Updates

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