“Even the drunkards are saying ‘these people are different’”

This story was from our Kampala mission 21-20 September 2018.

“ What I have, they need it!” – Pastor Rebecca Katongole

“Mission is a shared responsibility, not pastors alone. It is not the work of AEE alone or the missions committee. Whilst I can do something about it as an individual, and so can individual brothers and sisters, we can do much better together.” – Rev Paul Ssembiro

What drives mission volunteers to come to Uganda to reach out? AE CEO Ben Campbell provides insights from the mission volunteers who are up early and working late to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Kampala.

The context for the mission was aptly summarised by a sermon given by Rev Paul Ssembiro, African Evangelical Enterprise (AEE) team leader in Uganda at King Jesus Church Kampala during the mission.

“Partnering together means caring about what God cares for. What moves God must move you. We are not a shareholder. We must care about the deprived, depressed, drunkards, troubled marriages, street children, the mess in the streets, and want to do something about it, empowered by the spirit of God. You may not be a big name in evangelism, eg, Billy Graham, but if you are obedient to God, you are a partner with God.”

“As believers, God has given us eternal life. Our life will not end here. Life is more than food and good houses, good job, financial investment. This will stop here. But I have eternal life. My life will go beyond the grave, and this is my focus. When we invest in relationships, think about eternity. If we are living as Christians, but our vision stops here, God needs to open our hearts and to live in the perspective of eternity.”

The Lord has called over 300 Gospel workers to be involved in this Kampala outreach, inspired by the Holy Spirit and equipped by our beloved supporters. A small group of Gospel workers took time out from mission to share their insights with supporters.

A common theme for everyone is that they are convinced that people are really ready to come to Jesus in Kampala, and this is reinforced by their everyday outreach.

Pastor Duncan of Loungujja Community Assembly Church said that there is so much ‘low hanging fruit’ to pick amongst the city district of Rubaga, with people quickly making a decision to accept Jesus and see their lives transformed. “People are waiting to come to the Lord”, he said.

Clearly, God has prepared the way and opened the hearts of people in Kampala to hear His word through your prayers.

Also, the training provided by African Enterprise in evangelism called Explore has helped to ensure that people are well grounded in their theological basis in reaching out to the community.

Pastor Josephine of Nateete Miracle Church said that she has entered this mission very prepared as a result. “It has opened my eyes to how to best learn from the bible”, she said. “I am so touched by the course, I just have to transfer my knowledge of the bible to so many.”

Pastor Rebecca of Sanctuary church in Rubaga said that she is so thankful to AE for the training in evangelism. “Before this training, I could make mistakes or be too aggressive in my outreach”. “I have really needed this training to help bear fruit, and now I don’t fumble around”, she said. “I used to be afraid to reach out to Muslims because they quarrel, but now I have the confidence with the knowledge I have to reach out to them. I am now very passionate to evangelise to them.”

The passion and the fire that people have for Christ makes a real impact amongst the community they are outreaching to. Evangelist Peterson Muhimbise of Makere Redeemed church Kampala said that there is something that is really attractive and distinctive about the mission volunteers as they reach out to the community with the Good News. “Even the drunkards are saying ‘these people are different’”, he said.

These mission volunteers are very clear that God has called them to give what they have. Rev Paul Ssembiro gave an example of how a 12-year-old led him to Christ when he was in primary school. “When Jesus gave us the great commission, as per Matt 28: 18-20, it was not addressed just to a few people, those passionate and gifted. It was given to the entire church, children as well as adults. Women as well as men. Students and those out of school. Today I am an evangelist because God worked through that 12-year-old to bring me to Christ.”

One of our Gospel workers met Nasanga at a medical camp on one of the first days of the Kampala mission in September. The following was their conversation:

Gospel worker: What was your life before receiving Jesus?

Nasanga: My life was a discouraging life. I was blind and was unable to see my two children (Shelunjiji Sharif and Shalua Kagemulo). One of my children had a heart tumor and I wasn’t able to help him because of my blindness. I was also being attacked by demons.

Gospel worker: What happened after you received Jesus?

Nasanga: After I received Jesus I repented from my sins and asked God to renew my vision. He answered my prayer, I could not believe it-I was able to see again! Since then my faith has been strong. My child has been healed from his heart tumor as well!

Gospel worker: Why are you at the medical camp today?

Nasanga: Yesterday I heard an announcement about a car that was taking people to a medical camp which was organized by African Enterprise. I was having teeth problems and decided to go to the medical camp to get some medicine. I was then reminded of what Jesus had done for me and I thought I should invite my neighbors to attend, three neighbors have come with me today.

Gospel worker: How about your husband?

Nasanga: My husband is Islamic. Because of what God has done for me he is allowing me to go to Church, but he has not received Jesus yet. I believe that one day Jesus will turn my husband’s heart towards him.

Gospel worker: What are you doing that bring you daily income?

