Hello Again, and many greetings to you!
I know it has been a long while since I have done an update. I don’t know why it is so hard to get started on one! I think maybe it is because there is so much going on that it just overwhelms me to even try to put it into words! J
And of course, this time around, I haven’t been able to do much because I was concentrating on healing from my total knee replacement that took place on May 9th. That was a tough one, and I haven’t done much except work on getting my knee back to normal since then.
Uganda had the longest school shutdown in the world because of covid. (22 months!) Churches and businesses had long shutdowns as well! But once places were open again, people are just begging for us to come and share the Word of God with them! Instead of teaching in 7 prisons now, we teach in 10, and many people have given their lives to Christ in these last few months. This week, 200 men at Kirinya Remand Prison were baptized! The Officer in Charge has given permission, and Timothy (prisons pastor) and others used a form of Jesse’s old home-made baptistry made of ladders and a tarp to baptize all these men. After this, I feel like some of the other prisons will allow baptisms as well! I do pray for that! “When I was in Prison, you visited me…” Matthew 25:36
We have been doing a lot of extra assistance in the local hospitals. The prices of everything are so high in Uganda right now that people cannot afford food, much less medical care. So we have been helping many people with CT Scans, medicines, and food. As with the prison ministry where we take prisoners to the hospital for their treatment, we do not ask the religion of the sick person. We just show them the love of Jesus through physical means and through sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Almost no one rejects prayer when we offer to pray for them. No matter what religion they are, they know that Jesus can heal. “When I was sick, you visited me…” Matthew 25:36
While I was in the USA, I was sort of flying under the radar, not contacting many people or doing much except trying to work on getting my knee back in shape. So I didn’t get to try to raise funds this time the way I have done in the past. And truthfully, I really needed to try to raise some financial support because we have not been reaching our budget for some time now. But the great news is that, as I was talking about the absolute starvation that is going on in the Northern parts of Uganda, one couple was touched deeply to help those people with food! And it is so needed!! One of the villages where there is a Calvary Chapel had nothing at all to eat – not even wild greens – so they were picking green mangoes from the trees and boiling them into a bitter porridge and drinking it at night, just to have something in their stomachs when they went to sleep. Of course, green mangoes cause major stomach problems in other ways, but they were just so hungry. So I was able to send part of the money for food to the pastor of Calvary Chapel Pajule, and he bought 10kg bags of posho (ground maize meal) and distributed all of them to the local church members and widows in the area. There was true rejoicing that day! “When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat…” Matthew 25:35
Deborah Roberts is back with us in Uganda, and she will be our Education Director, administering our School of Ministry/School of Worship, and also doing training for the staff that works with us. When Deb went on furlough last year, she came as close to dying as possible without actually doing so, (cerebral malaria) and she is truly a walking miracle. We are SO happy to have her with us again, and are also very happy to be starting our Bible and Worship School again, even though this means a large increase in our expense. We will have 16 students, most of them boarding in our dorm, and they will be trained to read, understand and teach the Bible, so that they can follow the goal of our mission of “making disciples who make disciples who make disciples.” Matthew 28:19-20 “Go into all the world and make disciples…”
As usual, there are many other ministries to talk about, like the women’s Bible studies in the villages, the women’s School of Ministry, teaching the Bible in the local schools, sending young men and women and orphaned children to school, and Bible studies in local underprivileged areas. But you would be tired by the time you finished reading it all, so I will stop here! But if any of these ministries touches your heart a little bit extra, and you are willing to help with support, please do reach out and help us! We are about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we would love to have you partner (yes, PARTNER) with us in this wonderful work! Romans 10:18 “How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Many blessings and much love to you as you continue to love and serve Christ!
In His Service,
Beverly Rich and the Entire Staff of Called Christians Uganda