LOSING EMMANUEL IN JO’BERG
Sunday October 30, 2007


We finally landed in Johannes berg after a long thriteen hour (or so flight from Sydney. It was sunshine all the way as we tried to outrun the sun, leaveing Sydney at 10:00 am and arriving at 4:30 pm local time. We hit the cues waiting for Immigration clearance and saw Emmanuel go through the section for people with African passports while we were in the much longer “others” cue. That was the last we saw of him – when Jaemin and I finally dragged ourselves to bed at 9:30 pm local time (it was about twenty four hours since we had started the day) we had still not set eyes on the only Ugandan member of our team.

Arrival in Jo’berg
We all got through the Immigration and Customs without incident. We had to check to make sure our bags were checked through to Entebbe and then wandered through customs and waited to see Emmanual. …… but no Emmanuel. We decided he must have gone ahead of us but when we got to the hotel but when we arrived there was no sign of him. We checked in and had a short meeting to bring everyone of the fifteen people in the team onto the same page and then they all went to their rooms. It was about 7:30 p.m. Three hours since the plane landed and still no sign of Emmanuel. We tried to survey all the known preferredoptions without satisfaction. We didn’t really have any idea what “other” options may have existed.

Back to the Airport
Jaemin and I got the shuttle back to the airport and looked in every place we could think of, but without success. We talked to the police and the airport administration but to no avail. We even looked in the Muslim prayer room. No Emmanuel. It was about 9:30 and we had no idea where he could be. I went into the customs area and a lady there let me look through the customs declarations to make sure he had actually cleared the customs (I don’t even want to think of why he mightn’t have done that. – we were just covering every single base we could think of.). No Emmanuel.

A more senior Customs lady came over while I was going through the last of the three boxes of customs declarations and told me that I was not really supposed to be looking at other people’s information. She was really nice about it and then read the writing on my t-shirt about taking the gospel into the whole world and just said to me, “The Lord will take care of him. You know that don’t you.” I assured her that she was right and I would transfer my trust to the Customs department of heaven rather than South Africa. I joined Jaemin back in the main area feeling challenged and encouraged.


So we caught the shuttle back and checked with the reception (we had done that three or four times already). The words of the Customs department prophet were fulfilled. To our great relief, five hours after the plane had landed, we were told he had checked in. We went to his room and banged on his door, but no matter how much we banged we could get no response. So we both went to bed assuming he was temporarily “dead to the world” and we will look forward to seeing him in the morning. Not just seeing him but hearing the story.

Tomorrow: Johannesberg to Mbale Uganda
Tomorrow we have a 2:00 pm (local time) flight to Entebbe and a five hour plus drive to Mbale. Tuesday the conference and crusade program begins at Mbale.

Tune in tomorrow to hear Emmanuel’s story.
Emmanuel Discovered in Transit
Monday October 1st

With body clocks all out of kilter many of the team woke at around two or three and tried to reprogram for a bit more sleep. I got up at 4:00 and went downstairs to pray and read and dosome preparation. We didn’t have any of our main bags so things were a bit sparse in the clothing and personal department. But we all covenanted together not to think about it. Good showers and some sleep are a very worthy substitute. I was more interested in finding out what happened to Emmanuel. When I went to the reception yet again to double check that he had come the night before I was told he had not checked in. Jaemin even rang the room number they had given us the night before and a girl answered. No wonder she didn’t answer the door the previous night with a couple of strange guys knocking and calling for Emmanuel. So more drama.

We left for the airport at around 11:00 am. And the search was on yet again. We sat together and retraced our steps. I decided that I would go back to Customs and Immigration and double check to make sure he really had come through the passport control. By the time I talked to three or four different people we worked out that it was more than likely that he had not been allowed entry into South Africa because he was travelling on a Ugandan passport. People on Australian passports don’t need a visa to enter South Africa but Ugandans do. So this poor man with a limp walked me all the way to the transit lounge and when we talked with the transit officer he remembered that Emmanuel had come through the afternoon before, and when he had presented a voucher for our hotel, the man had put him in touch with a hotel in the airport for transiting passengers, imaginatively called the Transit Hotel.

Emmanuel –tired but safe
So I went back to the arrivals area where Jaemin was waiting and we checked in and went into the transit area. We had Emmanuel’s ticket for the Jo’berg to Entebbe leg and he needed it to check in himself. We were told at the reception desk of the hotel that he had checked out. Wen returned to wander around the transit area and to our great joy, Emmanuel was there. The story was that he had asked for a room at the hotel but they told him it was booked out. After going back a few time he settled for a sleep on one of the bench seats in the transit area.

Out flight to Entebbe took five hours and with one hour time difference we landed just before 7:00 pm. We had trolleys full of our own gear but all the stuff that Emmanuel had brought. I was thinking of the things I might say to the customs agents to let us through without paying import duty but when we arrived to that area we were allowed to go straight out the door. Amazing and very welcome. We think it was the fact that later in the day the staff aren’t as prolific.

It was great to meet up with Patrick and Christine and Sam and a few of the other young men from Mbale. They only brought one vehicle this time, so around twenty two people squashed into the bus loaded with all of our gear and we set off for the six hour drive to Mbale. With a pit stop and a stretch legs stop we arrived at around 2:30 am. Patrick and Christine welcomed everyone and outlined the program.

