Author: calchrjja

Hello again! It’s been too long since I have updated you about the “goings-on” in Uganda and my furlough in the USA. Today, February 5, marks the twenty-third anniversary of the date Jess and I stepped onto Ugandan soil to serve as missionaries with Jay and Sunny McLaughlin. It seems like a lifetime ago. Jess and I went out to serve for life, but I don’t know if either of us ever thought of life as being twenty-three years. It has been an amazing and incredible journey and shows no sign of ending yet.

This furlough that I am on has been busy but so much fun. I have been meeting with friends, family, and supporters, and making new friends and finding new supporters. I love being with people, and God has given me so many opportunities for that, despite COVID-19, and I am feeling indescribably blessed. I started this stateside journey in South Carolina in late November, and it was so cold. I slept and slept and ate and ate—hibernation with breaks for food—no complaints there. My fabulous friends, the Moores, always make me feel at home, and I don’t feel guilty for catching up on much-needed sleep, and I definitely started on my “furlough fifteen” weight gain while I was there. Then I spent time in Texas with my family, and friends that I have known since kindergarten. God showered special joy on me by giving me time with them all. I spent Christmas with my “family by blood” for the first time in thirty years, and it was wonderful. Texas was still pretty locked down, so I didn’t get to speak in many churches, but the ones I visited were beautiful, warm, and friendly. After Texas, I was in Albuquerque for three weeks. Calvary Church was so welcoming and treated me almost like royalty. Of course, this is where most of my work (this is a working furlough) of connecting with people, talking about the mission, and garnering interest in prayer and financial support takes place. The Lord opened the doors for me to be interviewed on the radio, and to be on stage with Pastor Skip one evening to feature the work God allows Called Christians and our staff to do with and for Him. I visited with longtime friends and made so many new friends while I was in Albuquerque. I loved being there. Now I am in Colorado where I get to visit with friends, spend time with Jess’s and my kids and grandkids, and speak in churches and Bible studies. I even got to spend a day soaking in a hot spring. I still have several places to visit, and then I will be getting on a plane back to Uganda on March 14.

As I am traveling the USA, I am also in constant contact with Deborah Roberts, who is overseeing the work of the mission back in Uganda while I am on furlough. She and I chat for a long time every day on WhatsApp and through email, to ensure that we are on the same page with the work there. So many things have happened with the mission during the severe COVID shutdown. We lost several staff members, and in April, the Wootton family will be moving on to another place that God has called them. I am excited about rebuilding the mission and ministries from almost scratch. I know God is going to do a wonderful work. Called Christians is beginning to get back into a few more normal ministries. Pastor Isaac Wootton has been running a half-day School of Ministry to help local believers and some of my staff know the Word of God better. He has also been holding church services (although at a reduced number) since November and does a shortened version on the radio and Facebook on Sunday afternoons.

This week will be the first time our prisons pastor, Joel Mugoya, has used Zoom to share his teaching in Kirinya Main Prison. For several months, he has been sending in written Bible studies to be read, answered, and returned to him for marking, and for prayer. He will continue with that in the other prisons, but we are excited that the men in Main Prison will get to see and hear him on the big screen TV that the Officer in Charge has purchased. Our prison bus still goes to the prisons five days every week to pick up sick prisoners and take them to the hospital. The prisons are grateful for that ministry because it helps keep the death rate in the prisons down by a large percentage. Many blessings to all the people that helped us buy that bus three years ago. One of my main desires and goals for the prisons was to raise funds to buy blankets for all the prisoners. That need touched the hearts of an amazing couple in Albuquerque, and they have donated $15,000 toward buying blankets for the prisoners! Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace and moving of hearts.

The village and outreach ministries have started again in Iguluibi and Danida, and Ann Wibbenmeyer is leading classes on the compound for the wives of many of the young pastors that serve with us. She also has a pre-teen and early teen girls’ Bible study that meets five days a week. They went this week to Prayer Mountain to have some time in prayer, teaching, and drawing closer to the Lord. Called Christians is also starting some new outreach evangelism and Bible studies in local areas. This last week, they were able to go out to the nearby area of Bugembe, and that first time was a great success. The hospital is allowing us to go inside in small groups again to pray at patients’ bedsides, as long as we wear masks and follow the Standard Operating Procedures set forth by the President. That is such a needed ministry—people long for prayer—and we are overjoyed to start that again. As usual, there are bumps in the road. For instance, two of our vehicles need major repairs, and all the others need small ones; but God has His hand even on our vehicles, and soon we will have them all up and running again. All the schools were closed, but they are beginning to open again “slowly by slowly,” so most of my young people will be going back to classes very soon.

