Photos from Uganda Trip
1 CommentsWasn’t it great on Sunday to hear Isaac Hydsoki share about the Uganda mission trip and to hear how God used the team? Here are some more photos of the trip I received from photographer Jenny James:
Also, check out another brief slideshow that was posted here on the site a couple weeks back.
January 14 2010 at 3:49 pm
Offering for Haiti
0 CommentsThis coming Sunday (January 17), we plan to receive an offering to go toward relief efforts in Haiti. The monies collected will be distributed to a small list of organizations that provide both physical and material aid as well as gospel ministry in Haiti. The list will include the Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund recently activated by Sovereign Grace Ministries.
Thank you for praying for the people of Haiti, and please consider how God would have you give.
January 8 2010 at 5:42 pm
Uganda Update: Fruitful Ministry
0 CommentsHere’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 5:31 pm
Uganda Update: Soccer Match!
1 CommentsVia 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.
September 24 2009 at 1:54 pm
Praying for Mexico
1 CommentsThis video clip is from Sunday when Dave Brewer led us in praying for the nation of Mexico. To inform the prayer time, Dave asked Pami Lotinsky to share about conditions in and around her hometown of Juárez, and how the Sovereign Grace church there, Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Cd. Juárez, is being affected.
May 13 2009 at 1:20 pm
Building in Uganda
1 Comments
Here’s word from Isaac Hydoski about a prayer request from our brothers and sisters in Kiburara, Uganda:
This past January I traveled with a team from Covenant Life to the village of Kiburara in Western Uganda. There we spent about 10 days coming alongside our sister church, Kiburara Gospel Centre, to help lead a youth crusade and other outreach efforts.
While we were there we clearly saw the church’s need for a new building and learned that the children had been making crafts to raise money. God allowed us to contribute by purchasing the crafts, and later on Covenant Life Church followed up with an additional gift of $1,000.
Kiburara Gospel Centre is currently meeting in a building that holds about 100 people, but the church has grown to over 150, mainly through conversions. Even more compelling than this space crunch is Pastor Moses’ vision for the building to function as a community center. He sees the facility being used throughout the week for education classes, weekly outreaches, and ministering to the many orphans in the area. But because funds have run out, construction has been halted while the church prays for God to provide. The church does tithe and raises funds toward the project, but the people are all farmers and will need a large crop harvest in order to raise more money.
Let’s pray with the Kiburara church that God will abundantly meet the need and provide for them to complete the building! Here’s how Moses put it: “Pray with us. This is how far we have gone, and we need God to do something. Currently we are stopping here because we do not have more money, but our trust is in the Lord.”
—Isaac
Above: Photos of the partially completed church building and work taking place.