Visiting Rural Churches
This is an account of our travels on Christmas Eve………..we visited 4 rural Ugandan churches.
We were not long for the road when we immediately pulled over to the left and noticed 14 zebra right next to the road. WOW…..how beautiful.
First stop was Pastor Januanario’s church. We arrived and were immediately impressed with his home. You see he has constructed a home built of stones that he has carried from the nearby mountain. The only house of stone of all the pastors we had seen yet. We sat in his living room and immediately noticed the tons of flies everywhere. We tried not to make much notice but my heart feels for this man. This is the land of milk, and if it is the land of milk it must be the land of cows, and if there are cows there will be flies. Anyway, we were able to present him his Proclaimer, audio Bible and you could just see the excitement on his face and that of others.
We stepped outside and watched them hold this Proclaimer and start listening. This has to be one of my favorite pictures of the week. We were surprised to see Elsam (our chief cook) and Pastor Charles here at his home. We would learn they came to pick up our Christmas meat……some Ugandan “Buuuullll” as Elsam says. Can tell you it was actually pretty good. Monica and I had some the next day………We left before the processing fun began….Driver Emmy had to take return after taking us to the hotel with the seats out of our Miracle Van to transport all the tasty treat to our school. The PCM Dump Truck was at the plantation collecting food and was not available……… Before we left Pastor Januanario he told us of an incredible story of his bike. I will share it in a future post or story.
Second stop was Pastor Stephen’s home. We visited his church in July and now it is covered with some beautiful orange flowers in front.
We pulled up the Miracle Van in front of his 4 circular grass huts all of which he has built. Amazing resourcefulness. The floors are covered with animal skins. We presented him his Proclaimer and he couldn’t have been happier.
In July he was the Pastor that was the most happy to receive his cell phone………He jumped higher than all the other 43. I love to see him smile. We reloaded the van and were off again after praying with him some of sitting on his animal skin carpet.
Third stop was the “singing church” Pastor John’s church.
Why do I call it that? Well it has the most beautiful acoustics due to its concrete floor and cleanliness. Here is one of the little cleaners.
Last time Jay and Monica sang the Revelation Song here. Pastor John was not here. Instead we had to go through the village to his home. Driver Emmy said to be on the lookout for Promise, one of our school children as we passed through. Unfortunately we did not see her. We did pull up to Pastor John’s home and were struck by its beauty. This man is doing fairly well. Beautifully decorated flowered yard and colorful home. We took a picture on his beautiful patio and headed inside.
There were seated very comfortably in his living room. His wife was not there but several of his children were there.
He then said he was “closing the year very well.” We were not sure what he meant. He said the Lord was blessing him today. Pastor John said he had never had a white man in his home before. Now he had 4. We were so grateful to be the first.
I think if I could pick anywhere to live in rural Uganda, this is where I would want to be. We had a nice time visiting, and the Barret girls played some songs in his home and then we took off again. I asked again as we drove through the tiny village nearby if we could ask if someone could find Promise. Several of the village children went to look for her as we pulled off the side of the road. I kinda felt like “Dog the Bounty Hunter” looking for people but I really wanted to say Hi to her and give her a hug. We are saddened to report that she had traveled on Christmas Eve to some nearby family. Sorry Danny and Susan.(her sponsors) ……You will just have to join us in 2010 in the Miracle Van. ;o)
Our fourth stop was the most beautiful church and it is still under construction. You see another Pastor Reuben and several of the people from his village had decided to build a church on top of a hill.
It is not easy to get to, but once you make the climb you are amazed at the beauty. You can see a long way and it is a terrific blessing just to be there. One of our PCM friends from Mckinney, Texas, Arch and his wife Sherry, have just recently donated the funds for the roof. We were so amazed at this roof. You see it is blue, unlike any church in the area.
It is a very special iron and Pastor Reuben is so thankful to have this very special roof. The roof is nearly up but many of the workers left for Christmas delaying its completion. This place is special is all I can say. We will be back here to glorify the Lord on top of the hill. I can’t wait.
Our final stop was the beloved Chicken Church. One of my favorite places on the earth. This is a picture of the new floor at the church.
This mud hut church taught me how to give. I used to think I was generous but not until I met this man, Pastor Johnson.
His wife was there and greeted Monica again quite warmly.
This place can really rock with worship let me tell you. Today everyone at the church was busy at home preparing for Christmas. I asked Pastor Johnson if they would be there tomorrow and of course he said yes. At 10 oclock this place would be full Christmas Day. It is the first place these Ugandans go on Christmas. Oh Lord do they have it right……… As we were getting ready to go Bailey and Libby said, “Look dad there are my pants.”
Sure enough they were there. Some how I am sure Supermom had spread some of the blessings we had given them and a few years later we met these pants again. It made me think if I could just take my closet or my girls’ closets and dump 90% of it here I would. One of the things that struck me at the crusade is that we saw kids there for three straight days. One thing was the same for nearly all of them……..they had the same outfit on everyday. Nearly everyone of them. ……..Oh my…………Lord help me to live a simpler life and be a better steward of the dumptruck of blessings you have given me.
We are all 4 so blessed. We are so thankful to be here ……to see this………to be with them this Christmas
Sula Bulungi.
The Barrets
PS Pastor Emmy has been slowly improving. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS> Now on oral malaria therapy. We have kept him home these last 2 days. Pray for more strength as we are traveling soon.