Saturday Evening. Mbarara, Uganda

The first week of our work here was finished yesterday at noon. Sixty pastors completed a study of the Gospel of Mark and produced eight teaching and preaching outlines. Thirty men and women dealing with HIV/AIDS produced 175 greeting cards that will be sold in the states to provide support for their ministry called "Go, Make Disciples." More than a dozen AIDS patients received visits in their homes, and often a handmade blanket made by people in Houston. Some have received Christ as Savior. Several areas of Mbarara received the focused praying during prayerwalks by teams of people, including Bishop Stuart University, the Mbarara University Hospital, and the Kampala International University's new extension campus in Busheyni. Thirty women gathered for a working women's Bible study and worship each evening. Students at Bishop Stuart University and pastors at the conference heard the testimony of one of our American astronauts.

At the end of a full week we traveled a few hours to the Queen Elizabeth National Park and witnessed the beauty of God's creation -- mountains, valleys, natural lakes and channels, herds of elephants, schools of hippos, herds of cape buffalo, groups of warthogs, flocks of Egyptian geese and Crested Cranes, and scores of other species of birds. We enjoyed the fellowship of a dozen friends and fellow believers around an abundant table. And now we have returned home, popped corn and broken out the dominos (the game, not the pizza).

Tomorrow morning we will gather for worship with the University Baptist Church in Mbarara. I will be preaching from Hosea 6:6. In the evening, Pamm will teach regarding personal integrity in a believer's life and the rest of us will be leading small group discussions. We'll do that each evening through Wednesday. The mornings will be spent visiting in the homes of AIDS patients and more experiences in prayerwalking.

We've not had much time this week to be reflective about what we are doing, but that time will come soon enough. For now, God has been present, the work has been fruitful, and the workers feel both fulfilled and a little tired.

Later.