I wake up this morning with excitement. It is my second and last day in Bugiri. I get dressed, finish packing and am ready to leave at 7:30 am. I go outside and get a photo with the very cute daughter of my host who is about to leave for school. In her hand is a large piece of sugarcane. I am told that this is her ‘sack lunch.’ The conference is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am. I was told the night before to be ready to leave at 8:00 am. I am really looking forward to having a full day to teach God’s Word at the conference. If we leave at 8:00 am as planned, we will actually arrive at the conference early for the first time since my arrival in Africa. But you know the drill, “The unexpected is to be expected.”
I’m waiting inside the house when suddenly I am told there are two people outside 
who want to talk to me. I’m thinking, “How could that possibly be? I am in a foreign land. Nobody knows me here.” I look outside and, sure enough, there are two people standing there. I walk up to them, shake hands and introduce myself. They then introduce themselves as schoolteachers. They point to their school just up the road and ask if I would like to go there to teach God’s Word to their students.
Those who know me realize that I never turn down an opportunity to teach and share God’s Word. It is my passion. “Let me ask my host,” I tell them. My host tells me that there is no time. That we are about to eat breakfast and we will be leaving right after that. “I will skip breakfast,” I tell her, “Visiting the school is more important to me than food.” She gives me the greenlight to go ahead.
As I’m walking with these two schoolteachers towards their school, I ask them, “How did you know that I study the Bible and love to teach it?” One of them replies, “We saw that you are staying at the pastor’s house.” I guess that’s a good enough answer. Or maybe God told them to visit me.
I walk into the classroom. The teacher introduces me and then I talk to the kids 
for about 15 minutes. I communicate how much God loves each of them and that God has a special plan for their life. I tell them that God has blessed them with special talents and abilities. “School will help you realize what your talents are,” I explain, “So it is very important that you get an education. Then you can use that education to bring glory to God by committing yourself to living for him. When you commit your life to him, he will bless your life beyond what you could possibly imagine.” I know this is true. I’ve experienced it myself during this past week and a half in Africa.
After I finish talking, I pray for the students. The teachers then escort me from the building and plead for me to visit them once again before I leave Uganda. I tell them I will be glad to do so, if my schedule allows. I absolutely mean it. Children were an important part of Jesus Christ’s ministry as illustrated in Matthew 19:13-15. And they will always be an important part of mine.
As we are walking away from the school, a young teenage girl runs up to the interpreter who is with me and talks to him. I don’t speak the Luganda language, so I have no idea what she shares to him. She then runs back towards the school. I ask the interpreter what she said. I find out that her father recently died. He was not very old, but he had HIV aids. Now she doesn’t know how she will be able to get an education.
I ask the interpreter if he can go fetch her and bring her back to me. He runs back to the school, finds her and soon she is in front of me. I vehemently pray for God to intervene miraculously in her life. To prosper her in ways that only God can. And to bring her comfort in the midst of her sorrow.
I know that I’ve said this before, but in the USA, we have a tendency to magnify problems that are insignificant. A child is upset because an earbud is not working. How are they going to listen to music while riding the bus to school? Oh my! Such a catastrophe!
This girl has lost her father. It is a double whammy. She will never be able to receive his love or care for her again. On top of that is the loss of income from his job. The government doesn’t support education there like we enjoy in the USA. And if she is unable to get a proper education, she will be unable to find work. Unemployment is also a major issue. And I know that her case isn’t that unusual. So many adults die here from diseases such as aids, tuberculosis and malaria, leaving lovely children like this one behind to somehow try and find a way to figure things out for themselves. They desperately need to understand God. His provision and his love.
I return to the house and we begin our drive. An hour later we still have not arrived at the conference, which should have been 30 minutes away. That’s when I discover that our host has decided to take a slight detour so we can visit an orphanage. Make that a major detour, in the opposite direction of the conference.
I get a tour of the orphanage. Then I am asked to share God’s Word with the 
entire group of children. A group of the kids sing us a special song. Then we are all waiting in the vehicle to leave for the conference, except for our host who is in the office. I look at the children and am moved with compassion. I get out of the vehicle and slowly walk towards them. One at a time, I grab their hands and silently pray for them in my spirit.
At first they are hesitant to give me their hand. But soon their attitudes change. They start flocking to me, each one reaching out their hand, waiting for me to touch it. It may sound crazy, but as I touched each hand, I believed for the energy of God’s love and power to flow through me directly into their body. There were roughly 200 children. I worked my way around until I had touched the hand of each one. They are all so important to God. I wanted no child to be left out.
It seems like such a small thing. Shaking the hand of a child. But God’s love and power is so great. I could only hope that it had somehow made a difference. Certainly my time was better spent doing that than sitting in the vehicle. If nothing else, I communicated to these kids that I really do care about them. And hopefully they understand just a little bit more that God loves them.
We complete the 2-hour drive from the orphanage, finally arriving at the conference at 1:00 pm. They are singing praises to God when we arrive. I am given close to two hours of teaching time, which enables me to cover four topics. When I am finished, we hand out 15 Bibles in the Luganda language to various 
people in the crowd. I had given our host $150 to purchase these Bibles a week ago. I let her decide who to give them to. I pose for a photo with each one after a Bible is handed to them.
One of the topics I taught that day is that the Bible is our education book for life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that it is our instruction for right living so that we can do the good works that God has called us to do. I tell them that my heart’s desire and prayer is that every person in Kenya and Uganda who desires to have a Bible will be able to get one. These 15 Bibles are a start in that direction.
A pastor named Israel Charles traveled all the way from Tororo to attend this 
conference. He is Isaac’s best friend. They have known each other for a very long time. While I was teaching, my translator was struggling. Israel stepped up and took over as my translator. He did a fantastic job. Having a good translator is very important. It allows the teacher to be much more effective in delivering a message to people. During my time in Africa, I noticed a huge difference between a good translator and a weak one. Israel was one of the really good ones.
