Dear brethren,
We thank you very much for your support. We are doing fine here in Busia, Uganda. My report of the Uganda School of Evangelism Alumni seminar is below. Our short course began on the 8th of October and ended on the 19th of October. We were taught by World video Bible School teachers on the subject of Hermeneutics in both English and Kiswahili.
In English our video teacher was brother Lindell Mitchell and we used the one I had translated from English to Kiswahili. The only difference was that we had to spend six liters of petrol for the generator to run the TV and DVD player. The long course began on the 22nd of October 2012. This time we are teaching the following subjects: 1st & 2nd Chronicles which is being taught by brother Ouma Christopher, brother Peter Ambaka from Lumakanda church of Christ Kenya, a graduate of Botswana School of Biblical studies is teaching Romans and Galatians. 1st and 2nd Corinthians are being taught by Samson Omutele a preacher of Babadogo church of Christ Nairobi Kenya.
Brother Raymond Bwambale, a graduate of Andrew Connally School of Preaching in Arusha, is teaching Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. I will be teaching Homiletics 3. These long course go for eight weeks instead of nine weeks as usual which will end on the 13th of December, and on the 14th to 16th we will be conducting the Uganda School of Evangelism’s third lectureship.
Last week and this week we used our old motorcycle to go worship in Nandwa church of Christ. The church is going on well. I have started going for evangelism after worship in Nandwa village. These two weeks I have been visiting members who have not been coming to church. Today two of the members I visited came to church. Today I visited one home and taught the owner about the gospel of Christ. God willing he will be baptized during this week. I hope to read from you.
The alumni report is below:
Dear brethren,
Thanks for all your generous support both financial and prayers which you are sending to us on a daily and monthly bases. Through your support a lot is being done here in East and Central Africa. There were over one hundred and sixty-six people under the captivity of Satan who have been made free through your supporting us train men here in Uganda. May God’s blessings be upon you all as you strive to serve Him day and night. The following is the report from our graduates:
ALLUMNI’S SEMINAR
I am sorry that I have not reported to you many events since Septembers alumni’s seminar. They started arriving on the Wednesday 26th and left on Saturday 29th at nine, after breakfast. The whole day of the 27th from 9:00 a.m we started hearing report from our graduates.
2012 Graduates
DANIEL OLOO (From Kenya)
He went back to Barber Church of Christ in Western Kenya. From March to September there have been no baptisms in Barber. Two people were restored. Up to September, there were 18 people meeting. Their giving has increased from 53/= shillings Kenya money to 130/= shillings. Due to lack of enough grass he sold the goats and bought one cow, which is doing good. He planted vegetables using the drip irrigation line which was given to him on the day of graduation. He has been eating those vegetables and selling some. He thanks you very much for that support. He went back to central Kenya where he used to preach before he came to school and did some evangelism. On March 6th he went to Sikalira church of Christ for evangelism, no baptism. On the 10th he went to Muramba church of Christ for evangelism. Five people were baptized. On the 19th she went to Nyahururu and visited Kiwanja, Mailinne, Ole Kalao churches of Christ, three people were baptized. From there he went to Ndadhi church of Christ in Nyeri and 2 people were baptized. On the 5th of April he went to Nyeri town church of Christ for evangelism and five people were baptized. On the 16th of April he went to Karatina church of Christ for evangelism and four people were baptized. In the month of August he attended the youth camp which was at Ahono church of Christ and 25 youth were baptized during that week. On the 17th of August, He went to Tingolo church of Christ for evangelism and there were no baptisms. The 20th of August he went to Sirisia for a three day seminar and nine people were baptized. CHALLENGES: Lack of proper place of worship and also lack of steady income. They cannot help each other. The church is surrounded with denominations which have proper places of worship. VISION: They plan to have a plot and build a church building on it when funds will be available. If he can be supported he can work more in the kingdom of Christ and many souls can be saved. He plans to plant a new congregation in Murumba township.