Nasanga: I do not have a job. I stay home and do activities around the house. My husband helps me care for the children.

Gospel worker: Did you get treatment for your teeth?

Nasanga: My tooth was extracted and I feel much better. I can’t explain how good the service was, and it was all free!

Gospel worker: What will you do for Jesus?

Nasanga: I am going to tell everyone how good Jesus is and what he’s done in my life, that’s why I’ve invited my neighbors to the medical camp.

Pastor Daniel Waithaka is from the Full Gospel Church in Embu Kenya. He joined the mission volunteers who had travelled overnight from Kenya, arriving to Kampala Uganda on Friday morning of the mission in September.

In expressing the importance of prayer, he offers the following:

In approaching an evangelistic meeting, there has to be strategies in place, and one of them is prayer. We’ve been praying for a long time prior to this mission. This is because we believe that the prayer prepares the hearts of people we preach to, and preparing the hearts of the people to like the Gospel message. God opens doors, eg the police station.  This is a restricted secure zone, but with the approach of AE, they accepted us.

The same thing is happening the schools, hospitals and prison. Other places that are very restricted. 

This also applies to the opening of doors into meeting with the political leaders, at which time we will have an alter call. 

Prayer also underpins cooperation, particularly amongst churches.  People just don’t come together so easily.  We can’t take the unity we have created for granted. This is the power of God. 

Also willingness to participate by individual churches. Most mission volunteers have been hosted in homes, willingly by the participants. Through prayer, God prepares the hearts of people. We attribute this to what God has done through prayer.

Participant of the government is also so important. The government provided the trucks to help us in the clean-up, and this was made possible through prayer. This has made it possible to see the love of God through this work. 

Also the resources that are required. The Lord provides the means of supplying the food, water and administrative expenses associated with this mission. 

Praying to prepare the lives of people to be saved.  People aren’t saved by being experts in preaching.  We recruit members of churches.  Some have never witnessed before, have been trained in just a few moments, and yet have led people to Jesus because someone has been waiting for them to bring them the good news of Jesus. People gladly accept, not because they are experts, but because God has prepared their heart. 

Stephen has been given the opportunities to preach in a maximum security area during the Kampala mission due to God opening doors.

Amen and thanks to Stephen for helping us to see how the Lord has prepared the way in so many ways.

After 10 days of concerted activities, the curtains finally came down on the Kampala Mission 2018. It was a time of great celebration as AE staff, local pastors, mission volunteers and, most importantly, new converts, came together to celebrate the faithfulness of God over the mission period. Together, they looked back at the harvest over the entire period and, from one speaker to another, the constant refrain was: “Glory be to God!”

One of the standard goals of AE missions, besides actually reaching people with the Gospel, is to equip the local church for evangelism, so that the task may continue long after AE evangelists have gone. As members of the mission steering committee and zone leaders gave their testimonies, it was clear that God had been at work, not just saving sinners, but also in renewing the church. The following statements at the closing rally capture this reality:

“What I have learned is that as we praise God in our churches, there are many outside not saved. Our commitment, moving forward, is to engage in serious door to door evangelism.” – Pastor Raphael, Coordinator of Zone One

“It’s been such a joy to see Muslims coming to Christ without arguing. I am more convinced of the need for continuous evangelism. I sense that God has an issue with us as churches and church leaders in Uganda. We must go out to evangelise, and give hope to the many out there, desperate for the message of the Gospel. We thank God for AE! The initiative in bringing us together for this great task and the resources invested in the community have all been a blessing from God. We will be discussing the possibility of doing this kind of mission every year with other church leaders. We hope we can still have the partnership of AE in the process.” – – Zone Two Coordinating Team.

Before he led the congregation in a prayer of blessing for AE, Pastor Charles Kiwalabye, who was coordinating zone three, said: “I sincerely give thanks to God for bringing us together as churches to evangelise our neighbourhood. We have reached so many, yet the task that remains is massive. We must continue with this task.”

As AE moves on from the Kampala, Rubaga Mission, the great joy is that a passion for mission and evangelism has been awakened in the church and they are unified to do the work of the Gospel together. Praise God!

The greatest highlight of the closing ceremony was when some of those who had been converted during the mission, and who were present, stood to be received by the church. The crowd celebrated the new brothers and sisters in Christ with tears and joy. Rev Paul Wasswa, AE Uganda Team Leader, led the congregation in this moment of celebration.

“We are celebrating in joy, with the angels in heaven, for every soul that has turned to God. We are celebrating the fact that the lost are found, the dead are alive again, those in enmity with God are restored, and those in captivity have been set free. But the church also rejoices, that God has given us an opportunity to participate in his mission. God can do it alone, but he has privileged us to be his co-workers and the channels of his saving grace and power.”

