THOMAS' TRAVELS - SEPTEMBER 2010
KAMPALA, UGANDA:
1) The homosexual agenda, that is being promoted by money and perverts from the USA. "We are also very disappointed with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who are trying to impose this evil practice upon us under the guise of human rights, and also tying it to economic assistance." What a shame!
2) Islam. Moslems are building ornate mosques wherever possible, enticing poverty-stricken people with petro-dollars. The people I spoke with told me that they don't see Islam in terms of "moderate" and "radical".
The Andrew Palau Festival scheduled for September 25-26 could not come at a more critical time. In preparation for the Festival, there were four of us who trained 1,700 trainers, and these in turn are to train 15,000 counselors for an anticipated audience of 200,000. At times, my colleague P.J. Meduri and I team-taught, and at other times we went to separate venues. Most of the churches were located in depressed areas, but the believers gave themselves to fervent prayer for a moving of the Spirit. In one neighborhood, Natete, the pastor told me this story: "When we began our church, the area was a very dangerous place. Crime was high, women were afraid to go out after 5 p.m. lest they be raped, and Islam was on the increase. We started to preach the gospel of repentance and holiness. God began to work. Recently the civil authorities began to take note of the radical changes in the area, and it is now a much safer place. We also have a pastors' fellowship that meets weekly for mutual encouragement."
One of our training seminars where both P.J. and I taught, the pastor asked me to return and preach on Sunday. What a service we had! There were some 60 people present, and they sang for one and a half hours non-stop, and then added about 20 minutes of testimonies. I had one hour to preach, with interpretation into the local language. Several people came forward for prayer for healing. One woman testified that for two weeks she had had pain in her forearm, and said "Now the pain has gone." I saw another woman shaking her head quite vigorously while I was praying. Afterwards, she testified that for several weeks she had had severe headaches, but during the prayer she felt a surge of heat go right through her head and down the rest of her body, and the pain was gone!
On Sunday night, P.J. was invited to preach at a church pastored by a mutual friend, Martin Wandira. P.J. asked me to accompany him and pray for the sick. As we were going to the meeting, I had a keen sense that this was going to be a time of spiritual warfare. PJ preached a powerful sermon from Acts 19, on the authority of the name of Jesus over demons. At the invitation, four people came forward for recommitment. Then those who were sick were invited to come forward. Seven people responded. I spoke briefly from Isaiah 53 and then asked P.J. to join me in praying and the laying on of hands. A most unusual thing happened. For the first time in my ministry, as far as I can recall, all of them testified of being healed. One woman said to me, "As you prayed, I felt something leave my body".
Truly God is good, and to him be all the glory. These are not actions that can be programmed or worked up, they are none other than demonstrations of the sovereign mercy of God. I relate these events to encourage you in your own spiritual life.
Thank you for your prayers for me and this work to which God has called me. In my next newsletter, I will share more details about my plans for future ministry in Uganda.
God's blessing on you and yours,
1. Trainers: PJ, Bill and Fred
2. A training class in Kampala
3. A Mosque located next to the Festival office