And in case you are interested, I have been able to share a video on my Facebook page that focuses on the mission and work in Uganda. God is working in Uganda and through Called Christians. Satan hates us because we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, but we have a fabulous covering of prayer, and God is fighting for us in every way. If you have the time to pray for us, (we thank you for those prayers), here are a few prayer requests:Pray that our ministries, both old and new, will raise up disciples who raise up other disciples, so the Word of God spreads through all of Uganda.Pray that our finances are enough to support the mission and all its ministries.Pray that our vehicles would be properly repaired and last for a long time without any major problems or breakdowns.Pray that our staff loves the Lord and loves to serve Him.Pray that there is unity in the body of Christ on the compound and in our ministries.If you wish to give financially to the work of Called Christians, the link for giving is: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=692d6b   God bless you always and forever! Bev

Hello good folks!!  Time for another update!!  My visitor Deborah was talking with me the other day and she asked about the start of some of the ministries that we do.  We don’t talk a lot about the extra medical care Called Christians gives to people, but it is one of the many ways we minister to hurting people in order to show them the love of Jesus in a physical way.  We have been feeding many of the people in Main Hospital Isolation, and in the surgical ward and the TB wards for much of the Covid lockdown, and have also been providing many of the patients with medicine.  In Uganda, if you don’t have an attendant to be with you to feed you, bathe you, buy your medicines, wash your clothes, and just basically take care of you, you often get no care at all.  There are some nurses that will help you, but not many.  Just in the last two weeks, we have been able to minister to a woman who fell asleep with a lighted candle in the room, her mattress caught on fire, and she was burned terribly.  We also found a young woman lying under her hospital bed, not in it, who had been hit in the face with a crowbar and had a terrible infection and a broken jaw.  We did as much as we could for both women, and then were able to speak to a Christian dental organization here who went and got the woman who was beaten, took her back to their clinic, did surgery on her jaw (for free!), and then took her back to the hospital!  What a blessing it is for the Body of Christ to work together to minister to a hurting world! And people ask us often how we decide who we are to help, since there is so much need.  To tell you the truth, God makes it very clear.  Some people are “not the ones,” but some people God very clearly says to our hearts, “This One!”  And those are the ones!!  😀

Called Christians takes a 29 seater bus to the prison several days a week and picks up prisoners that are too sick to be treated in the prison clinics, takes them to hospital, gets them treated, buys their medication, and takes them back to prison.  I was just remembering how and why this ministry was started.  Back in 1999, I was teaching in Kirinya Women’s Prison and our ladies team walked in one day to see this very young woman named Rebecca on her hands and knees just rocking back and forth in terrible pain.  She had a red bandana tied around her head, and sweat and tears were pouring off of her like water.  She had terrible malaria, but the prison had no malaria medicine.  She was in such pain!!!  I can still picture her today!  And all I could think of was how would I feel, locked in prison, terribly sick and in pain, and absolutely no hope of getting any help at all.  It broke my heart!  We laid hands on her and prayed, and then of course after the service that day, we rushed back into town and bought medicine and took it back to her. And that was the start of helping with medicine in the prisons.  The government can’t afford to provide much of the medicine.  What if it was YOU there, horribly sick, with no way to get medical help?  We just could not bear the thought and started providing medications to the prisons. Ministering physically in the love and Name of Christ – in imitation of what Christ did when we healed the sick and fed the hungry so that they would then be ready to hear the Words of Salvation!!

I was also thinking about how we got started taking care of so many children, and then raising them up through school and helping them to have a decent life on this earth, while also getting them ready for eternal life.  The Called Christians compound was next door to a very large abandoned building that was mostly just an empty shell.  About 80 squatters, mostly widows, single women, and children, lived there with very few walls, no electricity, no running water, and no sanitation.  Sunny McLaughlin couldn’t bear the fact that the children were mostly hungry, so she and George Apostle (who also worked with us) started feeding them.  Then in time, we started sending them to school as well.  And then helping with their medical care.  After some time, they were like extensions of our family.  They were in our Sunday school, they translated for us at the gate and in many of our ministries, and they did a huge Christmas program in the prisons with what was then Calvary Chapel Jinja. Over the years we probably helped to raise up about 200 children through Primary School, and they were all given a chance at Secondary School and above. Many graduated Secondary School and then many also went on to University or trade schools.  Now we have plumbers, electricians, teachers, government workers, hairdressers, politicians, a professional golfer, a doctor, and an accountant among the many that started with us all those years ago. They are now productive members of Ugandan society, active members in their churches and communities, and parents of small children themselves! God has blessed us so much to get to be a part of their lives and to watch them grow! Even though there have been times that I wanted to strangle one or two of them (mostly in their teenage years, ha ha!), it just fills my heart again and again to know these “kids” and see the people that they have become and the lives they are now leading!

Called Christians has been privileged and blessed to get to work in the prisons for about 25 years.  We teach a midweek Bible study and a Sunday service in 5 of the prisons, and once a week in two others.  We also get to do a Christmas program in all seven prisons each year – until this one.  Everyone is locked out because of covid. But I have met with the Officers in Charge of several of the prisons and they will be VERY happy when we are allowed to go back in and teach!!  The prisoners are missing the Word of God!  We are able to send in worksheets each week with a Bible lesson and questions to be answered by the prisoners, but that is not the same as a Bible Study or Church Service!  Even the guards are ready for us to be back!  We can hardy wait!

