Airline Schedule

Re: passion

On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 7:04 PM, Bob Wagar <bbwagar@gmail.com> wrote:

passion

Life Church is Growing!

Last Sunday was a great day at Life Church. The church is exploding with excitement—visitors are coming from everywhere, and we had our highest attendance so far at 463. In the afternoon we baptized 34 new converts at our property on Lake Victoria. To God be the glory, great things He has done in the few short months that we have been in Uganda, and we are so grateful!

Coming Home

Our plan in coming last January was to leave our affairs in Portland unsettled so we could go quickly to Uganda to help the church and assess our future role. Now we believe strongly that this is where God wants us to be for the foreseeable future, so we will be making a quick trip back to take care of our house and possessions. We will be there beginning May 13, and are praying that we can wrap things up in as few weeks as possible—another miracle, Lord!
We hope to be able to meet with many of you face to face when we come. Please continue to pray for us as we make the transition from being on staff at City Bible Church to missionaries who are supported by people like you who are committed to Kingdom purpose for the ends of the earth! Thank you for your prayerful support. God has been so faithful, and in spite of the major transitions involved, we have to say that “life is an adventure when God is your passion”!

A New Day, New Life for this Church in Uganda

Last Tuesday of last week, Lydia stood outside our pastoral offices and motioned excitedly for us to come. It was 7:30 pm and we were in the middle of our weekly elders meeting but we knew that this successful business woman in our church must have a good reason to interrupt us – she did! We followed her out to the parking lot and there, about 25 feet long and 4 ft high, in bright lights was our new church sign and logo: LIFE CHURCH….
It was a wonderful and emotional moment for all of us but especially for Pastor Joseph Kibirige, David Lugonvu, Dr. Irene Lubega, Kenneth Nsamba, Ernest Majenge and Royce Iverson, the leaders who prayed, worked and believed God for needed change. At the entrance to the parking lot is a motor-cycle taxi stop and we heard one of the taxi-drivers yell out what we were all feeling, “Wow - Life Church has come alive!!”
On March 1, when we unveiled the new name of our church, one of the faithful young leaders in the church came up to Bob and said with a big grin, “Pastor Bob, there is one problem with our new name. Now we have to live up to it!” The church has been meeting in this building for several years; it was officially opened in 2006 but there has not been any sign to indicate what this big, beautiful building is – until now! We are right on the main highway from the airport at Entebbe to Kampala city center. Tens of thousands of cars and people pass our church every day. We are determined to be as visible as possible and let them know that Jesus has come to give them abundant life!

This Year Has 12 Weeks!

Bob and I remind each other often that we have only been here in Kampala for 12 short weeks, but it seems more like a year!! Below are a few highlights and things you can rejoice with us over and pray with us about:
Vision Weekend went beyond our expectations. After meeting with all the leaders and giving much time to prayer, Bob and I accepted their request to become the Senior Pastors of RUN Bible Church which is now Life Church. We have a wonderful eldership team and we are committed to standing with them in the choosing, training, and appointing of the next senior pastor. On Friday, February 27 the church was full; many visiting pastors came and prayed over us as we were officially installed to lead the team. One prophetic word was so impacting to us – that God had brought us here not only to build this Church but also to be a bridge to other churches in our region. The new name of the church was announced amidst drums and great celebration. Sunday, March 1 Bob gave the congregation a brochure and presented the vision, core values and guiding principles by which we are going to build Life Church. They are posted on our website if you are interested. That weekend, the vision offering and pledges totaled over 20 million shillings (about $10,000) which is the biggest single offering in the history of this church. PTL!

Pastoring
We “set in” a campus pastor and 4 district pastors – revitalizing the pastoring function of Life Church. At present we have 25 Life Groups that meet each Wednesday evening. We are training the Life Group Leaders each Sunday morning in “Life Tracks”
It is the highlight of our week to visit a life group.
At our last Life Group Leaders meeting, John spoke up and said, “I didn’t think I could do anything, I didn’t have any talents… but now I am leading a Life Group and I see that I do have a talent to give to God!” We believe that in God’s time, these districts will become campuses at each compass point of the city.

