Book Ministry--New Places, New Friends, Fellow Laborers

October and November brought opportunities to visit new districts in Uganda. We also had the pleasure of receiving a great group of five volunteers from Grace Church in Austin, Texas.

In early October I met with approximately 50 pastors studying at the Baptist Seminary in Jinja. We distributed the first six books and teaching study guides to pastors from Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Congo and Uganda!
In late October we traveled to southwest Uganda to Bushyeni District where Dan Douglas had coordinated a training and distribution session. The pastors there received us and the books with great enthusiasm, and we enjoyed being in this beautiful, fertile section of Uganda.
In mid November we traveled with our volunteers to meet with a church in the Rift Valley and participate in a walk-about to invite new people to a book ministry group the church was starting.
Last weekend, we traveled to Masaka District about four hours away for training with pastors from four to five different nearby churches. Henry Lutwama and I had the privilege of preaching Sunday in two of the churches. Our contact person there is Pastor Abel who is the Vice-president of the Baptist Union of Uganda. I look forward to working with him in 2011 for distribution planning. There are 2,000 Baptist churches registered in Uganda!!
Many people have been reached, much love has been shown, friendships have been forged. Thanks to all who gave of themselves to the Ugandan people!

Trip to Masaka District November 26-28, 2010

Becky and Pastor Abel

Teaching

Pastors attending the teaching

Trip to Bushyeni District in October

Henry making preparations.




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Becky, with translator, giving overview of series

Becky with Praise Team Leaders





Honored guest and new friend



This pastor was in his 80's and had suffered persecution and prison for teaching the Bible in earlier years of strife in Uganda. He carries many physical wounds of his tortures. It was very sobering to be giving this man of God teaching resources. We had much to learn from him.

Teaching Distribution at Baptist Seminary in October

Pastors from Tanzania

Students at Seminary


Students from Uganda

November Brings Guests, Good Times , God-Sharing

On November 12, my sister Sally from Austin along with two members of her church and their young daughters arrived for a whirlwind of activities. It was a pleasure to host them in my house, and I am pleased to report that no one ever complained about power outages, trickly showers, or food. These five poured themselves out for the people of Uganda and gave of themselves tirelessly. They spent hours at the orphanage teaching children, visiting with them, playing games with them, and doing amazing art projects. They traveled great distances over sub-standard roads participating in book ministry trips, walked locally in door to door visitation to invite people to an on-going book ministry group, and even sampled the local delicacy--Grasshoppers! They brought a bag full of sweaters to distribute to children living in the colder region of the Rift Valley. They made S'mores with the children at the orphanage, kept score and cheered at the Bible Quiz Bowl, and invested in the lives of the children and others by giving lovingly and willingly of themselves. They brought Light and Love to all of us and we thank them.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We continue to thank God for the provision of our vehicle which allows us to travel throughout Uganda seeing the sights and beauty of creation as we share our book ministry with the people.

Sally with Ruth, Kate, Timo and Henry on the trip to Bushyeni.

Another traveler

Feeding on the side of the road!

Baboons hoping for bananas

Visitors Put Personal Touch on Art Project

Bonnie Alford brought two art projects for the students to enjoy. The pictures below show the development of the beautiful banner which now hangs in the dining hall. Every child had a "hand" in this project which made it all the more special. Thanks, Bonnie. Bonnie Alford and Bryan display banner to be decorated

Bryan helping Jack add his personal touch

Ruth and Kate given a "guiding hand" by Lillian

Bonnie supervising--Children participating

Beautiful banner now hangs in Dining Hall!

Bible Story Quiz Bowl

We had a great time with a Book Series Quiz Bowl with the children. Bryan served as the facilitator and visitors participated , kept score, and offered encouragement to all. After a fierce competition, the boys won by 1 point in a playoff! Ruth answering a question

Boys proudly display their ribbons!

Guests Provide Good Times

Ruth Alford, center, with Isaac and Sandra

Kate Alford playing games with children


Demonstrating Marshmellow Roasting

Monica, Sally, Bonnie putting S'mores together.

Volunteers in Book Ministry

My sister Sally preaching at a Friday night service in Bushyeni, after after a long car trip.

Dan, Monica, and friend on door to door in Rift Valley


Bonnie, Peter, Ssemakula Henry visiting Ugandans

Bonnie and Ssemakula Henry door to door in Mityana.

Sharing with Others

On one of Dan Douglas's visits to the Rift Valley in October, he saw that many children there had no sweaters although the temperature is much cooler there than other parts of Uganda. We sent the word out to our friends at Grace Church in Austin who brought a duffle bag full of sweaters for the children. After we left on Saturday, Timo and Dan met with the children on Sunday to bless them with a sweater. So much fun to give to others!! Timo distributed sweaters in Rift Valley

Timo gives out suckers and sweaters

Perfect Fit

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!