Uganda and Rwanda report
12 May 2008
Big thanks to all of you who prayed for us and who supplied the finances needed. Your prayers were heard and your money well used-the missions were a great success. You share in the fruit.
It was not all plain sailing. It was hard work and also at times very hot. There was also a lot to be overcome but I believe that lives were touched and changed for the better. Many reported on how much they had been blessed. Of course all the praise and glory for this goes to the Father.
My team consisted of Ingrid MacMillan, Hedley Quinton (for part of the time), Janet Hutchinson and Cheryl Grey, all of whom are anointed by God to teach the word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. We worked well as a team-that made things easy.
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| The local team welcome us at Entebbe | Agnes exhorting the delegates to do their homework! |
We began in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, teaching the second instalment of the Part Time Prophetic Teacher's course over 4 days which was a huge success. We trained over 50 Pastors and church leaders as teachers. They began the course last autumn with Pastor Richard George and his team. This is a first for Africa. The school in Kampala was well received and it will change the way people live and the way they teach. They are learning to bring forth life when the minister. One man was released in tongues for the first time and was FULL of joy from then on. We left them on fire for more of what God has for them and very eager to get going on their homework programme with Agnes (who runs the work out there). She tells us that the meetings with them in Kampala and Jinja to help them study are a huge success. Please keep praying for them as they meet alternate Saturdays in Kampala and Jinja, that God will cement in them what they have been taught and that the Holy Spirit will reveal more to them as they study.
We were blessed by the worship led by Liz Praise, who is John Mulinde’s worship leader. She was so well received that she ended up, with her team, travelling around Uganda with us leading the worship. I am listening to her CD as I write. The song that touched us most was ‘You are Alpha and Omega’. The anointing came down every time we sang it.
I was blessed when I just happened to have an Amplified Bible I’d bought with me and as I was speaking to someone I just handed it to them and said ‘ you can have this’ and they said they had been praying for one for ages!! It made me realise afresh that the Lord knows all things and every little detail of all of our lives.
On the Saturday morning I had an opportunity to speak on Impact Radio which goes
all over Uganda (www.victoryuganda.org).
It was an early start with the programme going out at 5am! I spoke on God’s plans
for our lives and then prayed for the nation. Pastor Deogracious, who had invited
me to speak, told me that over 4 million listen in to the programme, Ugandans are
prayers!! Deo was with us again for the whole mission as a driver, encourager and
meeting leader. He is great at getting the Ugandans mobilised. He and his wife Josephine
are doing the part time course too.
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| My Radio Broadcast | The Ugandan team being introduced by Charles |
Then the team split. Hedley went to Kenya to minister in Elburgon (at a church where I too have ministered). He knew he had the word of the Lord to go despite the continuing fighting going on there; he was joined by his wife Maureen who flew out from the UK direct.
Ingrid and I flew to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to further strengthen and encourage the work there, over seen by ex-Roffey student Charles Semwaga. Three of the Ugandan team (all pastors) also joined us: Joab who’d been a student at Roffey, Livingstone and Robert. In Rwanda 800,000 were murdered in the genocide, in a country supposedly 90% Christian! They needed the Word of God spoken in the power of the Spirit to bring about change in their hearts and thinking.
We held a 3 day residential conference with about 120 (mainly) pastors and leaders attending. It was quite hard going especially as I got severe stomach pains and diarrhoea and was hit by exhaustion. But we pressed on and by day 3 people were really changed. People were so hungry for the word and you could discern them drinking from the fountain. The main message was Christ and Him crucified and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as a result of that. It was like the day of Pentecost when people were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father. Many people’s lives were transformed day after day according to testimonies received from the delegates. During the Way of the Spirit groups one lady got born again!! In their break time discussions, their comments were so impressive. One pastor commented that since he has been attending Christian conferences, this conference was unique. ‘I have been in a Ministry for 14 years and to day Bible was clear to understand’. He said ‘this is the way of the Spirit, not Theology’.