And even though the prison and hospital ministries are slow to be reopened because of their extra vulnerability to covid, many of our other ministries have been able to start up again! Two of our village women’s Bible studies have started once more, and the ladies are so eager to hear God’s Word that they are actually coming on time!  (VERY rare in Uganda!)  And there is tremendous joy during the worship and the Bible studies.  The Bible teaching in the low income area of Danida has started again.  And the Wise Women’s Bible Study has also begun again at The Bridge Calvary Chapel.  Little by little, we are being allowed to reach out to people again with the Good News of the Gospel of Christ!  Joy, Joy, Joy!!!  Really!!

I, Beverly, am getting ready to go on a three month furlough starting at the end of this month.  And for those of you who say I am going on vacation, HA!!  NOT a vacation!  But it will be a wonderful time of reconnecting with family (first time I will spend Christmas with my Texas family in 30 years), friends, and supporters.  I am really looking forward to being with people that I haven’t seen in years, and to fellowshipping in churches I haven’t visited in almost three years, and to getting opportunities to speak in many places and sharing what God is allowing us to join with Him in doing in Uganda. Please, please, if you want to visit with me, or have me speak to you individually or in a group of the work of Called Christians in Uganda, do contact me and let me know.  I am eager to spend time with people talking about the Lord and about His Work!

There is so much to add here, but I don’t want to go on and on forever.  There is still SO much work to do here, and many hands and feet that are willing to do the work!  We do often lack the funds to support the different ministries, and if anything particularly touches your heart, please feel free to give toward that area of need. We and many others would be MORE than blessed by your gift!

Just one more tiny thing – we were talking at the table tonight about the Uganda Postal Service (which has been shut down since March, but is slowly reopening) and wondering how a certain package would be delivered from one side of Uganda to the other.  We often put items on buses or 14 passenger taxis and pay a small fee to have them delivered to another town.  But it brought to mind the “old days” when there were no cell phones, and of course villages did not have post offices. So if you wanted to send a message to someone in a village somewhere (we often sent messages from prisoners to their families), you gave the message to a matatu taxi driver, and as he would drive by a certain point in the village, he would just throw the message out the window and people would check to see who it went to, and then would deliver the message to that person. And believe it or not, it worked!

Thank you for hanging in there till the end of this long update.  So much is going on, and I just had to write it to you!!  May God bless you with peace in your heart in these trouble times!  And may He also touch you to help those who are less fortunate than you are.  

With much love,

Beverly Rich and Called Christians

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Hello and Greetings from Uganda. I have absolutely no idea what to include in this update. All I can say to start is my usual mantra: “Things are never dull here!”

Actually, one of the reasons I have delayed in writing this update is that I am struggling a bit to find positive and uplifting news right now. The last month has been very difficult, and many things seemed to hit all at once. It is mostly about being overwhelmed by new government regulations and paperwork, but there are other things as well.

Three weeks ago, I was still battling with the fallout from the witchcraft incident on the Called Christians compound. I had to fire all three of the night guards who were on duty the night that all our doors and gates were anointed with oil and salt. I also had to let go one of the women who has worked for us for many years. We started supporting her and her children long before she started working for us because she is a widow, and we have taken care of her for about twenty years. She worked for us for about fourteen years. I offered her a large settlement when I let her go, an amount that was far above what she was owed. Anyone else would have been thrilled to have that money to start a new life, but she got very angry, told me it was not enough, and sued me and Called Christians through the Jinja Labour Board. She wants an amount of money that is equal to one month’s budget for us, including all our salaries and ministry funds. Please pray that God’s hand will be evident through the entire process and that He does as He sees fit, whatever that might be. We were supposed to meet with the Senior Labour Officer again yesterday, but he is in the hospital with malaria. He offered to let his assistant handle it, but she is often biased and unfair, so we are waiting for him to get well and come back to work.

The week after the witchcraft incident, I was on a prayer retreat and received three unsettling emails as I was getting ready to return. One was from the NGO Board saying that I had not renewed my NGO permit (Called Christians is a non-government organization), and it was being taken off the list of valid NGOs in Uganda. I went through every crazy hoop for days at the end of last year and the first of this year and received the renewal, including the valid certificates. I wrote to them and asked if I needed to send a copy of the certificates, and they sent me a long list of extra information that they wanted from us along with the copy of the certificates. We have turned in all the documentation and hope things are settled now. We have not heard back from the NGO Board yet. 
The second letter was from the Uganda Revenue Authority (like the IRS in the USA) saying that we owed them a lot of money, which we do not. I have had to ask our accountant to complete a lot of other documentation and protests so the demand for that money will be canceled. The third letter was from the Jinja Municipal Council, demanding millions of shillings from me in ground rent, which is paid when land is leased from the Council. In 2016 we were able to change the Called Christians land from “leasehold” to “freehold land,” so we do not have to pay ground rent any more. I had to write letters of protest, gather documentation, and turn in those letters to the Council for their consideration and judgment. It is a good thing I had spent the previous three days in prayer.

