Ministry Partners
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2
You will receive this post a day late, as I was not able to work on it until this morning. By the time we left the last of two prisons yesterday and crossed the border, it was 6pm. This was a different border than we have crossed at before so we did not know that we would not be able to find a hotel to stay at for three hours. Thankfully, we were finally able to find one in Jinja at 9pm! Aaron is a master driver and kept us safe over the bad roads and truck traffic. As we approached the border I started counting the semi-trucks lined up to cross, there were 500+ but Aaron was able to get us around them so we did not have to wait in their line which he said would take a couple of days. The process for us at the border took 45 min. but as we left the border I counted 95 trucks who had crossed but were waiting for final police checking. As we headed toward Kampala we were now driving in the dark and Aaron then had to navigate passing all the trucks that had completed the crossing and were headed in the same direction. Some trucks, cars and motor bikes were driving WITHOUT headlights or taillights on and then there are the people who walk right next to the road wearing dark clothing. At one point, a fancy speeding car decided to enter the oncoming lane on our right and there were two women in front of us, wearing dark clothes, that were trying to cross the busy roadway. I am not sure how he actually missed them but he did, God’s protection was on them for sure. It was evident that many of you have prayed for our travel, thank you. It was the worst border pile-up crossing I have ever been involved.
But I must tell you about yesterday. The first prison, Vihinga Prison, we went to was about an hour drive and there were 833 prisoners there. The leadership there was a bit different and the O.C. very “cool”. Because the final prison was a two-hour drive, we only presented the salvation, forgiveness and apology messages of our crusade. I cannot tell you how hot it was and all of us were in an open field under the full VERY hot sun. I am not sure how the inmates as well as Edward and Aaron were able to withstand it. Alfred held our umbrella over me so the two of us were somewhat shielded but it did not deter the men from listening or responding to all three messages. With it being so hot under the full sun, we wanted to allow to inmates to go eat and go back to their wards so we did not wait for their testimonies.
Our drive to Shikuza Prison where there were 670 men took 2 hours. We were received by a very nice Deputy O.C., the guards and a Chaplain. We were taken to an open field with a very long building, on my right, of inmate “wards” with a narrow overhang and since the sun was in a certain position, it created a narrow long path of shade for the prisoners and us. That shade got wider the longer we were there. Again, because of it being late we deleted the “Discipleship” message which I really dislike doing but their dinner time and counting time was shortening our time. They learned they could make good choices today by receiving Christ as Savior, forgiving someone else or themselves and taking responsibility for their actions by forgiving another inmate or guard and shaking hands. During the crusade, I talked about how those good choices would set them free and bring peace to their minds and hearts.
It was wonderful to observe the inmates faces by the time we finished, dark, sad faces in the beginning now greeted us with such huge smiles. And then, they did something we had never witnessed before, they stood, put their hands in the air and jumped high as they shouted, “I am free.” They did that not once, not twice but 6 times with the Deputy O.C. joining them in the end and so did I at their invitation. Some shouted their love for me and invited us back as we left
WHAT A POWERFUL WAY TO END OUR MINISTRY TIME HERE.
We travel to Kampala today and I will blog about this day tonight.
Thank you again for your continuing prayers,
That none would be lost,
Arlene
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