Growing
People have responded so well to the changed church schedule. Average Sunday morning attendance is growing steadily – pushing 400. There are visitors and salvations each week. The pastoral team is working hard to put
assimilation steps in place so we capture each of these precious new believers and visitors. Bob and I have been giving a ride to one young man who lives on our way home from the church. Last week he had two more with him who informed us “we got saved last Sunday and we will be coming every week!”

Children
We initiated Children’s church during the Sunday morning service and we presently have 90+ attending each week. Elizabeth Iverson is leading the team, equipping the teachers, and building the new resource center. An important moment in each service is when the children are called forward after worship to be prayed over and sent upstairs to their service. Several kids who live beside the church now greet me excitedly, “I’ll be at church on Sunday!” Children are valued at Life Church!

Young People
Our youth ministry – Real Life Generation – now meets every Friday evening. They have also begun an exciting outreach into 10 high schools in our area using a great curriculum that deals with morality, pornography, HIV/Aids. A few youth leaders are volunteering hours of their time each week to work with Pastor Kenneth and Royce Iverson to minister to these young people and we are starting to hear good reports from the schools. Future vision includes an internship program that will get us even more into various aspects of ministry into our community.

Computers and Accounting
We are so grateful for the computers that were donated and we are working to get our staff trained and get our database, financial records and pastoral processes computerized. This all takes time but every week there is progress!

Easter
Easter weekend was full and wonderful. Good Friday we showed “The Passion of The Christ” and had over 400 in attendance. 30+ responded and asked for prayer. I prayed with one young prodigal who wept her way back to Jesus and forgiveness. Sunday there was a great spirit of victory in the service. Bob and the choir did a superb job of the musical message “The Tale of Two Kingdoms”. People cheered as Jesus resurrected from the tomb and the choir sang out “He is Alive!”

On Easter Monday, we had over 100 come to lunch and an afternoon of fun out at the village property on the lake. We played soccer, volleyball, had relays for the kids and also had time to visit. Bob and I commented to each other on the way home – “It is so much fun getting to know folks in our church – we love these people!”

On the Personal Side . . .

Bob and I are very sure that we are in the will of God. It is so rewarding to see each area of this church begin to come alive. People respond to leadership and vision! We are confident that Life Church is on its way to becoming a healthy, growing church that will fulfill its destiny.
This isn’t without challenges and moments where we have to choose to speak faith! The natural things of life here (unbelievable traffic, continual water & electricity outages, heat and humidity, dust and dirt, bugs in unexpected places, inefficient bureaucracy and corruption) can distract you if you allow them!
Last week we experienced an absolute divine appointment with a wonderful Christian lady at Immigration who helped us with our visa situation – all in perfect time! Recently I had a very near collision with a taxi – but God’s angels were on duty- I swerved and managed to keep control of the car and not hit anyone.

What’s next?
We will be returning to Portland May 13 as we had originally planned in order to take care of our personal affairs. Bob will be going off staff at City Bible Church and we need to raise our monthly support as CBC missionaries.
We are so blessed to be an extension of and under the apostolic covering of City Bible Church. This relationship is what anchors us and will enable us to fulfill the vision. Please believe with us for full finances needed so we can return quickly to our assignment here. We are asking God for many friends and churches who will partner with us to make the vision a reality.

We would love to hear from you. Thanks for your friendship and do pray for us when you think of us. We look forward to connecting with you soon. If you want to email or receive our newsletter, please contact us at bbwagar@gmail .com

February 21, 2009

SETTLING IN
I feel like a real missionary in Africa as I sit using the battery on my laptop and wearing my headlamp to see because once more the power is off. We were just finishing up dinner when everything went dark. It is 8 p.m. – we’ll see how long it lasts this time!

Bob and I are still having fun and keeping very busy. It feels like we have been here a long time while in fact it is just over a month. We appreciate you all so much; we miss everyone (especially our grandkids) but are very much convinced that this assignment is from the Lord and we are fulfilled.

We are getting settled in our apartment and getting the things we need to be comfortable. We say many thanks to everyone who has made that possible. Our church has been so wonderful in helping us with the resources we needed and we are grateful.

