Each person has a unique ability to observe the same scene and see different things. The question comes for those who know Jesus Christ, do you know what God wants you to see? We might also ask this question, when we see something, do we see the opportunity or just the problem?
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Part of our comprehensive approach to transforming communities around the world is to come alongside church members and give them the means to become producers and lift themselves out of poverty. We believe that work is good, that it restores dignity, and that it is God’s plan for humans to work.
Recent Ministry
We give thanks for your support in doing God’s work and teaching people to overcome poverty through raising pigs and growing fruits, which generate income for our church members. May God bless you.
We continue to preach the gospel through home visits and by building strong relationships between families and our church. James is a man who opened his heart to the Lord after his family received a pig. He thanks the church that gave him the foundation for a source of income, which will help him to start paying the school fees for his children.
Over seventy family beneficiaries have seen an improvement in their lifestyle through the Poverty Solutions program. They have paid school fees for their children and paid off their debts through the sale of piglets.
Steven, Tobias, and Annah all managed to renovate and improve their houses. Annah sold the mother pig to get money to upgrade her house and bought a piglet to replace the older one. Moderate and Johnson started grocery shops to supply common household items like food and salt. The rest of the beneficiaries have seen great improvement in their soil quality through applying the manure collected from their piggery shades. These are only a few of the stories of the success and power of the poverty solutions program. It has indeed been a blessing to the families and our communities as a whole.
Some of the challenges we face include the increase in all food prices. This inflation has also affected the mash prices which has been a challenge to our farmers. We are praying that we can find a machine to start producing our own feeds to offer to the farmers at a lower price. Also, if we can produce our own feed then we can produce pigs of better quality because the feeding mash available is poor quality, yet expensive.
The east coast fever for pigs has been detected in our area so the government put a ban on all sales of pigs or their movements until the fever is cleared. Pray that the Lord will heal our land.
Poverty Solutions not only deals in piggery but also produces fruits like papaws, oranges, mangos, and vegetables.
Helping in Times of Need:
During the recent pandemic, our churches were restricted from meeting as a congregation, but our pastors and poverty solutions managers made sure people were not suffering. They went out and visited the families, single moms, and widows. They brought food and ministered to them.
Our Ministry
The brick machine is used to build projects, such as water tanks, school buildings, and the new medical center. All the workers belong to the church; they earn a wage and support their church and families.
Thank you to our partners who donate through our online poverty solutions gift catalog. Our Ministry is transforming the community and helping families lift themselves out of poverty.
Ezra is the lead welder; he has two interns who will become welders and have a better opportunity to get jobs.
Richard visits families that have received piglets; he makes sure that the animals are growing healthy. He spends time ministering to the families and helping them find solutions to any issues they might have. Pastor Onesimus occasionally visits families to make sure our managers are taking care of them.
Richard and John oversee the garden, vegetables, and fruit trees as well. They were trained by a retired farmer from California, U.S.A. They learned the best methods of how to water and maintain the different types of agriculture. Local village volunteers also visit the surrounding areas and help cultivate the grounds. In return, they get to keep the gardening tools for their gardens.
Richard & his wife Lucky and their Son!
During these times of lockdowns and government quarantine restrictions, the ministry of the pastors supported by White Fields has not slowed down or diminished. Instead, it has intensified and taken on whole new aspects for ministry.
I have chosen highlights from eight pastors out of the fifty we support to show you how God is moving. Our pastors are serving their communities in brand new ways. There is also a fantastic response to the gospel by people in touch with our churches.
You can listen to this blog on the podcast below. Thank you for joining us in prayer. Your partnership helps us sustain these ministries.
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[Read more…] about New MethodsDuring these trying times, our pastors are diligently ministering to the needy in their communities. The demonstration of their faith in action to the impoverished and helpless has a dramatic influence on the lives of people watching. Myanmar pastors are delivering some rice, some vegetables and, cooking oil. These people are delighted, says our Field Director, because they did not receive any help from the government or other organizations. The distribution of the gifts has caused people to give praise to God almighty who created everything. They know the pastors live very meager, the people see our pastors living without much themselves, and yet they are giving these gifts to them.
[Read more…] about Mountains Move
Greetings to all our friends and supporters in the name of the Lord. Your love, prayers, and financial support have brought us this far. As God’s Embassy Katoonya, we thank God for you in our lives. We pray that the Lord keeps you and your families well.
We have seen God working through our church members and their willingness to contribute money to build our church. So far, we have made one-thousand, one-hundred, and sixteen bricks, and we still have six bags of cement to make more bricks. People in our community are willing to give their time and energy volunteering to make these bricks.
Beatress and Happy Judith lead the church praise and worship team. They meet every Saturday from three to five pm to rehearse and learn new songs to present during Sunday services. We do home visits and counseling for couples and youth.
Robert is forty-eight and married to Gaudah, forty years. They are residents of Katoonya in the fellowship of Rwamatere. They live in a temporary house with three rooms. The family lives by selling hard labor to work in other people’s fields and growing food for their family. Robert had a misunderstanding with his wife that ended up in separation and Robert’s imprisonment for three years. When he was released from prison, Robert resorted to drinking alcohol and became a reckless drunkard. He met Gaudah again, and they decided to reconcile. Robert gave his life to Christ during a crusade in Katoonya trading center held by God’s Embassy Katobo. He joined the fellowship. Gaudah later gave her life to Christ after seeing the drastic change in her husband; he no longer was a drunkard or violent but instead found time to attend the fellowship and even read the Bible at home. Gaudah joined her husband at the Bible study and then the church; now, they are members. They do not have children together yet, but they are hopeful in the Lord. Robert and Gaudah serve in the church. Robert is a church committee member. Gaudah is on the praise and worship team.
The church leaders usually stay after Sunday services for a meeting to evaluate the week’s performance and set the plan and people to lead in different areas for the next week. In this meeting, we also study the Word of God together as leaders, discuss matters arising in church, and find their possible solutions. We train them in leading fellowships, intercession, and church programming. One of our upcoming leaders is Penelope; she is interested in sharing the Word of God at the foundation class with the children.
Our church is reaching the community through fellowships, home visits, and radio messages. Every day at the lunch hour, the message on the radio is a blessing for all of us in the God’s Embassy churches. Many people in the community listen to the radio—some then come to the church because they hear the Word of God and the truth.
We have five fellowships that meet on different days of the week and in various areas. The gospel is preached to people around our community. Through home visits, we shared the gospel with Josephine, who is seventy-six. She accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.
Jackson is forty-three and a father of three children. He does not live with them because when they separated, she took custody of the children. Jackson lives in Rwamatere cell in a temporary home. We met him at his home during home visits, and at this time, Robert was sick. He had an unknown illness that made him paralyzed for a long time. His wife thought he was going to die and abandoned him at the house and left with the children. His wife had sold all they had trying to get medication for Jackson but all in vain. Jackson’s mother took over his care. We shared and encouraged them with the Word of God and prayed with Jackson and his mother. We invited them to visit the church for Sunday services whenever Jackson had the strength to walk. The following Sunday, Jackson was brought to the church and attended the service. We prayed for him with the congregation, and the Lord delivered him and healed him. After Jackson saw the healing power of God upon his life, he believed and gave his life to Christ Jesus. Everyone was thrilled. Jackson testifies to the people in the village that Jesus healed him, and we give all the glory to God.
We visited twenty homes and ministered with the gospel to one-hundred and thirty people, ninety-four females and thirty-six males. We believe in God to save them in Jesus’ name.
May/June 2021
We have seen God working through the provision of the iron sheets for the roof of our children’s church. Members of the church and church friends from the community contributed the money to buy the necessary iron sheets to complete the roofing of our church. We give all the glory to God.
Kwizera is forty-seven and married to Allen, who is forty-four. They are residents of Garuka and have two children together. Musimenta is eleven, and Perez is nine. The family lives in a temporary house with two rooms. They survive by subsistence farming to get food for the family and sell hard labor to earn a living. During our home visits, we visited this family and learned that Kwizera was a poacher (hunter in the national park), and his wife was a witch doctor. Allen gave her life to the Lord after we shared the Word of God with her. Kwizera came to our church after his wife got saved but still believed in witchcraft. When Allen joined the church, started learning the Word of God and knowing the truth, the evil spirits she used to worship with her husband attacked him. We revisited their home and shared the Word of God with Kwizera. He gave his life to Christ, and later in the month, he decided to be baptized. He testifies that since he accepted Jesus and got baptized, evil spirits have not attacked him again. Kwizera promised himself that he would not go back to the park to hunt again because he has been doing it against the law and risking his life and his family; instead, he will seek another kind of work. In church, Allen is doing the ushering, and we are praying that God will help them find an option of work to earn income for their survival.
We praise God that in the last month, we baptized thirty people. Seven males and twenty-three females. Ten families dedicated their children to the Lord.
As a church, we are praying for more chairs since the number of attendants has increased.
We are training others by giving them opportunities to lead church programs, intercession prayer sessions, and teach in the foundation class. We encourage members to participate in sharing the Word of God in the weekly community fellowships. Members who are most active in these activities include Agness and Samuel.
