Thursday power lunch.

The Lord is working mightily in Kampala. Every Thursday at lunch time, KCC members and members of the community come for a devotional worshipping God in unity. Today they asked Steve to teach a lesson and he spoke from Jeremiah. Taking a break like this through the busy week is a great blessing for all who attend.

Steve continues teaching the Word to leaders of the Kampala church.

Tuesday

Communion – was the topic discussed for today. We reviewed what the scriptures said in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts and 1 Corinthians. One observation was that the only command from Jesus concerning the Lord’s Supper was as often as you do it, do it in remembrance of Him. We also saw how over time, we tend to revise the command based on what we have always done . The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to remember Jesus. 1 Cor 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." (NIV 2011)

Wednesday

Fasting – In fasting we learned that it is a practice that brings us closer to God and helps us with our awareness of God as oppsed to a practice that helps us get what we think we need or want. We learned that even through prayer, ultimately, God maks the final decision about what is best for us and for the world. The only command in the Bible to fast was for the Israelites on the Day of Atonement. Lev 16:29-31 "This is standard practice for you, a perpetual ordinance. On the tenth day of the seventh month, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you are to enter into a solemn fast and refrain from all work, 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. In the presence of God you will be made clean of all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of all Sabbaths. You must fast. It is a perpetual ordinance. (from THE MESSAGE)

Instrumental Music and Clapping – Our worship needs to be about God, as leaders we try to help people to be relevant in worship and not be focused on personal preference.

Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the Ministry of Jesus

We are now talking about the various issues that the church in Kampala faces as they seek to share the good news about Jesus.  One issue is around the role of the Holy Spirit. In Uganda, there is a great focus on the spirit in religion.  Some say that if you don’t speak in tongues or have a certain gift of the spirit, you are not spirit filled.  Some focus so much on the spirit and the spirit’s gifts, that they lose focus on Jesus.  It is possible that they have become filled with deceiving spirits that are evil, not the Holy Spirit.  They also are lacking in the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit and tend to glorify themselves because of the gifts they have.  The Holy Spirit filled person focuses and testifies about Jesus.  Jesus is their center, not the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit enables them to testify about Jesus.  They have the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The teaching continues.

Steve teaches intense lessons outside the Somalian hotel about the cross of Christ. Also, Jimmy is serving porridge ... a special bowl with milk for Steve is awaiting.

Photos from our Sunday morning worship.

Four were baptized at this morning's worship. Mugisha Michael, Shukuru Glory, Robinah Okella (the preacher's daughter), and Barbara Mugundi.

Worship at Kampala Church of Christ, Okello preaching.

Four were baptized this morning.

Enjoying roasted maize in Wakiso!

One of the church community development projects is the Maize in Wakiso.  Church members farm 2.5 acres of maize and the harvest is now. Rebecca roasted it for us and we enjoyed snacking on it.  It is a very firm kernel with the taste of popcorn.  Jim Risk sent over more hand held corn shuckers for Francis and Mbaziira to share with the team.

Our work has begun in Kampala.

Our journey to Uganda started at 10:45AM on January 15.  Thirty hours later, Steve and Leslie Kenney and I arrived in Entebbe, Uganda.  We were greeted by several dear friends from the church in Kampala and as always it was so exciting to see them.  We had a good night’s rest at the Tagy Hotel which is right next to the church.  The same attendants were there at the hotel to greet us.  Our first day was spent at the church building resting and visiting with our extended family.  Many members of the church and folks from the community do not have jobs, so, they come to the church for friendship and fellowship even throughout the week.

Our activities began on Friday when we met with the church advisory committee to discuss our trip objectives.  With a flip chart, we documented several issues that the church is facing.  Where the church meets is a home for many in the community to not only spend time fellowshipping, reading books from the library, but also, many come to worship the Lord.  Several people who participate in Life Care Groups, are also members at other churches in the community.  This mixture of people with different views on the Bible tends to create various issuessimilar to any other church anywhere else in the world.  Though the issues are common to us, they are never the less difficult to determine how to address and maintain unity in the church.  As such, our trip objectives will be to help create a framework for the leaders and members to consider the issues and have a better way of addressing them. 

The next day, Steve spoke on a Narrative of the Bible.  This is basically what he has been preaching over the last two years at North Central, but compacted into four hours.  The lesson and discussion afterward helped the roughly thirty attendees to learn that there is a bigger view of what God is doing in the world and we exist for the sake of God’s purpose and what He is doing in the world.  This was a new thought and formed the basis for putting the issues into perspective. 

Today is Sunday.  We will worship together this morning, have lunch and then continue the teaching.  Steve will continue teaching and working with the Advisory Committee concerning the issues that face them.  Please pray for open hearts and a deeper understanding of the Lord’s Word.
Yours in Christ,
Nancy Harbron

Steve Kenney takes a moment from speaking to the Advisory Committee.