This week we bought a small washing machine, some pots and pans (so we could give Elizabeth Iverson back the ones she loaned us), a stand-up rotating fan, a couple of desks and lamps and a few more things for the kitchen. I now have enough dishes to have guests for dinner and we have had several over. Those of you who like Victorian décor would love our mosquito net. It comes from Thailand and it fits over our bed like a tent. Fiberglass rods fit together to form the frame and then the netting goes over that. The only style they had is frilly and lacey (not really our style – but oh well!!) It keeps us safe from the mosquitoes and yes, we do have those critters that carry malaria.

Our apartment is up on a hill and faces east to the beautiful sunrises just like our house in Gresham! Instead of a sliver of Mt. Hood, we see a sliver of Lake Victoria. Bob has already captured a few beautiful shots of the sky. We are blessed. When we decided on this apartment, one of the challenges was the last 100yds of road to get here – it was very rough, with deep gulleys from the rains. At night especially, it was challenging to hit the high ground just right with the tires on the car. Well, about a week after we moved in, they came by with a big bulldozer and leveled the road. PTL! God listens when we pray.

We did find a ’93 Toyota Corolla for just under our budgeted amount. It is old but working – including the air-conditioning for which Bob is most grateful! Then last week, David Lugonvu, one of the elders came to us and said that he and his wife had just gotten their newer vehicle from Japan and instead of selling their old one right away, they wanted us to have it till May so that I would have a car to get around in as well as Bob. What a blessing! This week I ventured into the heart of Kampala all on my own – what fun! I don’t think there is any way to fully describe the traffic and driving here. You have to experience it! Bob says that it is a constant game of chicken.

We have hired a sweet lady, Annette to help us in the house. She comes 4 days a week and cleans, does laundry and is learning to cook some western dishes. It has been great and has allowed me to delve into everything at the church. Everything here takes more time than you think it will so giving this lady a job is a blessing all around. She will earn about $60 a month and will feel blessed because I let her eat lunch and she leaves at 5 pm. Her repertoire of dishes is growing and she does make really good peanut sauce and beans. When you come to visit, she’ll be delighted to serve youJ We eat pretty simply – lots of rice, potatoes, beans, peanut sauce, tilapia, squash, carrots, etc. Meat is pretty expensive, especially chicken so we are trying to eat less of that, which is healthy for us.

BUILDING THE CHURCH IN UGANDA

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We know that God is giving the grace needed and we feel the support of the “army” of warriors behind us. The church was truly ready for change. The elders did a great job of settling the flock and keeping the church strong through the transition of leadership. But just about every area of the church needed attention so that we could be positioned to grow.

The eldership team received us so graciously and quickly let it be known that their desire and prayer was that we would commit to becoming the senior pastors and stay as long as needed. We felt very “one” with this team – they are truly our friends. Bob felt very strongly that before we would give a final answer, we needed to have a clear sense of the support from the broader group of leadership (about 60 in all). We worked with the elders on articulating our values, philosophy of ministry and then finally began to delve into strategy of program. We also decided on the name change for the church which will be announced on Feb 27th.

Last Saturday, we had that very important leadership meeting in preparation for our big vision night on Feb 27th. Everyone showed up. Since it was Valentine’s Day, we started with a game and fellowship tea. Then Bob did an awesome job of presenting the vision: “To be a healthy, growing church.” He spoke of Jehu who wanted to know if the warrior would give him his heart before he took his Bob told the leaders that they had our commitment to serve, but that we wanted to know if we had their heart before we asked for their hand to serve. In the end, the leaders all started to clap and cheer and stood to their feet. Dr. Irene started to sing “He has done great things…Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

It still makes me cry when I think of how quickly we feel so bonded to this congregation and how well they have received us in return. By the end of that day, we felt that we were on the same chariot and ready to go to battle together. It is amazing to us. We know that there will be giants in the land, but we will move forward with God’s power and enablement.

We have focused on the corporate services, youth, children, small groups and the staff. We are well on the way in re-organizing and planning for each of these areas. Other programs have been put on hold until we strengthen these. We do have a great location for the church – right on the main Entebbe/Kampala airport road. When we are healthy, we will grow!

