Yesu Akwagala is a phrase in Lugandan (the name of the primary language here) meaning: Jesus Loves you.

Today I went was honored to speak at the Lwantama Evangelical Pentecostal Church near Cachity (I am sure that is spelled wrong, but it sounds correct!). Katie, Yelena, and Caroline went with me. Katie also spoke while Yelena and Caroline played and did crafts with the kids. We drove two hours down red dirt roads.

My topic was “God has a plan for you”. On the way to Uganda I expected to find a lot more filth and squalor, however what I found has been anything but. There are areas where sewage run through the streets, and there are ghetto areas with small tight packed houses, but Uganda is beautiful, the people are beautiful, and they are happy. But not all is perfect.

Disease and sickness are still rampant here. We were participating in a youth conference and this evening one of the speakers spoke on the importance of remaining a virgin until marriage. Heavily emphasized were sexually transmitted diseases.

Surviving here is hard. Ugandans do many different things and work long hours each day to make enough money to afford food and a home. If a Ugandan is not producing something of value they can be shunned by their family and community.

This leaves the people feeling like nobody loves them, wondering what their place is in the world. I came to encourage them that God has a plan for their lives.

Katie followed up with a story of God’s relentless love in her life through her conversion experience and two ladies were saved. One had been attending church every week for 6 years! The people went ballistic! The celebration was intense. The band came to the stage, people were yelling and screaming, and everyone mobbed the ladies with hugs.