Satan knows where to come at me the hardest. I am constantly praying for and struggling over the finances here. It seems, just like most places in the world, that there is never enough money. Praise God that He is the one in charge!

We have had some good things going on around here, too; sometimes it is difficult to remember the good when you feel beaten down by life’s concerns. Ann Wibbenmeyer has soft-started her School of Ministry for Women, and she has a small number of women, mostly the wives of pastors and elders and deacons, coming once a week for Inductive Bible Study. When the country opens up, she will start the women’s School of Ministry full time. We are very excited about this.

We are still in severe lockdown because of COVID, but the president has hinted that the airport may open on October 1. That would be a blessing for Uganda; one of our main sources of income is tourism, and people have not been able to travel to this incredible country since March. If the airport does open, then I also have a big decision to make. I was scheduled to go to the USA on furlough last April, May, and June, but the lockdown kept me here. My tickets are paid for and must be used within a year of booking—I booked last February. I need to be back in Uganda by April because we have a team from the States coming in May, and another in June. I need to visit friends and family, but I also need to do some fundraising. Uganda is much safer than the USA when it comes to COVID, so that makes me a bit nervous.  Many states are also still not open to people coming in without quarantining. Also, if churches aren’t open and people can’t meet in groups, it will be more difficult to talk about the ministries here so that people will see areas where they could assist us prayerfully and financially. And to tell you the truth, I don’t like going to the US when it is cold; it has been years since I experienced real winter.

One huge blessing we have had during this lockdown, when churches are not allowed to meet, is that Called Christians has, for years, been paying for a Sunday afternoon spot on a local radio station where pastors from The Bridge Calvary Chapel teach the Bible. When the lockdown hit, we already had the perfect spot to hold “scientific” church services (gatherings of less than ten people) on the radio. A small worship team, plus Pastor Isaac and a translator, have been holding church services on the radio every Sunday afternoon since the end of March, and that service has reached people in Jinja as well as in areas that are far from here. Even if the churches open, which may or may not happen soon, Called Christians and The Bridge Calvary Chapel will continue to share the Word of God in this way because it reaches so many people.

We still are not able to do many of our usual ministries. The prison here has 100 confirmed cases of COVID, so it is probably good that we haven’t been able to do our Bible teaching in the prisons since March. We only do the hospital run from the prisons each day, but we have found many other ways to minister to God’s people, and we are excited to continue these new ministry styles after the lockdown is over.

Deb tells me that people like to see a local interest fact sometimes, so let me close this update with this. I think that the Ugandan woman’s traditional dress is one of the most feminine and lovely in the entire world.

The gomesi started out as a girls’ school uniform, and I do not know how it became the traditional dress, but it is very distinct, though very difficult to wear. A gomesi is six meters of cloth wrapped around the body, held together by only two buttons and a wide, slippery belt. But the women wear it with grace, elegance, and incredible beauty. I will post a photo or two, and you see if you agree.

Blessings and honor to God, and all glory to Him. May He bless you and keep you always.

With so much love in Christ,
Beverly

Greetings from Called Christians in lovely Uganda. I seem to start every update with “life is never boring here,” or something to that effect, and it is still true this time.

We continue to be in lockdown, although it has been relaxed a bit. Our land borders are still closed to any traffic except cargo trucks and petrol tankers, and the airport is still closed except for one or two special monthly flights and one or two repatriation flights that are coming in. Vehicles, either public or private, are not allowed to drive in any of the districts bordering other countries, except with special permission by the local security officers. We have registered almost 1,100 cases of COVID-19 with only two deaths so far, but it seems that this week the virus is beginning to be discovered in Kampala public. Uganda has, from the beginning, been treating COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and zinc, and the doctors say recovery starts much earlier than with people not taking it. The two people who died were not taking this treatment.

Our compound, as usual, is always busy. Even though the church cannot open for services, and most of our regular ministries are closed right now, we still have much to do. There are two Schools of Ministry operating from this mission (one is for men from the North who speak Acholi), but both have been staying on the compound during lockdown, and the twelve men have been trained as extra security guards, since there is a rash of break-ins and robberies of missionaries in the last three months. In fact, I spent one week staying nights in the hospital with a husband and wife and two of their children who were severely beaten and cut with machetes. I was able to give my time to stay with them because I don’t have children to care for at home, and most of the other missionaries do. 

We are slowly, as funds come in, installing extra lighting and security on our compound and in our houses. Our visitor, Deborah, took some great defense training before she came to Uganda, and has been training our night guards in personal combat.

And speaking of our night guards, someone has been bringing a lot of gossip to them about each other that has caused great division and hatred between two of the men. We are working on resolving this, but please pray about this situation. Both men and their families live on our staff compound, and the men work together at night. This is not a good situation for security for them or for us.

