Adrian - The Girl that broke my heart (Report on Uganda)

Dear Friends

This trip round, as I reflect, I feel that the Father was trying showing me something that is deep in His heart. Yes indeed…the Holy Spirit demonstrated Himself to the people. Yes…there were many awesome moments (as you have read from the previous reports). The anointing reached levels where I’ve never seen or tasted before. The goodness and nature of God passed before over very eyes. All we could do was to stand, watch, pray and cry with the people. In fact till today, I am still in wonder, overjoyed and grateful with the mighty move of the Holy Spirit. But on the last day in Soroti, Uganda, it felt like to me that Heaven was silent. It was as though the Father wanted to reveal something that is bigger than all I have seen or heard. What happened? I was taken to an orphanage. It wasn’t quite what I had expected. Here I was going in, prepared for ministry to the kids, when all of the sudden what hit me next I must say ‘ruined me for life’.

This orphanage is run by YWAM. It is not an ordinary one. It is a place where orphans who are left for dead in their village because of HIV and diseases. They go from as young as a few days old, to teenage years. As I walked through the venue, I see a 5 weeks old orphan with HIV, struggling to live on a machine. His twin brother and mother died upon child birth. The day before, a few days old orphan died as he was born into the world without an arm and his mother died 40hrs after giving birth. These children because they are orphans are left to the next of kin in the village but because of food shortage, they get the leftover if there is even any. Hence the children who are healthy get the first dips in the food. Out of 320 kids that have come by the orphanage, about 60 have died in there. Then a little girl caught my eye. She is 1yr 7mths old. She had hardly any flesh. She was mostly all bones wrapped in skin. As I bent over, because she had no strength or muscle to move her lower body, she dragged herself to me. Put her little fingers on my finger and that’s all she could muster. As I picked her fragile body up and held her, the Father broke me hard. Here I was all ready for storytelling to the children, songs, games and what I could only do at that moment was to hold her tight. I felt that I was stripped of everything that I could do to help her. I was leveled to the ground. What can I say? Nothing! What I can I do? Nothing! I was speechless. No amount of words or wisdom could help her. It felt like the Father knocked the wind out of me. I was heart broken. After feeling that way for a while, the Father began to show me what this girl needs. What she needs most is not another story, games, song, gospel, church or even an outbreak of revival (please don’t misunderstand what I am saying, I believe in these things strongly and am a strong supporter of them, but the Father was really trying to have me grasp something in His heart). She wanted to be held by someone who loves her. She wanted to be touched. She wanted to feel what it is like for a father to hold her in his arms and have the most loving pair of eyes staring down at her. She wanted to feel secure in a time of uncertainty. Hands that won’t hurt her but comfort her. As I held her, I could feel the pain on my Father’s heart as well as an overwhelming love for her. It is one thing to see pictures and videos of kids in such a situation. But it is another to hold them in your arms. Even till today, this experience is still impacting me. As I allow the Father to work in me, I realized I am ruined more and more.

I really appreciate what the Father did for me. I believe this is a great gift from Him. I do appreciate the mighty move of the Holy Spirit and I do want more of that. In fact I am excited about it. But this was a moment for me as the Father showed me another revelation into the depths of what breaks His heart.

Deuteronomy 10:18 “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.”

James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Blessings

Adrian

Tororo - Women's Session

This session was one of the most memorable one of the conference. As the Holy Spirit would have it, we didn't teach or preach to them. We just shared our lives. Each one of us girls shared our journey with God, the ups and the downs, especially the downs. The women came up too and shared their stories. We cried and prayed together.  It was a time of solidarity--as women, as sisters in Christ.

While the women stayed inside and shed tears, the men sat under a big tree outside and shared laughs. The method may be different, but the outcome was the same. We bonded and it was good!

Tororo - Pastors and Leaders Conference

The first big breakthrough happened on the first day as Herman and Joe preached on the Father's heart and on sonship. A lot of the pastors and leaders grew up fatherless or with an abusive father that it was difficult for them to see God as a loving father. But that day, the Holy Spirit broke through and God's liquid love poured over the people that many wept because they had never, until now, experienced the love of a father.

One pastor shared when he was a child, his father beat him when he asked for money for pen and books. His father response was, "Where do you see the money?"  But that day for the first time, he felt the tangible presence of God and he broke down in tears as he received the love of Father God for him.

Another pastor shared that his father has three wives, and he was the youngest son of the third wife. When he was still a baby, his father abandoned them. Growing up he didn't have any parental love, and he couldn't understand how God who he cannot see can love him when his father who he can see cannot.  But that day, God touched him. He also felt the tangible presence of God caressing him on his head, and tears started to flow down.  He said that he now has a new foundation in life, and he wants to become a good and loving father to his children, and to his spiritual children.

Another pastor shared that God gave him a picture of a family, where the son told his dad, "Stay home. I will provide for the family." He realized that he had been thinking like that son. He is trying to provide for the family, but God is saying to him, "Let me be the father and you just be my son."  It was the beginning of the release of a huge burden that he had been carrying.

Day two Natalie taught on the Holy Spirit. During the soaking session, the Holy Spirit ministered to the people  that their countenance changed. Natalie observed that their faces glowed like people in love and when worship started again, it was like everyone's spirit was free and able to soar!

Day three Karyne taught about generational blessings and curses, and Gabe taught about spiritual warfare.  Day four, I (Denise) taught on confession, power of agreement, and soul ties. Then we went into a time of prayer and intercession.  

