King of Kings Ministries
Our life here in Uganda is always full of rich and varied experiences and lots unpredictable circumstances as anyone who has visited will know. For example never knowing if we will have a complete day with water or electricity. It can go off without any warning for an unknown length of time.
King of Kings Ministries Loving God …… Loving You…… Dear Friends, It’s been a while since the last newsletter for which I apologise so I have decided to make this a bumper one to bring you up to date with all that has been happening. Family News After going through a very tough time being bullied and intimated at her previous school we decided to look for an alternative for Mercy. God heard our prayers and we found a relatively new Christian school which is not only doing well academically but also has a wonderful genuine, caring atmosphere. So in February this year Mercy joined Senior 3 at Hope Senior School which is run by Watoto who some of you may have heard of. Mercy loves the school and is the happiest we have seen her in ages. In fact this term she surprised us all by nominating herself for the position of Head Girl and much to our delight she was voted in by the other students in. Thank you for all your prayers, we have really seen God’s hand upon her life! At the weekend we will take the four hour drive to see her on the school visiting day – can’t wait! As for Amanya Joy, she continues to enjoy every day to the full. She loves school, learning new things and especially spending time with her friends! Her mind works at 100 mph and she can ask 100 questions a day. (I’m told she inherited the questions part from her mum!) On Saturday she will be celebrating her 6th birthday and we thank God for all the joy she has brought into our lives. Silas is doing well, I really don’t know how he manages to do all that he does but by God’s strength and grace God is using him to pioneer a great Kingdom work in Uganda. He continues to walk in great umbleness before and yet God is giving him great favour in the nation from Top Government Officials to Senior Spiritual Leaders. They respect him as a man who hears from God and lives a life of utmost integrity. Please pray for God’s wisdom to lead and guide him in all that he does. Celebrating 10 years in Uganda! As for me, what can I say except “I’ve made it!” or better still “GOD HAS DONE IT!” I have now been serving God in Uganda for ten years. It seems a long time ago since I wrote my first newsletter telling everyone that after nine long years of waiting on God that he gave me the greatest desire of my heart to come and serve him in this nation. The journey has been interesting to say the least but there has never been a moment where I have questioned whether I am in the right place, I know 100% that I am walking in the calling and destiny purposed for my life. For sure the challenges and struggles have been there along the way but through it all my testimony is that GOD IS FAITHFUL! A testimony I want to shout from the roof tops. Many of you have stood with me (and now with the whole family) in prayers and through your generous financial support for the whole ten years. I just want to stretch out my arms of love and say THANK YOU PRECIOUS FRIENDS for being a channel of God’s amazing blessing into our lives. I write this with tears of gratitude in my eyes, without your love and kindness we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing. We pray that the seeds you have sown into this nation of Uganda will bear a mighty harvest. To God be all the honour, all the glory and all the praise. AMEN! NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN AFRICA! Our life here in Uganda is always full of rich and varied experiences and lots unpredictable circumstances as anyone who has visited will know. For example never knowing if we will have a complete day with water or electricity. It can go off without any warning for an unknown length of time. We currently haven’t had running water for two weeks necessitating lots of trips a stand pipe, about 10 mins walk away, to fill our jerry cans! Last week there was a rumour that two lions were roaming around our area having migrated from a National Park some miles away!! I can’t say that I’ve seen them yet… I definitely never had to worry about that in the UK! As I say, life here is never dull!! Life in a Developing Nation – Still a long way to go… About 100 meters from our home is a “house” made of mud. It has no running water and cooking and washing is done outside. Even though the family that live there are very poor they agreed to take in a 14 year old orphan who had been raped, found herself pregnant and who had run away. The girl had no money and nothing prepared for the baby. I was told she had given birth so went to visit. She gave birth lying on a mud floor covered with banana leaves. The baby was small but healthy and had been wrapped in a very old thin cotton adult skirt. I gave her some baby clothes and money and prayed for them both. Part of me wanted to cry at such deprivation and yet part of me was rejoicing that both mum and baby were healthy and strangely peaceful. Hospital conditions in Uganda are shocking…. In a period of just two weeks I have held two dead babies in my arms. Both babies died because of lack of equipment and basic medical care. It saddens my heart when I know that in the West both of these babies would definitely survived. We have been taking care of one these mothers in our home, loving her back into life as she slowly comes to terms with all that has happened. Ministry News Our year started with a great sense of excitement and anticipation as we welcomed a wonderful team from Canada including our good friend Donna Parachin, (former Director of Singing Waters Ministries)Don Boyd another friend made at Singing Waters & Adrian Wi and Herman Lam from Lifespring Church in Toronto. Over a thousand people from four African nations, including the pastors and some of the members from our 65 branch church, travelled to King of Kings Church for the conference called “Living in the Abundance of the Father’s Love!” Many Ugandans have grown up in harsh situations in families fighting for mere survival with little understanding of the importance expressing real parental love resulting in a tangible sense of orphaness across the nation. Many carry a heaviness and deep wounds in their hearts due to the hardships they have suffered and as a result find it difficult to experience God as the loving father that He truly is. Through teaching that penetrated deep into wounded hearts and powerful ministry times where our heavenly father met in such intimate ways with His hurting children, the conference brought God’s people into an encounter with His amazing Father’s heart of love. It was such a wonderful answer to prayer to see so many lives transformed through the healing power of God’s love. The conference ended with great celebration and the release of joy in people’s lives just shone from their faces. