The local community has a strong spiritual emphasis. Christianity, the Muslim faith and the Witchdoctor are powerful influences on life. Coming from a 'Western' background we have greater comfort with Christianity.

We have strong questions of the influence of the Witchdoctor. His hold over the community is based on their fear of him. His cure for a man with AIDS is for that man to have sexual intercourse with a virgin.

He works with charms and animal sacrifices in his compound and sometimes, it is said, even child sacrifices. The 'Night People' meet round a recent grave dancing naked and chanting and then digging up the recently buried body and eating the raw flesh.

We choose to work with the local church and we act as a bridge between churches in the UK and the church in Kabubbu.

In this way we have been able to support existing churches with new roofs, provide a baptistery where over 200 people were baptised when it was first used in March 2004, provide musical instruments and worship resources. Bibles donated by the Stuart Hine Trust have been presented to the children at the Kabubbu Community Primary School and Trust High School in the local language and many more to the churches enhancing the spiritual life of the community.

A programme of showing inspirational films to the community has started with attendances of 200+ with many making a response. This has only taken place when we visited Kabubbu because of the past needs of technical equipment although this has been partly overcome through support from the Spring Harvest Charitable Trust but is not yet in place permanently.

A more recent development has been a new church established at Trust High School. As this is a school with boarding pupils there was an identified need to provide specific spiritual oversight and development for them. At the first meeting of the Kabubbu Community Church in November 2007 over 100 people attended and this has continued.

Resources continue to be needed including a laptop computer capable of showing DVD's and outreach training and resources. Will you help to give them hope for their future?

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CHURCH OUTREACH

The new Kabubbu Community Church based in Trust High School has a mandate to reach out into the whole community with God's love.

During its first outreach several friends of Pastor Peter Babu came to Kabubbu and visited many homes. One man who came to faith was approached by the wife of a Pastor of another church and told that he should only attend the 'true' church in Kabubbu, run by her husband. "I've lived here all my life" the man replied, "and you've never bothered about me before. I am attending the church that cares for people!" Recently six of the thirty who came to faith were baptised. And the church is becoming recognised for not only teaching about God's love - but living it.

In November 2008 the KCC celebrated its first Communion. You may think there is nothing special about that, except that for some reason Communion is not commonly celebrated by the churches in Kabubbu. It was a very special experience.

KCC has also been the inspiration and central point for the development of the Alpha Course in the area. This has been well received and is showing tremendous growth with many new groups starting.

Alpha Courses started following the introduction of the concept to three Pastors in the Kabubbu area and subsequent training. They have taken the concept to their congregations who have enthusiastically embraced it. The courses now include many groups. Instead of a dinner, DVD and discussion (as in the UK) the Ugandan rural church has a treat of hot sweet tea, white bread (cake) and a talk which they then discuss.

Pray for this new church. It will face opposition from at least one other prominent church in Kabubbu and that can be a difficult situation to live with.

I WOULD LIKE TO HELP CHURCH OUTREACH IN KABUBBU - click here

The church has great needs for literature and training for Pastors and for Bible Study and Alpha Groups.

Anyone, even those with no understanding of Biblical truth or any form of training, can start a church as a Pastor and many such churches are not much more than a family business with tight control over the congregation with all tithes and offerings becoming the personal income of the Pastor. Often the 'Pastor' will use his congregation - already with little or no income of their own - to provide him with the money to setup his own additional income generating businesses from which he alone benefits.

We have conducted training seminars on many topics including one for eighteen rural Pastors to assist them to better care for their congregations.

A Minister from a UK church offered to conduct Pastor training among a group of 18 rural Pastors. After some consideration his theme for the week was 'The Father Heart of God'. An essential for the Pastors as the majority of them look at their own upbringing by their fathers and see God in the same way. A father in rural Uganda is often harsh in his treatment of his children and their mother, disciplines through beatings, issues orders to his family instead of involving them and eats first and separately at meals with his wife and children eating whatever he leaves. We have witnessed many of these aspects of life.

The concepts of love, compassion, loving discipline and so on were alien aspects to the Pastors in their teaching to their congregations.

Many in the UK think that they need to go to Uganda as Evangelists to convert the people. Uganda has thousands of its own Evangelists who can speak to the people in the local language using local illustrations and referencing local customs and traditions.

Theological training and an understanding of the scriptures is needed. This requires all manner of teaching aids - and most of all those with the skills to teach them by visiting Kabubbu.

Will you help to give them training for their future?

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RESOURCES FOR PASTORS

The church has great needs for all sorts of literature for Pastors and for Bible Study groups.

We have started a library of books to help the Pastors teach themselves on a wide range of topics and more are needed. The ideal way of getting these to Kabubbu is, frankly, by us purchasing them from Kampala bookshops or organisations like Christian Literature Crusade based in Kenya. We have to transport goods to Uganda by air and with local shops and CLC being close (well, in Kenya!) and well stocked you are helping two organisations as well as Kabubbu Pastors.

Essential for using modern resources is a DVD player, projector and sound system. There are so many great resources in DVD format that can easily be transported to Kabubbu and used in the training centre. Teaching cassettes are also a great resource that is easy to transport.

Bible study materials for the congregations are in short supply.

We were pleasantly surprised a year or so back when one evening the four ladies we sometimes employed to cook for the teams we took to Kabubbu approached us asking if they too could have a Bible. Later in the evening, by the light of the moon, we found them huddled together outside our house avidly discussing what they were reading. Obviously a much treasured gift that may counteract the power of the Witchdoctors who, with their superstitions, bring so much fear into the rural communities.

An essential help to the Pastors is a bike to help them travel the mud tracks to reach their congregations and conduct visiting. Some have been supplied - more are needed. Instruments, especially drums, are a vital aid to worship and guitars although we will need to provide training with these.

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