Ordination

On Sunday the 20^th, after attending the first service at St. John Birijaku (Church of Uganda), I traveled to Mugujai to witness the ordination of deacons and priest in the Free Charismatic Church of Africa.

The gathering was large, so they set up tents next to the church building.  Both are occupied in the picture below.

They frequently dance while they sing.  I chose this picture because only a few have left their seats to dance in the space that will be used for presenting the candidates for ordination, so it is possible to see people dancing.  Most of the pictures are a sea of humanity where only the backs are visible.

The candidates for ordination to the deaconate (transitional, they do not have permanent deacons).

Bishop Moses (Baba Moses) praying over a new deacon.

The presentation of certificates.

Then four deacons were presented as candidates for the priesthood.  Each one was prayed over individually.

I wish to thank Melody, Sunday, and Peter Yata for taking pictures for me.  As you can see from the third picture above, I was seated at the front.

Mugujai Church, Cathedral Parish

The bishop for the Free Charismatic Church’s Triangle Diocese is in Mugujai.  The church building is only a few years old, but they are already out growing it.  It hosted the ordination to the deaconate and the ordination to the priesthood for 2022.  They had to build a tarp structure beside the church building because the building would not accommodate the people.  They are talking about enlarging the building, probably by taking off the end and extending the building.

Mugujai Church building shortly after I arrived in Uganda in February 2020

Bishop Moses outside his Cathedral Parish January 22, 2021. During the first CoVid-19 lock-down they added doors, window frames, and curtains.

Bishop Moses, Livingston, and Patriarch Bishop Tom in front of the church building in Mugujai, 19 February 2022. The roofing project is complete and there are a few pieces of corrugated metal roofing left over which is good because they will be needed if the building is expanded.

Fuel

Unfortunately, a relative of Baba Moses was killed in Morobo, South Sudan two days before the conference.  His work was to transport fuel.  With the recent fuel crises there has been an increase in fuel being smuggled across the border from South Sudan.  With many factions fighting for control in South Sudan, I expect it is hard for any of them to stop someone who wants to steal and smuggle fuel.

The relative was shot in the belly while working.  He managed to escape, but by the time he made it into Morobo there was too much internal bleeding, and he did not survive.  I am told the body was buried in Morobo, South Sudan the day before the conference and a funeral service was held in Mugujai (in addition to Morobo).  The funeral service drew many people that would otherwise have attended the conference.  As a result, the conference did not overflow the building.

Morobo is in Southern South Sudan, near the Democratic Republic of Congo.  I am in Uganda (further east).  The conference organizers invited local leaders to report on the security of the area.  No issues in this area; it is in South Sudan, a part of South Sudan that is a significant distance northwest of Uganda.

Animals

The animals in Mugujai are all communal.  Even so, they seem to know which tokels to return to at the end of the day.  Everything just roams free.

There are ducks, goats, chickens, sheep, dogs, and cats.  I do not remember a cow in Mugujai, but there are people in my neighborhood in Koboko that keep cows.  I have also seen rabbits in Koboko.

Regarding cats: Queenie’s kittens have all gone to new homes.  One is in Mugujai.  It will probably be named in the next few days.  Three are in Koboko.  One has been named but Meta could not remember the name his brother had given.  The other two have not been named yet.  It took a week, but Queenie is getting back into the mindset of being the only cat in the compound.

Mosquitos

It is the dry season and the near-by river (it is really a creek, but the Kakwa do not have a word for creek) is running low and slow.  Perfect for breading mosquitos.  My house is a short distance away, but the mosquitos are willing to go a lot farther than that.  The mosquito problem is throughout Koboko.

Mugujai is near a river, a real river in volume and in flow.  They do not have a mosquito problem, despite all the fields and grass growing near the homes (mosquito breading ground). 

I would like to get rid of the mosquitos but managing them seems to be all that can be done.  The rains should start soon.  Hopefully, that will put enough water in the creek to get a good flow.

Conference

There had been plans for a Women’s Conference since 2021, but it was delayed.  Yep, the obvious culprit, CoVid-19.

I did not expect to be invited to the conference; I definitely did not expect to be a presenter.  I am neither female nor married.  It seems my role as a missionary also includes a role of showing things are more than a local parish or single denomination view.

The topics included

Women in the church – Anna, Luke 2:34-36

Women as a helper – 2 Kings 4:8-10

Women as entrepreneur – Dorcas, Acts 9:36-43

Women as an encourager – Tutus 2:3-8

I tried to take a picture while we were singing and some of the participants were dancing; however, the light was against me.

Rev Johnson

Godfrey Mokili, who does a lot of work for St. John’s Birijaku, suggested that I should go visit with the new priest.  I went in the morning, but Godfrey was not available to make introductions and the reverend was also away.  I went again after the prison team meeting and spent nearly two hours with him and Godfrey.  He shared with me how he came to be in Birijaku when he was originally in charge of a parish in Jinja.  Jinja is the town at the headwaters of the Nile, at the other end of the country.  He retired from his ‘during the week’ job at the sugar factory and asked the bishop for a posting closer to his home which is here in the West Nile region.

We also talked about prison ministry, and he encouraged me in this work.

Airtel

The Airtel sales agent was very helpful.  He asked how I was doing with my new line.  When I told him, he was determined to help.  With his help the pin code was reset so I would know the code.  He was also able to help me determine the security question and answer.

As for the SSID and the pass phrase for granting Wi-Fi access to the phone when the hotspot is turned on, it turns out those are set when the phone is set up.  The codes I was using when hot spotting the phone with MTN also work with Airtel because it is the same phone.

The MTN internet access has improved the last week and a half.  I am still glad I have added an Airtel line because I can switch networks when one is giving poor service.

Mud Bricks part2

Meta asked me to come see his family’s home and the bricks they are making.  His brothers have started stacking the bricks for burning.  Meta is now talking about selling all the bricks and using the money to buy iron sheets (corrugated metal roofing).  He does not have the money to build this year.  The iron sheets will keep.  He hopes to raise the money so that he can build next year.

He was just going over ideas.  I will have to wait until he finishes making 4,000 more bricks and then burning (cooking) them.  Maybe by then he will be able afford building if he sells just half.

Meta with his older brother, Data

Alex is the younger brother

Public Car

I take a public car when I travel to Mugujai (likewise for trips to Arua).  It is like a taxi but more economical.  They pack the cars here.  The half capacity restriction of the lock-down dropped so fast it is hard to believe it was only a few weeks ago.

Now the public cars are waiting in a line and only the one at the front is taking passengers.  No more competing with each other.  Also, they are not going until they are full.  As a result, it is hard to get a car unless you start at the beginning of the route.  That is not a problem when I am going to Mugujai because I do start at the beginning of the route.  Likewise, my trips to Arua are from one end of the route to the other.  However, my trip back from Mugujai has become a challenge.  That end of the route is in Busia and the cars are still full when they reach Mugujai.  Last time there were others already waiting for a car.  One of them took a boda to Busia and convinced a driver to come with open seats because we were waiting in Mugujai.