Sunday, September 2, 2007

A Day of Worship (but not of rest)



We got to sleep in a little bit this morning. Our van picked all of us (six pastors) up at 900am. We were on our way to church. Each pastor was to preach at a different congregation this morning. With a little bit of nerves, and much excitement, we departed.

Bob Land gave the morning message at Loving Example United Methodist Church which meets at the Humble School. He had a congregation that included all of the resident children of the school and the pastors who are staying through the weekend for the Academy. Bob was the only one who did not have an interpreter translate his message as he preached. Bob had a lot of time to spend with the people after the service as his ride was extremely late in picking him up.

Bob Coleman preached at Mount Olive UMC in Mukono. It is a congregation meeting in a rented building. The pastor of the church and his wife, Patrick and Rachel, are among the best students at the Academy. We have all been very impressed with both of them.



Byron and Carol Fritz were able the share at Nambole UMC. This is the church that we all attended last week. Attendance was down from a week ago, but worship was spirited and vital nonetheless. Nambole Church is currently meeting in a sort of lean-to. However, they have purchased property and have plans to build by this time next year. There are three or four members of the congregation who are attending our Academy in preparation for answering God's call to ministry.


Dewey Miller was the speaker at Mutungo UMC in Kampala. It is a very small church (approximately 25 people) meeting in a rented lot on an alley behind a store. This congregation is the one that is pastored by Fred, who was mentioned earlier this week in this blog. Although the congregation is small, they were very gracious and supportive.

Jim Hertel preached to the congregation at Kawala, also in Kampala. This congregation is made up mostly of refugees from Congo. The room that they meet in (25' x 25') is in what can only be described as a slum. There were 80 people at the worship service who love Jesus with all their hearts.

Currently we are awaiting the arrival of the Bishop. We had an appointment with him at 3pm. It is now 630pm and we still do not know where he is. Oh well, such is life in the UMC.

Tomorrow classes begin again at 8am with worship. That is always a highlight of the day. The school is half over and our trip is more than half over. What seemed to take forever to arrive is not flying by.

The entire mission team is having a good time. We are healthy and laughing a lot. Every day it seems that God is answering prayers. Thank you for your support and continued prayer.

1 comment:

alwayslookingup said...

It sounds like the first week of the mission trip is going well. Thoughts and prayers are with you for the remaining week you have.

Hello to Bob Land.