Bukonde OPCU

Every once in a while, Eric likes to write a blog post.  Here is one from him today!

Today we visited Bukonde OPCU for worship, which included three baptisms and the Lord’s Supper.

The church is up in the hills, and is a beautiful drive.  Here is a picture of Pastor Leonard Mukhwana in front of the church building.  Notice the newer portion of the building on the left – that was added because of increased attendance.  Pastor Leonard’s work is a real labor of love.  The money the church pays him is only enough to cover his costs such as transport to and from the church (he lives about 10km away), but he is a real servant for Christ and for Christ’s kingdom.  

While waiting for the service to start, I looked through the church register.  I noted the average weekly offering of 11,000 shillings, and average attendance of about 55 people.

For comparison, I looked at previous years and found this page from 2011 when the average attendance was 38 people and average offering only 1,380 shillings.  That means over the past 5 years there is a giving increase of almost 800%!  This is encouraging because it reflects increased dedication to the Lord among the saints in Bukonde. (In US dollars this is an increase from 48 cents to $3.50 per week.)

The church recently opened a nursery school, and that was evident in the blackboard and some charts:

When we arrived at the church, it was already set up for communion and baptism:

Here are some photos of the worshipping congregation:

Here is one of the baptisms:

At the end of the service the congregation came to the front for a picture (as well as my family):

Of course what photos cannot directly capture are the faith in the hearts of God’s people, their hope of heaven, the many trials they pass through, and the work God is doing among them.  Bukonde is in a heavily Muslim area, and some are coming to faith in Christ.  Please pray for this congregation, for the work Christ is doing among them, for the fledgling nursery school, for Pastor Leonard, and for the elders and deacons.  Satan is always attacking and trying to disorganize, but when God’s people around the world pray for one another and love one another, God hears these prayers and blesses his people. 

I hope your Sunday today was great.  As you go into this coming week, greetings from the saints in Bukonde, Uganda!

School of Evangelism

Today we were blessed to host day one of a 3-day school of evangelism, sponsored by Africa Christian Training Institute and organized by the OPCU.  There were more than 200 Christians, many of them pastors and church leaders, who attended.  We were blessed by the teaching of Dr. Henry Krabbendam, who was our professor many years ago at Covenant College.  He has been coming to Uganda for 30 years.  We are so thankful for this opportunity to grow in our passion for evangelism as well as a solid foundation in the gospel.  By nature we have a "cobra heart", a "pit-latrine past", and a "poison life", but God provides a new heart (regeneration), a clean record (justification), and a new life (sanctification).  These blessings are organized by God the Father, paid for by Jesus Christ, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.  This is the message that we have the great privilege and duty to tell everyone.  Please pray for the evangelism that will be taking place over the next two days in connection with this conference.

Ugandan Purchasing Power...from Eric's Keyboard...

It’s very difficult for Americans to put themselves in the shoes of rural Ugandans.  I try to do so, by thinking of what they can afford with the money they earn.  If they have a job, which few do, it can pay $4 per day.  Many people do not have jobs, and so have to scrape by on far less.  In America, many jobs pay $100 per day or more.  How can we imagine what it is like?  I often make the following calculation: since a Ugandan earns 10,000 UGX (Ugandan shillings) per day (if they have a nice job), and an American with a job might earn $100 per day, I will take 2 zeroes off the 10,000 UGX per day and it becomes 100...or $100 USD.  Now what if we do that to the prices of common items for sale in Uganda?  What if we take off 2 zeroes?  That helps you to “feel” the pinch of what a Ugandan can afford, even one with an envied job.  So, imagine that you are earning your current salary in America, and you go to Wal-mart, and discover that…

A single banana costs $2.00

Butter is $25.00 per stick. 

Milk is $56.00 per gallon (yes, fifty-six dollars)

Eggs are $3.75 for one single egg

An apple costs $20.00 (apples are luxuries in Uganda!)

