East Africa Spring 2006

Week One

by Linda and Bill Campbell

March 15, 2006

Greetings to our friends,

The first week of ministry in Uganda was very busy. Bill and Linda drove into Jinja each day to minister at the lunch hour service at the Evangel Church in the center of town. The lunch hour service consists of a mixture of many types of people from various churches and businesses in the area. At first, there was a strong spirit of lethargy and apathy. Each day as we ministered, God’s presence seemed to increase. They prayed for many people and saw hearts began to change and desire to become a carrier of God’s presence. The message was that they respond to God every time and shorten the distance between their hearts and God’s. Linda prophesied over the worship leader that the old was not working, to allow God to give her a new voice and to sing prophetically over the people to lead them into God’s presence. The next day as she was leading, “We are standing on Holy Ground”; God swept in with a sweet presence. People were bowing and getting on their knees. With tears running down her face, she began to sing prophetically over the congregation. The message challenged the people, and they flocked to the altar to draw closer to God. On Thursday Bill felt that he should invite a worship leader from the village to lead in Swahili. He worships with an anointing that gathered the people into a whole-hearted time of praise and worship. Soon the entire church was dancing before the Lord. It broke the spirit of religion. People received prayer and hearts were changed.We saw healings and miracles throughout the week.

During this first week Linda reached out to the children in Faith Children’s Home. When a child is abandoned in Uganda, the stigma of orphan is placed on them by the society. They are considered to a lower class of people. As the children began to realize how loved they are by both us and their sponsors, the empty look in their eyes becomes replaced with hope and real appreciation to God. Small groups of children were invited to the motel each day, and sodas were shared. Each child was given gifts from America. Throughout the week, dolls, balls, backpacks and purses were seen everywhere. Everyone received beautiful new clothes. The joy on the faces was exciting to behold. We have been working hard to break the orphan spirit in the children and to change the hearts of the adults to see them as treasures from God. Irene, our African daughter, who was an orphan herself, is doing an amazing job of training them. We are pleased with the entire staff. Linda also spent a special time with the older girls. She took them into Jinja for a lunch and a day of shopping. For some of them it was the first time they had gone shopping. We gave each one 10,000 shillings which is about 5 dollars. Each girl was instructed to buy something practical. We are teaching them to make wise decisions. They also keep back part of their money to put into the offering for God. We dined at a restaurant overlooking Lake Victoria. We believe this time will impact them for life and give Linda the voice of a mother into their lives.

Continue to pray for our safety. We both have had food poisoning and were very sick for about 24 hours. We are planning to purchase a double gas burner so we can eat healthier than the typical Ugandan diet. Five minutes before leaving to preach at Evangel in Jinja, Bill realized that he was too ill to go. Linda spoke on “Being a Priest unto the Lord”. As she arrived to a congregation of 1,500 people, she was a bit uncertain. Jesus spoke to her and said that she was called to be a king and a priest. He told her to go and release the treasure within her heart. The team prayed for hundreds who wanted more of God’s presence.

“Love to you all”,

Linda and Bill Campbell