telling people not to shoot down the mangos! All the clothes of the people who live there in the compound are washed by hand in pots and bowls in the well water and then hung on the line or strewn about the compound. The well is a good distance and the Jerry cans are very heavy! There is power off and on which powers the keyboard and microphone when it is working. The floor of the church is dirt and the platform is concrete. George William who leads worship literally sleeps in the sanctuary. We think others do as well. The roof and sides have plenty of holes which means they get rained on whether sleeping or worshipping. Right behind the keyboard area literally attached there is a pigpen. Yes, I did say pigpen. There are newborn piglets there who squeal loudly when we are trying to talk. Once in a while there is a strong smell that wafts into the sanctuary. There is a chicken who likes to wander in occasionally and left a present on the platform yesterday!!

There is a house attached which "Mother George" lives in with her daughter. She is the main cook. So sweet!! Of course in her house there is no electricity. The small road which runs right beside the area is seen to have the occasional motorcycle or group of cows being led by. The girl you see is chopping wood for the fire for cooking. Can you believe how fascinated we must be!! And a little hot and tired. But so are they!! And they aren't coming back to our humble motel with us!!! Wow is all I can say.

Tomorrow we have a church service. Fabian and I will sing together with Andrew on the drums!! What a privilege! Then we will travel to Andrew's home in the afternoon and visit his family. Can't wait!!! He lives on the other side of Kampala. Sweet dreams!!

Oh my GOODNESS!!!!

There are not words and not time to possibly convey our last two days. We have nothing but answered prayer to report. Our small group teaching times are going very well. We are amazed at it all!!! We all have an interpreter in our group. Fewer speak fluent English than we thought would. Yesterday we were all three so nervous but today feel much better. We were so exhausted last night but better tonight! God is the one who is helping us find ways to explain the truths of I John to each group. It is so much fun and we are pinching ourselves that we are really here and having this privilege!!! We are using our white boards to write things and draw pictures that help them understand. Otis' group meets outside under a tree next to the children. Usually they all run around the yard and play soccer or jump rope. They constantly are pulling on them and David and John have been great sports!! During the morning session today John and David were asked to teach the little children a little about themselves and about Jesus. So David came and got a small white board and they did some teaching too! None of the small village children speak English. Lunch was rice and beans cooked outside on a fire under banana leaves along with avocado and cooked pumpkin and some posho which is a corn mash. I snuck in a quick music lesson with George William while Andrew taught a drum lesson to Daniel, John and David. It was such a treat to watch them. Andrew played the drums for the choir when he was in the states and to think we are here with him now!! Daniel says he and Fabian are mature in their faith. The picture is of his group. Our numbers vary each session with a main core group. We taught more after lunch.

After a short break we separated the men and the women. We did this yesterday also, focusing on parenting in the women's group. Today we focused on what the Bible has to say about marriage. It was fascinating because as we went along we started asking the group questions. Out of maybe 70 women only four raised their hands who were legally married. About seven said they had had a bride price paid for them and they were living with the man. Others had lived together with neither the bride price paid nor the wedding. One of them was married to the pastor of a nearby church who was here at the conference. After much discussion we had a wedding right that evening!! You can see from the tshirts they were wearing that they were both volunteers for the Passion Kampala in the fall! The pastor of this church happened to have rings at home so he sent someone to get them. We had no light so you see a lantern and a phone flashlight in the photo. Wow!!! What a day!!!!!

I will have to report later about the village visit yesterday in people's homes and about some other women trapped in bad situations. Marriage is not held in high esteem and women are treated sooo poorly. But the ones coming are hungry for God's word and so appreciate us being here. THANK YOU for your prayers. They are really making a difference and holding us up!!!!

First day of bible studies!

Afternoon of first day

We are so amazed and overwhelmed with our first day. After lunch we went visiting in the village. The photos are from that visit. Men hold hands with other men. You see Otis with one of the pastors. We have given a few soccer balls so far. We are doing it a little at a time. The most humbling thing was to visit the three wells that service 60,000 people. One is quite muddy and we are hoping to come up with a solution that can make the well hole cleaner, possibly by digging and placing a new pipe. Most people get all their water from these wells. The pastor is so precious. One of my greatest joys today, aside from seeing Andrew and Fabian was to give hymnals to the worship leaders. They had requested some last year. I was able to teach a few new hymns as we sang together on our walking your. I realized that they could not read music and so I sat down with them and was able to start from the beginning with teaching notes, rhythm and time and key signatures. What a privilege to be able to take what has been taught me by others and pass it along. They are very intelligent and talented and just have not had the opportunity. It has been amazing!!!! I wish I had time to tell more!!