REMIGIO OMOLO (From Kenya )
He went back to Barber church of Christ. The goats he got, one gave birth to twins and all goats are in a good condition. With his drip irrigation line, he has planted tomatoes for home use and some for sale. He thanks you very much for those gifts which were given to him. He wishes you God’s blessings. He went into the same congregation brother Oloo went. Two people were restored, with no baptism from March to September. He found they were collecting 53/= Kenya shillings on Sunday. They have increased to 130/= . During the month of April he went to Port Victoria for evangelism and five people were baptized and a church was planted in that town. He was a companied with Oloo to Sirisia and Tingolo for evangelism where nine people were baptized.
JOHN MACHO (From Kenya)
He went to Genguluho church of Christ. From March to September five people have been baptized and two were restored. The total membership in March was 17 and now they have grown up to 32 people. He had some problems and he sold his goats. He has not used his drip irrigation line. The Genguluho congregation has started building their church building. He was requesting some funds to help them complete their church building.
STEPHEN MANG’ENI (From Uganda)
He went back to Bugatti church of Christ. He found 8 members meeting and it seemed that he has never been worshiping regular at Bugatti. His goats are doing fine. He has also planted vegetables using drip irrigation line. He has done no evangelism.
ONYANGO MOSES (From Uganda)
He went back to Namagenge church of Christ. 3 people have been baptized from March to September. There was no restoration. Total membership in March was eight and membership in September was 13 Christians. Their contribution in march was 500/= every Sunday but they have increased to 2000/=. His goats are doing well. He has used his drip irrigation line to plant some vegetables. He is very thankful for your support. He can support himself as he preaches the gospel, although he says it is not enough. On the side of evangelism, he says that they have united with other congregations in preaching the gospel and they do it every Saturday. Very soon there will be fruits. He says that they are still worshiping under a tree. They need your prayers.
SANDE JOSEPH (From Uganda)
He went back to Nabyunyu church of Christ. He found 21 members in March. There has been one baptism from March to September. Contribution in March when he went back was 400/= on Sunday, but now they contribute 1200 on most Sundays. One of his goats has given birth and they are all in good condition. In his area there is a river so he has not used yet the drip irrigation line, but he has planted vegetables a long the river. On 20th August he visited Karangarine church of Christ and they did house to house with brother Ndwiga for one week and one man was restored. He also visited Kerige village with brother Ndwiga and went house to house. 4 people were baptized and the church was planted in that village. Challenges: In Nabyunyu they don’t have a place to worship. In the house they had rented the roof was removed by the storm. They are currently meeting in a Christians home. Brother Sande’s father is dividing his land among his children and brother Sande is willing to donate a small portion of that land to the church. His father wants 300,000/= from them for registration of each child’s land to the local authority. Sande does not have that money, neither his brothers.
RUFINO MURAKA (From Kenya)
He went back to Sikalira church of Christ. Two people have been baptized from March up to September. There was one restoration. Total membership in March was 33 and at present they are 35. The contribution in March was Kgx 150 and they are still contributing the same. The goats he has are in good condition. He has used the drip irrigation line in planting vegetables. In April he was invited to go to each Christian for Kenya school of Preaching which at Sigomere church of Christ. After that they went to Mumiasi Town for house to house evangelism. Two people were baptized and the church was planted. A preacher is being sent to this new congregation every Sunday. In the month of May he was again invited to go and teach in Christian for Kenya School of Preaching where he taught the Synoptics of the gospel. In June he went to Namayika village and restored two old Christians. From 20th-23rd of June in company with Daniel Oloo, Remigio Omollo went to Sirisia for house to house evangelism and 10 people were baptized. Challenges: (1) Transportation (2) Few people have learned the word of God. Future plan: They need a place of Worship rented or owned.
OBAARE SYLVESTER (From Kenya)
He went back to Sikalira church of Christ in the same church of Ruffino Muruka. 2 people were baptized and one restored the same number of membership. He sold his goats because of school fees for his child as he had just left school and had no other way to raise money for the school fees. He is using drip irrigation line to plant vegetables for his family. On the 10th of March he went together with Daniel Oloo in Muramba for evangelism and 6 people were baptized. On the 1st of April he went to Kalamindi church of Christ with brother Julius Manyuru from Muramba church of Christ. While there they went house to house teaching the word of God and two people were restored. From May 23rd- 27th, together with brother Remigio Omollo, they went to Port Victoria where 6 people were baptized. The 1st of July they went to Tingolo and a church was planted in this village. August 15th -16th he went to Mulwanda church of Christ for house to house evangelism two people were restored. August 17th -19th went to Tingolo and went house to house and two people were restored.
