Day 9: #2 Church and Spoons. The Rest Arrives

            After the week of challenge and love, we got a day of rest.  Today was the peaceful calm before the storm of travel that is churning on the horizon.  It was our last full day in Africa.  It was wonderful.  We thank and praise God for this final day of fellowship and laughter.  Thank God for the love that we experienced here, for the transformation that took place here and for the hopeful vision of the future that arose here.  God is doing amazing things in Africa.  He has some amazing children here! It has been a blessing to see God's love in Uganda, first hand.
             The first part of our day was spent loitering around the Jinja house and getting ready for church.  Having nearly 21 people share one bathroom can cause an impressive traffic jam.  By the grace of God we were all washed and ready to go by about 10am.  The service we attended this week was much smaller and more intimate.  It was quite a juxtaposition to the loud crowded sheet metal tent we visited last week.  The small fellowship that we gathered in today was called Jesus Life Church.  It is shepherded by Pastor Jimmy and his wife Helen.  We have been delighted to get to know them over the past several days.
              During the service today,  Pastor Jimmy asked Josh from our team to share a message.  Josh told us that the Lord called him to give a message on the cost of being a disciple.  He gave a very convicting and heart felt sermon about understanding the difficulty of choosing Jesus. Pastor Josh emphasized that we can not follow Jesus with ulterior heart motives.  Jesus is very good at knowing our heart    We can choose Jesus or we can choose the world.  We can not have both. 
                 Jesus calls us to love him above friends, family, possessions, security, pleasure, food, country, and our very selves...  We can not put any of these things above Jesus Christ and rightfully claim to be His disciple.  Josh emphasized the difficulty of choosing Christ, but he said that it is worth it.  In Christ is life.  The narrow way of seeking Christ is worth it.  Wide is the path that leads to death.  The message was very convicting and edifying.  I am glad that Josh was willing to be obedient to God's call.  It is a blessing to receive words that speak truth, especially if it is hard to swallow truth.  The most healing medicine usually tastes the most bitter.

              To close the service, we were lead in worship by the Dove Voice Band.  Again we danced before the Lord to the rhythm of African drums.  Who would have guessed that American Protestants could shake their hips so wildly in a church service?  After the service, we loitered around the Jinja house again, until we said farewell to the Dove Voice Band.  It was sad to see them leave, even though we only knew them a short while.  They are a great group of young men.  We look forward to what the Lord will do through them.
             We spent the rest of the evening laughing together and playing some intense few games of spoons.  I sadly gained a bad reputation during the game because some people thought I was overly aggressive.  That is alright though.  If one must endure a smear campaign to win a game of spoons then so be it.
            Overall, I thank God for the day of rest.  Tomorrow night, we board a plane for the long flight home.  May God continue to guard us closely during these last moments in Africa.  Praise Jesus for all that we have experienced.  God is so very good.

In Christ,
Mark Tatham