Ministry Update--Books

Last Sunday, three of our young men with IAM were invited to teach a small congregation and a group of five pastors of area churches using the Creation to Christ book series. Both the books and the teachings were very well received. The young men spent the entire day with the people and the pastors and were repeatedly told how much "this type of teaching is needed in the churches today!" They were complimented for their "teaching" rather than "preaching." All of us associated with Imagine Acts Ministry are thrilled to begin to see the realization of the vision of Ugandans teaching Ugandans through the Creation to Christ book series. Great things are happening and we are encouraged to press on to completing the series by the end of the year. On Saturday we will travel to western Uganda to Bushyeni to meet with a group of 15-20 church pastors and leaders in that area for a teaching and distribution.

Top picture: Henry Lutwama, IAM Project Coordinator addressing the congregation; pastors looking on.

Second: Ssemakula Timothy teaching from the Disobedience book

Third: Peter gathers a group of children to teach from the Creation book.

Farewell, Dear Friends

In late July, we lost our dear friend, Margaret, who was the founder and director of the Mityana Orphanage School. Though small in stature, Margaret had a huge heart for children and an iron will to see that they were taken care of. Over a thousand people came to the orphanage to pay respects to Margaret at her burial. There will never be another like her. We miss her daily.

Top picture: Becky and Margaret a couple of years ago.

Second: Margaret with grandchildren in the hospital in late May

Third: Timo, Margaret's youngest grandson, with Margaret in her home a few weeks prior to her death.

Our Wonderful Friend, Teresa

Many friends in US followed the story of our friend Teresa who lived in a village near Nama. Early in 2009, when we met Teresa, we discovered what appeared to be a terrible wound on her heel. Many of the young men of IAM took care of cleaning the wound and bandaging it each week as we prayed for healing. However, after several months, we knew that the heel would need surgery and through donations from US, we were able to secure a place for Teresa in a private hospital in Kampala with a good surgeon. Once the affected area had been removed, the diagnosis had been melanoma. Our faithful worker, Dan Douglas, went several times a week by bicycle once Teresa came home to clean and care for the large open wound. The wound never became infected and healed nicely.Everyone in the village was able to witness the love of Jesus through Dan's efforts as well as other young men with IAM. In December of 2009, Teresa had a terrible accident at home when her outside kitchen structure collapsed on her burying her under debris. When I saw her again in 2010, I could see that she suffered with many pains and was losing weight. We began a book ministry group at her home in Nama where we taught many people in her village every Sunday. I believe that the people who come to that study week after week have been able to observe and witness first hand the love of Christ- seen through actions of young men who lovingly washed Teresa's foot and cared for her. Just three weeks ago, while I was in US, Teresa was taken to a clinic in Mityana with stomach pains and fever. Two days later, she died. I believe that God extended Teresa's life in order to bring glory and honor to His name through the faithfulness of the ones who selflessly cared for her. We already feel the loss of her presence.

The top picture was taken in the hospital post-surgery; middle picture was taken when she returned home and she and her husband George presented us with a cock and a bunch of matoke in appreciation; third picture was taken in late January of 2010.

Extreme Makeover!! Mityana Orphanage August 2010

The pictures speak for themselves! What a joy for IAM to bring this wonderful blessing to the children at Mityana Orphanage a few months ago. A generous donation was made to renovate the old chicken coop into a large dining hall with outside covered pavilion. The project began when Bernie Boudreaux from Austin, Texas who designed and supervised the work, and a volunteer team from UT came to "break ground." The work continued for several weeks until we celebrated our first Sunday lunch in the new dining hall on August 8, 2010. New dining tables and benches were made, new plates and cups purchased, and two water filter dispensers were purchased. A special meal was prepared and we had a grand celebration. This wonderful all-purpose facility is already being used for many other activities---Sunday school, English Bible, homework room, game room, place of nightly prayers and devotions---truly a Blessing that will go on and on. Thanks, everyone!

Picture Explanation

The following posts show pictures of the dining conditions for the orphans prior to their new dining hall. The first picture is of the old chick coop, which was renovated for the dining hall. A large covered pavilion was added to the front. The pictures following show the utensils the children were using and how and where they had their meals. The after pictures tell the new story!!

Before Pictures---Dining Conditions

After Pictures of New Dining--Taken August 2010!

"Freely You Received---Freely Give"

The children at Mityana Orphanage have been blessed these past two years through many gifts which have improved their living conditions---a renovated kitchen, new mattresses, sheets, blankets, clothes for all , and most recently the wonderful new dining hall/pavilion with tables, benches, new plates and cups. Surely ,they have Freely Received!
What a thrill in early August--the very day we had our first meal in the new dining hall---to watch 10 of the children go to Freely Give to an elderly man who lives alone in a mud hut a short distance from the orphanage. Besides his pitiful living conditions, the man was suffering with an infestation of jiggers in his legs and an open wound on the side of his foot.
During Sunday school that day we talked about being Lights, representing Christ, actually being the Church. We read Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-46---"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." Immediately following the lesson we left the orphanage to put into practice what we had been learning.
Watching these children serve this man by washing his feet, bandaging his wounds, cleaning his house, and taking care of his needs, blessed me and them in a way I will not soon forget.

Seeing the Needs

On Saturday, we went to the man's house to see how we could help him. When we arrived at his house, he was sitting on the ground. He had no chair; he was sleeping with on bits of torn foam using small pieces of thin blankets for covering. Inside the tiny house was a burning fire where he cooked his meals and received warmth. We assessed the immediate needs and ways we could help, and left to gather the things we would need for our Sunday's work.

Getting to Work!

Everything moved out of the house; rubbish burned; holes mudded; utensils washed; grounds swept; feet washed and cared for!

Well Done!

After several hours of working, the man had a door installed on his house, a 6 x12 vinyl floor covering, holes in the wall "mudded", and a bed with new mattress, sheets, blanket and pillow! The yard was swept;rubbish was burned; the few cooking utensils washed; clothes taken to be washed at the orphanage; a new cooking area created outside; new clothes; and his feet washed and bandaged! Everyone was blessed!