After the conference we go back to our hosts home and eat a meal. When we are finished, it is just after 4:00 pm and time to travel back to Kenya. But first I tell Isaac we must drive back to the school I had visited earlier in the morning. Isaac goes with me to greet the teachers and children. They are so grateful to see me again. I am also very glad to see them. I briefly share and pray with the children, sign the visitors book, give them my contact information and then we say our final goodbyes.
What has occurred here no longer happens in the USA where, sadly, having someone visit a school to talk about God is considered taboo. When our country was founded, it was a Christian nation and these things were commonplace. But our country has been gradually turning away from God. Speaking about Him in our public schools, during regular school hours, is now forbidden. In Kenya and Uganda, they welcome men of God with open arms, knowing that a relationship with God can only help their students because the true God is a God of love, who will only lead people on a righteous path.
Our trip back to Kenya will go through Tororo and so Israel and pastor Livingston Egesa, from a small Tororo church I visited two days earlier, ride with us. As we drive through a wooded area, we encounter quite a few baboons, of different sizes. A few walk across the road up to our vehicle. They are looking for handouts of food. I am told it is dangerous to walk or bike in this area while carrying food. The baboons will do whatever is needed to get it from you.
Once we reach Tororo, we drive to Israel’s church and drop him off. He got 
extremely blessed by what I had taught and tells me that he would love for me to teach at his church during my next visit to Uganda. I go inside his church. It is larger and nicer than most of the churches I have seen. I look forward to teaching here one day.
Next we drop off the pastor Livingston. I was very happy to get to know him and was so glad that he was able to hear me teach God’s Word both in Kenya and at the conference here in Uganda. I meet his wife and the three of us take a picture together. Then we say our goodbyes.
While driving through the neighborhood, I spot several packs of wild dogs roaming around. I am told they can be quite dangerous 
to pedestrians in the area. I know that I wasn’t anxious to get out of the car in this area!
It takes a while to go through customs again. We will need to retrieve the title for Isaac’s car which they confiscated from us on the way in. While waiting, I go to the public restroom there at the border. A guy standing outside looks at me as if expecting something. I ignore him, use the restroom and come back out. The same guy says something to me in a foreign language. He is not friendly. I tell him that I only speak English and walk back to our car. Later I find out that he was expecting me to pay him money for use of the restroom facility.
By the time we cross over into Kenya it is 6:45 pm and will soon be dark outside. We visit another church just past the border into Kenya. The church is 
being rented for $50.00 a month. The pastor from this church is a great guy. He has attended many of my conferences in Kenya. A very joyful man. He tells me that his desire is to purchase land to build a church of his own so he can avoid the rental fees each month. It is going to cost either $5,000 or $10,000 for the land, depending on whether one or two plots are purchased. Having an adjoining plot would give them the ability to set up crusades and other events right next to the church. I meet his family and then I say my goodbyes to him as well.
It is now pitch dark outside as we make our way to Bungoma. I am very tired from this long day and am looking forward to reaching Isaac’s house to finally rest. We are about 10 minutes from home when Isaac tells me that we are taking a detour. I had sponsored a bicycle race during the conference in Kimaeti and now many of those from the bicycle club have gathered at a designated location and are anxious to meet me. They have been waiting for us to arrive since 3:00 pm.
Perhaps the hardest time to reach out and give love to others is when we are extremely tired. My body is telling me that it is totally spent. But I can’t let these people down who have been waiting to see me for the past 4 hours. Some have traveled from far distances. I watch as we drive past the exit that would lead us home to rest and relaxation. Then I begin to pray for this bicycle team. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 it says that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. I look to God for providing me with the strength I have been unable to find within my own flesh.
When I get there, I recognize many who had participated in the bicycle race and 
had attended my teaching of God’s Word at the Kimaeti church. I grab all of the spiritual strength I can muster and share my heart with them. I teach them some things from God’s Word and wrap that together with my experiences in Uganda.
Now it is their time to talk. They promote their bicycle group to me, explaining that it is an important outreach tool for the community. It bonds the people in the local neighborhoods together and opens doors to share God’s Word and love to many people. In addition to that, it keeps young kids out of trouble. I agree with everything they are saying.
Then they ask me to be the patron for their bicycle club. They will be glad to name it after me. Or give it whatever name I would like it to have. I look across the crowd standing in front of me. These young people have traveled from all over to talk to me this evening. To invite me into their fold. I am humbled again. And I do see that it is a great cause that has brought us all together this evening.
I tell them the truth. Every morning my mind is focused on the day in front of 
me. I haven’t put any thought on activities or goals beyond my experience right now in Africa. And it won’t be until I return to the USA that I will have quiet time with God where I can review their request so I can make a decision about it. Until then, I am unwilling to make a verbal commitment.
They are fine with my answer and we soon part ways. Two of them hop in our car and we give them a ride home. Having extra riders along is very common in Kenya and Uganda. Most people here don’t have their own vehicle. So, they frequently hop aboard to get a lift, even if it means cramming nine people into a small car that is designed to carry only four. And yes, that did happen on one particular trip. It was so funny to see 
them all jam-packed together like sardines, enjoying each other’s company in a very intimate way! I took pictures of it.
Tomorrow we will travel to the Manyala church in Butere. I know this church is very special to Isaac, so I am really looking forward to it. That is… AFTER I finally get some rest!!!
Then little children were brought to him so that he could lay his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said, “Leave the little children alone, and do not forbid them to come to me, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”
And, having laid his hands on them, he departed from there.
Matthew 19:13-15 REV
But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength.
They will mount up with wings like eagles.
They will run and not be weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 REV