One year ago, Manna Ministry worked in the Makerere Kivuulu area of Kampala. As the love of Christ was displayed through the giving of food to the people in greatest need and the gospel of Jesus Christ was shared, a church was soon started. This new church in Makerere Kivuulu has now been involved in planting three churches in Kaswa, which is over four hours away by car.
How did this happen? Here’s the story. Two of the ladies who came to faith in Jesus Christ in Makerere Kivuulu and became a part of the new church there were from Kaswa. They wanted their village to have a church like the one they were now a part of, so a group from the Kampala Christian Church Network traveled with them to Kaswa, preached the gospel and planted a church. Let me let Pastor Deo tell you the story.
It began with two ladies coming to faith in Jesus Christ who had a passion to see their village have this same experience with Jesus Christ! I now know firsthand why the Apostle Paul evangelized the cities. If you can reach the cities, you can reach the villages. It’s like dropping a pebble into a lake. The splash it makes is small but its ripples travel far. This year we chased the ripple from Kampala to Kaswa near Ft. Portal in Western Uganda.
As we began to plan this year’s mission trip with Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Alexandria, Alabama, it seemed a natural to include a few days of ministry in Kaswa. Why? Because a volunteer team from their church last year helped to plant the church in Makerere Kivuulu. They were there on the opening day of food distribution in February, 2007. They shared their testimonies of faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. They saw the birth of the first believers who began the church in Makerere Kivuulu. The volunteer team spent almost four days in Kaswa this February and the Lord blessed. Many people came to faith in Christ. The team shared the gospel, and the Lord used them to strengthen the new believers in Kaswa. Together they prayed over a new area for a church plant, saturated it with the gospel of peace, and found a person of peace who was willing to open his home for a Bible study. That happened four weeks ago. Today, I learned that three more churches have been born in this area.
Thanks, Mt. Zion, for your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and for being willing to go to a different land, culture and people to share God’s love. Thanks, Kampala Christian Church Network, for laboring long in Makerere Kivuulu and Kaswa. Thanks, IMB missionaries, for consistently communicating a vision of church planting to the leadership of KCCN. And thanks to all of you who gave to Manna Ministry and opened the door for the gospel of Christ to be shared in a place filled with poor people who are predominantly Muslim.
If you would like to go to Kampala to engage in the Lord’s harvest there, contact me. I will be glad to talk to you. Be sure to look at the images below of our time and experiences in Kaswa and continue to pray for the church there.
