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Uganda Update: Fruitful Ministry
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Here’s further news phoned in yesterday to Christy Sullivan by Isaac Hydoski, who is leading the team serving in western Uganda:
Youth Camp
The majority of the team spent today serving at the Kiburara Youth Camp. Over 600 youth were in attendance. Drew preached in the morning, and the rest of the team led worship and served with drama and skits. After lunch, the youth broke into discussion groups where they worked through application questions on Drew’s message and continued to build relationships with team members.
Later in the afternoon, a few team members had the opportunity to pray for a woman who appeared to be experiencing demonic oppression. As they were praying for her, the woman went into a fit, fell to the floor, and threw up. Immediately following this violent reaction, she stood up and began praising the Lord!
Pastors’ Conference
Isaac spent the day serving 35 local pastors. They began by sitting in a large circle, where Isaac had the opportunity to spend about an hour and a half drawing them out about their lives and ministry. Out of the 35 men present, 20 do not own a Bible. In fact, no one in their congregations owns a Bible. These pastors have had no theological training. Many of them have not even completed grade school. They are simply servants who have been radically saved and called to share God’s love with others! Isaac said listening to their stories and experiences was enlightening. He and pastor Moses were able to provide Bibles to all the men. The rest of the day was spent teaching sessions on the gospel, justification, and progressive sanctification. Each topic was followed by a question and answer time. The Ugandan pastors are hungry for God’s Word and asked a ton of questions!
Outdoor Evangelism
This evening the team did their first outdoor evangelism. Lavern Jackson and Jason West shared their testimonies, and Ian Lotinsky preached the gospel. About 20 people responded and professed Christ as their Savior. Among them were several young men in their 20s and various teenagers.
Prayer Requests
Jenny James came down with a stomach bug and had to return to the team’s lodgings today. She is doing better and resting comfortable now, but please pray for her complete healing.
Tomorrow the team will repeat the same schedule they had today. Please pray for continued strength and health. As you can imagine, they are all exhausted. Pray also that many more would come to know Christ.
January 6 2010 at 6:31 pm
Uganda Update: Soccer Match!
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Via Christy Sullivan, who is acting as liaison, here’s another Uganda team update from Isaac Hydoski:
First of all, Isaac says that both Matt Wahl and Jason West are doing great. They were both feeling weak this morning and experiencing the after-effects of heat exhaustion from the previous day of hard physical labor. In light of this, they decided to stay back and rest. When the team returned to their lodging this evening, they found the guys 100% recovered! Thank you for praying. The remainder of the team is in excellent health. God is definitely answering prayers.
This morning was the beginning of the team’s ministry at the Kiburara Youth Conference. It was also the their first experience with monsoon rain. Immediately upon arriving at the conference sight, the skies opened and it began to pour. It rained for over two hours, which necessitated a rearranging of the conference schedule. Instead of preaching, the team used that time to befriend and hang out with the youth. Isaac said that this “hang out” time was a great foundation on which the team can build throughout the conference. Just before lunch, the rains cleared, and the conference began.
A member of the Ugandan Parliament was there to welcome and thank the U.S. team for the work they were doing. He also honored pastor Moses for his ongoing work in the Kiburara region. It is quite significant for a Member of Parliament to speak at this type of event. It appears that the Lord is greatly elevating the influence of pastor Moses in that area.
After lunch, the team was scheduled to play a “U.S. vs. Uganda” soccer match. They were expecting a nice friendly game with some of the locals. To their shock, they discovered that pastor Moses had advertised this match on both radio and television. Over 1,000 spectators arrived to watch. Local radio stations showed up to cover the event. And the “local” team from Kiburara trotted onto the field in full uniform! The players were all extremely tall and athletic and had coaches warming them up. Isaac said it felt like they were about to play in the world cup!!
