First Update from Carla in Uganda

carla-in-ugandaOn Sunday night, Fr. Looker received an e-mail from Len Showalter of Len Ministries updating everyone on their safe arrival and progress thus far.  Here is the email in its entirety.

   Our team arrived safely in Mityana after traveling for 32 hours.  We were greeted by Elisha who then drove us for about a two-hour drive to the hotel we are staying at.  It is very clean and we feel safe which is important here.  We arrived at the hotel a little after 2:00 AM and didn’t get to sleep until after 3:30. We were very tired.
     We all rested off and on most of Saturday.  We saw our first wedding celebration here at the hotel, Enro Hotel. Since it is the rainy season, the power is turned off when it rains or there is thunder and lightning. It was off most of Saturday. Pastor Robert and Esther Mponye joined us for dinner. It was wonderful getting to visit with them and we are looking forward to being with them this coming week.
     Sunday morning, we were united with Pastor Guy and Danielle Yetna at breakfast. They arrived around 2:00 AM. It was wonderful seeing the again.  Pastor Guy came from Ivanovo, Russia to help teach this training and his travel was 42 hours to Mityana.  Danielle came from Cameroon, so her travel wasn’t as long.  Next year we will be doing this same training in an English speaking church in Cameroon.
     Pastor Robert picked us up for church.  When we arrived at the church, praise and worship began and it was lively and anointed, (led by Esther).  Pastor Len preached a powerful word about the importance of Christians to plant “spiritual” seed (Matthew 13).  While Len was sharing, Pastor Robert interpreted English into Ugandan.  When Len did an alter call, there were over 60 people that came forward for salvation or assurance of their salvation.  He did another alter call for people that wanted to be led by the Holy Spirit to go out into the world and share the Gospel. There were over a hundred that came forward for that alter call. It was a powerful time!While we were at Robert’s church, Pastor Guy preached at a church out in the bush, about a half hour away.
     Please continue to pray for the pastors and leaders that will be taking this training this week.  Pray that God will give them the mind of Christ and that the people we come in contact with will be open to the Gospel.
     May you be blessed abundantly for going on this journey with us.
With our love,
Pastor Len, Marcia, and Carla
Please continue to pray for Carla, and the entire mission team.

David Lawrence to Preach at Church of the Messiah

David & Kris LawrenceThis Sunday, August 7th, David Lawrence will be returning to preach at Church of the Messiah.  Over a decade ago, David and Kris Lawrence packed up everything they owned and moved their entire family (three daughters and two sons) to the Middle East.  Ever since then Church of the Messiah has been a ministry partner with David and we have been blessed to hear all that has been accomplished in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond in his years spent abroad.  This Sunday, at our 10 o’clock service, David will have an opportunity to share details with us face to face and give us all the updates we can handle.  Be sure to join us this Sunday because this is one service that you will not want to miss!