Praise the Lord for passionate believers desiring to learn God’s Word and teach others.
Joan is twenty-three and a daughter to Benon. We have been visiting her family for some time, and Joan promised to visit us at church. She came to one of our home fellowships and Sunday service; she said she is still investigating the church programs. Pray that Joan may one day come to know and accept the Lord Jesus.
Our church is reaching out to the community through fellowships and home visits. This month we had a joint service between Garuka and Kikarara. The preacher was Pastor Able William; three people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We had many children in attendance. We thank God for the work of ministry in Garuka and Kikara. Indeed, the Lord is saving His people and overcoming the power of darkness within our communities. We thank God for His saving grace.
April 2021
God is working in the life of Phionah, twenty-four years old. She is married to Ivan, who is twenty-seven and a fisherman. They live in Garuka cell. Ivan was so violent to Phionah that she once got tired of being beaten and ran away from him and the marriage. Later they reconciled, and Ivan brought her back home. He started being violent again, and this time, Phionah was upset enough she planned to kill him. We met Phionah during our home visits when she was desperate; we shared the Word of God and prayed together. Later that week, when Ivan returned from fishing, we visited again and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him too. They both accepted Christ into their lives, and we invited them to come and visit the church during Sunday services. Phionah and Ivan are now church members, their lives have changed, and they no longer fight. Phionah is in the church choir, and they attend church together. We thank God for their changed lives. God truly does save and transform people.
The church choir meets every Saturday to prepare songs to present at the Sunday service. The women self-help association was started by the women of the choir and is still going strong. They have managed to save enough money together to purchase water jugs for their families.
Severinah is forty-five and a widow with one son, Darius, who is eleven. They are staying in a temporary house of three rooms. Severinah survives by farming and selling hard labor to others to earn a living. Before coming to Christ, she was a drunkard and used her husband’s earnings to buy alcohol. When she lost her husband, the entire responsibility to care for the family was now on her, so she did not have extra money for alcohol. At this time, Serverinah stopped drinking and started going to an Anglican church. When we started a church in Garuka, she accompanied one of the members for a thanksgiving service at the church. At church, she heard the gospel and gave her life to Jesus Christ. Severinah became a church member but has not yet served in ministry; recently, she expressed an interest in joining the ushering team. She is a good listener and asks questions whenever she does not understand something in the Bible. Her prayer request is that God will enable her to work and make her house better than it is now.
I am training Wilber to participate in the ministry by leading fellowship and intercession. He has also occasionally taught the foundations class. Wilber joined us from another evangelical church, and we are glad to God for adding another laborer in His field.
God is changing the life of Allen, thirty-six. She is married to Emmanuel, who is thirty-nine. They have five children; Lucky is sixteen, Amos is thirteen, Covidence is ten. Praise is seven, and Julius is two. The family resides in Garuka cell. Allen is from the Anglican religion but was a witch doctor and a drunkard. One day, a snake bit her when she was drunk, and she was staggering outside her home. We met Allen at her house during our home visits. At this time, she was accused of bewitching people in the community, and they wanted her to leave the area. We shared the gospel with her, and she felt convicted and accepted Christ into her life. Then we invited her to the church, and she has been attending regularly since then. The people are celebrating to see Allen going to church. The community has now accepted her because her life has changed; she is no longer doing witchcraft and has stopped drinking alcohol. We thank God indeed for Allen’s life.
Cleophas is twenty-four, a single mom with one child. She came to visit our church with her friends, and after the service, she said she enjoyed the Word and prayer session. Cleophas is still attending the church but has not yet committed her life to Christ. Please keep praying for her to make that commitment.
We are blessed to be serving in the Garuka community and seeing the lives changed because of Jesus Christ’s saving grace.
March 2021
We greet our friends and supporters of White Fields Ministries. Thank you for the support that enables us to minister in our community as God’s Embassy Garuka. We appreciate the prayers and financial support. We pray that God will bless you all.
God has been gracious to us and enabled us to start building a structure to have our Sunday School inside. For a long time, our services have been meeting in the open.
Always being outside has been a challenge with rain, wind, and sunshine. The roof will require sixty iron sheets to cover it. White Fields is funding a permanent structure for our Sunday Worship Services. The Solid roof and cement floor structure is nearly funded and the workers will begin construction very soon. We are praying for gutters and a water tank to provide clean water to all the neighbors. This generosity of ministry to the community who have no water source available will open many doors to share about the love of Jesus. Praise the Lord.
We are praying as we wait and work toward the adult church’s permanent structure.
During the pandemic lockdown, we planted some crops. We thank God that the season went well, our yields have been high, and the people now have food. We received the seeds to plant from the Poverty Solutions program. We now have beans and maize for our families.
