Scotty, We Need More Power!

We just got back from Kigumba, Uganda. It is in the northwest of Uganda, and it is about 200 km from Kampala. It took about 3.5 hours to get there. The road was quite good for 100 km, but terrible the last 100 km. Thankfully, they are working on repairing it. Pastor John is a very good driver and he got us there safely through potholes and dodging trucks, cows, goats, monkeys, children, boda boda drivers, chickens and bicycles. You could meet all of these things in the space of 1 mile, so you need to be careful!

When we got there, we were brought to our lodging. Pastor John checked it out with us and he decided it was not suitable - for which we were grateful. The rooms were ok, but they only locked from the outside with a big padlock. They were also right off the bar...Not sure if it was an old jail or what, but I was happy to avoid this place.

The next one that we went to was much brighter and cleaner! The power had been out in the whole town for 1 or 2 days already and never came back on in the 2 days we were there. No one seemed to know why it was off or when it would come back on. They just kind of live with it. Can you imagine if that happened in Canada?! The coke was warm, the fans and lights didn't work. I could picture the Captain of the Enterprise calling Scotty for more power. (if you don't know what that is, I'll pray for you... :-) )

The conference we did went very well - and I'm not just saying that because we were the presenters! There were about 100 - 125 pastors and leaders from various churches. Some came from very far away just to be further trained! The people were so receptive and responsive. Pastor Scott did a fantastic job on teaching about the church. It is a passion of his and it shows in his presentation!!

We also team taught and taught about church issues, personal and leadership development. We had a great time of prayer at the end with a sense of God moving in a powerful way. The people were so grateful that we (Northgate) would leave the comparative comfort of the city to come out into the hinterlands. Truthfully, we are so grateful to be a part of this.

I will write more later about some of our experiences there. There are some things that are just different in Africa...

Take Away

Here's some of the 'takeaway' thoughts for me from this conference.

Monday night - Pastor Jack reminded us that Foursquare is a distinct family with a distinct call from God. He talked how we live this best when we serve the Body of Christ because this purpose transcends sectarianism and denominationalism. He challenged us then to begin to pray with conviction that there is something to possess. Move beyond passive acknowledgement and pursue the call of God. Obviously, the same would apply to us as individuals.

Tuesday morning - Jack talked a lot. But, what I took away is that we are always in a battle. The spirit realm is real and there is a spiritual enemy that does not want to see us succeed. Live aware!

Tuesday night - Glenn Burris, Jr. spoke how often we go off on our own 'great ideas'. We may have pure motives, but our actions can be totally wrong. There is no greater pursuit than to hear the voice of God - and do it! It may not always make sense to us, but God is leading and working things out to His purposes. It is a challenge sometimes to stop and listen - but the results are only what God can do.

Pastor Jack Interview

This is not your usual interview with Pastor Jack Hayford, president of Foursquare USA.