Uganda Recap: Day Nine

We had a short day of ministry today so that we could return to the guesthouse early for a celebration with the pastors and translators that had been working with us since we arrived.

The village seemed a bit strange today. Unlike the other villages, the kids didn't greet us with excitement when we pulled up. Instead, they just stared. Apparently, this village is in a region that is filled with demon activity. I guess that could explain the difference, huh?

Like yesterday, we split the children into groups according to age and we took the older kids. We had so many that we split the older kids into two groups during the activities so that it would be more manageable. During one of the activities, a girl passed out, apparently demon-possessed. Immediately this drew a spectacle, so while some of us tried to coax the rest of the 80 children away from the scene, two of our friends stayed with the girl until some of the pastors came to her. For the next little while, we'd try to keep the attention of the group while several adults, pastors and members of our team, tried to help this girl. She got up and wandered off down the road. Robyn and Ashely ran after her. Finally, they were able to bring her back to sit under the shade of a tree nearby, and with the help of a few of the pastors, prayed over her and for the demons to come out. They did. At the same time, a woman approached the group with a baby and asked for the baby to be taken as it was an orphan. She was the grandmother and could not care for this baby, but she was grateful to know that the baby would be taken care of. Arise Africa would obtain partial custody of her that day, and full custody of her in the next couple of days. Her name was "Gift".

The girl who had demons cast out of her joined back up with our group. We had finished telling the story of Moses and playing games, so now the group was coloring in the books we had given them and sucking on their sweeties. We could tell a difference in this girl. Her eyes had changed. They became clear and were filled with joy. By the time we moved on to songs, she was in the front, leading.

Sharing the Gospel

Below is a video of a song that grew popular with the mzungus. It talks about shaking Satan three times and then kicking him. To us, it was pretty funny to hear a group of kids singing this, complete with motions. Yay for Jesus shaking and kicking Satan!

We left the village early that afternoon to get back to the guesthouse. On the bus ride home, we got a chance to talk with Pastor Edward and share photos of our family with him. We told him about snow and we talked about computers. It's easy to see why he's a favorite of so many people.

Pastor Edward

Back at the guesthouse, as we were waiting for the food to be prepared, we hung out with Pastor Stephen and Pastor Omar. They wanted to know how Matt and I met and so we told them the whole story. We also got to spend time with our friend, Karim.

We learned that Pastor Stephen's dream is to open a Bible school that would accommodate about 50 pastors so that they could come and learn more about the Bible and then teach it in their region. He needs 10 acres of land for this to happen. He is waiting on God's timing and believes in his heart that this is what he was made to do. He shared with us that he would like to send his son to nursery school next year but they lack the funds to do so. Again, he is trusting that God will provide.

Sharing family photos with Pastor Stephen

When dinner was ready, we celebrated with all of our new friends with meat pies, peanuts and fresh fruit. Once we had finished eating, each pastor, staff member and translator received a gift from our team in recognition of our appreciation for them. Pastor Godfrey came up and spoke at the end, thanking our team for the work we had been doing since we arrived. They, too, wanted to show us their appreciation and gave us each a bag of coffee and a box of tea.

The evening was a nice change of pace from the normal routine of every other day. What a blessing it was just to be able to hang out with these men and women that had been working alongside us each day.