ODWORI STEPHEN (From Uganda)
He went back to Nabwere church of Christ. From March to September there have been no evangelism done therefore there were no baptisms and restorations in that congregation. There were 15 members and the same are still meeting. Their collection every Sunday was 500/= in March and has increased to 1000/=. His goat is in good condition. He has not used the drip irrigation line given to him. He is just planning to start using it this season. In Nabwere they are in need of a place of worship. There is an unfinished building in which they are meeting. They need some money to own that land on which the building is on. Brother Odwori does not go to Nabwere every Sunday as he does not have transportation. The campaign for the churches of Christ in Bugiri, Namayingo and Busia districts are planning to have a house to house evangelism in that village.
PETER OTIENO (From Kenya)
He went back to Migori church of Christ in Western Kenya. From March to September he has baptized four and restored four. The membership in March was 51 people and the membership in September was 59 people. In March the contribution was Kgx 500/= shillings and it has decreased to Kgx shs. 450/=. His goats are doing good. He has been using his drip irrigation line to plant vegetables which he has used with his family and sold some for family income. On March 3rd 2012 he left U.S.o.E with Donnie and Paul to Migori. On the 4th March 2012 they went to Anding’o church of Christ. While there they went house to house teaching Christ. There was no baptism. On the 25th of April he went back with members of Migori church of Christ to do some house to house preaching. This time six men and two women were baptized. On the 6th of May together with Peter Okeyo, James Okumu of Anding’o church with Ochola Oguttu and his wife Karoline Auma went to Lwanda Kadem for house to house evangelism. There was no baptism. On the 16th of July 2012 together with Peter Okeyo, James Okumu went again to Lwanda Kademu and there was no baptism. On the 26th of August 2012 there was a seminar in Migori church of Christ and it was attended by denominational members whom they are still in need of more learning. On the 28th of August there were two baptisms of Mr. Micheal Oguttu Odedi and Constain Auma. They plan to plant a church in Lwanda Kademu. Migori church of Christ have a plan of making 15,000 burnt bricks for building their church building. The building will take 10,000 bricks and 5,000 bricks will be sold to help them with some money which will be used in building the church house. Brother Peter Otieno’s family has given to the church a piece of land on which the church is going to be built. The process is being done to transfer the ownership of the land to Kenya church of Christ. CHALLENGES: When there is death in church they lack contribution to help the family concerned. It was very hard for the church to take care of funeral expenses when Nafutali Aruma died. Anding’o church of Christ meets in a members home. There are some people who complain about that kind of set up. We need a good network among the alumni.
KAMBALE MUNDUWABO (From Congo)
He went back to Thako church of Christ. There have been no baptism since March and no restoration. The membership in March was 11 and in September was 5. This was because what brother Muhindo Munganga did. This brought had sold the church a plot of land with a building on it When brother Francis visited us. When he came back from school his family refused the church to meet in that building. They destroyed the building and removed the iron sheets to their home. Now the church in Thako have a case with that brother. The contribution was 1,000 in March and is still the same. His goats are doing fine. He lost his drip irrigation line on his way back to Congo.
PHILP LEEBU (From Uganda)
He went back to Kitoma church of Christ on the boarder of Uganda and Congo. From March to September one person was baptized and there was no restoration. Membership in March was12 people and the membership in September was 17. The collection in March was 2,000 and it is still the same. His goats are doing fine. He has not used the drip irrigation line yet because there have been rain in their area since.
EZEKIEL NDWIGA NJERU (From Kenya)
He went back to Kathangalire church of Christ. There have no baptism from March to September. There were 2 people restored from March to September. The membership in March was 8 people and in September the membership was now 10 people. He is planning to change his goats into getting a cow. He has not begun to use his drip irrigation line. We had some house to house evangelism from March to July in Kadhangalire and Kirigi village. There was no baptism. In August we did some house to house evangelism in Kadhangalire. One person was restored and we also went to Kirigi with brother Sande Joseph who had visited our church. Four people were baptized. Brother John Ndwiga said there is no preacher at Kirigi church of Christ. We need some help so as to rent an area and build on it a building. We plan to have fund raising drive in Kadhangalire on 11/11/2012. Challenges: He lacks transport to take him around evangelizing.
