Uganda 2016: The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Luke 10:2

Now that I am back in the US, I have so much that I want to share, but where to begin? Did we make a difference in Uganda? Did we achieve anything? Yes, some were helped with their aches and pains. Some were healed from their typhoid and malaria – but it won’t be long before they are sick again. We gave out some antibiotics for infections of various kinds and an assortment of skin ailments and wounds were treated. Over 3,096 were seen at the clinics, but of all that is just temporary. That was not the reason for our trip.

So did we achieve anything of lasting value? The answer to that of course is NO, WE did not, but GOD did and through His grace, we were privileged to witness His hand at work. For the 597 who accepted Christ there WILL BE an eternal difference and we were blessed to witness the joy that their new found faith has given them. Their daily lives will still be filled with toil and hardship. They will still face days filled with sickness, trials and physical death, but they know that they do not walk through those days alone. They will have their Savior by their side at every weary step and an eternity in heaven with the Lord when their days on earth are done.

The hardship, poverty and disease in the remote villages of Uganda cannot be related in a few short blog posts and snapshots. Neither can they be truly understood by someone like myself, who has only made 3 short mission trips. Their lives are incredibly hard and short, their days are hot and long and their living conditions are beyond the comprehension of most of us living in the US today. Most spend long days working with hand tools in the rice fields or sugar plantations and have to walk long distances to fetch clean water.

There is such imbalance in our world today. We in the west have so much, yet we hunger for more and complain constantly about the things that we 'think' we still need. They on the other hand, have next to nothing and yet this is the typical reaction that we saw from a small child who was given a pair of 99cent Walmart flip flops.

Uganda is one of the most fertile evangelistic fields in the world and there is a hunger for the gospel of truth that is a joy to behold, but Africa has also been referred to as ‘The dark continent.’ There is so much darkness and witchcraft out in the bush areas. So many mamas bring their babies to the clinic with talisman bracelets, necklaces and bands around their tummies and are convinced by witch doctors, satanic forces and years of cultural superstition, that to remove them would bring terrible consequences, even death. There are posters on the walls in some of the remote clinics depicting child sacrifice, telling the people that it is wrong, yet still the practise remains.

We saw the Spirit move in mighty ways during our trip, many allowed us to remove those talismans. One young mama cut off her baby’s bracelets herself and threw them in the trash. She became a new sister in Christ under the relentless African sun that day and will be followed up by the local church. There was indeed an invisible war being waged in Uganda over the past couple of weeks. It may have been unseen, but it was powerful. It was tangible. We felt it's power and I know that those of you who were praying for us could feel it too and God, in His faithfulness has answered with YES and AMEN.

There has been a great deal of rejoicing in heaven as those 597 souls were brought into the kingdom and we are all so very blessed to have been a part of ‘Declaring His Glory among the nations’

There will always be a need for more workers to go to the people of Uganda and I pray that it will be His plan to call me back again next year. I pray too that each person who has supported our trip in any way will know that they have been a part of what God has achieved.

Thank you ALL so very much for your prayers, your financial support and for the many items that were given for us to take with us to these very grateful and loving people.

Please know that you have helped some very needy people with the extra support that was raised for our trip this year. the funds were not merely 'absorbed into the general costs' they were used for specific purposes. Your generosity has not gone unnoticed by the King of Kings.

Here are some of the things we were able to do because of your generosity.

*Donate toward the purchase of a small generator for a local church.
*Provide testing and treatment for a Pastor's child suffering with seizures.
*Provide hospital care for a child with a severe leg infection in the hope that amputation would not be necessary.
*Provide treatment for a child with a large, painful, lipoma on her arm.

A A 4month old twin with previously untreated hydrocephalus (water on the brain) will receive treatment and follow up.

Michael was treated in the hospital for severe scalds and his wounds were dressed daily at Arise Africa by the nurses on the team. He is healing well.

A 17 month old with previously untreated hydrocephalus will receive treatment and follow up.

Pius received treatment for a dislocated knee sustained during a Boda accident. His friend was also treated for a hand injury. Sadly the Boda driver was killed in this accident.