August 19, 2009

I Have Great News from Uganda

Now that I have returned from Uganda, I wanted to post the updates which were sent out to our prayer partners and supporters. Below is a message I sent on Wednesday, July 29th. Do you feel left out? You don't need to be! Simply sign up for future e-mail updates here.


Dear Friend,

Teaching pastors how to discern truth from error using the BibleI’m sending you this quick note to let you know that the Lord is hearing your prayers! Our ministry has had a wonderful response at the Calvary Chapel pastors’ conference here in Kampala. Yesterday I taught two workshops. The first session was on how to practice biblical discernment using the five “Solas” of the Reformation: Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, God’s Glory Alone. The second session applied these five principles to the widely popular “health-and-wealth gospel.”

Believers quickly exhausted the last of our materialsHow were our workshops received? Well over half of the pastors and Christian workers at the conference chose our sessions from among the various topics offered. We ran out of ALL of our tracts and booklets by the end of the first session, and we could have easily distributed double or even triple the amount we brought. The reason? A deep hunger for resources on the cults.

So far, the most frustrating—yet exciting—moment was when a pastor came up to me after the second session and asked, “What is this grace thing you’re talking about?” I was amazed—a pastor was asking me this question! So I shared the Gospel with him. He seemed to be “getting it” for the first time. Praise God!

Another conference speaker told me about a pastor who expressed his gratitude for my message on the “prosperity gospel.” Apparently, some of his family members are involved in churches that proclaim this false gospel, and he hasn’t been able to respond to them well from the Scriptures. Now he feels that he can. It’s humbling to know that God has used our ministry here to help hundreds of church leaders in such ways.

Today is the last day of the conference. After it ends, we’ll remain busy by meeting with Christian leaders and defining a future strategy for ACFAR. Please pray that Christ continues to bless our efforts here. We have so much to accomplish in the brief time remaining. Nevertheless, we’ll continue to trust in our sufficient and gracious Savior here in East Africa.

Thank you again for your prayers—keep them coming!

Because of His grace,

John Divito, Director
Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR)