Dividing and Conquering for Jesus

Dividing and Conquering for Jesus

Today the team of 27 divided into two – the Charlotte/WVA group teamed up and went to Koro, while the New Albany team worshipped and served at Gulu Community Church.  Here are two summaries of one incredible day . . .

Charlotte/WVA

As this much anticipated day awaited everyone on the trip, we all were so excited to experience our first church service during our Uganda adventure.

The service started at the farm with a brief introduction from all of us and it ended with an extremely powerful testimony from one of our own—Joni.  Being that it was a hard performance to beat, the worship team from the church blew everyone out of the water with an uplifting and tear filled performance, most of the crying was done by Patrick. As Dustin lead with a Sunday school message from Matthew 5:1-12, the people from all over kept filing into the chapel one by one…some walking three hours just to attend a church service. There was a few more songs and dances from the worship team and more crying from Patrick. Pastor John had to deliver an impromptu sermon (12 hours to prepare) and had the SOI team deliver an impromptu rendition of “Amazing Grace”. The service concluded with two more amazing testimonies which brought several cheers, claps, amens, and tears from Patrick…again.

We quickly shuffled to the closest village, traveling on a very, very bumpy road. We arrived and received a celebrity’s welcome with the villagers singing and doing some sort of praise god call that only Miranda has mastered.

We left there quickly and made our way back to the farm to start a medical clinic. We had Char from Huntington and 3 other local doctors leading the way. They were able to diagnose and see approximately 180 people in three hours. We were able to serve everyone that walked through the “door”, pray for the sick and weak, and watch John chase chickens and blow bubbles with the kids.

For the grand finale of our day we finished with a soccer match. As the other team suited up in their matching jerseys, we waited on the sidelines for the game to begin. Our team was undefeated and had a team with half seasoned vets and half rookies. The first score of the game was made by Kelly with her first touch of the soccer ball and, unofficially, the first white girl to ever score against a Ugandan team on Uganda soil. The game ended with a score of 2-1 and a victory for the SOI team, just kidding. We’re all winners. The day ended with everyone gathering in the middle of the field with two more testimonies and a prayer almost circle. God is so good.

New Albany

Pastor David here for the New Albany update.  For our crew the day began early – most of us went to bed after midnight, and breakfast started promptly at 7 followed by a significantly less prompt bus ride to Gulu Community Church (we are working towards a clear understanding of Africa time.  “The service starts at 8am, we’ll be there to pick you up at 7:30” can be translated as: “the service really gets rolling at 8:20ish, we’ll pick you up at 5 ‘til”).  We had the incredible experience of worshiping at Gulu Community Church, and I had the privilege of preaching God’s Word.  I told the congregation that since I’m accustomed to such a wildly exuberant group at NAPC, I hoped they would at least throw out a couple Amens or praise the Lords to make me feel at home (is it wrong to lie from the pulpit?).  Pastor George was as welcoming, hilarious and passionate as ever.  Among many highlights of the service, my personal favorite was when he told his church that he didn’t want it to feel like he was officiating a funeral service and that we need to, like King David when the Spirit moved upon him a couple millennia ago, dance as we worship.  The best part of this was that Andy Gurd looked like he was about to go for it.  But he had already been clapping for awhile to the beat (which was daunting enough) and pulled back at the last moment.

Following the second service we ran back to our hotel for a quick bite to eat and change of clothes and then returned to conduct a medical clinic in the church with the help of GCC leaders and the local health authority, Gulu Public Health Services.  It was an inspiring performance by our doctors, nurses, pharmacists and pray-ers.  They labored for five straight hours without a break and worked as hard as they could to compassionately serve the people who came, around 400 in all.  One huge blessing for me was that while they worked, I was able to spend two solid hours with Pastor George.  He gave me a detailed description of GCC’s ministry, and we caught up in most areas of life.  What an encouragement to spend time with him and to continue to build our partnership.

I’ll close with a huge shout-out to our Columbus teammates who we’ve met as a result of this mission trip, the “Mt. Carmel +1 posse.”  Meredith, Ariel, Courtney, Promod and Scott have been a blast to serve with.  They’ve been incredibly hard-working and we are so glad they joined us.   And the “+1” in that equation is Chris, Jacki Fitzgerald’s son who lives in Denver and will soon be moving to Columbus (not really – we had hoped to talk him into it until he said that he’d “sooner move to Gulu”).

PS – Attorney/Preacher Ken, I’m 8,000 miles away and still heard that you rocked the pulpit at NAPC – impressive.

PPS – Jim Haley, I still can’t believe you own a Shih Tzu.