Among the new believers present was Steve Mtebi Salongo, a 35 years old man who has been, by his own confession, an alcoholic. An architect by profession, his alcoholism recently led to him losing his well-paying job with a construction firm in Kampala. Although he still gets short contracts from which he earns, Steve hardly sees the benefit for himself and his family, because he loses most of his earnings to alcohol. He was often left with nothing; not even enough for food. Steve came to Christ, that he may find forgiveness from sin and healing from his addiction. He came to the closing ceremony to confirm his decision to follow Christ and be welcomed by the church. What a joy it was to see him there.

In his closing remarks, the AE Uganda Team Leader, Rev Paul Wasswa, urged the new converts to continue in their faith, and the church leaders and members to ensure they are established in the faith. “The long but extremely important task of preservation begins now; and our partnership goal is not fulfilled until this task is done,” he said.

This task of encouraging and preserving the faith of new believers began on September 30th, the last Sunday of the mission. As the local pastors embraced and received the new converts who were present, they also made a commitment that they will do their best to ensure that each and every new convert is followed up and discipled into maturity.

As we help churches follow up with new believers, continue to pray for them and their new life in Christ. Pray that their hearts would remain open to Him and that their lives would be transformed by His love.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness (Colossians 2:6-7).

“I challenge you to abandon the quick money of prostitution,” Marion said, addressing the women from the streets. “Christ can give you everything you need.”

The Nakulabye area of Kampala is estimated to have at least 500 working prostitutes, some are as young as 14 years old. Others are married women who trek in from rural areas to make money for their families.

Today, our team worked with a local church who have an ongoing outreach to these vulnerable group of women. Fifty women were brought in from the streets to hear Marion, a former prostitute, share how she was able to find hope and a new life in Jesus.

Rejected by her stepmother at the age of 17, Marion moved in with a friend and began working at a local bar to put herself through school. She soon found that her income wasn’t enough and was encouraged to begin prostitution by her friend. “After working as a prostitute for a year I married a truck driver,” Marion said. “I thought all my troubles were over. I started having children right away and during my third pregnancy, my husband began to beat me and eventually brought home a second wife! I was heartbroken.”

When Marion’s third child was two months old, her husband threw all her belongings in a bag and drove her and their children to the bar where they had met. He threw 30 shillings (about $9) at her and drove away. “I was so scared,” Marion said. “I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I decided that going back into prostitution was my only choice, so I left my children with friends and family and began working again.” Following that decision, she was constantly beaten up or robbed. Eventually, she was found by a family friend who brought her to the rehabilitation center. It wasn’t long before Marion had committed her life to Christ and begun the process of starting over.

“I challenge you to abandon the quick money of prostitution,” Marion said, addressing the women from the streets. “Christ can give you everything you need.”

Following Marion’s talk, all the women stood up to accept Christ into their lives with hope for a better future. Please pray for these women who face a difficult road ahead as they begin to change their entire lives.

Please also continue to pray for the mission which continues to happen across the city with many people coming to Christ.

“Please pray for this new AE church partner, and for the encouragement of the pastor and his kids as they adjust to this challenging new environment, bringing the word of God to a desperately poor area.”

At the entrance of the Buskenyi slum in Western Kampala stands Nakulabye West church of Uganda. The side walls of the church actually form one side of the slum gateway, and the back of the church overlooks the slum proper.  Members of this congregation took part in the clean-up a few days ago, and CEO AE Australia Ben Campbell took the opportunity to visit the church itself.

There he was welcomed by pastor’s kids (PKs) Simeon (21) and Damalie (25) who have moved in with their Pastor dad 9 months ago.  Both are serving at the church during their studies through music, and Damalie is completing a course in fashion design.  They have moved with their father at least seven times since birth.

Their new church is constantly dusty and there is scarcely any privacy for these young people, although they did say they were well accepted by the community surrounding them.  “The attitude of the community is good to us”, Damalie said, “however, there is a lot of noise and it is difficult to get used to. People in the slums are working 24/7, and there is a lot of drunkenness and yelling.”  Also their only toilet facilities is a public toilet, and has to be kept locked during the week. Damalie said that adjusting to the new environment was very difficult, particularly after enjoying cleaner air and Sunday school teaching at her former church.

Church attendees often come in for individual prayer requests, and turn up to services drunk. “They are still easy to talk to, even when intoxicated” Damalie advises. “Even in the midst of hardship and sin, they will come.”

Both PKs and their dad were very appreciative of the work of AE in helping to clean up their area and asked for a blessing on them before the team moved on.  In his closing words, Simeon wanted to share with global supporters a verse from Luke 2:25, about his righteous namesake Simeon and his joy in seeing eternal salvation available to all who believe.

Please pray for this new AE church partner, and for the encouragement of the pastor and his kids as they adjust to this challenging new environment, bringing the word of God to a desperately poor area.  So many youth needing hope are in the area, as many of the elderly move to villages to maintain a quieter more traditional lifestyle.  Please pray that we may be able to provide direction through Christ to these young people, and that the Lord might have mercy on their community.