Cornerstone Church: Africa

0n April 9th, Pastor Neil, Pastor Tony, Jimmy Holmes, and Laurie Tyler are going to be going to Africa to help with a conference for area pastors involved with Pastor Aaron's ministry. This page will be where they will be keeping us up to date with what's going on.

Today is the last day of the conference. We have a few morning sessions. As a matter of fact, Pastor Neil is teaching right now while I'm writing this at Pastor Aaron's house. In a little bit, the pastors are all going to take afield trip down to the lake to see a very large ship, apparently something they have never seen before.

We are tired and miss you all very much, but it is also very hard to leave this place. These people are so kind and genuine. Tomorrow morning, we fly out for London. Please pray for our safety.

Today, we planned a trip with Dr. Mike and Pastor Aaron's family to Jinja. It is about a 2 hour drive from Entebbe. Today is Pastor Aaron's daughter Maria's 18th birthday. We got to stop at a roadside market and get our breakfast which consisted of chicken on a stick (very good), goncha (roasted banana), an passion fruit (which Pastor Neil says looks like a nasal problem, and he may be right, but it tastes fantastic!)

In Jinja, Dr. Mike introduced us to Grace, one of the owner/operators of a coffee shop and ministry called "The Source". Grace was a fantastic host for Maria's birthday party and a terribly interesting host. There is no time unfortunately to tell you all about his ministry. (here'a picture of him with Pastor Neil and I)

We took a drive out to the source of the Nile River. It was fantastic to see such a historical site. It was a great day, and a nice break from all the lessons.

This morning we had a few sessions, this afternoon, Dr. Mike had invited some of us to visit the botanical gardens here in Entebbe, Laurie Tyler & I (Pastor Tony) went with him. Little did we know that at the same time, Pastor Aaron had planned a trip to the school for the rest of the team. There is so much to see, it was really good for us to split up. I'll have to let Pastor Neil fill you in on details about the school though. The botanical garden was stupendous. There's no way pictures can really capture it, but here are a few of the school and the garden.

Today was really the first full day of session for us. We taught 3 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and had an evening revival service. The worship here is amazing, all the choirs and dancers with their uniforms are very impressive. It was a hard day, and very exhausting, but it seems like we're getting a better idea all the time about what we're supposed to be teaching on.

Last year, most of the pastors who attended had at least a minimal amount of training in the word and the ministry. This year, most of 98 pastor who have come have really had little to no training. Many of the questions we receive indicate a need for basic bible teachings and leadership skills. They are extremely willing to learn and very patient with the communication differences. The more question and answer sessions we have, the more we understand.

Today was an amazing day! Entebbe Miracle Centre had their Bible College graduation ceremony. There were several officials there from all over the country. The guest of honor was the Minister of Ethics and Integrity for the nation of Uganda, there was a member of Parliament, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and sever other regional officials. It was a huge honor for the graduating students. During the service, one of the local officials awarded Pastor Aaron the honorary title of Doctor of Theology. Pastor Neil held the first night's revival service tonight as well.

Before the revival service, Dr. Mike Smith introduced us to one of the personal body guards for the Sudanese President. He was a very intimidating person, but very kind as well. You wouldn't want to be on his bad side. We are making fantastic connections and relationships here. Dr. Mike has been such a huge blessing.

Tomorrow begins our first day of full lessons all day. We have been brainstorming the best way to equip these fantastic pastors. It's hard to guage exactly what they need, so please continue to pray for wisdom for us and for clear communication. Pastor (Dr.) Aaron's staff are really phenominal. We are so blessed to be here.

Today was the first day of our sessions. Pastor Neil led the two morning sessions on the 5 responsibilities of a shepherd. We had our first taste of Ugandan cuisine at lunch. Great stuff, but very interesting. For the afternoon session, Pastor Neil took a question and answer time about the morning's teachings. It was extremely enlightening to see how much the pastors understood and what they are wanting to learn. It really gives us a chance to regroup and figure out what's best to be teaching. Tonight was the last night of the crusade, so we actually had the evening off. It's been really great that they've let us work into this schedule slowly. Trying to adjust to an 8 hour time difference, different climate and different diet all at the same time is a little rough. It seems like we're all healthy ad excited though.

We've met some amazing people, including a Dr. Mike Smith. He's a medical doctor (a Texan, so Pastor Neil and I liked him right away) who works here 8 months out of the year. He's a strong believer and a great connection over here. On Wednesday, some of us are hopefully going with him over to Jinjya at the source of the Nile river to meet some friends of his there. It's about a 2 hour drive.

Today is the Sunday services as well as a graduation ceremony for the school. It's raining again this morning, but it's rained every morning and always seems to turn into a beautiful day. It should be quite an experience. Please keep praying for our health, and for wisdom on how to best serve these amazing pastors. Some of them drove 7-8 hours in buses to get here. We are so blessed by their presence.

We've arrived in Entebbe safe and sound. London was interesting, we had a few hours to run around down town and do a little bit of sight seeing before our flight to Entebbe. Both of the flights ran perfectly smoothly.

It was a little cloudy and drizzly here when we arrived. This is really a beautiful country with beautiful people. Pastor Aaron and his wife Justine met us at the airport with Pastor Fred. Our hotel is great. Maybe to the Ritz, be very comfortable. Most of us spent the first afternoon asleep after all the flying. You can sleep on a plane, but you can't really -sleep- on a plane.

After our nap, Pastor Fred took us to the crusade. The church has been doing a 3 day crusade down at the main part of the market place here. We got to hear some of the fantastic worship teams (hey for my guys back home, maybe we should look at uniforms and choreography too huh?) Pastor Aaron introduced us to the people and they had a speaker from Kampala (the capital city) who lead the message, Pastor Steven. The message was in Ugandan, so we have no earthly idea what he talked about, but the people laughed a lot. We went out to eat with Pastors Aaron and Fred after the crusade.

We're getting ready to throw in the towel and expectations are really high. They have an unbelievably busy schedule laid out for the week for us. We don't really know what to expect. God has been giving us quite a bit, but trying to translate that to conceivable ideas seems tough right now. Please pray for our communication abilities and our health.

We're so excited about what God is going to do.