March 2011: Mubende, Uganda

During this month we saw an eight person US team head to the Mubende Province of Mid-Western Uganda to share Christ and assist in the planting of two new churches. We partnered with Ggaba Community Church from Kampala and Kyengeza Community Church from Mubende, with the focus of planting two new churches in the villages of Kanseera and Naluwondwa. Our host pastor from Mubende was Pastor John Magaba from Kyengeza Community Church, whose vision was to plant two new churches; one in Naluwondwa and one in Kanseera. We praise the Lord for the work that was done in presenting the gospel to so many men, women, and children in the villages, with such a great number placing their faith in Christ. We were also blessed to return for follow up discipleship gatherings with over a hundred men and women.

I had a few experiences that really touched me and I wanted to pass them along to you. Here are the “shortened versions”:

1. On Tuesday I met Jilbert Kayitesi, a boda-boda motorcycle “taxi” driver in Naluwondwa. After hearing the gospel, he and seven other boda-boda drivers placed their faith in Christ. The next day I met with Jilbert and a couple others for a discipleship study. During that time, Jilbert showed great interest in learning how to share Christ with others. For the next few hours Jilbert led me to his family and friends and shared with them (with a little assistance) that he had trusted Christ as his Savior. He was encouraged when his wife, Juliet, and another of his fellow boda-boda drivers prayed and placed their faith in Christ. That evening at the “church” meeting at the local secondary school, Jilbert brought 7 of his friends to “church” and even helped to lead the small group Bible study with his friends at the evening’s gathering.

2. On Monday we met Peter Zwiwe, a businessman from the local village of Ngabano. He was weighing “ground nuts” (peanuts) to take to market. We started to share the gospel with him and he stopped us and said that he preferred that we waited and told the story to him and his business associates at the same time later in the week. I thought that he was simply putting us off and didn’t want to hear, since he told us that he would not be able to meet with us until Thursday afternoon (three days later). When we tried to contact him by phone on Thursday to drive over to his nearby village, we found his phone was turned off. So, my translator, Innocent, and I prayed and decided to take transportation over to the Ngabano village, with only the slight hope that we would find Peter there. Upon arriving at the village, we found a local man that was able to direct us to Peter’s place of business. Peter greeted us warmly and told us that the power had gone out in the village and that his phone was not able to be charged. He gathered his workers, the local taxi drivers, and several other businessmen from the local stores (a total of 32). He said, “share with us the story from God”. After sharing the gospel, we saw 22 of those gathered placed their faith in Christ. My translator, Innocent, said he would come and help Peter start a “church” in Peter’s place of business. Praise the Lord.