Village Blog

We had the privilege of serving with the ABIDE (Amagara Bible Institute of Discipleship and Evangelism) this week and then celebrating with them as they graduated from the program. We really enjoyed our time with these young men and women. This is the ministry that our missionaries Matt and Crystal Kehn began 10 years ago and that Lisa O'Brien is now an ongoing part of. We also had the opportunity to be part of the sending party for Matt and Crystal and their family - who are now being sent as missionaries from Uganda to Texas!

Following are responses from some of our time with the ABIDE students:

It was so refreshing today to come upon a group of individuals who are completely sold out for Jesus Christ. I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit as I walked through the ABIDE house and met the men living there. The house includes twelve students in the program with their teachers and a few other men, and their graduation will be this weekend from the six month course work that they will complete after their finals this weekend.

We sat and talked before dinner when one of the young men picked up his guitar and began to play. It wasn't long before someone else started singing to the music. When the singing began, it was as if the Holy Spirit was leading them to worship and all of the guys joined in. They joined in with with such joyful hearts. Their worship included the use of an African drum, the guitar, singing with abundant joy, dancing before the Lord, and an awesome time of observing and hearing brothers in Christ called to grow deeper in the Word of God They have been living together as a family and ministering across the country of Uganda as a team. They are now leading us in a time of worship before our Heavenly Father. These young men sang as I've never heard singing before. It was an outstanding time of worship before we had dinner together.

What struck me the most about interacting with these young men was that they were not ashamed of the gospel. They were so confident in who they are in Christ and demonstrated such a love for Him that it made me jealous to have that kind ferver and zeal for the Lord. As our time ended, we were all hugging each other as if we had been friends for years, yet we had only met them and spent the evening with them. If our American children were just as willing to be sold out for Jesus as these young men, we would see revival in our land! God would do a great work!

We need to pray not only for these students as they finish. We need to pray that our children will also seek God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength; just as these young men are doing in Uganda.

Scott Etchison

Tonight we had the immense pleasure of meeting the ABIDE boys and staff.

This year there are 12 boys in the ABIDE program. We were greeted so warmly and everyone wanted to talk and learn about us and America. We were invited outside and got to watch them prepare dinner - making a dinner as big as they served us takes hours and the help of everyone.

Once a few of the boys were done helping with dinner, we went inside and they sang a few songs for us. These boys have the most enthusiasm and joy when they sing. Any worship song they sing comes straight from a pure heart that seeks only to honor the Lord. They put everything they had into every song - complete with energetic dancing.

During dinner we got to talk with the boys some more and hear a bit of their stories. One of the boys I talked to told me about what he desires to do with his life. He said he has a great passion to transform the youth of Uganda and his passion was surely shown through the way he talked. It was so great to see someone who had so much zeal for the Lord.

When it came time to say goodbye became bittersweet. We all would love to spend many more days getting to know them, but we sadly will not see them again until their graduation. Please join us in praying that God would continue to bless this ministry and use these boys to accomplish great things for HIS kingdom.

Mackenzie Yates