Vehicle Break Down

At the airport, my contact Pastor Nelson was waiting for me. We got about half way to Kampala when a problem developed with the fan belt, so we took a van taxi the rest of the way.  We had to walk  to catch a taxi to the bus station the next morning to send me with a pastor to Masaka.

Interestingly, another pastor stopped who was going to the Pastors' fellowship that Nelson was going to. At that moment, Nelson said that we should all go to the fellowship and I could explain WILD. We did and now a whole group of churches were going to get involved the next week. John, who picked us up is the national director of the Foursquare denomination. The vehicle broke down, we connect with John  and Nelson gets the idea for me to share.  Is that God or what? They love the idea of the leadership training plus the youth leaders initiative and Biblical Worldview training for their youth. WOW!

               UGANDAN WILD LEADERSHIP TEAM - GRACE, PHILIP, EDWARD, NELSON, SAMUEL (MISSING - JOHN)

Samuel is a young pastor who is one reason why WILD must continue and have an impact in the Church.  - "Please send me as many materials as you can.  I am so interested in leadership development especially empowering and developing the youth in ministry - that's why I am interested and buying the WILD vision.  I need your training and teachings."  (Written on his business card)

An email received from him...

"Dear Mike, I never thought I would be writing to you at this moment, I greet you in the mighty Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I love you so much.  I would like to tell you that you left a great impact on my life after hearing from what you shared with us. You were really a blessing.  I never thought I would meet a person like you who believes in the young people. Being a young pastor I happen to be one of the victims who have experienced discouragement and being despised by the older generation.  The older generation has left us behind.

Even in that meeting I don't know whether you saw it, when you, Mike said, ‘I would like Samuel to come for that period of Biblical worldview training in April’, some of them were opposing it indirectly.  But God is faithful who have raised up people like you to tell the young people that God can use them, PRAISE BE TO GOD.  I would like to sit down and listen to you over and over again until it gets into blood and my whole being. It's a good word, good principles and applicable.  I need to master them.  Its a big problem that the Church is neglecting and pushing back the young generation and yet the world is opening its hands very wide to receive them (like Muslims, cults, communism).

Right now I am in my honeymoon, (got married 12/12).  God was with me and I managed to go thru the wedding ceremonies, The wedding was successful.  My wife sends greetings to you.  We love you, Looking forward to meet you.  Send my greetings to your wife."

                                                                                              Masaka church

Trainings, Kampala Church and Street Kids

I had the privilege of offering the WILD training at several locations.  One was two hours south of Kampala in Masaka.  The "building" had clay brick walls, a dirt floor and burlap type material for a roof covering.  We had to move closer together when it rained and the wind kept rolling the covering over to one side of the building.

In 1994 I saw a lot of orphans who lived on the street.  I did not see them on the streets in Uganda this time.  Pastor Nelson picked me up for training at his church, turned down a road and in front of me was a very nice hotel.  I joked asking if this was his church.  He said it was around back.   When you cross a little bridge behind the hotel, you are in the slum area of Kampala.  This church has tin on three sides of the building, the fourth side is open.  There is a dirt floor.  Behind the building is a railroad crate from which the church feeds the street kids.  At night the kids sleep "in" the church on the dirt floor.  I got a new meaning of being thankful on Thanksgiving  Day.

The joy of the Lord is in the faces of the church members.  There are adults but part of the congregation is the kids.  They have started a school, both primary and secondary and have a foundation to build an actual church.  They have a clinic, an orphanage and separate girls and boys homes.  Pastor Nelson does not take a salary from the church because they cannot afford to pay him.   What complaints do we have in our comfortable church buildings????

Three young Masaka friends - Mable who desires to become a lawyer (daughter of the pastor),  Sharon who desires to become a journalist, and Samson wants to be a doctor (son of the pastor).  They are the future of Africa, young Christian kids who can turn their country and continent around for Jesus.

One young lady I met in Masaka is Betty.  Her dad is Catholic, her mom a Muslim.  She is 26 and has her education through grade 7.  She has a great heart for learning and wants to complete her high school education.  I saw a heart that desperately wants to serve God and impact her country for Jesus. Betty latched on to the teaching that hopefully gives her direction and encouragement to pursue the goals and dreams God has placed in her heart.

Robert, Abbie and Mark, three young men working with Pastor Nelson to reach the street boys.  Abbie grew up on the streets as a Muslim and God got hold of his heart and he is now a Christian, finishing his college education and working with the street boys.  Meeting these three young men was an honor and privilege.  They are heroes of the faith.  They live out what it means to be a Christian.  They take the fact that Jesus died for their sins and that there is no other way to heaven except through Jesus.  AND they live out those truths to kids who have no hope, no future except Jesus.

JET LAG

It has taken a little longer to get the emotional "jet lag" out of me than other trips probably because of the poverty I saw and the enormous need for developing spiritual leaders in Africa and Asia.  It is overwhelming.  God is giving a clearer picture of what needs to be accomplished in order for the Church to have the impact we need in these parts of the world.  The worldview training for the group of international youth leaders WILD will bring here in April is so pivotal to reaching the younger generations for Christ AND to help renew their minds so they think like Jesus (Romans 12:1-2). 

I can see someone like Henry traveling throughout Africa developing key leadership points in different countries.  My role is the visionary, going into an area to establish a "beach head" or point where WILD can expand whether in a country or region. A unique opportunity I had at one large gathering of pastors was having two translators.  After I shared a thought, one translator spoke in Luganda.  Immediately, another translator would communicate in Swahili.  We even had a little French thrown in once in a while.  I really had to remember what I just said and where I was going with my next thought.  It was a riot!

RIPE FRUIT ON THE TREE

One of the goals I had for this Ugandan trip was to establish a WILD leadership team before leaving which we were able to accomplish.  WILD now has another "beachhead" from which we can launch into other areas of Uganda and the region of Kenya, Sudan, Somolia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.  Included in the team is a young woman, Grace and a youth pastor, Samuel.  They plan to translate the material into the national tribal language, Luganda, because in many villages, Luganda is better understood than English.  They desperately want me to return; I said I would send someone if not me.  Uganda is like a tree with ripened fruit.  I did not have to even shake the tree for the fruit to fall off. Another way I have been sharing this experience is to describe Uganda like a can not with a little puncture hole punched into it, but rather, with the lid blown off and the contents of the can spilling all over.

    SOME OF THE STREET KIDS WORKING ME OVER TO BUY THEIR CARVINGS AS THE PROCEEDS SUPPORT THEM

It will cost about $3000 to sponsor a youth pastor from Africa or Asia in April.  Have you ever considered sponsoring a pastor or even a partial sponsorship as an investment in the future of young people in another land?  Would you consider supporting WILD on a regular basis as the budget is over $100,000 this year?  Let me know if the Lord nudges you to support a youth pastor or get “WILD” with some of your finances.  Thanks!

I was able to head to Scotland and visit my brother Chris and family, Linda, Grace, Andy, and Molly.  What a joy to be with them.  I got to listen to Chris' heart (I left home for college when he was 8 years old), hopefully be a blessing to Linda and be "uncle" to the kids.  I also got to do something else I love - experience history...the history of Scotland with its castles and  heritage.  I am so blessed.  I have a wife who greatly believes in what God is doing through us, who lets me scoot off to different parts of the world and actually has more faith than I do.  Our children are such a joy and having them around is music to my ears.  God is allowing me to do something with WILD that I never thought was possible for me.  I am humbled and blessed.

MIKE