Church Day

We had three church services today.  After the first service a small girl was brought to Pete who had been having convulsions.  He asked me to help pray for her.  Almost immediately into the prayer she went into a convulsion/seizure and we were just keeping her from hurting herself. Just spinning in our arms like a writhing snake.  She slowed after about 5 minutes and seemed to be sleeping. We continued to pray.  After a few more minutes she started to convulse again and we carefully carried her into one of the rooms trying not to drop her as she squirmed.  We sat on the floor and we laid her on Pete's lap where she finally fell asleep again. We continued to pray for her when Pete started to sing a worship song. I can't even remember the song, but i knew the words and sang too.  We had just gotten started singing when she finally work up and was asking what happened.  She was disoriented and we told her what happened and she got up and continued. We finally found her step father in church and talked with him for a time.  He said it has only happened to her a few times.  We kept asking if there were parents while the episode was going on, but no one could find them.  Pray for Sandy as Pete found her later in the day having another episode and he said she was another person.

The Sunday church services were good.  The first was in English and not too crowded.  The second was in Acholi and packed. I tried to upload a video of the worship music, but bandwidth has been too low here and in fact as I write this we have lost our Internet connection. The kids did a play at the beginning of service on David and Goliath. Something I will always remember.

We visited a prison here and I and another person on our team were asked to share testimony.  I only learned this as we sat in a room with over 100 inmates and I was nervous.  What could I possibly share with these men that they could relate to?  I was just hoping that the other person would share.  Then the Acholi sermon started. They were translating in English.  As soon as they mentioned the verse I knew I would be sharing.  Exodus 15 which is about Moses and the Israelites being in the wilderness. It was somewhat comforting, but still I was nervous.  As I started and slowly told my very abbreviated testimony through a translator it seemed to all come together.  They clapped at points and I felt like there was at least some small way that they related to the story.  Andrew Schey got up after me and did a powerful sermon from Philippians.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death and so somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 3:7-14.

It was an amazing point in the trip.

Today we are headed slowly back to Kampala where we will stay the night and head for South Africa early tomorrow morning.