Dear friends and family,
Its my pleasure to write you again with the love of my lord and savior Jesus Christ, whose righteousness and redeeming grace, set me free from the bondage of my transgression and sins

The purpose of this note is to show gratitude with a joyful heart to your prayers and generous support you rendered me during the facilitation of my trip to serve alongside the Hurley, s in Uganda and proclaiming his truth to the lost,

It’s a privilege I will cherish forever, with fond memories this note cannot retain or comprehend in magnitude.

I was filled with great joy in my heart when these desperate men, women and children after sharing Gods truth to them, grasped with interest and conviction the willingness to crave for his word, with a similar phrase every where we went, that they need Bibles its literature and knowledge with a zeal and passion I never anticipated
Because of the afflictions surrounding them, friends that stunned me and has stirred my soul to desperation with a call to action and a battle cry for the many in millions who are totally lost if we do not act, brothers they are in a dire need for his word and its still safe to help Shannon in this fight for their soul.

It, s amazing how visible his divine attributes are displayed even in the distress these men and women manifested, I was constantly reminded of his sovereign grace and omnipotence regardless of the hopelessly scenarios we faced regularly to confide in his word for comfort regardless of how weary and disappointed our surroundings dictated.

The highlight of my trip perhaps, came when we visited Mulago, the main and largest hospital in the Uganda, my patience was put to test and I relied on Gods strength not to give away in front of everybody due to the sorry state the less privileged patients have to go through in this place, I was grieved beyond measure at the absurd, graphic, trauma and grim images which defined this place the stank of smell with breathtaking stories of patients who have not seen a doctor in months , or examined , deformed men due to the disfigurement of diseases and are on the verge of acquiring others due to the poor hygiene in their vicinity

It ,s a moving experience , and I was greatly overcame with emotion to see men, women and children already  in  their worst conditions subjected to another form of  torture due to the  dilapidated condition outside of a war zone ,it’s  shameful to believe that this hospital is regarded as the best and the main referral to the whole country, when I imagined  that to the conditions poor people go through in the villages where no foreign dignitaries (muzungus) visit and it’s the majority of the population I knew they urgently need Gods deliverance.  What was more shocking and, encouraging was the 2-6 year old girls we met in the lobby corridor on our way out who regardless of their misery, uplifted our souls with the biggest smiles  and giggles  they had to offer hopefully God was showing us that he is in control even in moments of distress I  love to take pictures especially these were to be  memorable, but to my surprise my emotions failed me in this  captivating moment!  The good news however, came within the hospital  building from the wall on a notice board where these words were written proclaiming his Lordship in the local language that “YESU YE MUKAMA” meaning that “JESUS IS LORD” with another quote in English “……   
 believe me  we all left that place extremely humbled  with  sorrow if at all we had any comfort to give 

However before we boarded our bus, there was this man we met on our way out of the hospital stuck at the exit with no hope or choice  of  what to do, when I asked him why he was standing out side and so sick “his eyes were almost popping out ” he  told me that the doctor who examined  him just sent him away that they have no food to feed him with the massive swelling of his face which was as huge  as a well feed lion in its prime you had to sympathy with this man.  When I asked him  how long  has  he been in this hospital he said  its  been  about four weeks with no medical attention, the first time he saw a doctor, was when he was told to give up his bed because they cannot perform the kind of operation his case requires  and the only hope they had for him was through a medical team from abroad which  was expected to arrive in  the country  in three weeks if he can sustain himself until then! good  luck the doctor told him and left so the nurses took him from the bed his ordeal for a countdown began until the arrival  of the medical team the doctor promised  him  meanwhile  they reminded him that  they cannot have him that is why we met him outside waiting for their arrival.  I praise God for the Hurley family for not only making a spiritual transition in the lives of countless men and women who form a vibrant daily routine of joy in their household but also for transforming and meeting their basic needs from hopeless living to a life of purpose set ablaze with brilliant smiles from a loving and caring  family  with  Gods grace  perfected  in  love with young men once hopeless but are now hopeful and  full  of life  focused  on one goal and vision to serve him and looking forward to eternity all for his glory .  Another satisfying experience was seeing a young man traumatized by the devastating accident which took his leg through the hassles of life but is now redeemed ,and full  of  life, hope  and knows that all things work together for good…ROM 8: 28 and being so thankful to Shannon s willingness to disciple him for the kingdom  and meeting all his  needs  was refreshing after the heartbreaking experience above

The great news came from Luwero where Shannon plans to build a Theological school with Gods provision and your prayers indeed this is great news for all of us to celebrate about and , m very sure it will change Uganda and Africa in general through the love of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ  with the devotion  of visionary men who God is using to make a difference well done the Hurley, s for your faithfulness and love for the saints!

In him alone,
Pius Muzingu

Hundreds of hands clapped in unison, welcoming us joyfully to their school.  As we gazed upon their faces, we were excited to spend the next hour singing, dancing, performing a skit, and sharing the gospel message with them.  With the help of our Ugandan friends Simon and Pius, we were able to communicate the gospel to them in their own language.  Little did we expect how receptive and attentive these children were.  This is more or less what we experienced at the 6 schools we visited over the course of 2 days.  Five of them were primary (elementary) schools, and one was a secondary (6th-12th grade) school.  Often we had time to interact personally with some of the students.  Many good conversations ensued, with students actually coming up and asking us for Christian literature and wondering how to become a child of God.  It was heartbreaking, though, not being able to provide them with Bibles.  Many had so many questions and wanted so badly to know more, but Bibles are very hard to come by in this country.  We came away so humbled and appreciative of how easily accessible Bibles are to us in America.  Even though we went in seeking to teach these kids about God, God instead used them to show us our all too often apathetic attitude to His Word. Although we only spent an hour with these kids at each of the schools, it was always hard to leave them and say goodbye.

After two days of school evangelism, our team then proceeded to an African safari to celebrate the birthday of Ethan, one of the Hurley kids.  We spent Thursday traveling on the road, and had many adventures on the way.  The girls also had a good time talking and sharing with Danielle.  Friday morning we woke up bright and early to search for animals on the savannah.  We came across water buffalos, warthogs, water bucks, baboons, and antelope.  Then we went on a 2 hour hike down a gourge to see the chimpanzees.  Since skirts and sandals are not your usual attire to walk down a steep, muddy trail, it turned out to be quite the tiring but fun trip.  After an afternoon break, we went back in search for elephants, hippos, and lions!  It was quite the adventure chasing elephants and circling lions in our car.  However, the latter would have never been possible without first bribing a park guard :)

Today we made our way back home, and now we are entering our last hurdle of the trip.  Please continue to pray for us as we will be returning back to the village of Luweero for some more school evangelism.  Please pray that we will be able to communicate the gospel to them boldly and clearly, and that we would rely completely on God's power to joyfully and faithfully serve wherever we can. A quick shout out to all our UCLA friends!  Matt and Megan say hi too.

- Linda and Nikki

Just got back from a day doing gospel presentations in schools in the area!  There are tonnes of children here!  Pics & posts to come...

One of the school math teachers (also named Anthony) asked how he could be saved...we told him the gospel, prayed for him, he joined us for dinner, and we gave him a Bible.  He lives right down the street and he'll be meeting with one of the church leaders on Saturday.  Pray for a genuine/saving faith.

~Ted

 

 

walking to the village

 

@ Maama Mark's