August 2023 Newsletter
UGANDA UPDATE
On July 7th, Gary and Connie Burkett, Ed Young, Jennifer Durling (our dear friend and nurse practitioner), and myself headed to Uganda for 2 full weeks of ministry. Since Gary and Connie minister in Tororo, Uganda near Kenya in the East (about a 6-hour drive) and we minister in Bombo, Uganda just north of the capital city of Kampala (about a 1-hour drive), we decided to spend our first day together visiting a prison near the capital: participating in their worship service and assisting in baptizing over 60 prisoners who have decided to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. The prison has allowed Gary to build a church inside its walls where he has a prison pastor as well as leaders to disciple new believers. It is a wonderful ministry because most of the men in this prison have little hope and are searching for truth, truth that can only be found in Jesus.
After our prison visit, Gary and Connie, along with their ministry partner Joseph, headed to Tororo to begin ministering in several prisons and hospitals... “I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Matthew 25:36. Ed, Jennifer, Brother Stanley, and myself headed to Bombo to begin our ministry in assisting in planting churches among the Nubians, an unreached people group of 39,000 individuals created in the image of God with no known ministry actively seeking to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
We spent the first Sunday morning with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Cornerstone Baptist Church Kibajjwe sharing the word of God and fellowshipping with long-time friends from our former church plant, Badiru and Harriett. Badiru is a former Nubian Muslim who gave up everything to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior and now he and his wife are attending Cornerstone, along with a bus load of believers from their village. He is being discipled, along with his wife Harriett, by Brother Stanley each week which is our fundamental goal; making disciples who will then go out and make disciples.
There is nothing more exciting than to see a new church full of believers with bibles open and taking notes.
Many members from one of our previous church plants are coming to CBC for worship and discipleship.
Badiru, Harriett, and Judith helped us carry out our evangelism efforts.
Beginning Monday, we joined with brother Stanley and his team from Cornerstone, leaders and members alike, in carrying out door to door evangelism in the village of Bembe, our newest church plant about 2 miles closer to Bombotown. We split up into 3 teams and headed out to visit each and every home in this village that is primarily Muslim, yet we met a few Anglicans and Catholics. Nearly every home we visited was very open to hear us share about our new church and wanted to get to know us, shared their stories and listened to ours, asked many questions, allowed us to pray for them and their many needs, and then we made sure that we invited them to our evening bible study we had every day where they could hear more about the Christian faith and what it means to truly follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.
On Sunday, July 16th, we had our first worship service at Bembe Baptist Church and we had 11 visitors from the village attend with several Muslims among them. They heard the word of God and learned about the commission of the church from Matthew 28:16-20; the Authority given by Jesus Himself, the Assignment to go and make disciples baptizing them and teaching them, and the Assurance that the Holy Spirit of God is always with us. Though we met under a large white tent with 50 plastic chairs, the Lord blessed our worship service and it was followed by a time of fellowship and a small meal. Hospitality is vital in this culture and to have a meal with someone is to show that you appreciate them and accept them. Our prayer is that we would be able to construct a permeant building on this site where we could worship the Lord on Sundays, make disciples throughout the week, and offer bible study for all ages.
Our first Sunday Worship Service at Bembe Baptist Church.
On July 18th and 19th, we had our 2-day medical camp at Cornerstone Baptist Church Kibajjwe. Our new children’s ministry/community health clinic building behind the church was not yet completed so we had the medical camp in the church building, which was actually better because it is larger and could hold more people. We had a local medical team of Christian volunteers which included Doctor Stephen, Ester a professional mid-wife, and several medical students who are majoring in nursing and pharmacy. Jennifer Durling, who was with our mission team, spent July 15th in Tororo with Gary and Connie Burkett helping them with their 1-day medical camp at ‘Living Word’ school where they saw hundreds of patients and provided the medical care they needed. During the Cornerstone medical camp, we saw 335 people from several surrounding villages and tested them for malaria (80 cases came back positive and were given antibiotics), tested for diabetes, cared for various injuries, and treated infections, parasites, hypertension, pneumonia, and asthma as well as a lot of skin diseases.
Doctor Stephen and Nurse Practitioner Jennifer.
Thanks to Kayla Kendall and the children of Cornerstone Community Church in Louisville who attended VBS last month, we were able to supply all of the test kits and medicines needed for the 2-day medical clinic. They raised more than $1,400 through their special mission’s project offering. There was nearly one box of medicine left over which will be used at the community medical clinic when it is completed. We also made sure that everyone who came heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in a very clear and concise way from Pastor Geoffrey.
Medical supplies for our 2-Day Medical Camp at Cornerstone Baptist Church.
Pastor Geoffrey sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A nursing student takes care of the pharmacy area where patients received their medications.
The lab area where Ester is checking the patients for malaria and diabetes.
New Church Building Needed at Bembe
In June, we purchase land in the village of Bembe to plant our second church to reach the Nubians in Bombo, Bembe Baptist Church, and we had our first service under a large white tent on Sunday, July 16th with 11 visitors from the village. If you would like to help us construct a permeant building for this church to worship the Lord, where they would be able to carry out bible study, discipleship training, and fellowship, please visit our website; https://www.unreached4k.com/donate
FACEBOOK MINISTRY OUTREACH
The ‘Jesus Film’ was sent out through Facebook Ads four (4) times to (UPG’s) since the last newsletter:
Punjab, Pakistan – Punjabi – 111,689 reached, 7,835 engagements, 1,606 reactions, 3,084 link clicks, 21 comments
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Swahili – 43,217 reached, 3,846 engagements, 396 reactions, 1,645 link clicks, 19 comments
New Delhi, India– Hindi – 98,849 reached, 8,640 engagements, 535 reactions, 3,958 link clicks, 14 comments
Manila, Philippines - Tagalog – 30,403 reached, 2,637 engagements, 674 reactions, 1,883 link clicks, 62 comments
HOW YOU CAN BE A PART OF OUR MISSION
- Children in need of school fees - $50 per child
- Bibles for new believers in Uganda - $8 each or $205 per case
- Projectors to show the ‘Jesus Film’ - $165
- Water wells in surrounding villages of Bombo - $2,500
- Motor scooter (Boda Boda) for church planters - $1,400
- Bicycles for pastors - $100
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING THE MINISTRY IN UGANDA, UKRAINE, AND AROUND THE WORLD.
To make a tax-deductible donation by credit card, please visit the donation page of our website. You can also send a check payable to ‘UNREACHED4K’ to:
PO BOX 581758, LOUISVILLE, KY 40268
Unreached 4K, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Please visit our website to learn more: Unreached4k.com
