Healing

I visited Philadelphia zone for house church services last Sunday.  The previous visit to a house church service in Philadelphia zone was four weeks earlier.  At that time, following the service, we were asked to pray over a young man.  He was having trouble moving.  Witch doctors could not help him.  The family faith, Islam, was unable to help him.

The church teacher prayed over him and helped him walk a little before taking him to a room to rest.

During our most recent visit we were told he is healed and wants to be baptized Christian.

House Church

I was taken to one of the house churches in Philadelphia zone last Sunday.  Even though the lock down has been eased, the churches have been locked.  House churches are allowed, but gatherings should be 20 or less, with social distancing.  Here, the house church service is frequently outside.

I arrived with my translator (I was preaching) for an 8 a.m. service; however, the culture does not keep time so precisely.  The host ushered us inside to wait.  We heard the wind pick up and the light coming in the window was less.  It was the consensus that we needed to rearrange a few things and bring the service inside.

It went well, even inside.  By the way, no it did not rain.

Ground breaking

The Women’s Union has been working on a big project.  They want to build an office block.  Currently, St. John’s, Birijaku only has a building which serves as the worship space (nave and sanctuary).  There are a couple of small store rooms off of the sanctuary but no office space.

The building the Women’s Union designed can also serve for smaller meetings (10-20, maybe even 30) and it has a few rooms for housing guests.  This is in addition to providing office space.

Last December the Women’s Union had local bricks made for the project.  Then they stopped.  I heard they had planned to let other projects occupy the year and maybe they would do something next December.  I encouraged them to do something on a small scale sooner.  They did.  Only it is not smaller.  They received the engineering work and planned a ground breaking for last Monday.  Unfortunately I am in Mugujai for computer skills on Mondays, so I missed it.

Stolen Boda

One of our church leaders works as a boda driver.  During the day they can leave their boda in front of a store and walk away and no one will touch it.  Night is a different story.  At night bodas are typically brought inside.  There are very few garages here.  That does not matter.  It could be the same tookel they sleep in, the boda is still brought inside. 

The church leader had put his in a commercial building for the night and there was no sign of the lock being tampered with in the morning, but the boda was gone.  He bought it earlier this year, so he probably still owes a lot on the boda.  He reported it and the lender helped him get the forms for reporting the loss to the police.

The church teacher said he knew of another person, years ago, whose boda was taken.  They prayed about it and the boda was recovered and returned.  We have prayed about it.  God willing, that will happen this time too.

Ludo

Ludo is a popular board game in Uganda.  The board is laid out like Aggravation except there is no spot in the middle.  Also the four colors are assigned team names taken from the English Premier Football League (Soccer).

The game allows two pieces to occupy the same position under certain conditions (same color or coming out and there is an opponent in that space.)  Under most conditions when an opposing player lands on the same space the first player’s piece is “sent to prison”.  It must be redeemed from prison and returned to its home base before it can be brought out from the home base to make its trip around the board.

It is also possible to block, stack to pieces of the same color.  No one can pass.

Vaccine

I have been concerned about getting the second dose of the corona virus vaccine because there has not been any vaccine in Koboko for more than a month.  The vaccine has arrived in limited supply!  Today they were giving second doses but no first doses.  Yes, I stopped in and received my second dose.  They anticipate running out in three days, just giving second doses.  In Uganda, they are suggesting 90 days between doses.  I was at 85 days.  Because the supply is available now and is not expected to last for five days, they gave me my second dose.  I did not even have to request consideration; they just looked at it and knew the situation, so they added me to the line.

Bibles

Today I visited the Deputy Officer in Charge (Deputy OC) for Bugutu prison.  She is new, so I wanted to introduce my assistant to her.  I also wanted to deliver the Bibles she requested for the Bible studies she is doing with the prisoners.  Something we would be doing but no one is allowed to enter (except staff) so she has offered herself to fill the gap.

She requested English, Kakwa, and Lugbara Bibles but I have only been able to get a small number of English Bibles so far.  These Bibles, six for a prison population of 214, are not the easiest to read by someone who learned English as a second language.  In the future I hope to get NIV, NLT or Goodnews English Bibles, Kakwa Bibles and Lugbara Bibles for the prison library.

While making the donation, I learned that some of the Bibles given in 2017 are still around despite previous reports that they were not.  Apparently, they are not in good condition and had been placed in a location in the prison library where they were hard to find.  The Deputy OC searched the prison library again between my last visit (when she made the request) and today and found them.  She has checked them out to prisoners who are reading them and sharing the word with some of their fellow inmates.

New Road

Yesterday I heard a big truck going back and forth in the neighborhood.  It sounded like it was stuck somewhere on the hill above my house.  We do not have that much mud on the dirt roads near my house, so I figured it went into a yard to make a delivery and sank in soft dirt.

It turns out they were opening a new road for the houses behind the homes on the road I live on.  People had started building back there but until yesterday, they did not have a way to get materials or a personal vehicle to their future homes.

Pastor John Khamis’ brother is building a home on the road that I live on.  He lost a significant part of his yard to the new road.  When I met pastor Khamis for Kakwa class today, he was aware of it and did not show any concern for the loss of land.

Bartering

No, I am not talking about exchanging maze for lettuce.  Perhaps haggling would be a better term.  I have an African shirt.  However, it was just a little big for me.  Moses said he knew a tailor who would do a good job for me, for a fair price.  He spoke up because I have had things made by tailors in the past and he said I paid to much and waited too long for the work to be completed.

I also told Moses I was interested in having a shirt made.  He told me we could arrange for it at the same time.  While we were there the tailor went to the shop next door (more like the stall next door) and started pulling fabric and showing it to me.  When we found one I liked, he asked the price and then negotiated it down for me.  (First, I am bad at negotiating reduced prices because I do not know when it is an inflated price and when it is as low as it can go.  Next, I do not have all the relationships of Moses.  I am becoming known in the community, which is helping me get fair prices in some circumstances.  In other circumstances it is all who you know and more likely who you are related to.  Moses has that connection with the tailor, which is why he went to help select the fabric and negotiate the price.  Finally, I am a white man.  That immediately inflates prices on items where the price is fluid.)

Buying supplies for the ministry and buying certain food stuffs, I am comfortable going and making the purchase on my own.  Purchases that I do not do often (certain household supplies, tailoring work) Moses is happy to go to town with me and help.  To give an example, I want more clothes pins (the need is coming, I am trying to be proactive).  Yesterday, while in the market making a purchase, I saw them and inquired.  Three thousand shillings.  Meta had priced them last week and told me he could get them for one thousand five hundred shillings.  I will work through Meta. Meta and Moses are related and both have offered to help me.

Maze

The first growing season was not good in Uganda.  The rain came late and was light until it was time for the second growing season.  Even so, there is some produce.  Today I had fresh maze (corn).  It is not the same as the sweet corn I knew in the US. 

I have seen the maze after it has been cooked, either by boiling, or by roasting.  The street vendors roast it over charcoal, often with the husk still on.  The maze that was offered to me today had been cooked by boiling, with the husk still on.  It was served in the husk too.  Peel your own, but beware, that husk holds a lot of water, and it goes everywhere when you peel it.