Sunday 3rd April

Up at 5.30! We are two hours ahead in Uganda, so our body clocks were a little out of sync.
The first service at St Dunstan's church is the 8am, Rev Fredrick led the service in Lugandan the local dialect, the preacher was a lady called Rachael, who is an ordinand at the UCU in Mukono, she preached at all three services, the lectionary readings for the day were Job 1 and 1 Peter 4.
The Gospel is powerfully proclaimed in Uganda... no holds barred! we had translation for the first service, but the second service was in English. The first two services the church was full (hundreds of poeple) the third service - a youth service (for 18-30 yr olds) the church was about 1/3 full.
We were sat at the front with a retired Bishop, and at both services we were invited up to introduce ourselves, and we had our first of many many formal introductions. Everywhere we went this was the patten, introductions, greetings, testimonies, (and on quite a no of occasions) the word of the Lord.
After the second service we were taken by Ronie a young minister who pastors a sister church of St Dunstan (there are 5 sister churches to the main parish church) St Lukes Kirangira. A tiny church with a dirt floor and no glass in the windows, a congregation of about 50 filled the building.

St Luke's Kirangira

It was at this service that I gained a sense of the world wide Anglican Communion. We are using the same liturgies, saying the same prayers, singing the same hymns. That tiny church,  impacted me profoundly...these guys are praying for us! The scale/broadness of the Anglican church impacted me in a way I not imagined...we talk of the rich diversity of the Anglican church - but there in that tiny church I realised what that really means... it was a very moving and humbling experience to be with that congregation.
The second insight I gained was from Rachael's sermon:
She was talking about Jesus- the bread of life, she said "If you are sitting here thinking about your stomach and how you will feed your family today, you are not going to hear the Gospel and be fed by the word of God which is here in the church, your focus must be on Jesus and not your stomach and food for your family."
I have never been hungry, not really hungry like many of this congregation would have been - not knowing where your next meal would come from...
Jesus as the bread of life in this context is a difficult reality for me to comprehend...
We have so much - they have so little.

As I sit at home typing this reflection in my dust free, insect free, safe, clean study, hot and cold clean water at the turn of a tap, food in the cupboard with nothing to contaminate it, I'm free from fear, maleria, tropical desises, rats and wild animals.
I have only just begun to process the impact of this trip on my life as a follower of Jesus.

Later that afternoon we met up with the rest of the team at the Cathedral for a healing and deliverance service... wichcraft, demons and evil spirits are something the church in Uganda has to deal with...
deliverance ministry has a different dimension in this culture.
I remember Arch Bishop Henry Orombi speaking on this subject at New Wine last year.

I was a little concerned about what we might encounter out in the parishes...I was reminded by Sonja that we must daily pray to be covered by the blood of Jesus for protection in these situations, and that the pastor accompanying us would be experienced in these things.

I soon started to realise just how much the Lord had prepared the way for us..his protection over us, and the way my courage and confidence in Him has grown these past years, how the Lord has equiped us for this trip and every situation we might encounter.

We ended the day back with our family...tomorrow we will be at the Ugandan Christian University.