Monday, November 10, 2014

The Fellowship of the Believers

We are having a time of renewal in the Mbale (Uganda) Church of Christ. There have been past difficulties that we are trying to work through together as a church, to heal and to move on to what the Lord has planned for us. The way that we are approaching this is by preaching through the book of Acts and intentionally engaging the practices of the early church.


"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to (1) fellowship, to the (2) breaking of bread and to (3) prayer...They sold property and possessions to (4) give to anyone who had need...praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)


Wood stacked by wall is what was used to cook the meal

(1) FELLOWSHIP: Our first Sunday in the series, we held a fellowship meal or old-fashioned 'dinner on the grounds'. We had a great attendance that day, about 230, with several visitors. It had been
a few years since MCC had eaten together as a church. The shared meal put everyone in good spirits, but it got even better. The high-
light of the day came afterwards when a 57 year old man named Luke was baptized into Christ.



Church Leaders from South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda & USA


(2) COMMUNION/BREAKING OF BREAD: In the second Sunday in the series, the focus was put on
the Lord's Supper in place of the usual sermon.


(3) PRAYER: The third Sunday in the series, the focus was on extended prayer for specific needs of the church. The service was concluded by praying for the new children born into the congregation.

Peace, the woman in pink, just had a set of twins!


Israel and his wife, Sabina (woman in floral dress),
bent over from the weight of their gift of bananas.
(4) GIVE TO ANYONE WHO HAS NEED: What a blessing it was to watch the fourth Sunday in the series unfold. We had announced our special offering for several Sundays. One elderly couple carried in a huge stalk of bananas from their farm as their gift.

We dedicated the entire offering from that Sunday's giving to an elderly man whose adult son and daughter-in-law had died of AIDS. The grandparents are now raising their two grandsons. The money will go towards an addition to their home so the kids can have their own separate sleeping area.

Man holding wooden box is
 the recipient of the offering










Prayer Requests:
1) Continued growth for Mbale Church of Christ as we dig into Scripture together and continue to grow as a family of God in the Mbale community.

2) God's protection over our team. The rate of break-ins and thefts goes up during the months of November and December. Two of our families have already been affected.

3) For us during the upcoming holiday season as we spend them apart from our loved ones.


      PLEASE NOTE: During this holiday season, if you would like to make a
      tax-deductible donation to our ministry, you may send your contribution
      care of: Fredericksburg Church of Christ // PO BOX 657 // Fredericksburg,
      VA 22404 // On memo line please write: Uganda Mission Fund. [If you
      would like to make an auto or bank deposit, please contact our church 
      and they will forward the information to you.] We are very thankful for
      and need your help!



Thank you again for praying for us and for
 sending us to be a part of this mission.