Also, this week (and we think it has been going on for about a month), someone on our staff has brought witchcraft into our compound. At first it was water sprinkled across the path in front of a gate, but this week we discovered salt and oil on all our outside doors. This is either someone trying to harm us with witchcraft, or someone trying to protect us with “holy oil and salt,” which is thought to protect from demons, but that is just using witchcraft to counter witchcraft, and is unacceptable in any form. Please pray that we get to the bottom of this and that “whatever [is hidden] in the dark will be [brought out into] the light” (Luke 12:3). We are not afraid; we have God as our protection. But it is more than annoying that someone on our staff (all claim to be believers) would be practicing witchcraft.

We are still feeding many people, especially the people in isolation in the hospital. There are no cafeterias in Ugandan hospitals, and families have to provide food for their own patients; however, patients in isolation who are suspected to have COVID-19 are not allowed to have visitors or attendants, so they have no food. When these patients are discharged, they have no way to get back home. We have been providing these services for these folks and for the patients in the TB wards, who are in nearly the same circumstances. Called Christians has also been providing a great deal of medical help during this season. People have no money because they have not been allowed to work, but they still get sick and need medicine and surgeries.

I was hoping to go on furlough this past April, May, and June, and would have been back from the U.S. already. That didn’t happen for obvious reasons, but I do hope to make it to the States some time in the next few months. I would really like to see everyone! I don’t usually enjoy visiting in the winter, but we have a team coming next year in May, and one in June, and I need to be back in Uganda before then, so I may get a taste of winter for the first time in years.

One of my Ugandan daughters, Namere, is due to give birth to her firstborn any day now. She feels so big, is ready for this baby to come, and I am ready to have another Ugandan grandchild. Please pray all goes well.

The slum, called “Works,” that was behind our compound has been completely demolished, which left about 3,000 homeless. We fed many of them and helped many move or start businesses in other locations, but all of these people were greatly affected. It is much quieter and smells nicer here since they have gone, but my heart goes out to the many people who were displaced.

There is much more to say, but I have rattled on for long enough. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and know that we are grateful for your financial support. You are partners with us in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to many, many people in Uganda. We do it through preaching the Word, but also by showing the love of Christ through physical assistance. Thank you for being such a large part of that love.

Prayer requests:

• Protection from COVID and thieves
• Funds for extra security measures, vehicle repairs, and helping people with their food and medical needs
• An end to hatred and division in the compound, especially between our night guards
• Bringing light to the witchcraft situation
• Comfort and a way to make a living for those displaced from “Works”
• A safe delivery for Namere’s baby

God bless you and thank you for everything you do for the Lord.

Beverly and Called Christians

Even though the country of Uganda has been on lockdown since March 17^th, we are still very busy at Called Christians.  Our usual ministries to the prisons, villages and slum areas have been on hold during this time, but God has called us to do other ministry instead.

Called Christians staff has a very good relationship with the main hospital in Jinja because we normally go there every Sunday to pray for the sick, and to help a few of the most needy with food and medicines.  This of course was not allowed during lockdown, but we have still been able to assist many people there, including the feeding of all of the patients in Isolation that were suspected COVID cases, and most of the men and women in the TB Wards.  Called Christians was also able to receive a special sticker for our vehicle to be on the road to use for transporting sick patients to other hospitals, discharged patients to their homes, and for taking food to the places we went to feed the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in several areas.  And the local Farmer’s Market is selling mangoes at a great discount to organizations that are feeding people, and we have bought and handed out 1500kg (3300 pounds) so that people have something besides the basic staple foods to eat!

Our President Museveni announced at the beginning of the lockdown that there would be no weddings or burials unless they were “Scientific,” meaning no more than 10 people present.  (This is VERY much against the culture, but necessary, as you know.) So we had two Scientific Weddings here in the last two months, consisting of Pastor, Bride, Groom, Matron, Best Man, Two Parents for the Bride, Two Parents for the Groom, and the Photographer.  These were some of the most beautiful weddings we have ever had here!  And we know this because those of us who couldn’t attend officially kind of “peeped” into the windows of the church where the weddings were being held, ha ha!!

Bless everyone who has sent support to us in these last few months, because we were able to pay all our expenses, PLUS have enough funds to feed over 700 families!  As I said, we are not doing our “usual” ministries, but we are sure that at this time, Jesus would be wanting us to share His love to people through feeding them, praying with them, and giving them Words of comfort and hope!

The one “normal” ministry we have been able to do is to continue sending our bus to the local prisons, picking up the prisoners who are too sick to be treated in the prison infirmaries, and taking them to and from the hospital for treatment and medication. Micheal, the driver, sprays all of their hands with a local disinfectant soap before they get on the bus each time, and we scrub down the inside of the bus when it returns.

The second biggest expense during this time, after the feeding of people, has been the repair of our fleet of vehicles.  Uganda roads are notorious for potholes that are large and deep enough to swallow a few elephants!  And many of those potholes are right on our street!  So our two “manual” vehicles had clutch plate, pressure plate, pressure forks and all the other “clutch” parts replaced, along with replacing all of the ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks, and bushings in the front ends.  The two automatic vehicles have also had tie rod ends, bushings, shocks, boots, arm bars, steering arms, and many other things replaced.  EXPENSIVE!!!  We were actually driving on pieces of rattling metal parts that were about to fall apart at any minute.  Now we are much safer on the roads!!  We use our vehicles for ministry, and some days all six of them are out at one time!  They are definitely work horses!