The first half was played U.S. vs. Uganda and the U.S. team held its own (only allowing one goal). During the second half they split the teams to make it fairer. In the end, the “Ugandan” team won 2-1. Not bad! The crowd loved it. Anytime one of the U.S. players would slip and fall or whiff on a kick, the crowd erupted into laughter. After it was all over, pastor Moses told Isaac that the work they had been doing on the widows’ homes along with this soccer match was massively unique to the Ugandan people. The U.S. team’s humility in serving would spark an interest in the local people and potentially open many doors for the gospel throughout the remainder of their trip!
Finally, Isaac mentioned that the highlight for him so far has been the multi-generational nature of the team. Watching heroes such as Lavern Jackson, Peter and Sherly Giglio, and Frank and Sue Robb has been his joy. These folks have had a profound impact on the team’s effectiveness, and their energy and servant heart have been a great example.
Also, a note that came from Kelly Hydoski later in the day:
Isaac called me this afternoon, and as we were talking, he realized he forgot to mention a couple of opportunities for us to come alongside the team in prayer. Tomorrow and Friday, Isaac will be leading a conference for pastors that Moses has organized. They are anticipating around 100 participants, and Isaac will be preaching three times each day. For those days, since Pastor Moses will be with Isaac, Drew Garfield will be leading the entire youth conference with help from the team and some of our Ugandan friends.
Needless to say, I’m sure everyone would love prayer for these events! Please pray for wisdom, stamina, and that the gospel would go forth as the team continues to labor for God’s glory.
January 4 2010 at 1:54 pm
First Report from Uganda Team
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Here’s word from Isaac Hydoski and the team serving in Uganda:
Isaac and the team happily checking in from sunny, warm, humid, tropical Uganda. It really is beautiful here. Lush green hills, banana trees everywhere, crowds of smiling children everywhere we go.
Here’s the quick scoop:
• Everyone on the team is healthy! Please keep praying.
• Each team member has completely thrown themselves into the work already. It’s been amazing to watch a group of people experiencing an overwhelming cultural shift with such joy, servanthood and love for people. This team is exceptional and serving heroically already.
• Today the team repaired and plastered the inside and outside of eight homes (think mud huts with thatch roofs) that belong to widows in the rural villages surrounding Kiburara. This is a tangible expression of God’s love to these folks and seems to be serving as a reminder that God is with them. These dear ladies have been surprised, blessed and overjoyed that God “remembers them.” Groups of villagers watched with amusement and smiles each team of muzungu working on these homes. This is really hard, back-breaking work for which the team was never trained, for but they rocked it!
• Some of our girls have already been proposed to. This happens every year and always brings a lot of smiles from the team. But please don’t worry ... the boys asking are always respectful and take the “no” quite well!
• We’ll be working on eight more widow homes tomorrow ... pray for strength.
More updates to come, God willing.Love to all back home.
For the gospel,—Isaac
(Photos are from 2009 trip.)
January 4 2010 at 4:59 am
Don Whitney on the Spiritual Disciplines
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Yesterday Don Whitney preached at Covenant Life on the importance of the “biblical spiritual disciplines” for our growth in godliness. From 1 Timothy 4:7, he unpacked what it means to “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”
Options:
• Listen online or download an mp3 of the message.
• Download a summary outline in PDF format.
• Use the following questions to reflect on how to apply the message to your life:
1. In 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul commands Timothy to train or discipline himself toward godliness. Why are the biblical spiritual disciplines necessary for us to grow in godliness?
2. What is the difference between personal and interpersonal biblical disciplines? How has the Lord used both to make you more like Christ?3. What is the spiritual impact of neglecting the practice of biblical spiritual disciplines?
4. How would you describe your intake of God’s word—reading, memorizing and meditating on Scripture? Where do you desire to grow?
5. How would you describe your prayer life? Where do you desire to grow as a person of prayer?
6. Name one biblical spiritual discipline in which you would like to grow this year. What specific and practical steps are you going to take to grow?