Sunday 8th September
Whilst in Bugesera on Friday, we visited 6 homes; the first to build a keyhole garden and then five home visits to deliver bags of hope. On our first home visit we encountered a family who left a mark on each of us. At first, the Father wasn’t present, and we were informed that he was not a Christian. We prayed for the family and offered to pray for the Father’s salvation; however, before Paul could begin to pray, the man himself turned up! We were able to invite him to church on Sunday in the hope that we would see him there.
Fast-forward to today – Sunday – when the team arrived to join New Life Bible Church in Bugesera. We were treated to the most overwhelming welcome, invited up onto stage where each of us had the opportunity to say something to the congregation and the choir even sang two songs to us.
New Life Bible Church in Bugesera is a dancing church. Twenty minutes after our arrival we were all dancing too! Take a look at this short video to get a flavour for what it was like.
After nearly half an hour of dancing, the preacher came to the stage; the preacher being our very own Pastor Paul Jukes! Paul preached a powerful message about God’s victory and encouraged those who were not Christians to surrender to Jesus today. Ten people responded to the gospel during this service and the Pastor invited them all to come up to the front so that we could pray for them. It was then that we saw him; the man who we had invited to church only two days before!
For us as a team, it was wonderful to return to a community that we had visited previously. It felt very much like home as we walked into a congregation of nearly 500 people; shaking hands and hugging people who we had previously met in the community. To top it all off, before we boarded the bus to leave, we were swamped by the children leaving Sunday School and we had one final opportunity to say goodbye to Bugesera; a community that means so much to us all as a team.
Saturday’s Safari
On Saturday, some of the team visited Akagera National Park on Safari. Despite spending 12 hours in a jeep, it was an incredible experience with the most spectacular scenery and wildlife, including elephants, hippos and even a leopard.
