USA churches welcomed into the Province of the Church of Uganda. We want to welcome Rev. Phil Ashey and his congregation at South Riding Church and also Rev. Clancy Nixon, Church of the Holy Spirit to Uganda!! It is exciting to have these long-time friends from our home in Virginia and partners in ministry now be serving under the Church of Uganda. We are proud of both of you for your bold and clear stand for the truth of the Gospel. Please pray for both of these pastors and their churches as Satan will most certainly attack them as they stand for righteousness.

Phil Ashey visited Uganda with his son, Jake, in January to teach at a pastors' retreat in Rwenzori Diocese. I (Phil) was able to join them for the week, and taught on the Biblical foundations of worship. The pastors were encouraged spiritually as Phil Ashey taught on the marks of Godly leadership and they commented that they gained new insights regarding the power of the Holy Spirit in worship. Pray that their sincere thirst for the Word and their desire to grow deeper in the Lord will be nurtured.

Phil traveled to Mbale to join David Finkelstein and his team from Am Yeshua Messianic Jewish congregation in Baltimore. This is the sixth year that the Finkelsteins have come to minister to the Messianic Abayudaya (Jews) of Uganda. Each year they have discovered a new village of Abayudaya who have accepted Christ as their Savior. The Abayudaya have been greatly impacted by the faithful ministry of Rabbi David, and this year we experienced a particular blessing as hundreds of villagers came out to celebrate David's visit to Busi Island. We traveled about an hour in a Ssese Island canoe to a small island community where a new Messianic Synagogue has been built. David was invited to bless the congregation and its new sanctuary. It was stunning to see the outpouring of affection and appreciation from the people of this small island village. Please pray that the Messianic Abayudaya on Busi Island will remain steadfast in their faith and reach others in the village for Christ.

    

Phoebe Orombi hosted a four-day conference for the Bishops' wives last week. Mama Phoebe and the committee invited Jennifer to give the Bible Exposition every morning again this year. The theme was from Hebrews 10 – "Draw Near to God with a pure heart." Nara Duncan, wife to Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh was part of a SOMA team who participated in the conference last year and Nara came again this year to be with the Bishops' wives. She was received warmly by the many friends she made last year. Relationships deepened this year and the Bishops' wives all decided they want this to be an annual event as they are very hungry spiritually. The Bible teachings were well received and Jennifer clearly presented the role of the Holy Spirit in our walk with Christ. It was an honor and privilege for Jennifer to be sharing God's Word with these women who have the opportunity to spiritually influence thousands of women through out Uganda . Pray that the seeds planted in the hearts of the Bishops' wives will bear fruit that will remain and that they will begin to stir up God's love and good works in the women in their Diocese.

We would appreciate your prayers for a tragic event that God used to draw us near to Him and each other. The new Bishop from Bushenyi was only concencrated a few weeks ago. The day of the conference they received a call that their oldest son had been in a severe car accident in India. He was to graduate in April from University. The wife came to the conference so she would be surrounded by people who would encourage her spiritually and pray for her and her son, Andrew. The Bishop flew to India by himself. When the Bishop arrived at the hospital he couldn't recognize his son because he had sustained serious head injuries and Andrew was extremely swollen. We prayed and cried out to God for this young man's life but his injuries were so severe that God called him Home the day after the conference. Please pray for the Bishop as he is still in India trying to arrange to get the body back to Uganda for burial. His wife said it is very difficult for them to be separated and extremely hard for the Bishop to be in a foreign land with no friends to comfort him. Pray for God's comfort to cover them like a warm blanket.

Jennifer was asked to teach on the Holy Spirit to about 50 women who are married to top businessmen or in business themselves. Phil led worship and the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of the women. When the teaching was finished we moved into a time of prayer and two people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In addition, the Holy Spirit was released in many women as Phil sang songs of God's love over them. God took away their fear and allowed them to embrace the Father's love in a new way. Jennifer will do another teaching on Spiritual Gifts this week . Please pray for these women as they are leaders in Uganda and can influence many people for Christ.

We have received a donation from a Northern Virginia church (they gave us their Easter offering) for a project in Northern Uganda. We have formed a Committee and will begin to build a Secondary School in Pader town. It is the most dangerous area in the North as it has been the seat of the LRA and the place of many abductions. Below is a photo of our first meeting in Kitgum. God has given me a Board of strong Christians committed to following Christ. They are all from the Acholi Tribe and have a deep desire to help the children who have lived with the trauma of war most of their lives. Please pray we will have unity as decisions are made and that we will receive an accurate budget. Pray against all corruption once we start building. This school will begin next year. The next closest Secondary day school is 10 miles away so the need is great and it will be a real encouragement to the community and a symbol of hope for the next generation.

We have our first volunteer arriving next week for work in Northern Uganda. He works on Capitol Hill and is taking time between jobs to volunteer three weeks at a Secondary School. Please pray for his safety, and pray that he will be a Light for Christ as he serves in Kitgum. If anyone would like to volunteer in Northern Uganda please feel free to contact me and I can discuss possible options with you. We want to thank the First Friday Bible Study that is led by Betsey Mulloy in Fairfax, Virginia for their generous donation of supplies for the sewing project for Pastors' wives in Northern Uganda. Jennifer will be bringing six of the wives to Kampala for training at Uganda Christian University in May with Brenda Kiryinge from Texas. This is modeled after the project started in Nebbi several years ago by the Diocese of West Texas. We have started a project which will enable children to go to school by providing uniforms for them ($10 for each child). Helen Orombi, daughter to the Archbishop, involved her church in the USA and they have donated to this project. Several other friends have also joined us in the project. We will be able to assist over 200 children in Northern Uganda thanks to these friends and their contributions. We praise God for these partnerships.

Additionally, one of the girls I have been discipling for the past 8 years (Asha) is a complete orphan and since the age of 14 she was raised in an orpahange with her four younger siblings. She is now practicing law in Kampala and is setting aside a portion of her small monthly income to pay for an orphan in N. Uganda to go to boarding primary school. This gift has touched my heart in the deepest way as I know the sacrifice this is for her – the example to me has been huge. Asha wants to pass on the blessing that was given to her and afford the opportunity for one of these children in Northern Uganda to get an education so that they may too have hope for their future. Pray that God will bless Asha in amazing ways and that the child she sponsors will be drawn to Christ through this expression of God's love.

Baroness Caroline Cox, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, recently visited Northern Uganda with a team from her Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust and she met with Archbishop Orombi. Her visit was to learn how they might become involved in assisting the children of war in Northern Uganda. It is encouraging to see that the eyes of the world are beginning to focus on this humanitarian crisis after 20 long years of war. We must be a voice for the voiceless.

On the way to taking Owen back to school, we celebrated his 18th birthday over New Years in the highlands of Kenya and it was so special being together again with both boys. We felt a real lump in our throats to think that Owen will soon be leaving us to go to college and that our "boys" have quickly become "young men".

Our hearts are full of thanksgiving as we think of each of you and how you are making it possible for us to carry out our commitment of service to the people of Uganda. I doubt you will ever know how much you mean to us as our work here would be extremely limited if it were not for your prayers and faithful support. Thank you for your friendship and partnership for Christ.