Well folks. I really let time get away from me didn’t I? I had hoped to be able to share the good news that our NGO was renewed. But bureaucracies, no matter which country you are talking about, move at their own pace and will not be rushed.

Renewing an NGO requires navigating a labyrinth of confusing — often conflicting — requirements, obtaining dozens of letters, recommendations and permits from about every level of government, all so you can submit the paper equivalent of a small forest to the National NGO Board for approval. That’s where we are now – waiting for approval. And we have been for a month. Pray that it gets done soon. I’ve also submitted my work permit, and all the other permits and passes for my family, and those can’t be approved until the NGO is renewed.

Meantime, things have gone very well in the churches. While we were away, Uganda closed all their churches and left them closed for 15 months. This created a multitude of problems. The people found ways to meet from house to house anyway, but it still put tremendous strain on the churches. Some grifters attempted to seize control of our Sangano church, and caused trouble in the other three. The matter has been resolved, though not before we’d met many times with people and heard their struggles, and sought to put things right Biblically.

Then, it took five months to gradually work through the lesser issues that inevitably arise, have people air their grievances, and make peace and repent towards each other. God has given us a tremendous amount of unity, and things are going well.

We had a backlog of baptisms and a couple of weddings. We had to work our way through updating the memberships and inducted all the new members. Finally, after all that, we held the Lord’s Supper again in each church. Nothing quite promotes the unity of a church like the Lord’s Supper. I wanted everybody to work through their issues and resolve things first, because I didn’t want anybody eating and drinking of the Lord’s table unworthily, as the warnings given in 1 Corinthians 11 are quite clear on that point.

I have done men’s training for prospective leaders and young men in the church. We have at last reached the point where the churches can appoint new deacons. It will take a lot of pressure off our “old timers” who carried the burden during the long COVID lockdowns and give them extra hands on deck to help with their duties.

I am very pleased with what God has allowed us to accomplish since my last letter. God is blessing and working, and it is my great privilege and pleasure to be involved in what God is doing out at the Nakivale Refugee camp in our four churches.

Sorry for the long delay in communication. I am using Truth Social now for all my microblogging needs, under the username @missionuganda. There is a link in the upper right, along with a link to our Rumble account (an alternative to YouTube). I regularly update the Truth account, so that’s the most current method of communication.

God bless you!