Tendo Bible Camp13 “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” – Matthew 14:13-21
Life in Uganda can be challenging at times. Somethings are not readily available in villages. People often go without some of the basic necessities. When we go out to Namayumba, we often get overwhelmed by the needs of the people that we are trying to reach with the Gospel.
There are days that we feel as though we are lacking in resources and the knowledge to effectively reach the community. Like Jesus’ disciples, when he lead them to feed the 5,000 people, we look at what we have in our hands and we tell the Lord, “I only have five loaves of bread and two fish”- ‘it’s not enough”, “I can’t do it”. It’s through our weaknesses that the Lord teaches us about His all sufficiency.
He allows us to experience the emptiness of our hands to teach us to trust in Him alone.
When we do take our eyes off of our own inadequacy and look to the Lord, we can see His faithfulness to those who trust in Him – we are never lacking.
December & January
Youth Fellowship
Trip Out
We wanted to do something special for the students for Christmas/End of the Year celebration. We looked around and found a Recreational Center in Wakiso town that had a small zoo, horse back riding, grounds to play and a swimming pool.
Not knowing where the funds would come from, we began planning- we knew that we could bring about 70 kids in total. We would need to cover the entrance fee, plus transportation, and food/drinks for the day.
In November, we had a friend reach out to us wanting to send us a love offering. Through her special gift we were able to bring 108 students and a few leaders! Everyone had a wonderful time.
They were so thankful for such an opportunity. It was a great way to end out the year.
Schools Reopening
After 2 years of closures, the government finally allowed schools to reopen. With students returning to school, we have moved the Youth Fellowship to Saturday’s.
Here in Uganda, students can go to either day school or boarding school. Those who go to boarding will stay at school until their term break in April.
Many of the students that have been coming to the fellowship have gone to boarding, so they will not be able to join us on Saturday’s. We have decided to continue through The Story of Hope with those who have remained behind and we will work with those who went away when they return.
Special Visitors & A Special Gift
Being on the field about 8 months our dear friend, Dustin, from back home in Michigan called to check on us. During our conversation, we mentioned the need for help on the grounds at the location the Lord has blessed us with for the ministry.
Without hesitation, Dustin said he was coming to help with the work. So, Dustin came along with two of his sons, Colton and Layne, the second week of January.
With their coming to help, our home church Gr.Church, did something truly amazing. They fundraised the finances need to help put structures on the property. With their generosity, we were able to put up the meeting hall, the kitchen, office and storage building and toilets.
We are so excited about all that the Lord is going to do at this property in reaching people for His Kingdom. We are thankful to the Lord for those who are coming along side of us, partnering with us to make this dream a reality.
Lord willingly, we will begin meeting at the site in March.
Upcoming
Bible Clubs – With schools opened, we have contacted a few of the local schools about holding weekly Bible Clubs or chapels for the students.
A couple of the schools have given us permission to come. Apparently, one of the schools were anticipating for us to contact them as many of the students were apart of the fellowship.
So, when Denny went to ask for permission to hold a Bible Club, the head teacher was ready to give us the go a head. We praise the Lord for these new opportunities. Please pray for us and for the students.
Vacation Bible Camp – Schools will have their first term break Mid-April through the first week of May. We plan on holding a camp the last week of April. We are expecting to have at least 200 students.
Please pray as we plan for the week and for provisions need to provide the students with lunch and a snack each day.
Also, pray for the students to make decisions for the Lord. We need about $1000 to effectively run the camp for the week. This will cover lunch, snacks and juice/water for the week and also for the supplies for games.
We also need to raise about $1600 for 200 plastic chairs. Each chair cost about 28,000 Ugandan Shilling, which equals about $8 USD.
Visiting Local Churches – Denny, Ivan and Pastor Patrick will be visiting a few of the other local churches in the area.
Short-term Trips
We have a couple short-term teams coming. A medical team coming in August and a church from South Florida coming in September.
Family Update
We are pleased to introduce our fourth son – Rhys (pronounced “Reece”) Jody Nuwagaba – born January 3rd, 2022 at 6:50pm East African Time.
Mom and baby are healthy and doing well! He was almost a week late, but came fast when he did decide to come. We praise the Lord for a quick and safe delivery.
Asher & Korbyn have gone back to school. Asher is in grade 1 and Korbyn is in Pre- K 4.
Jaden is at home helping with his new brother.
Praise & Prayer Request
Praises:
Schools Reopened in January
Ministry property taking shape
New Ministry Opportunities
Prayer Request:
1. Youth Ministry in Namayumba Village Saturdays – Evangelism & Discipleship
2. Youth Camp last week of April – Open hearts, provisions for food and materials for the camp, volunteers to help
3. Short-term Teams in August & September
4. Renewing Asher’s passport & Reporting Rhys’ birth abroad.
5.$1000 for Camp in April to cover food & drinks, craft & games supplies
6. $1600 for chairs
Thank you for standing with us in reaching Namayumba with the Gospel. May the Lord bless you for your love for the nations.
In Christ,
Denny, Cassie
Asher, Korbyn, Jaden & Rhys
Nuwagaba