At 9:30 a.m. our group split up into two groups with one going to Ruhunga and the other going to Rubindi.
Jordan Gillreath, Trevor Gillreath, and Mike Moyer travelled with Bro. Bryan Stensaas to the village of Ruhunga. The group had the privilege to go soul winning with Pastor Robert from the Ruhunga Independent Baptist Church and Pastor Caudian from Mbarara. Robert was saved while listening to Life Radio, a ministry of Missionary Bryan Stensaas. He traveled 30 kilometers to attend Independent Baptist Church with Pastor Bryan Stensaas. He has been the pastor here for a short time, but is already seeing God do some great things.
People again were very receptive and listened as we handed out tracts and John/Romans Bibles to the villagers, and God allowed us to see souls saved. While out soulwinning, God brought to our path the Deputy Headmaster of Kuhanzya Primary School. She wanted to come see what the "muzungu" (white people) were doing. When she found out we were Christians telling others of Christ, she asked us to come and speak to her entire school! God worked it out so that we were able to schedule the meeting for 3:00 p.m.
Before heading over to the school we were graciously fed authentic Ungandan food by Pastor Roger and his wife. Lunch included rice, beans, matooke (mashed banana), and a beef/chicken stew.
After lunch, we headed to the school, and it was amazing to see the kids flood out of the classrooms excited to hear the Word of God. Once the kids were seated on the grass, Pastor Robert gave a short testimony and told them about his church. Bro. Moyer then preached a short sermon encouraging the students to obey what the Bible says about salvation, and Bro. Stensaas preached on salvation going back to the basics to make sure the kids understood the Gospel. The kids were very well behaved and listened very well. After the service, each child and teacher there were given a John/Romans Bible and a Gospel tract. To God be the Glory, 640 students plus teachers were able to hear the Gospel message today from this Divine appointment.
Tom Apusen, Mike Strouf, Jen Strouf and Barbara Kiel headed to Rubindi along with Matt Stensaas to meet up with Bro. Vincent. Bro. Vincent came from a Pentecostal background but was reached through Life Radio, a ministry of Independent Baptist Church. He was listening one day to a broadcast and became convicted about his religion. As he continued to listen to Life Radio, he decided to visit Independent Baptist Church. On his first visit to the church, he decided he did not like to hear from the muzungu (Matt Stensaas) so he left but he continued to listen to Life Radio. Eventually Matt Stensaas was able to follow up on him and Bro. Vincent was converted.
Bro. Vincent started going through the Discipleship Program then entered the Bible Institute of Independent Baptist Church. He realized one day that someone needed to reach the people in his village and he surrendered to God to be that preacher. He started the church a few months ago and is now running around 18-20 people in attendance on Sundays.
He supports himself and his family by growing bananas and raising pigs which are then sold to pay for his expenses. When Bro. Vincent got saved, he was persecuted by the members of his former church. They even went to the extent of saying that he was demon-possessed. A couple of his acquaintances from his former church, wanted to see this "demon-possessed" man and they too became Christians.
Bro. Vincent has endured the persecution and is now starting to see the fruits of his faithfulness. We went to the town market to pass out John/Romans Bibles and Gospel tracts. Several people trusted Christ as their only Savior. We were limited as to the number of pictures we could take. Ugandans in certain areas do not want to be photographed as they don't know for what purpose their pictures are going to be used.
After passing out tracts, we headed back to Bro. Vincent's house for lunch consisting of cooked bananas in peanut sauce. We also had some cabbage and a spinach type vegetable dish. The Ugandans like to serve big portions to their guests and there was no way for us to finish what was served. It was delicious but just too much.
After lunch we headed back to the market area to pass out more John/Romans Bibles and tracts. Several more people got saved.
Until next time…