Day 5

An update to Helen’s previous post…
The Rest of the Story
Yesterday we told you about a little girl whose name we now know to be Suzanne. We want to finish telling you about God’s amazing plan for this family… Suzanne showed up once more today as soon as we arrived at the church. She again ate with us, and after a while she soiled her clothes. So Melissa, Krista, Adolph, and myself went to look for her mother so we could get her a change of clothes. When we found her mother just down the street, a man came walking up to us. It was Suzanne’s father (Steven). Interestingly enough we had just prayed yesterday evening for this man, and now we were meeting him. With a smile on his face, he explained to us how happy he was over his wife having new joy and that we loved his daughter. We asked him to come to the crusade this evening (Thursday). And he, along with his wife and Suzanne, showed up.
After the presentation of the Gospel (The Bridge to Life by Donnie) we asked all who prayed to receive Christ to join us at the church, where we would counsel them. As people filed into the church I looked for Steven, but he didn’t show up. I was heart broken. But how faithful God is to answer our prayers! After beginning to counsel those who had come, in walked Steven. After counseling him, the entire family stood before us beaming with joy. Isn’t God amazing! They are planning to attend Sunday morning, and we are quite sure that Suzanne will be back for lunch tomorrow.
Helen

Cross One Off My Bucket List

The top three things on my bucket list (the list of things I want to do before I kick the bucket…in case you haven’t seen the movie) were: 1.) have donkey basketball at CHFBC (ask me later if you don’t know what Donkey basketball is…or google it), 2) drive a race car on a real track over 160 mph and 3) do The Bridge to Life Gospel Demonstration in Africa. And…we did it! We did the Bridge to Life in Africa. This was the second night of our Open Air Crusade and although we could not bring any of the supplies we normally use on such a trip, we found everything we needed within a few blocks of the church. The men at the neighborhood lumber yard not only provided the wood but were happy to fabricate the bridges and cross for free.

The Bridge to Life is an adaptation of The Bridge track made famous by the navigators. It is a sermon that illustrates two false bridges to heaven…the bridge of good works and the bridge of religion both symbolized by long boards that break when I try to cross them. Then, the cross that has been standing by in the corner is brought and found to bridge the Valley of Sin perfectly with enough strength to get me to the other side. It is quite dramatic and the Bugandan people received it enthusiastically. At the close of the message, the sight of men, women and children coming toward the stage to receive Christ is something I will never forget. We directed them to Luzira church which Dolores Reyna had set up as a counseling area. As I walked through after the altar call, there was a holy hum of salvation as I watched our team sharing the gospel and one by one saw people bow their heads to pray. Today WAS the day of salvation. I have had the opportunity to do this demonstration in three countries but this was by far the most impactful to me.




The Gospel WILL be proclaimed…by the proclaimer.

Another high point of our day was a meeting Stephen and I had with Pastor Enock and several Luzira church members to train them on the deployment of three “proclaimers” which are incredible digital audio players I lovingly refer as “scripture in a box.” Faith Comes By Hearing is an visionary mission agency that has developed these small black boxes that have the entire New Testament in an easy-to-understand version that has been dramatized using actors and music. In addition, though these unique units are half the size of a shoe box, they can be heard by over 300 people and are powered by rechargeable batteries that can be charged by plugging into AC power, by a solar panel attached to the back of the unit and even by a hand crank when no direct sunlight is available. Since Faith Comes By Hearing had already produced a dramatized version of the New Testament in the Lugandan language and are currently seeking points of contact to distribute them, our mission venture was a natural fit. They donated three of the units for us to deploy through Luzira Community Church. At the meeting yesterday was the first official “proclaimer evangelist” named Ruben. When he saw how the units worked he lit up like a 1000 watt light bulb and accepted the challenge immediately to take the Word of God to a remote island that has no witness currently. He has been so excited that he has already asked one of our members to accompany him to the island this week! Pray about this opportunity with us, I am not sure of the timing but it is awefully hard to tell Diane Elrod “no” so I will rely on her to discern God’s will in this matter. Hearing the word of God in Lugandan is more like music than any language I have ever heard. Please pray for this ministry because it is our goal that Luzira Community Church be missional in it’s DNA and they are answering the challenge with fervor.