TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES THROUGH EVANGELISM, DISCIPLESHIP, & BUILDING NEW CHURCHES
The Problem of Witchcraft
Most of our villages are under the bondage and control of witchcraft, idol worship and sorcery, and many people live in the bondage and fear of the Devil. As a result, many people are frequently sick and some die. Adults and children alike are bound and possessed by demons, and some are driven insane because of soul ties from the worship of ancestral spirits.
Every community has a priest and witch doctors that help people to consult evil spirits, and sometimes they offer human and child sacrifices to evil spirits. Every clan and homestead has a shrine, normally in the home of an elder who inherits the family spirits. Family sacrifices are often offered on an altar to appease the ancestors for a blessing or good health or good harvest, and after every harvest another sacrifice is made to thank the spirits.
Sometimes the evil spirits torture and torment family members. They become sick, run mad, and some even die. For example, in one of the villages a lady was kidnapped by evil spirits and taken into the forests for 10 years. Her children found her still alive and reported the matter to the police. They brought her back home, the church prayed for her and she was healed.
Our Ministry Outreach
As a ministry, we feel God has called us to help these communities. We frequently arrange gospel crusades and preach Christ to these villages. We see believers in Christ abandon idol worship and witchcraft as they bring their fetishes, and we burn them. We pray for people, and they are delivered by the power of Jesus Christ. Most people in such communities are hardened with unbelief and resistant to the gospel making it hard to preach Christ in such places, but we have seen God do great things as hundreds come to Jesus on every gospel crusade.
In pursuit of our vision to transform communities, we plant churches in these communities and train a pastor to take charge of the church. We buy a piece of land and build the believers a simple house of worship. As we plant churches in such communities, there is always a sigh of relief as people come to Christ and are set free and healed. So far, we have started 60 churches in different villages across our nation of Uganda.
However, one of our biggest challenges is lack of resources to help these people. We need prayers and support to buy land for houses of worship. We need help to evangelize and plant more churches in the villages. It takes about $2000 to buy land and build a house of worship in a village. Would you prayerfully consider contributing to help these villages build churches?
Pastor Margaret Bakashaba visiting branch churches in Rukiga Kabale district.
Revival Explosion Leaders Conference
In addition, we learned that to be effective in our vision of transforming communities, we have to train and equip leaders for the work of the ministry. Most of our leaders have no formal training. When people in a community believe in Jesus, we disciple them for a period of time, and whoever learns quickly assumes leadership. Sometimes these leaders cannot even afford to buy themselves a Bible.
We normally have monthly meetings to train these pastors. We also have an annual Revival Explosion Conference where leaders from different villages come and attend teaching sessions for a whole week. Last year’s conference was a great success with an attendance of almost 10,000 people. This conference marked a turning point for many believers and ministers. Many leaders were revived and empowered for the work of the ministry.
Please pray for the leaders who are serving in these poor villages with little resources yet with the passion to help the people of God. If God leads you to help a pastor or donate Bibles, please contact us. Each Bible costs around $10, and your gift will help proclaim the Word of God to these remote villages.