“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” — John 14:12-13
Sometimes the promises that Jesus makes at first blush seem outlandish to the point of absurdity. I’m tempted to skim over such words because I don’t know what to do with them. But then I have to pause and tell myself this is Jesus speaking and He means every word. It is true, and He wants His followers to live accordingly. We have a calling to do the works of Jesus (and even greater!!) and we have the promise that in order to actually do them, we can ask Him for anything in His name and He’ll do it(!). All of this is so that the Father may be glorified in the Son - that He will be revealed, exalted, made known through the works that Jesus does in and through us. The Father is glorified by you and me doing the works of Jesus in the power of His Name. Works of compassion and forgiveness and healing and gospel proclaiming and service and generosity and so much more. Our prayer is for Jesus to raise up thousands in Uganda who are doing His works in the context of very ordinary lives, and also spreading these works into more and more places of darkness and brokenness. What an underserved privilege to be part of this. His works are amazing!! Equipping the Saints Through God’s grace, we are continuing to help equip cohorts of committed believers to make disciples. We do this through sharing simple principles and methods and by going into the harvest fields and experiencing His ministry together. Our aim is always to lead people to Jesus and form them into small groups - “Mustard Seed Fellowships” - for the sake of growing in the Lord and being equipped to go out and make more disciples. We currently are working with around 50 fellowship leaders in Masaka who have been active in this ministry, as well as approximately 70 in various villages in central and western Uganda. These leaders have shared that they are telling the Gospel to people at work, with their neighbors, and even strangers they meet. Through this witness, people are coming to Jesus and as they attend the fellowships they are growing in maturity. One disciple-maker told us the story of a person who has been actively practicing witchcraft since 1961 being born again recently when they shared the Gospel with him. Another elderly lady was walking home after attending a training, and met with a downcast woman on the road. After stopping to speak and hearing her story, this grandmother offered to come on another day to the lady’s home to share more, and this offer was accepted. On the appointed day, the lady was not at home, but four of her older children were born again as the elderly lady shared Jesus with them. Another young man is a barber and he has seen three people come to Christ after beginning to share with his customers about Jesus. He also teaches keyboard on the side, and two of his students are now following Jesus and come to him for fellowship. Another lady tells of opening her house every night at 8:00 for anyone who wants prayer. Through this, she has had the opportunity to share with many people and some have experienced answers to prayer. There are many more beautiful stories like this, as people seek to do the works of Jesus in loving their neighbors and speaking His Word. Other Updates Things are still progressing on the team and training center, and we are hopeful that the roof will soon be on. It’s amazing watching it go up! There is still much work to do but we are really grateful for the recent progress. We are also looking forward to hosting a couple of amazing teams this summer, both of whom will enter into the disciple-making work with us. We are very expectant as we plan for these outreaches. Finally, we are planning a Residency program for January, 2025. It will be 3 weeks here in Masaka, and participants will learn about and experience the work of cross-cultural disciple-making. If you or someone you know might be interested in this, please reach out! We would so appreciate your prayers!
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