Dear ITEM Partner,
A couple of days ago, Pastor Tom Ogalo, ITEM team member, asked me to preach/talk at his church. I had no sermons prepared. Nathan suggested something to encourage them in the midst of the pandemic. I was having a hard time finding the motivation to “dig in” and “just do it.” But nothing was coming to mind and I didn’t want to stand up and ad lib.
That lasted until I completed my phone call with my wife, Brenda, Sunday morning here. She was trying to give some suggestions but I just couldn’t get into it. Then God rescued me.
RESCUED
As soon as we hung up, 2 Cor 1 came to mind where Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the “God of comfort” who comforts us so we can comfort others. That let to Paul’s suffering that he lists in chapter 11 and how God refused to remove the throne that He had placed in Paul’s side and declared, “My grace is sufficient.” (Ch 12) Before it was all done, I had linked these passages from 2 Corinthians, one from each of James 1, Romans 5, Matthew 6, and 2 Cor 4. I just talked through several passages. I was satisfied when I was finished. I trust God was.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Nathan and I wanted to get an early start for Bungoma but lunch wasn’t ready until almost two hours after the service. There were others there at lunch and it was not conducive to talk with Tom about strategic ways they could be using the Baptist Bible College buildings. We’ll cover this another time.
We got to Bungoma and went to the restaurant for a snack (fruit salad…see pics!) and coffee. And we ordered dinner 2 hours in advance. We told them we’d be there at 8 and would like it served immediately. Server agreed. We showed up at 7:50pm and waited until 8:45 for food. Needless to explain why it is almost 11 and I am still working on this.
MONDAY
We meet Pastor Samuel at the building that will become the first ITEM resource center for pastors. We will dedicate the building and present him with several books that pastors can use to prepare sermons.
When we finish lunch, Nathan and I will head to Busia where we will meet with ITEM Uganda coordinator, Pastor Hillary Wafula, on Tuesday morning. More about that tomorrow.
That’s it for today. Thanks for praying.
By His grace,
Steve
