This past week we are hunkered down in a quaint little guest house in Kampala not because of any COVID related quarantine, but waiting out politically charged riots and protests, which we expect will continue on and off during the 50 day count down until elections. We are safe and are thankful for the protection we have experienced, and the on-going prayers on our behalf from so many of you. By the time we send this we will be back in Jinja continuing the count down.
This Thanksgiving season is for us, a mix of looking forward with expectation and looking back with gratitude. This week’s political unrest was an unexpected reminder of God’s protection and is definitely on our “Thankful for” list this year. We are also thanking God for Caleb’s cousin JT, his wife Ashley and their three girls. As a family they represent nearly two decades of service here in Uganda. The impact they have had on individuals, and the community is unmistakable. We are praying for God’s continued provision for them, and that they will be warmly received in the Canadian community that awaits them!
October came and went with no news from the NGO board about receiving our NGO (Non Government Organization) status. We are hopeful to hear word before mid December when government offices close down for the month and we need to apply for another visa extension. This month we are excited to introduce you to, some of the people and ministries that we have made connections with for potential collaborative ministry. We are thankful to God for these people and their commitment to serve and glorify God!
Please Pray
- That God’s peace, rule and reign would be evident in Uganda’s election process
- That we would trust the Lord in our NGO process, and Visa renewal
- For team Uganda as it is built with the people of God’s choosing, in His timing, and accompanied by His financial provision for ministry work as it unfolds to the will of our good and faithful God
- That people here in Uganda would know God’s love through ministries like Something Deeper, Sangaalo’s Babies Home, ITEM, and through willing servants like Stephen
- For wisdom in decisions our family will make surrounding the potential for political unrest in the coming days to wisdom about schooling options for our boys, and the financial ability to do what is best for our family as it relates to their education
We had the opportunity to visit Something Deeper Ministries this past month. After living in Kampala for 5 years Isaac (a native Ugandan) and Rachel Mubezi (native of Washington State) decided to go back to Issac’s home village in the Iganga area to start a clinic. Isaac is an excellent surgeon and is currently working in the government hospital as the only specialized surgeon in the district of over 2 million people. While visiting, Rachel gave us a tour of the small clinic they have started as well as the hospital they are building. Their hope is that the hospital will be open by Christmas of this year.
Once the tour concluded we headed to the Mubezi’s home which neighbor’s the village donated land the hospital is being built on. We discussed many things over a lovely lunch on their veranda while our “littles” played with theirs. Their ministry vision is to have a fully functioning hospital, but their hopes include expansions on the hospital, to have a chaplaincy program, continued collaborative efforts for evangelism and outreach, to see a gospel preaching church planted in their village, and to see women in village learn English. We shared our hopes of evangelism through Mobile clinics and utilizing ABWE training materials for church strengthening and church planting and other potential collaborative ministry. On our walk through fruit trees and gardens of produce down to their fish ponds we heard of Isaac and Rachel’s desire to be used by God as an example in the community of wise stewardship of both their land and business, as they grow and sell produce and fish. Would you join us in prayer for the Mubezi family, and the staff of Something Deeper Ministries who are serving God by meeting both medical and spiritual needs?
Over the past year we have had ongoing conversations about ministry with Stephen Aligaweesa. Stephen is a gentleman we have known for many years and have watched his love for God’s word and his desire for the communication of God’s word grow. Stephen has completed medical training and currently serves as a Clinical Officer, but he hopes to continue Bible training and prays that God will direct him into the pastorate. Caleb and Stephen had occasion to be part of a rural Bible training conference put on by ITEM (International Training and Equipping Ministries) where Stephen ended up doing translating from English to Luganda. We are thankful for Stephen’s heart for God’s word and God’s church. Please pray with us, alongside Stephen, as God’s plan is at work and unfolding.
Caleb was introduced to ITEM and Jim Glasscock through a mutual pastor friend from Indiana. We met Jim, his wife Amber and their family from Butler Indiana, here in Uganda shortly after we both arrived. They told us that they knew who Caleb was because years ago their kids were involved in the DeKalb County YMCA’s kids soccer league that Caleb coordinated. Now here we are in Uganda connecting ITEM to ministries and churches in the rural areas of Jinja district for Bible training conferences. What a small world!
Sangaalo Babies Home is run by our good friends David and Damalie Kimuli. We have known them since our first training in Uganda over 15 years ago. They and their staff have been caring for babies and young children for many years. We are looking forward to volunteering at the babies home on a regular basis and hope to coordinate Bible training for pastors their area. We thank God for their hearts for and service to orphaned children and to the people in their community.
We thank God for His keeping of us this first year of service with ABWE in Uganda, for the generous gifts made to the feeding initiatives during the strict months of our lockdown, for directing us in reaching out to our Ugandan community, for the ministry connections we have made and for using you, His church in our lives and the lives of many here in Uganda.
Counting our Blessings this Thanksgiving,
The Mitchells,
Caleb, Alair, Nico, Nate, Nora & Noel
ABWE Uganda
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