In August 2017, the opportunity arose for me to make my very first trip to Uganda. Steve Fishpool (the lead elder of one of our Four12 partnering churches, Christian Life Center in Horsham, England) invited me to join him on a trip there, and I was keen to see what God is doing in this part of Africa.
Steve has been working into an area called Kapeka, which is is approximately 62 kilometres northwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. In this area, there are two established churches, an orphanage and a magnificent colonial-styled school building housing 300 children. The project is financed through a British Charity (City On a Hill church is involved with this charity called ‘Friends Reaching Out’), and it is a sight to behold. Godfrey Kweri, the lead pastor of these churches called New Covenant Church, heads up the work in Uganda and attended our Four12 Conference in Cape Town in 2016. Subsequently, in 2017, New Covenant Church began to partner with Four12, the beginning of an exciting new season for us all as partners in the Gospel. My wife Pam and I had hosted Godfrey during the Four12 Conference and found him to be a wonderful, godly man for whom we felt real affection, from the get go.
My wife Pam and I had hosted Godfrey during the Four12 Conference and found him to be a wonderful, godly man
After arriving at Entebbe airport, I made my way to Kampala to spend the weekend with Pastor Peter Nembhard from our Four12 partnering church in London, ARC. Peter was in Kampala for the weekend to officiate a wedding of one of his pastors, Davis Kunihira. Davis leads one of the congregations that Peter oversees in London and is now the husband of a wonderful Ugandan lady. It was a fantastic experience for me join in the wedding celebrations, and also to meet some other folks attending the wedding who are also involved in ministry around Uganda.
The Monday morning after the wedding, Steve flew into Uganda from South Africa where he had been attending the Four12 Apostolic Training Time in Cape Town. On his arrival, the two of us took a taxi to Kapeka. Godfrey and his wife welcomed us and hosted us in the available lodgings. The locals there live with no running water or toilet facilities, and for our stay, a ‘long drop’ toilet facility served our needs.
Over the period of two days, we met with a dozen pastors who wanted to know more about what Godfrey had told them about Four12 and our New Testament values. I also had an opportunity to meet with the staff who run the church school and was amazed at the depth of Christian values that the 300 pupils showed when singing and dialoguing with us. After breaking bread together with Steve and Godfrey, I made my way back to the Entebbe airport to fly home to Cape Town.
It is always a refreshing reminder to step out of our ‘normal’ conditions and be reminded…how wonderful the simple things in life are
Yes, the conditions were tougher than most of us would be used to ‘back home’, the different kinds of food slightly challenging at times, but the mosquito nets were a blessing and washing out of a bucket with cold water was invigorating in the mornings. It is always a refreshing reminder to step out of our ‘normal’ conditions and be reminded (once again) how wonderful the simple things in life are and how ‘blessed’ a lifestyle the majority of us are living in. My prayer is that our Four12 relationship with these churches in Uganda will allow them the opportunity to build His church well on solid New Testament foundations, and that we would be a mutual encouragement to one another – for our Lord’s name sake.
