Here I am preaching

from the pulpit of All Saint's Church in the heart of Uganda's capital

city of Kampala and whom do I see? Members from Fayetteville's New Hope

Baptist Church sitting in the congregation. Afterwards, I greet Steve

and Ann Foster along with Judy Nesbitt. They are here in Uganda to participate

in an African evangelistic outreach.

People can

say a lot of things about one of Fayette's largest churches, but you have

to admit they are intentional about reaching the four corners of the globe

for Jesus Christ. The average person does not see these foreign mission

endeavors of New Hope and therefore do not appreciate the length and breath

of New Hope's mission. Thank you to New Hope for giving hope to Africa

and other countries in need for Christ.

Another scene:

as my host pastor, Bethuel Dongo, and I leave Namungo after I conducted

a marriage enrichment event, the resident pastor and wife ask us to come

to their home to receive gifts. The local pastor, Elijah Mugulu, came

bringing a live chicken as part of the honorarium. His wife brought a

quart of fresh milk along with peanuts, kasava, and sugar cane. I have

heard about physicians and ministers being paid in animals, but it was

my first time to see such. Did we accept the honorariums? Of course. No

good-sense Ugandan would turn down a wonderful supper meal of boiled chicken

and kasava. We put the chicken in the trunk of the car and returned to

the city. Didn't hear a word out of the chicken all the way back.

Another scene:

one of the most convenient ways of transportation is to take the public

taxis that are essentially 15-passenger vans. They are a hoot. Normally

the taxi's conductor seeks to pack as many on board as possible. My daughter,

Anna, and I found that we needed to take a taxi in order to get to the

church, and what an experience. We have yet to understand how you indicate

that you want to get off. As we yelled "here," the passengers

were all amused and laughed.

One thing I

don't like about Ugandans is their very, very soft voice. They rarely

talk above a whisper. Therefore they all have excellent hearing. They

are very polite. If Atlanta had the traffic problems they face here in

Kampala, the nightly news would report someone shot dead on the roads

because of road rage. We Americans have a lot to learn from this soft-spoken,

polite culture.

Final perspective:

the church in Uganda is doing more than just winning people to the Lord.

Sister Florence Dongo, wife of my host pastor, sees one of her missions

as that of teaching women in the bush to get busy with their natural talents

to make money. She has encouraged women to use their talents at farming,

hand-crafts, and the like to turn a profit, rather than sitting at home

and bemoaning the fact of their poverty. And it's working. The women have

begun to realize the benefits of a free, capitalistic society. So, we

thank God for Florence and all the women who are lifting the estate of

women.

As you read

this final column, my daughter and I will be making our way back. We're

looking to return to fried chicken, corn bread and American Italian pizza.

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher

is pastor of

River's Edge Community

Church

1091 South Jeff Davis Drive

Fayetteville, Georgia 30215

770-719-0303

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