update 21st-24th from Lee

Hello everyone,

This is an update of the events of Thursday the 21st – Sunday the 24th. Having finished repairing the volleyball court on Wednesday, on Thursday morning we built and installed futbol goal posts in the field adjacent to the volleyball court for the youth to use as well as finished preparations for the youth conference we put on at the church on Friday and Saturday.

In the afternoon Ian and I went to the condemned section of the main prison here in Jinja and shared our testimonies with the fellowship there and Ian taught from the scriptures. Our aim was to encourage them to increase in faith and love and hope that they might come closer to God. Meanwhile, Erin spent the afternoon at Amani Baby Cottage teaching and caring for the young ones.

Roughly 100 kids between the ages of 11-18 showed up for the two day conference. The cost was around two American dollars and if they didn’t want to eat it was free. The “theme” of the conference was “get active”. The intent was to equip and encourage kids in discovering, developing and using their gifts to serve the body and reach out to the lost. During the mornings there was worship and presentations and three teaching sessions. Each of us taught from the scriptures at one of the sessions. In the afternoons we spent time playing volleyball and futbol among other things with the youth as well as observed their dance and drama presentations they had put together to encourage one another. Overall the conference was a success and the youth were genuinely encouraged and strengthened in their understanding of who they are in Christ. I was able to spend some good one-on-one time with a few of the youth teaching them from the scriptures.

Sunday we helped lead worship for two services held here at CCJinja. After the fellowship meetings Ian and I headed to the prisons and Erin headed out for Amani to spend the afternoon loving the toddlers. At main prison Ian and I met with the fellowship which has formed within the general convict section which is directly above where we were on Tuesday. This time Ian shared his testimony along with some other things on his heart first and then I spoke next. I shared my testimony and then taught the prisoners from the scriptures about God’s love for them and how much He’s thinking good things about them about how they’re His poem. As a result of this God wants to love other people through them. This was the main thrust and it had a good response from the prisoners. I think the count by the prison officials was 109 prisoners crammed into narrow dirty hallways worshiped and meet with the living God.

I’ve been praying to learn from the poor and the children while on this trip. And this day I felt as if God answered as I watched one of the prisoners during a time of greeting and announcements; which I explain in the following poem. First I would like to say how strange the prisons are here. In America visiting prisoners is a heavily regulated and monitored. In Uganda at the maximum security prison we entered without any identification without any check, except for asking if we carried phones or money, and proceeded unsupervised into the very quarters of inmates and worshiped the living God with them, our brothers. It was unnerving at first but the Spirit brought us power in the midst of offensive smells and sights. Now the poem…


Main Prison Teaching (08.24.08)
Inspired by seeing Stephen give some used clothing to an impoverished prisoner at the bible study at main prison

Today these prisoners
are my teachers
their simple complex faces
are painted with a mixture of colors
hues of curiosity and pensive moods
testing my words for black or white
they listen with open ears
and I with open eyes
that see the poor
come low even bowing
to receive wrinkled, mismatched
used clothing no one would buy
in better lands

Pleated khaki pants with cuffs
white undershirt with mysterious red stain
he grabs them firmly
with brown sandpaper hands
still dirty from digging in the garden
my eyes trace up along
his stringy insect-like arms
whose fat has been chiseled away
by disease or too little food
and seeing his face
I find the richest
expressions of humility and gratefulness
in a smile, in the joy
beaming through his eyes
which peer through layers
of tears that could pour
endlessly from the well spring of his soul

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom
and heaven came to him
there in the prison
and the brown man silent
spoke to me “do you see
what I receive
or only pants and shirt?”
as if in a single sentence
to expose the delusion,
the convulsive addiction,
the pedestal of wealth
I look out from
as if to spot the smoke
of fires that threaten
the framework below me
He calls me to climb down
and cross through
the needle’s eye
no matter what the cost


Prayer requests:

Today we attempted to hold a youth conference and time of encouragement and gift giving to the kids at the village of Lumuli but due to a scheduling conflict we were forced to move it to Thursday. Of course we had to first drive all the way to the village to find out. Please pray for God to move in power and fill the youth with His Spirit.

Also, we are taking a two-day break on Tuesday and Wednesday to go on a safari on the northwest side of the country. Please ask for God to keep His hand over us.

Lastly the youth assistant has come down with a bad case of malaria. The medicine he’s taking seems not to be working. Please ask God to accelerate his recovery.

Additional praise report:

I’ve been able to speak encouragement to and share visions and pictures with 6 people so far who are on staff here or, in one case, here from another country for a few weeks. Pray God continues to refresh the staff here.

Your brother,
Lee