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| With some of the delegates in Rwanda | The Way of the Spirit group discussions |
Charles home town was all but destroyed in an earthquake there shortly before we came. His house was one of the few still standing. Several of the delegates from Cyangugu had had their houses destroyed, yet still were full of much joy. We have much to learn from their attitude!
Whilst there the United States President Bush visited and we saw his 50 vehicle motorcade pass by on the way to the airport at the end of his time there. He obviously doesn’t travel light!!
The next day we tried to get on the plane back to Uganda but they had sold our tickets to some of Bush’s men!! We were not very pleased but they gave us a full refund and a free hotel for the night and then we travelled from Kigali to Kampala by bus which gave us a chance to see the wonderful scenery. I particularly enjoyed the huge tea plantations and seeing the tea pickers at work. All thing work together for good…
Whist we were in Rwanda Janet led the team (her and Cheryl!). They preached in Kampala churches on the Sunday and then they had a great few days at Wakiso where we were last year. The folk there are really hungry for the Word and growing. They have groups of The Way of the Spirit bible reading courses all over the place! Lives are being changed! Since our last visit in July last year they have seen God give them a new church building and the area is flourishing! One man cycled 15 miles to be with them on the 2 days as he was so keen to see what it was all about and to introduce the Way of the Spirit into his village. God is doing something wonderful there! Then they went upcountry and did one day at Kiyindi and one at Buikwe. Ingrid and I rejoined them for day 2 at Buikwe. All conferences were well received and the anointing was flowing. The Buikwe conference was a new initiative and many took up the course by the end of day 2.
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| Me in full flow in Buikwe, Deo translating | Cheryl and Janet getting folk into groups |
The highlight for me was when we did the last day conference in Jinja, at the source of the River Nile. We’d been there last year and had really had to break through. I felt like I had nothing left to give and told the ladies that I may just let them get on with it (though I did say it may well be my flesh talking!!). Yes it was as God had other plans and during the worship I had a powerful encounter with Him and He told me to ‘die’. So as I lay prostrate on the floor I ‘died’. Then came the resurrection and I spoke for 2.5 hours and the Lord gave a very powerful word. At one stage I thumped the pulpit and hurt my hand-ouch!!
My translator was David Livingstone (no not that one!) and he did a superb job keeping up with me. I think he was exhausted at the end of it! He is one of those studying the part time course and was with us the previous week in Kampala. He has really caught the vision and as he drove us back to Kampala the next day we discovered that he knew Charles Semwega well! Amazing how the Lord links us all up with the right folk.
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| Meeting with God in Jinja | Yes we have no bananas…. |
It was awesome to be used like that and to see God’s heart for his people and passion that they might be free. Janet then spoke on ‘body, soul, spirit’ which was very helpful and clear teaching. It was an incredibly hot day and the afternoon was unbearable but there was no escape from the heat. As per the usual pattern we had groups studying the Way of the Spirit in the afternoon and there was some good feedback.
I preached at a church on the last Sunday with over 1000 people, I could hardly see to the back of the church!! Did not feel like preaching but as the Word says ‘preach the word in season and out of season’! The others all spoke in different churches and so much blessing was flowing out that day into Jinja’s churches.
I was certainly ready to come home by then as I think were the others! We all had suffered this time with stomach problems and diarrhoea. The night before we left I was up every few minutes to dash to the loo!! Not easy when you have to keep taking the Mosquito net out of the way to get out!
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| Folk worshiping the Lord | A very happy team travelling back to the UK! |
After I got back I was exhausted for about 5 days but I soon was back to normal. Several of the team had to go onto antibiotics. Now we are all raring to go again!
To sum up our time there-every meeting was very powerful with challenges to break through so that the delegates could come up into a new place in God, and He didn't disappoint! It was good for me to see the team growing in the anointing too as they ministered. We were all changed from glory to glory.
Pastor Richard leads the next team out to do the part time course in Kampala in June.
May the Lord richly bless you as He so desires
Robert Clifford
