For the students of African Bible University, it’s the
last outreach Thursday of the year, so the turnout was good. That might be because many of them have
Christmas shopping to do, as well, but I wouldn't hold that against them!
A
good sing-song! (Alimo Agnes is wearing the pink blouse)
You might have noticed that numbers seem lower this
year, compared to last, and you’d be right.
There are quite a few different outreach programs for students to choose
from, and although we had many Third Year students with us last year (who are
now Seniors and exempt from outreach), the intake of First Years did not match
them in number – so we are now a smaller, but tighter group. Most of the First and Second Years are from the
Lira and Kitgum areas of Northern Uganda, where the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA) were prevalent for the last two decades.
Indeed, one of the ladies, Alimo Agnes, was twice shot by them (one
bullet skimming her nose), and left for dead!
Praise God she is with us today, for she has such a godly testimony, and
desire to serve the Lord.
As usual, we started with singing and praising. We sang the African version of ‘Let it Be’,
one of my favourites, and a few other
tunes. Then Frank got up to preach, by
which time, we had moved down the hill, to our usual spot, to preach the
Christmas message.
A view of who we are, what we do and where we do it!
The message this time was ‘What are You doing this
Christmas?’, and it highlights the excuses many in the Christmas narrative had,
for not worshipping Jesus - mirroring the same excuses today: Too busy (inn-keeper); too familiar (people
of Jerusalem); too hard (Priests and Scribes); too religious (Romans); too late
(King Herod). I then contrasted these
people with the shepherds and Wise Men, who worshipped Jesus.
Same finger in the air, same big
mouth, different translators:
Magala
Paul and Nazziwa
Rosemary.
The translating was covered by Magala Paul (Fourth
Year), and then Nazziwa Rosemary (First Year).
One of the usual hearers was impressed with Rosemary’s efforts, and
sought her out to talk to after – so that was a bonus. And while Okello Charles Oyuku kept watch of
the board, he also had the opportunity to share the gospel with some young
lads. Many more stopped for a while to
hear the gospel message, and many were challenged over the excuses they have
been using. Please pray that souls will
be saved, and not lost, for eternity!
Vespa owner Kevin trying to convince me to buy his Vespa (like pushing on an open door!), whilst I convince him of his need to be saved; the lady was not happy having her photograph taken, but was very happy to talk to Rosemary!; and a young Muslim refusing to talk or take my hand of friendship!
We then spent some time talking and praying with the
locals, and introducing ourselves to a few new faces. Then, as we were packing up, a group of
youngsters came up to the board and started looking at the pictures and reading
the captions. Among them were Emma, who said she went to church, but
didn’t feel she knew God! A good
conversation followed, where Emma was reminded that God speaks to us through
the Bible, and delights to hear us when we pray. She (or he, as Emma is usually short for
Emmanuel) seemed content to start regularly reading her Bible. Then Ivan
told us that he was a Christian, and that Jesus had come into the world to save
people from their sins – and had saved him.
His testimony was clear, confident and very encouraging. Charles and I were taken aback at his
boldness, but praised God for His grace, mercy and kindness to Ivan. Ivan told us that God had helped him in his
school work, and that he had finished top of the class - something we were not
surprised to hear! He then asked us if
we would pray for his sick mother at home (I think her name was Aunt Mary-Ann), of which we were most
pleased to be able to do. He was such an
encouragement.
Sudanese
Emma and her friends discuss the contents of the board; Okello Charles Oyuku
shares the gospel with two young lads.
I linked up with Bonny (and met his wife, Mary!) and
Geoffrey, Peruth and her sick (still!) friend, who really is a frail thing,
Annette (who ignored me this time, as she was with someone who seemed reluctant
to get into conversation), and Stephen, who said (like the inn-keeper) he was
too busy! Please pray for them all, as I
do not doubt the gospel is having an effect upon them, but whether to life or
death, is another, more urgent matter.
Many thanks, and blessings,
Sean
Young
and precocious Ivan looks up at me, whilst I looked up to
him – the highlight of our day!
Meeting
Bonny’s wife, Mary, for the first
time was another highlight. He even said
he would bring her to church! Please
pray he does!
No comments:
Post a Comment