Africa Day 3

At 7:30 this morning I was in a car with Dennis and two other team members. We were driving to NBS TV station near our hotel. The four of us were going on a live TV show called Morning Breeze to be interviewed about our impressions and experiences in Uganda. None of us, except Dennis, knew what we were doing. On the way there Dennis told us that the show would be live and would be watched by 10 -12 million house holds (note: today 4/2/2015 I was told that this number is probably incorrect. I don’t know what an accurate number would be), including potentially the President of the country!!! And, oh by the way, the person doing the interview might try to pin you down on some of your answers. What? I didn’t sign up for this. If  you are interested you can find this broadcast tomorrow on their website. The interviewer was a woman named Doreen.

I was nervous but God told me “I will be with you. Just say what I tell you to say”. I said, “can’t I make some notes and take them in with me? “NO”. She began with me by saying “So, Doctor John, you’re a geologist right”? I said “I am a retired geologist.” She picked up on that because there is no retirement in Uganda. We went down that road for a while, ending with me saying that many men in America find their ultimate value and acceptance in their work. For some, when they retire they die within 6 months. She said “You think retirement is good if it causes people to die!” I said “of course not; the problem was where they found their value.” You know me – the door was opened. She asked me where I found my value – I told her Jesus Christ. And this is on a secular TV show in a studio owned by a Muslim man.

After a while she quoted 1 Timothy 6. She said “the love of money is the root of all evil. What do you think of that Dr. John?” Another soft-ball lobed over home plate. I took a swing. I said “the love of money is a root of all evil” and then launched into all the other things in which we chose to find our value. I returned to Jesus to say that only in Him can we find the value that will sustain us against life’s storms, totally fulfill us, and allow us to accomplish the purpose for which God created us.

There was  much more. Check it out if you can. The main thing about this morning is that God used 4 people on a TV show, completely unprepared and inexperienced, to preach the Gospel to 10-12 million house holds – potentially 20 million on the most popular TV morning show in East Africa.

In the evening we went to the Homeyer’s house for dinner. What a blessing. There are 11 on our team. Eight of them did not know Shelley or Paul. After a few minutes of introductions Shelley began to pray and prophesy over some of our team members. The others joined in with laying on of hands. The ice was broken. A miracle occurred. What was a group of strangers became a body of friends linked together at a deep level. Hallelujah, the Kingdom of God is here.

For those of you interested in praying for our team by name, here are the names: Dean and Lisa (coordinators), Dr. Dennis, Judy and John, Michelle, Rob, Matthew, Jeannie, LJ, and Julie.

Grace and peace

John