1 mango is $5.00

1 watermelon is $50.00

1 pineapple is $30.00

A whole chicken is $200.00

One pound of meat is $36.00

1 pound of flour is $10.00

1 ear of corn is $3.00

1 bottle of soda is $10.00

1 pound of sugar is $10.00

1 pound of salt is $20.00

1 pound of rice is $13.60

A small piece of chicken and a plate of rice at a cheap restaurant costs $20.00

Rent on a small (100 square feet) one-room, windowless apartment with shared bathroom in a poor section of town is $300.00 per month. Renting a 3 bedroom house is at least $4,000 per month.

What about clothes:

A new pair of trousers is $250.00 (You can find one used for $100.00)

A new button shirt is $200.00 (You can find one used for $50.00)

What about transportation?

A gallon of gas costs $136.00 (yes, one hundred and thirty six dollars)

A cheap small car costs $50,000

A ride across town on the back of a motorcycle costs $10.00

How much of this could you afford?  This is the reality for all but the wealthiest Ugandans.  This helps you to see how difficult it is for most Ugandans to eat well and be well-nourished.  Many children and adults might get meat once per month, or less.  Many might drink milk, once a week at the very most. 

We have the great privilege to love these brothers and sisters, who are in this type of financial situation.  If God has blessed us with so much more, we have the great privilege to be “generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).  We have the great privilege to imitate Christ: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you by his poverty might become rich”  (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Are we willing to become poor(er) so that others might become rich(er)?  Are we willing to make real sacrifices, like Jesus did so that others can be lifted up?  Most Ugandans we know are not lazy.  There are some lazy drunkards.  But many are diligent hard-working brothers and sisters who are greatly encouraged when far wealthier believers show them the love of Christ.  What a privilege!  What a joy!  

A Burial

From Eric's keyboard...

Yesterday I attended a burial in Kaiti – a 7 year old girl had died.  She was the daughter of one of the elders in Kaiti OPCU.  Burials here are typically done on the compound of the person who died.   So when we arrived at the girl’s home, there were many people gathered, the women in bright traditional dresses.  Since I was giving the funeral message, I was seated in the ‘front’ – although at these funerals there really is no front, since people surround you in all directions.  There was a small space where the casket would be placed.  Women were singing songs of praise.  Unlike funerals in America, funerals here are not somber, hushed affairs.  There is mourning, but also joy, at least in the Christian funerals I have been to.    

But I was not prepared for when the body was brought out.  There was no casket.  The family was too poor to afford one.  So the girl’s body was carried out wrapped tightly in a sheet.  You could clearly discern the outline of her head, her shoulders, and her feet.  She seemed so very alive, like it could have been any one of my own children.  Her body was laid on a reed mat on the ground just 2 feet from where I sat.  And the entire service, there was her body lying at my feet. 

I spoke to the gathered crowds, which included Muslims, about how Jesus welcomed children into His kingdom, in Mark 10.  I spoke of how children are saved by simple faith, and received to eternal glory.  I spoke of how we all must be ready.  There were many boys and girls standing right by me, who were listening very closely – I've never seen children listen so well. 

Then after the message, we walked about 100 feet to the burial site, at the edge of a small field.  A small hole had already been prepared.  The body was laid in the hole, wrapped in a white sheet, while hymns were sung.  The many children were standing there watching the body of their friend.  Scripture was read, prayer was offered – words of hope in Christ.  Then the men laid some sticks and a metal sheet over the body (to protect it from animals, I think).  Then while we all stood, the dirt was shoveled back over the body, into a neat mound.  The burial was finished.  I was thinking about the symbolism of burying a seed, waiting for the harvest when Christ will raise the bodies of His people from the dead.    

I also kept thinking of the great poverty of this family, and so many like them.  If they had more money, could her death have been prevented?  Almost certainly.  So many more children die here in Uganda, from causes so preventable if there is money, but so hopeless if there is no money.  This girl had chronic sickle cell and died of “vomiting”.  Wikipedia says that it is now possible (with the help of modern medicine) for a child in America with sickle cell to live to age 80.  And with the body of this girl lying in front of me on the ground, it was impressed on me all the more clearly that we have a moral obligation to love and help those who are so much more poor. 

Please pray for the family of this girl.  Ruth was the 4^th child.  She has a 14 year old brother who also has sickle cell.  Her mother is very small and weak.  Her father looked so defeated.  Yet their hope is in Christ.