The slum area of “Works” behind us has over 2000 people and no running water or sanitation.  It is illegal to put those amenities there because the settlement is illegal.  We have built them three pit latrines, but this last week, two of them have overflowed and are running like rivers between the houses and down to the road, where the sewage is pooling against our security wall.  This week one of our young men found the company that pumps out pit latrines, and we paid to have that done.  This young man also talked with the local Water and Sewerage company, and after the latrine is pumped, it will actually be connected to the National Sewerage system, hurray!!  Less smell and less cholera for all!

President Museveni has loosened a few of the lockdown restrictions, even though we have nearly 500 confirmed COVID cases (about 400 of them are truck drivers and contacts of truckers) and we can drive our private cars for the first time since March 21^st.  I love to drive and have missed driving my car!!  Unfortunately, so did everyone else, so it seems that this last week, every car in Uganda was on the road!  Can you say “traffic jam?”  Some of the shops have been allowed to open, and some people are going back to work, but it will still take a while for many to get on their feet.  Please do continue to pray for this country for relief from starvation, terrible floods, and locusts.  And we at Called Christians will continue to cry out to the Lord for peace in the USA!  We love you!  Thank you for loving us!!

Praises and Prayer Requests:

• Praise for the support that allows us to feed starving families, help with medical for the very sick, and repair our fleet of vehicles!
• Praise for the Staff at Called Christians that loves the Lord, and gathers to pray for many issues almost every morning.
• Praise for two beautiful weddings that took place at Called Christians/Calvary Chapel.
• Praise that the orphan Shafiq has a safe and loving place to stay until they find his family.
• Pray that God continues to touch people to send support to help us feed the needy.
• Pray that God stops this Coronavirus and lets people get back to earning a living, but also that everyone has changed for the better during this difficult time, and that people have more love and compassion for each other.

Hello Everyone, and Greetings from Uganda!

I hope you are all doing well during this interesting season.  We in Uganda are under a pretty tight lockdown, and so far have only registered 74 cases of the COVID-19 in our country.  The government was so strict about quarantining people that came into Uganda at the airports, and our visitor, Deborah Roberts was in Institutional Quarantine in a local hotel in Entebbe for 19 days before we could bring her back to Jinja.  Unfortunately, the one place they have NOT been strict is with the cross- country truckers that have been coming in from Tanzania and Kenya, and our last 16 cases have been truck drivers.  We are praying that the government chooses to put more restrictive measures on those people today!

Our compound is locked and only people that live or work here (with a few exceptions) are allowed to come in.  And anyone that does enter must immediately wash his or her hands, and we wash down the gate with soap and water every 30 minutes! No private vehicles are allowed to travel on the roads at this time, and there is no public transport either – not even the motorcycle taxis.  So everyone has to walk or stay home unless they are carrying cargo.  Our double cabin Toyota pickup is allowed to move, so we use it when we need to buy quantities of goods, or when we need to get rid of our rubbish.  And our bus has been given permission to continue to pick up the sick prisoners from the prisons and take them to the hospital and back to prison.  Otherwise our entire fleet of vehicles is grounded.  This is a lot less expensive in fuel and vehicle repairs though! 

Our stores are closed, and markets can only sell food, but no other goods.  Everyone must keep 4 meters distance between themselves and someone else.  The market people are not allowed to go home each day, but must sleep in the market.  Motorcycles are allowed to move between 7am and 5pm to carry goods, so one of our young men who has a motorcycle does our shopping for us.  He says that when you carry eggs, you have to drive with one hand! 

Almost all of the “daily” workers are without work right now because of the restrictions, so most of the country is experiencing hunger, since most live hand to mouth. The Bridge Calvary Chapel has bought a large quantity of food to distribute quietly to our church members that are in need. (You can’t publicly distribute food right now or you will be arrested.)  And Called Christians received a generous donation of $2000 that has been used to feed 85 families for the next two weeks!  We are very blessed on this compound to have food, shelter, and space to move around, but those around us are truly suffering, and we are doing our best to be the hands and feet of Christ to as many as we can.

At the same time that we are under the COVID lockdown, Uganda is also being attacked by huge swarms of desert locusts that could cause further hunger by devastating the crops.  The government is waiting for them to settle down at night and then the army is spraying them while they are at rest. 

And because of the prolonged rains, Lake Victoria is at its highest level since 1960.  Villages, markets, and homes that are along the lake shores are flooded with water, and large pieces of land and gardens are breaking off from the shores and floating to our power dam and blocking the dam, cutting off electricity supply to much of the country at different times.  Our March through May rains have started, so now flooding will increase. It seems that Uganda is facing a battle on several fronts, but we know the ONE who loves us and knows our every thought.  We will continue to pray for His protection and provision, and that He uses all of these catastrophes to draw people to Him!