We have many ministries that are taking place. The youth and adults have joined together to learn new songs. We desire to create a dependable choir to sing during our praise and worship time. We are training people to read and understand the Word of God in addition to leading service programs and intercessions. Agnes and Safari Elias are the two church members currently being trained.
Our church is reaching the community through home fellowships and home visits. One of the groups meets every Friday. We visited nine homes and shared the Word of God with thirty-seven people; eleven were males and twenty-six females.
Peninah is forty-five years old, a single mother living in Garuka cell with her grandson, Edward, seven years old. They live in a mud and stick hut because her former house burned during the corona lockdown. She lost her son, the father of her grandson. Her son went hunting in the national park and was killed there. Peninah does not know if wild animals or people killed him. She survives by selling labor to the neighbors. Peninah testifies that before she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, she was a drunkard. She would drink herself silly, and sometimes, when she could not make it home, she would sleep by the side of the road. We met Peninah during our home visits and shared the gospel with her. She believed and gave her life to Christ. She started to attend the fellowship and Sunday services regularly. Peninah is grateful for God’s Embassy Garuka that supported her during the tough time by visits, prayer, food, and clothing.
We thank God that the officials have eased the lockdown restrictions, and we are allowed to fellowship again. This freedom allowed us to have home fellowships and visits again. We can help the families who are in dire need of support.
We are working together as a church to harvest each other’s crops. Labor is freely given to others in rotation. The community has seen our unity, and many now desire to become a part of God’s family that they see in us. We thank God for giving us another opportunity to share God’s Word.
We received donations from believers in other God’s Embassy Churches, and the pastors are giving support to the most desperate families. Praise the Lord
Garuka is a place where many believe in witchcraft, and the most recent false teaching includes witchcraft and foretelling about people’s lives. These teachings cause disputes among the people resulting in arguments and quarrels, yet people are still swayed to follow them. We teach our people not to participate in these activities.
September/October 2020
We at God’s Embassy Garuka thank our Lord, who has been good to us during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thank you for standing with us during these difficult times. We appreciate your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you.
Due to covid-19, all places of worship have been closed since the spring. However, God has been gracious to our people, and there have been no cases of covid-19 in our community though we are most prone to suspicion since we are near the Congo border. There are many cases in Congo.
We managed to do home visits even though sometimes it was challenging since civic leaders had to permit and approve of visits. We visited the brethren to encourage them to remain firm in Christ and shared the Word of God. Some had turned back to the behaviors and habits they had practiced before they professed Christ from the lack of fellowship meetings.
I thank God we were able to open the church again, and people were eager to come for prayers. We follow the guidelines set by the government to control the spread of the virus. People come to service wearing masks and in limited numbers as per the standard operating procedures. We distributed masks to church families and have a handwashing facility with soap and a thermometer. The members are confident of their safety as they attend church.
Community fellowships opened the month before last, and people are eager to worship God. The Kifumbira ward fellowship now has twenty-three participants. On Friday nights were have an average of ten people for prayers at the church.
Through our home visits since the lockdown began, we had one person come to faith. Birungi accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior after we shared the gospel with him. He attended the church last month and promised to be a part of our church.
We thank God that He is still in the business of saving people.
Thank you for your encouragement to serve God and His people. Your love for us, prayers, and support have kept us moving forward in ministry. We bless the Lord for your partnership.
August 2020
God’s Embassy Garuka, wants to thank God so much for His protection and provision throughout this trying time of the Covid-19 pandemic. We thank the Lord for White Fields that has continued to support us with salaries and food for the needy families within our congregation. May God bless you indeed.
We have seen God at work by protecting our people and us from Covid-19; we have not registered any death in the communities we serve. We also have seen God provide our daily needs through White fields to help some of our community members who were affected by the lockdown. What a blessing to the families; indeed, they were very grateful for the support and help.
A Family in the Fellowship
Emanuel and his wife, Kabiriti, have five children. They live in a small two-roomed house on the borders of Queen Elizabeth National park. They survive by cultivating their gardens. Their children do not go to school because Emanuel is unable to support his children to get an education; the family is poor; however, despite the circumstances, Emanuel serves as an usher in church.
Emmanuel testifies that he was in prison for poaching and while in prison, he got a chance to hear the Word of God during morning parades. When he completed his time, he was released. We visited him during our home visits to share the Gospel, and Emmanuel gave his life to Christ, and since then, he has never gone back to poaching again. The children are happy to see their dad at home with them because, in the past, he was not around. They are very grateful for the love and support of the church towards their family and especially the father. Pray for Emmanuel and Kabiriti that God will enable them to find work and be able to support their children with education.