MAWA EMMANUEL (From Uganda)
He came from Mbuya church of Christ in Kampala but right now he is helping at Namungodi church of Christ. There have been no baptism but three people have been restored from March to September. Membership in Namungodi was 14 people but in September was 20 people in total. Contribution in March was 2000 but now it has increased to 5000 per Lord’s day when they assemble. Evangelism have been slow due to language barrier. He is a Lugubara from West Nile, Northern part of Uganda and in Namungodi people speak Lusamia. They had a seminar in Buswale where he participated in house to house evangelism with a translator. He also attended East African gospel Meeting Campaign where 8 souls were added to the Lord’s body. On the 18th of August 2012 there was a seminar in Namungodi and he is going to attend the Seminar at Namagenge. Challenges: He does not have a translator, there is fluctuation in attendance. People do not want to worship under a tree. Future plans: They plan to buy seats and a table for the church at Namungodi. We need about 40 iron sheets to cover our structure by June next year.
OUMA HILLARY
He is working with Nandwa church of Christ. Since March there have been two baptisms and there has been no restoration. In March the membership was 48 members and by September there have increased to 50 members. He did not get the goats because he wanted something different. He visited Okello Fred and one person was baptized. On the 17th of May he went for house to house evangelism in Sirere village and the was no baptism. He also went for house to house evangelism in Buswale and there was no baptism.
27th Nov. 2009 Graduates
OKOCHI JOSEPHAT (From Uganda)
He went to Junge village and planted a church there. From 2009 to September, 44 people were baptized and two restorations. Total membership in January was 32 and total membership by September was 35 people. September 2012 was 42 members attending church service. The contribution was on the average of 2000 per week before January 2010 but now they have increased to 3000 shillings per week. The goat which was given to him is in good condition. He used the drip irrigation line for two years and it is no longer in use.
JUMA SOLOMON (From Kenya)
He went back to Lugega church of Christ. There have been 19 baptisms and two restorations from November 2009 up to September 2012. The membership in September 2012 is now 35 Christians meeting on Sundays. Their contribution in 2009 was 35/= Kshs but now they are contributing an average of 100 Kshs every Sunday. He was give a piglet which he latter sold. The one bee hive which was given to him is giving him an income of $428 dollars in a year. He has used drip irrigation line to plant some vegetables for his home use. On the 2nd of February 2012 he went to Kagonya for house to house evangelism. During this campaign seven people were baptized and added to the kingdom of God. On the 10th of March 2012 he was among those who went to Muramba for evangelism where six people were baptized. On the 23rd of September there was evangelism at Lugega church of Christ and one person was baptized. CHALLENGES: They don’t have a church building. The church is meeting under a tree in brother Juma’s compound.
AYIENGA DAVID (From Kenya)
He went back to Lugega church of Christ in Western Kenya. Nineteen people have been baptized and two restored since November 2009 up to September 2012. The total membership is now 35 people. Their contribution in 2009 was 35/= Kshs. They have increased to 100/= Kshs average on Sundays. The pig he was given died but he is still getting some income from the beehive he was given. He has never used his drip irrigation kit as he is near the river where he plants his vegetables. He have been doing some home to home preaching since.
Out of 29 graduates of both last two graduations ten missed. Five from the first class and also five from the second class. Out of the ten who missed only was had a good reason of not coming to this alumni seminar that was Akilimali who had just gone back to Congo. On the second day after their reporting, we studied from World Video Bible School lessons on FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH taught by Charlie Diplam using a DVD player with a generator as the short course teachers we expected to teach them from USA did not come. We found that there are a lot basic things that we need to be reminded on. On that day after supper they started what they called the Uganda School Evangelism Alumni Club. They elected their officials. They talked a lot about things of how they can remain in touch with one another. Thank you very much for making this function to be what it was. May the Lord our God continue blessing you all as His word says in Acts 20:35. Let me stop here for now.
Yours
Francis Wechesa