Wednesday—(Oct 28) Conference in
Makanga, Uganda
Arthur Magezi and I were driven in
a beat-up car to the bush outside Kamuli, to an area called Makanga. It took
one hour on marginal dirt roads to reach the Makanga, and we passed several
small villages along the way. When we arrived at the church, I was not totally
surprised at what I saw, since Arthur had told me that this was a new church
plant in a very poor area, and there were presently no resources to build a
church building.
The structure used for the Makanga
church consisted of thick branches used as posts, and more branches for the
frame. The roof was palm leafs, and the structure was perfectly suitable to
keep the congregation and me out of the sun. Given the porous nature of the
roof (there were a few places where you could look up and see the sky), I was
glad it did not rain, because we would have all gotten wet to some degree, not
a desirable situation when everyone has open Bibles!
The majority of 35 or so who
attended were pastors and Christian leaders that came from a long way, and
needed assistance to get to the conference. Motorcycles are the least expensive
way to travel long distances in the bush, and motorcycle taxis are everywhere.
Also, Arthur’s son Moses drove Arthur’s vehicle to ferry many who attended to
the meeting.
I taught about God, the Bible and
Jesus, with my teaching translated into Kiswahili. It was a joy to see their
eyes light up as I explained how God created us, then sin became humanity’s
problem, and how the rest of the Bible tells how God planned fix the sin
problem through the Messiah. I laid out the prophecies of the Bible that
gave more and more specific details of who the Messiah will be. Finally, I came
to the New Testament and showed how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, and did miracles
to demonstrate His spiritual authority. I highlighted that the ultimate proof
that Jesus’ death on the cross saves all who believe was His resurrection from
the dead.
There were some wonderful ladies
who prepared lunch for all attending, cooked over a wood fire. It was my second
time in two days eating goat meat. I explained to Arthur that probably the only
place in the U.S. where you can find goat meat is in authentic Mexican
restaurants. Arthur told me that the average Ugandan who lives in the bush
maybe gets meat once per month, either goat or chicken. Thus, our lunch, which
included Ugandan rice, potatoes and ugali (a dish commonly eaten by poor people
in Kenya) was a feast for most who were present.
After lunch there was a time of
praise and worship, and just like in neighboring Kenya, these Christians knew
how to sing and dance. It was delightful to watch, and I only imagined how the
Lord must delight in the praises of these people. I told them I would like to
bring them to America to show us new ways to praise the Lord.
I spent some time answering
questions. All the questions were good ones, and it gave me more opportunity to
emphasize God’s plan for His people, and how we need to read and study the
Bible to obtain the details of how Christians and the church are supposed to
function. Without using the term, I ended up presenting a basic course in
Christian apologetics, that aspect of evangelism that deals with the
reasons why Christianity is true. I repeatedly used the terms “fact” and “evidence”
as I explained that what sets Christianity apart from other “religions” is that
Christianity stands or falls on the facts of Jesus life, death and
resurrection, and that while other religions are efforts of man to reach God,
Christianity is God reaching us.
Thank you for your prayers.