Supporting the Mission

If anyone wants to donate special money to feed the hungry in Uganda right now, sign up for the “Sendwave” app and send money directly to my phone.  +256 752 624 589.  This is a special app for sending money directly to Africa.  I promise that every dime will be spent for feeding the hungry.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

Praises – Most of our village pastors are farmers.  The locusts were heading right toward the fields of one of our pastors, but as he prayed, a great wind came and blew the locusts back the way they had come!

Because of donations, Called Christians has been able to provide food for many hungry families!

God has been protecting Uganda from the COVID-19 virus up to this point.  What a blessing!

And we on this compound are more than blessed with food, shelter, companionship, and safety.

That our support is enough to provide for our budget plus have an excess that will continue to feed many families that are destitute.

That God continues to protect Uganda from the virus, and that the government is wise enough to stop the influx of affected truck drivers.

For the entire world that this virus disappears soon and that economies are restarted.

That people all over the world turn to the Lord during this time of stress and need, and that the world experiences Revival!!

Blessings to you all, and may you feel the presence of the Lord surrounding you!

Beverly Rich

This past week has been full of surprises for us – although not for God.  In this crazy COVID-19 world, things are even more different here in Uganda than usual!  President Museveni addressed the nation this week and many things are shut down, such as all the schools, all the bars and discos, all religious/church activities (including mosques), weddings and burials (restricted to immediate family), and all easy entrance into Uganda by air.  The person who was coming to relieve me on furlough, Deb Roberts, has been quarantined in Entebbe for 14 days, but the government actually had no real quarantine plan, so things were very disorganized!  All of the detainees (from Category 1 countries) were charged $100 per night and put in various hotels around Entebbe, but no one had briefed the hotels on quarantine procedure, so no one was quarantined to his or her room, and all were allowed to just mingle or meet without any hindrance. 

Deb DID quarantine herself in her room, as she was supposed to do!  But the $100 did not cover food and drinks, and she was having to pay extra for all of that, and of course she had no Uganda shillings.  So Aaron Kirunda (who works for me) and I made a quick and covert run in the middle of the night to deliver much needed supplies!  Because all of the schools let out yesterday, approximately 8 million students were on the roads trying to get back to their homes, so we did NOT travel in the day.  Instead, we left Jinja at 10pm with our trunk loaded with necessities like a kettle for boiling water, instant coffee, and a coffee cup!  Of course, we took snacks and money for Deb as well, but she is also quarantined with a German mother of two toddlers who have nothing to play with, and no extra “goodies” themselves.  So among our “loot” were also a few toys and coloring books, some milk, some baby wipes, and some fruit!  We drove three hours to Entebbe, called the front desk clerk, who then called Deb to come down from her room. We took our trunk to the front gate, and waved and said hello to Deb who was standing 50 feet away with her trunk of dirty clothes and cat food.  A quick exchange of luggage was made by the guards through the gate as Deb and I shouted hello to each other and I distantly introduced her to Aaron.  Then she was whisked away, back into quarantine, and Aaron and I drove the three hours back to Jinja in an off and on crazy rain storm that took out power everywhere it hit, and we arrived safely home at 4:00am.

I love my life!  It is never dull!  God keeps us busy with the “usual and normal,” as well as with opportunities to serve Him in so many different sorts of ways!  We have to cancel all of our ministries right now except for Sunday services on the radio AND our ministries to three of the closest prisons!  We have been teaching the Bible, and doing humanitarian work in these prisons for over 20 years, and even though almost everyone else is shut out right now, the Officers in Charge have talked to us and asked us to continue coming in to share God’s Word at this time of uncertainty!  We can only take in two people at a time to each prison, but that is two mouths to speak God’s Word!!  And they have also asked us to continue taking prisoners to the hospital each day in our bus.  Before we started the “hospital run” for the prisons, at least one prisoner died every week.  Now they only have one or two a YEAR.  So we are happy to continue that ministry!

By the way, I did have to postpone my furlough, so I will not be in the U.S. until later in the year. 

And just an added thought – many people are asking why the American Embassy doesn’t “get our people out!”  We Americans naturally assume that the Embassy will “take care of us” when things go wrong.  But this actually isn’t the case.  For all the 20 plus years I have been in Uganda, the Embassy has made it very clear that they are not here for the American people, but are here to liaise with the Uganda Government. This is usually quite a shock for most of us when we first find this out, but it is the way it is.  The second thing is something the Embassy people told the quarantined Americans; “We are not above the Ugandan law, and the law says you must be quarantined.  So your options are to accept the quarantine, or go back to the U.S.”  Deb has decided to stay, hurray!!

I am going to list prayer requests here so the first one probably should be for the entire world during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Another prayer request is for Deborah Roberts and the other people that are in quarantine here in Uganda.  (It is actually the right thing to do in order to protect Uganda, since we have very little health care here.)

Pray that the virus does not strike Uganda (up until this morning there were no confirmed cases), because Uganda truly has almost no real health care.

Pray that the economies of the U.S. and of Uganda recover quickly, and that people do not lose their jobs.