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our Canadian friends who generously donated funds to make this conference possible! May God richly bless you. Equipped to Serve Silas and I have a vision burning in our hearts to see a life giving church in every town and village throughout Western Uganda. To fulfill this vision the training and equipping of Pastors and Leaders is vital. Many are already doing the work but without having received any kind of training. 38 Pastors& Leaders Graduate! It was 6 years ago when God connected us with Dr. Gavin and Glenda Williams from Australia, a couple who have now dedicated their lives to training up leaders in developing nations. It has been a wonderful blessing to King of Kings Ministries to have them standing with us to help fulfill this vital part of our vision. They established a part time, two year training course called S.A.L.T. (School of Advanced Leadership Training). With great excitement we recently saw our most recent group of 38 students from all over South Western Uganda proudly graduate with a Diploma in Christian Leadership. Many of those graduating were denied the opportunity to complete formal education, several not even completing primary so to receive a Diploma is like a dream come true. We are passionate to do everything we can to raise up a well trained army of leaders who will spread the Kingdom of God in Uganda and see this nation rise up in the glory of God. Changing Lives Poverty in Uganda has been described as chronic. Most approaches to deal with poverty have not been effective. With numerous measures in place to deal with the scourge, poverty levels have not reduced in line with the government’s expectations .The conditions of the poor continue to worsen with the high inflation, high cost of fuel and rising food prices. Bank services are very expensive in Uganda, beyond the reach of the average adult. In 2009 a financial gift was given to King of Kings Church. We felt God leading us to set up a micro finance scheme to enable our church members to access interest free loans to set up small businesses. The scheme was largely successful and the quality of many lives was transformed. Official Opening of King of Kings Saving and Credit Co- Operative Rep for Minister of State for Microfinance, M.P for Mbarara, Silas and Nicola Out of this experience grew the desire to extend both the services and the reach of this ministry to benefit the whole community. In February, King of Kings Saving and Credit Co-Operative (SACCO) was officially opened by a representative of the Minister of State for Microfinance. Silas gave a rousing speech about the need for the Church to be actively being involved in dealing with grass roots issues such as poverty in the community. With over 500 registered members, officials were amazed how far King of Kings SACCO had already come in such a short space of time. It is good for the government to see that churches are not only concerned but active and able to provide quality professional services in the community. What does the SACCO Provide? Each member is actively involved in improving their own economic and social welfare. In addition, they protect members from exploitation since they are owned and controlled by the members themselves. SACCOs also provide an opportunity for accumulation of savings and access to loans in a convenient and affordable manner. They make ordinary persons access financial services: conveniently, safely and sustainably. Conveniently because they are community based, and because they are formed, financed, used and controlled by members. Safely because they must practice financial disciplines and internal controls. Please pray that God’s continued blessing and protection upon this venture as we seek to provide affordable financial services to those in desperate need! URGENT! King of Kings Church, Mbarara In our last newsletter we asked for your prayers because the District Council, from whom we rent the land upon which King of Kings Church is situated, decided to increase the rent by 300%. We later found out this was initiated by some council members who do not want to see a church on the land and who had other business interests in mind. We appealed and I am happy to report that a decision was taken to postpone this action until September when it should be reviewed in the correct manner. However………. We have felt from the beginning as though God has given us this piece of land and somehow would make a way for it to be given to King of Kings Ministries. In the natural we have no way of buying it as it is prime land but with God all things are possible! We have explored many options but more recently we decided to go straight to the top and ask the President to allocate this land to us. He has shown interest in the work we are doing and has sent his officials to confirm what is on the ground. We are currently waiting for one more visit after which he will make his final decision. Please, please join us in prayer about this request. There is so much corruption within Uganda and many people who would want to stand in the way. But we have seen God do amazing things in the past and we believe that this is on His heart. I hope you have enjoyed this bumper newsletter. Thank you for taking the time to read it and for all your love and support ………… With our love, Silas and Nicola CAN YOU HELP? We do not receive a salary but live by faith in the glorious riches of Christ Jesus given through His people. If you would like to support our ministry here in Uganda either though a one-off gift, or by giving regularly, the information below may help: UK: Please send cheques payable to Nicola Hancock c/o Mr & Mrs Hancock, 44 Rosewood Close, Plymouth, Devon, PL9 9JB. If you are a tax payer please call them first on 01752 298780 to find out how an additional 25% can be added to your gift at no extra charge thru Gift Aid. AUSTRALIA: Please contact LttN Ministries, 14 West Kahala Avenue, Budgewoi, NSW 2262 Tel: +61 2 4390 2545 email: administrator@lttnministries.org.au USA: Please make checks payable to Harvest International Center, write Mr & Mrs Tayebwa in the memo section, you will be sent a tax receipt. Mail to: Sally Liu, HIC, c/o 501 Blue Ridge Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA For further information please email: tayebwa@kingofkings.ug