The global financial crisis has hit here as well. In fact there is 37 – 40% unemployment in Kampala so one of the greatest challenges for young people is getting a job. We believe that as the church grows in numbers, we will become more self-sustaining and be able to finish the building and move onto to the rest of the vision.

Our vision weekend is Feb 27 and Mar 1. We will be announcing the name change, presenting the values and vision to the whole church and having a great time of celebration. We are also going to take a Vision Offering on Mar 1. This timing coincides with the end of our 40 days of fasting and prayer. We have had corporate prayer times each Wednesday and Friday with 40-60 in attendance each time. God has worked on hearts and the sharing after these meetings has been very exciting. We believe we are in God's perfect timing for a burst of His Holy Spirit activity in this church!

January 28 2009
We have now been in Kampala for two weeks and it already seems like we have been here much longer – several times I have had to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming! We arrived at the airport and were greeted with flowers and hugs by all the elders and their wives. They are so excited to have us here and we are truly humbled by their warmth and openness.
Royce and Elizabeth Iverson have so graciously hosted us in their home for these two weeks while we looked for an apartment to rent. Their children, Sophia, Dominique and Elijah have kept us entertained. Many of you contributed to us bringing a video projector with us and it has been a highlight treat for the children as they play tennis and bowling. Actually, we have already had one leadership meeting where the competition on the Wii video game got pretty intense. Thank you to each one who contributed to this.
On a personal level, we are making progress at getting settled. One of the businessmen in the church had a vehicle which he is renting to us for a few weeks. We are then going to try to buy a small vehicle. Eventually we need to get a 4-wheel drive so we can negotiate all the side roads in the cityJ. We are inquiring about getting one imported from Japan. You can pray that we will find a really good, low-mileage car and for favor to get it into the country without huge import taxes.
We have found a new two-bedroom apartment in a good area near the church – actually near the Iversons as well. The area is called Lubowa. The land-owner has furnished it with the bare essentials of furniture (fridge, stove, bed, table and chairs and sofa and book case). We are hoping to move this weekend if everything gets finished. We will then need to go shopping to get all the other basic household things. We are amazed at how expensive things are but truly amazed at the fact that you can get just about anything here now. That is so different than when we lived here in the 70’s.
We have also discovered that portable Wi-fi internet devices are available here for our laptops. We hope to get on-line this week as well. Hopefully that will allow us to keep connected by email with everyone on a more regular basis.
Much of our time in these two weeks has been spent getting up-dated on the present status of each ministry at the church. We have spent time with several of the elders individually as well as had four extended elder’s meetings. There is so much excitement and anticipation for what God is about to do. There is much work to be done. Many areas of the church have been somewhat in embryonic state for a long time and they need much time and development. We are asking God for wisdom and discernment as we proceed. There are many committed, dedicated young people who just need to be equipped and trained.
Weekend services have been good. Bob and I are sharing the preaching for a 6 week series on The Open Door 2009. Response has been very positive and I believe people are buying in to the vision that it is a new day and we can believe for God’s favor. Last Sunday, 5 people got saved. There are visitors in every service so I believe that if we can do a better job of assimilation, we will grow.
There has been much discussion in the last few years of the need to change the name of the church. RUN is an acronym for Reaching Unto Nations and was certainly the vision of the church as it was birthed. However leadership here has felt that it didn’t have meaning to the city or our communities and so should be changed. The elders and leaders have spent time coming up with all the possible names. Last Saturday at our elder’s meeting, we landed on a name unanimously. We all felt really good about it and decided we would present it to the church at the end of our 40-day fast, on February 27. Well, on Sunday morning, one of the members of the worship team had a very simple and brief prophetic word. He said, “The Lord is here and he is giving this church a new name. You have been known as…..and now you will be known as……” The word he used is exactly what we had landed on as the name. The elders all exchanged smiles of gratefulness to the Lord. It was a wonderful confirmation that God is at work. I am sorry that I can’t share the name with you yet, we don’t want it to “get out” until the church hears it first!