And while we are thinking of economy and finances, please pray for the financial provision for this mission.  Our finances were already struggling, and if our supporters are badly damaged financially during this worldwide situation, then our support may be even lower than usual.  Pray that does not happen! 

Pray that God gives us opportunities to be salt and light and hands and feet during this uncertain and (for most) frightening time.

Blessings always to you!

Beverly Rich

Hello again from Called Christians/Calvary Chapel in Uganda!  Things here have been “normal,” which actually means very crazy, ha ha!

Our security wall that had to be built because our security fence had been destroyed is finished except for putting razor wire on the top.  That can be done next month after we get our monthly support.  In the meantime, we feel SO much safer!  This used to be a pretty secure area in past years, but it is becoming more dangerous every day, especially since the slum area behind us, that almost touches our back wall, has grown to a population of about 2000.  It is a place of alcohol, drugs, thieves, and prostitutes – a mission field right at our back door, but a dangerous one.

All of our kids except one are back in school.  The one has finished his “Ordinary Levels” of high school here, and is trying to get into “Advanced Levels.”  His grades are amazingly good, but he is an orphan and his sponsor dropped him two years ago, so we have been trying to help him since then.  Getting funding for his next two years is a bit difficult, so he is searching for scholarships at various schools.  Pray that he finds just the right place and gets a scholarship!

Ann Wibbenmeyer and I have been discussing details for the new Bible School for Women that Ann will be leading.  We are VERY excited about it!  Right now we can only train men because it is a 24/7 program that lasts for two years, with the men living on the compound, and we could not accommodate women.  But this new school will train women to read, understand and teach the Bible, and in turn, we will be able to expand our ministries!

The local NGO (Non Government Organization) Board has decided that we must have a separate office for our NGO (Called Christians) and for the NGO The Bridge Calvary Chapel, and of course the place we need to build it is right on top of the sewer line that runs through our compound. So our latest project this week is digging a long sewer line and putting down new pipes.  Then we can proceed to make plans for the new office. 

And one of the things we will need in the new office is a new copy machine.  (sadness)  I purchased our copy machine in 2004 and have babied it and coddled it for many years.  It has been such a hard worker!  But it has finally, thanks to the latest power surge, bitten the dust.   Phooey.

There is no place to bury missionaries in Uganda, so we have a small area on our compound where Jesse and one other missionary are buried.  One other of our dear friends is within days of moving on to heaven, so very soon we will have a burial here on our compound. Please pray for the family of Jose Nunez.  His wife’s name is Sol.

The Calvary Chapel East Africa Pastor’s Conference took place in Uganda in January, and between Called Christians and Pastor Isaac Wootton, we sent 75 men!  There were 400 men at the conference, and about 25 of the men we have raised up from here were not able to attend.  But this means that Called Christians/Calvary Chapel out of Jinja has trained up nearly one fourth of the Calvary Pastors in East Africa!  And one of the most encouraging things about this is that our oldest pastors are now forming and leading associations of Calvary pastors in each of their areas in order to have fellowship with and encouragement from each other.  Joy!!

So there’s the news that’s “fit to print.”  We at Called Christians/Calvary Chapel are SO grateful for your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support!  Without you, we could not exist to share the “Good News” with the Lost!  Thank you for being our partners!

With Joy in Christ,

Bev Rich

Hello Friends!  Because of the extra support that we received from you in December, we were able to do so many things here at Called Christians/Calvary Chapel that we have been needing to do for so long! First, for those that contributed to the Building Fund, we were able to rebuild the church that was in terrible disrepair at the prisons.  The roof was almost totally gone, and all of the windows were broken out.  We were able to put on a new roof, put in all new windows, repair the floor and the rotten wood, and paint the building for the first time in probably 50 years (no exaggeration).  The entire prison area is so grateful!  Several denominations meet there for services, and all of the large prison meetings are held there as well.

For the people who donated to the “Orphan Fund,” Called Christians is able to send ALL of our students back to school this term!  We have 12 students in trade schools for plumbing, electrical, mechanics, mass communications, nursing and radiology, 3 students in high school, and 31 primary school students.  In Uganda, you pay school fees for every term, three terms a year, and the cost for us each term is close to $5000.  I had no idea where the money would come from, but you gave enough to send every one of our students back to school!

For those that helped with the Vehicle Fund, I have been saving for some time, but just could not come up with enough money to purchase another badly needed vehicle.  But with the funds sent to the Vehicle Fund, we were able to buy a very good used Noah Van to replace our 1991 Nissan Avenir station wagon which does not run any more.  We are SO excited!  We needed this vehicle so badly! Thank you!

And from the General Fund, we were able to pay all of our expenses, service all six of our ministry vehicles (which are out on ministry every day), put two new tires on each of three vehicles, make major repairs on three vehicles, pay for medical care and food for a 12 year old girl that was raped and contracted HIV and many other infections, and was dying in the hospital, and send 75 men to the Calvary Chapel East Africa Pastor’s Conference!  May God bless you for every prayer, and every dime of support you sent to us!

Thank you SO very much!  With joy in Christ!
Beverly Rich