Praise Reports
Prayer Request
Difficulty in community
The Coronavirus pandemic affected us badly; we are not allowed to gather at all, and we have to ask for permission to do home visits in only crucial instances.
Evangelism
It is challenging to do home visits, but with secured permission, we have been able to visit 12 homes with the Gospel.
We have been visiting Justus at his home. He is a farmer who depends on subsistence farming. After many visits, he seems to be more interested in the Gospel, for he has promised to visit us at church when the church opens again.
April 2020
I thank the Lord for White Fields Ministries that gives us the support to do the work of God effectively and to reach the surrounding communities of Garuka with the gospel and bring hope to the people.
We have seen God at work in our community. He provided us with a motorcycle and the church land where we have our congregation meetings. When we first started, we met in Provia’s compound. She was among the first people in Garuka to become a believer. Getting land in Garuka was challenging, but we thank God for helping us acquire a piece of our own. The motorcycle is a means of transport that allows us to do our home visits efficiently.
God has changed the lives of the people in this community. Provia is forty-one. She used to live a miserable life and was involved in drunkenness and prostitution. We met Provia during our home visits, and she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Her life is a testimony to God’s transforming grace.
We thank God for the church land. Now we have a home, a permanent place for the church. The believers and the community know that we have come to stay in this village. Our purchase of land is a testimony to our intent to be in this community to serve its people.
Our children’s ministry is growing. We are visiting homes, sharing the Word of God, and asking parents to allow their children to come to visit our Sunday school, where we teach them Scriptures and songs. There are now twenty-five children attending the children’s ministry. My wife Brighton leads and teaches in this ministry.
The adults in our Men and Women’s ministries are working together to earn and pool their money to purchase five-liter jeri cans for drinking water storage. These containers cost three-thousand Uganda shillings (about eighty cents). The group contains twelve people, and they have raised the money to buy jeri cans for five people. They will continue until everyone has received one. It is hard for an individual to get three-thousand shillings all at once since they earn money through hard labor, and saving for such a purchase is challenging. This approach helps them save their money and purchase what they need one by one.
Mr. Black and his wife, Juliet, are a family in our fellowship. They have five children. Patience is seventeen, Brenda is thirteen, Akandinda is ten, Birungi is six, and Savior is a year old. Juliet and her two oldest daughters gave their lives to Christ at our open-air crusade last year. They are now in our choir, and the younger children are in the children’s choir. They live in a rented house and survive by gardening and growing their food. Black is not a Christian. Juliet was an alcoholic, but now she has changed by God’s grace. The family is praying for their husband and father to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
The coronavirus is affecting our community as churches are not allowed to gather. The government has suspended all group meetings in the country. We are not allowed to do home visits or leave our area to travel to Rukungiri since our sub-county is considered a high-risk area in Uganda. We are near the Congo border, and the national park makes it challenging to stop the movements of people coming in from the Congo.
I am training others to participate in the ministry by teaching them how to read the Bible. Many of the people, including the adults, cannot read well. We are teaching them to sing and praise God. Safari Elias is sharing the Word within the fellowship. I am hoping to make him a leader of one of the fellowships. Nganda leads the church when I am away.
We have deacons who help in sharing the gospel during home visits. Agnes is thirty-six. She is great at mobilizing and encourage others. She is a good singer and leads the women in the church. She was married but her husband abandoned her and the children. Agnes managed to remain in Christ despite this situation and she is serving the Lord. Pray that God will help her to remain strong in her faith. Provia is our church treasurer. Safari Elias is a secretary. Juliet is the church choir leader. Violet and Katushabe are chief ushers.
Before the restrictions were placed, we visited thirty homes and spoke with eighty-four females and forty-six males. Fiona welcomes us every time we visit her and has promised to one day come to the church. We pray that she will understand the gospel and surrender her life to Christ.
March 2020
We have seen God working through the life of Pastor Able. It was such a blessing to see him marry Brighton. The journey to get to this point was not easy because of the burdens placed by the culture and government. But, God answered many prayers, and the wedding ceremony was an awesome celebration. We give God all the glory and praise due to his name.
As Pastor Able plants his new church he and all the supporting leaders are helping him spread God’s word by gathering the community.
Pastor Able received a new motorbike so that he can travel to this new area. The distance from his home to the church on foot is 2 hours; now, with the motorbike, he will be able to travel to and from more efficiently. Many more homes can be visited, and the gospel shared with more families. Additionally, Pastor Able and Brighton minister to the impoverished families and assist them, teaching them how to care for their babies and children.