The pastors and leaders themselves applied what they had learned and interceded on behalf of their families, their churches, their towns and villages, their country. It was so powerful when everyone prayed in one accord that we felt the shift in the spiritual realm.

That day, Pastor Philemon, head of the Tororo Deliverance church and our gracious host, challenged the pastors and leaders. He said Africans have a mentality of always looking to receive from the west. How can God bless them when they only receive but don't give. So he challenged the leaders to give so that Africa can be a blessing to the nations. So people gave, and the next day, even though the pastor didn't take up a collection, people came up to him and gave voluntarily, and the last day, they gave again.  I was so touched by their obedience and generosity.  I know they will be blessed for sowing into the kingdom of God.

Tororo - Harvest

So we spent four days doing door-to-door evangelism and a lot of people received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. It seemed too easy.  I wondered if people really understood the meaning of their confession of faith. But then we saw the people whose homes we visited in the morning come to the afternoon crusades, and the next day they returned, and on Sunday, they joined us for worship service.

What a joy it was to see the faces of people whose lives intersected ours even for a brief moment, come into the family of God!  

One lady who is a new believer testified that her daughter used to be tormented by demons everyday and every night. It disrupted her even at school that the teachers asked her not to come in. However, after the whole family received Jesus, that night the demons did not come to bother them and her daughter was able to sleep through the night. The lady also testified that she feels like God has a calling on her life. That she is to quit her business selling alcohol because God has something else in store for her. This all happened within a few days of her accepting Jesus and she can already hear the voice of God!

Tororo - Worship

There is so much freedom and joy in the way they worship in Uganda. We enjoyed singing and dancing alongside our African brothers and sisters - unto our God!

The clip below is from one of our revival meetings.

Team Tororo - Just for fun

Every morning in Tororo, we vote for worst dressed and take a picture in front of our hotel, just for fun! In Uganda, we had to adhere to a dress code: collared shirt and trousers for men, nice top and long skirt for women.

As the trip progressed, people started dressing better so the judging got tougher. You get voted for having wrinkly clothes, stains, muddy shoes, or wearing the same outfit twice.

Here are some of the winners. One finger for first place, two fingers for second place.

Tororo - Running Start

So I didn't get a chance to post at all from Uganda. The internet connection there was so slow, it took about five minutes just to get to the Yahoo login screen, and another five to ten minutes to get to my Inbox.  I sent one email to my family to let them know we've arrived safely and that they probably won't be hearing from me again soon, and another update to the church family.

We spent our first morning in Kampala together with all the other teams and a few of the local pastors. We had a commissioning service, and soon after, each team left for their assigned regions. Pastor Philemon and Pastor Joseph from Tororo came to pick us up. The drive from Kampala to Tororo takes about 4 hours. On the way, we pass through a forest inhabited by baboons. We saw a few by the road.

The first evening in Tororo, the pastors gave us a surprise. Our original schedule included five crusades, and a five-day pastors and leaders conference.  We thought we had our hands full, and then we were given this revised schedule.

Day 1 to Day 2: (Rubongi village)
9am to 12pm - Door-to-door evangelism
4pm to 7pm - Open-air crusade

Day 3 to Day 5: (Tororo)

9am to 12pm - Door-to-door evangelism

4pm to 7pm - Open-air crusade

Day 6 (Sunday):
Speaking at four different churches

Day 7 to Day 10:
9am to 2pm - Pastors and leaders conference
4pm to 7pm - Revival meeting

Here is team Tororo on the first official working day of the trip.

Door-to-door evangelism had to be one of the toughest challenges for our team. Each one of us had to lead a team of local people to visit homes one by one to share the gospel. We were the main speakers, and the local people were there to help us as interpreters and guides. None of us was comfortable with the idea but we went along with it.

The first day of door-to-door was rough. I didn't understand anything about their culture, so I was awkward during the small talk and stumbled my way through the gospel presentation.  Yet despite that, the Holy Spirit showed up. On one of the first homes we visited, there was an elderly lady with poor vision, her eyes were half-closed. I prayed for her eyes to be healed and Jesus healed her! Her eyes were opened wide and she kept looking at me with eyes of wonder. When the other people saw that she was healed, they brought all their sick, young and old, and I prayed for all of them. Many people believed in Jesus!

After that, we had our first crusade. Herman shared his testimony, and many people responded. What touched me the most was seeing a group of tough-looking young men, about six of them, come forward to receive salvation in Jesus. It is rare to see young men give their lives to Christ. The next day, these young men came to the church for their first discipleship class.  The pastor asked me if I could come say a few words to encourage them. I agreed and found myself joining a men's discipleship group conducted in Japadola, the local language. Regardless, we are now a family in Christ, and that transcends language, race or sex. After they finished the class, I told them that following Jesus is probably the best decision that they've made in their lives, and that this is just the beginning of a wonderful journey.  I encouraged them to read the bible, and if they encounter something in it that seems impossible, to believe it by faith, because nothing is impossible with God.

Day 2 of the crusade, I helped Kevin with the children's program. Kevin was trying to make the kids remember the bible verse "Day and night I remembered you in my prayers".  He drew a sun to represent the day, and a moon to represent night. But when he showed the kids the moon and asked what it was, they unanimously responded "banana"! I couldn't stop laughing.