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