We will be meeting at 7:45 am. for breakfast and some prayer and will leave for the church at 9:00 am. Teaching will happen until 2:00 pm Teams will be going to schools from around 11:00 am until 1:00 pm. We will have a break for an hour and then there will be a “Jesus March” through the streets of Mbale from the church facility to the crusade grounds. The crusade program will begin at 4:00 or 4:30.

We will be doing this program in Mbale till Sunday morning and then drive to Soroti on Sunday night for three days of the same program there. On Thursday we will drive to the other (new) town where we will do much the same program and where we will help plant another church.

There was a bit of drizzle around and plenty of evidence of where the flood waters had been, but otherwise it was reasonably free from difficulty. We will be praying for the hours between 4:00 and 8:00 pm so that there will be no rain during the crusade. Please join us for this. We are also holding one hour prayer meetings in a hall in the centre of town and doing radio programs each afternoon. That will keep us busy.

Stay in touch for a report on the first day of ministry in Mbale. This is a hard town that has begun to crack open for the gospel like never before. It is the chief learning centre for Islam in all of Africa
BACK IN THE FLOW A WONDERFUL AFRICAN ENTERPRISE
Tuesday October 2nd Ministry in Mbale Begins

I couldn’t help noticing a twelve year old boy when the worship began in the first session of the leadership conference and marvelled again at how Africans employ every part of their bodies when they worship. This boy was amazing. The fact that hundreds of others of all ages were similarly engaged made my modest 60 year old movments look pretty tame. The worship team was there again. There are twenty or so men and women who dance and sing the worship. But they do this for a few hours during the conference sessions and then back up again in the afternoon for at least another couple of hours at the beginning and the end of the crusade program. Our team thought they would double well as fitness trainers for all the energy they use. We also figured that if some of us got the anointing we wouldn’t ever need to go to the gym. The other thought was to start a spiritual gym based on African style worship.

Numbers at the morning conference started a little lower than last year, but as people arrived from other places it was filling up more by the time we finished. The Conference goes from 9:00am. till around 1:00 pm. It involves two main teaching sessions, one by Jaemin and the other by myself. Today there were the welcomes and a few other bits and pieces. Lots of ministry at the end of the second session. God was amazing. Jaemin and I did not prepare anything together, but what he taught about fitted so well with what I ended up saying. In my session I gave a whole teaching that I have never prepared. I started at the planned point but that was as far as it got. This happens with me from time to time, but the Holy Spirit gave me things to say that I have never throught of and it just kept going. At the end of that I realized that we were coming coming back to the original challenge that Jaemin had given. The ministry flowing from that was very significant.

The guys in the team went off to a school at 11:00 and Jaemin went to a lunch time meeting up in the middle of town at around 12:30 pm. I had my first experience at driving because Emmanuel was working hard to get the sound gear up to the crusade ground. So I drove myself home and then went to pick up Jaemin and the guys from their session. Its interesting driving here. Basically the whole of the road is available to whoever needs it. It doesn’t really matter if you drive on the wrong side to allow pedestrians and push bikes to have their space, but the cars just weave in and out of all this, generally with great understanding and quite a measure of grace. I don’t think I have seen anything close to road rage or any of the stuff that you and I might experience on a daily basis driving in Australia. This is a side to African nature that I admire greatly, its part of their very laid back way of approaching life.

On that note I was speaking from Acts 7 where the text says that the Jewish religious leaders gnashed their teeth in anger at what Stephen had been saying. So I asked if anyone had ever been that angry themselves. Only two people out of the whole crowd acknowledge such a level of anger. Anyway, the driving was great fun. One hand on the wheel, foot poised over the brake and the other hand poised over the horn.

This year the first meeting of the Crusade was much bigger than the first meeting last year. I don’t know just how many thousands but it must have been five or more. The stage was really well built this year and the equipment was under a roof that could be made rain proof. Everyone did their stuff. There was a great group from a school where the principal was the lead dancer and their music and dancing were terrific. You might remember from last year that when Africans perform like this, people who appreciate them come and put some money in the hands fo the lead performer. They don’t just come forward they groove forward. Wonderful. In this case another man from the school was going through the crowd selling a tape of their music. I couldn’t see all of what he did, but a few people bought tapes from him.

It was a powerful night. I preached a simple message and many people immediately came at the appeal and we prayed for them and their details were gathered for follow up. Then we prayed for all kinds of people to be healed. I love this work. It is as physically demanding as playing football but more useful beyond measure. There were storms all around us but not one came near us. Praise the Lord.

Since we had only a few hours sleep the night before, we came home to wonderful food prepared by Christine and her helpers but everyone was gratefull to eat and then head for bed.

Its great hanging out with Patrick again. His phone rings more times a day than anyone else I have ever known. He is the conductor of a very profound number of enterprises and is the lynch pin for the operation. He is always thinking about doing more and better and has a deep love for the people of this part of Uganda that is as obvious as it is practical and as detailed as it is spiritual.

We were talking about helping to set up a sponsorship link in Australia to provide people with a way to sponsor the number of thousands of orphans in their care each day. They are genuinely doing the work and the money would go directly and completely to the source of the need. There is a difficulty in arranging a program like this without some way of colllecting the money from Australia and wiring it in larger sums to Africa. We will see how this might work through our own office.

The fact that they take the street orphans from Mbale and other places is especially wonderful. Not only are they providing a chance in life for little ones who would otherwise have none, but they are solving a huge social problem for the city. The city leaders are aware of this and are grateful to the Christians for this work.