Reconciliation Baptist Church in Uganda
[Two years ago, Grace Baptist Church in Kisumu, Kenya, set apart and sent Pastor Bill Issa to be their church planting missionary to Kampala, Uganda. Pastor Issa, who was previously planting another church in Uganda his home country, had come to Reformed convictions and needed to start a Reformed Baptist church from scratch. This church is now called Reconciliation Baptist Church. Below is Pastor Issa’s newsletter sent out in December 2015.]
It has been quite long since I last updated you on what the Lord is doing in Uganda. This is due to many reasons, but more especially it was due to my health issues. For a long time I had suffered from what we used to call typhoid fever, but which was not responding to medical treatments. In September I felt that I was losing my life. When I went back to the hospital the doctor suggested that I go through a general examination of my body, and after that I was found with advanced viruses of “Brucellosis” in my blood. I started a long term medical treatment, and by the grace of the Lord I was healed. This is the main reason why I took so long without officially updating you on our affairs.
Since August, many things have happened in our midst, among them:
- Baby Esther
In my last report (July), I informed you that my dear wife, Priscilla, was heavy with Esther, our second daughter and our sixth gift from the Lord. We are grateful that, through your prayers, the Lord brought her to us safely on July 30, 2015. She is the reason I missed the 26th Reformed Family Conference of Lusaka, Zambia, this year.
- Refugees outreach mission to Adjumani
The Lord, through our brethren from HeartCry Missionary Society advised us to start reaching out to the South Sudanese refugees found in Adjumani refugee camps in Uganda with the gospel of salvation.
On September 16, I briefly went to Adjumani District, found at the border between Uganda and South Sudan, in order to spy out the land and meet with Pastor Joseph whom we want to partner with in this mission. After our meeting, I invited Pastor Joseph to visit RBC Kampala, which he did on October 18. According to our plan, our next visit to Adjumani (this time to share the gospel with refugees) was to be in November. Unfortunately, that was when I was down with Brucellosis. We are planning to go back there in the near future. Please be in prayer for that.
- Missionary visit – Pastor Sam and family
On September 25, Pastor Sam Oluoch together with his family came to visit us in Kampala. It was a great time of fellowship, edification and encouragement. We used that opportunity to have our baby Esther dedicated to the Lord by Pastor Sam.
- Sister Celestina’s visit
On Sunday November 8, sister Celestina Mpundu, from Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka, Zambia, visited RBC. It was a great blessing seeing her come to encourage the followers of Christ at RBC. Sister Celestina is part of the missions team of Kabwata Baptist Church led by their missions coordinator, Misheck Kumwenda.
- Asuman’s Wedding
On the November 28, the Lord did another good thing in our midst. Brother Asuman was my colleague when I was still a teacher at high school. I preached the gospel to him and he got saved from Islam. He later wedded his long-time friend Allen and added her to the family of God at RBC. The Asumans became the second couple in our church, after my wife Priscilla and me. Who really can’t be happy with such an event? “Lord Jesus, you are so amazing”.
Asuman’s parents and relatives rejected him because of his conversion to Christianity. They refused to participate in this wedding, asking him to first go back to Islam. Christians acted as Asuman’s family members and brethren. The Lord surprised all of us—including Asuman himself—by giving his son a very colourful wedding to the shame of his parents and relatives. Let the Lord alone be called God.
- Kisumu Reformed Family Conference
We can not talk about this conference without thanking the Lord for our brethren from Lusaka, Zambia for meeting all the transport costs of our members who attended this important conference. What can we say? We feel no human language has words we can use to thank these beloved ones of Christ Jesus; but the Lord knows better how grateful we are. May he bless them more abundantly!
Because of the support from our Zambian brethren, 11 people from RBC managed to attend the conference in Kisumu. I also take this opportunity to thank the organisers for honouring me to open the conference by preaching the first sermon (keynote address). Who am I? Soli Deo Gloria.
- Baptism at RBC
The work we are doing for the Lord in Uganda is not in vain as the Lord slowly but surely continues to add to our numbers. Saturday December 19 was our third phase of baptisms at our church and we managed to baptise four people who joined both Christ’s camp and the RBC family. We give all the glory to the Lord.
- Prayer Requests
- A KJV only brother: People cannot only be joining us; others will leave us also, for their reasons. One brother came from Britain and joined us. He gave us a very hard time because of his extreme views on matters of the faith. He taught that the KJV alone was the Word of God. We tried to help him but all was in vain. Among the other problems that he had with us was that to him we were a lukewarm church because we did not insist on women covering their heads during worship services. He also did not like the fact that we were insisting on him studying and working. He argued that he was created to serve the Lord alone. His parents had wasted a lot of money on his tuition and so he was also not at peace with his family members. When we advised him to stop preaching and first work towards being reconciled with his family, that was when he decided to quit. He called us a lot of names. Since then, he has failed to find a church that measures up to his dreams and so he is now not a part of any local church. We learned that every Sunday he worships from the Internet in his room. Please be in prayer for this brother that the Lord might have mercy on him and he comes back to his senses.
- Meeting in Kisumu, Kenya: Please, be in prayer for us as we, HeartCry supported missionaries in East Africa, prepare to meet brother Sean Reece (the African coordinator for HeartCry) in Kisumu, Kenya, on Monday January 18, 2016. I will be traveling to Kisumu for that meeting on Jan 16 while brother Sean will be traveling to Kenya with his wife. Please, be in prayer for journeying mercies from the Lord and for the meeting itself.
- Church land and means of transportation: We are still meeting in the garage at my home. We thank the Lord for that. However, we cannot complete our church registration because we are always told that we do not have a permanent address for the church. Please pray that the will of the Lord be done in this matter.
We also get a lot of trouble carrying out our daily duty for Christ with our dangerous means of public transport. We always get disturbed picking our visitors from the airport and bus stops using buses. Please, remember us before the throne of grace on these issues. But above all, let the will of the Lord alone be done.
Thanking you for your support, love and prayers. I remain, yours “Least of All the Saints”.
Bill Issa (Missionary Pastor)
Reconciliation Baptist Church
P.O. Box 35185 Kampala, Uganda
Email: billissa7@gmail.com
Tel: +256 772 658 231 / +256 706 358 231
Sola 5 Tenth Annual Conference
“Common Ground—Finding the Heart of Sola 5”
[This summarises a report written by Dalene Butterworth for Sola 5 website]
Firstly a big hearty and warm thank you to Goodwood Baptist for being such splendid hosts. Everyone was welcomed and made to feel at home. If something was amiss it was not noticed. All involved worked tirelessly to fetch, carry, feed and take care of delegates during their stay. Well orchestrated, executed and appreciated. Musicians well done! Jubilant cries, hugs and warm handshakes were the order of the day as friends greeted and were reunited. What a glorious picture.
Blessed, convicted, challenged, pushed outside of ones comfort zone, hammer blows, instruction, confronted are but a mere few words to describe what our speakers presented each day of the conference.
Joachim Rieck for Nambia, Isaac Makashinyi for Zambia and Kobus van der Walt for South Africa were responsible for mission reports on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Thank you gents, a splendid job. Photographs put faces to names and maps “lit up” as the conference delegates heard how our Lord is calling, equipping, and increasing the work for his glorious name.
- On Thursday (03 September 2015 – Session 1) – Christo Beetge, George Baptist Church spoke on, “God-Centredness, Our Common Passion for the Glory of God”.
- On Friday (04 September 2015 – Session 2) – Joachim Rick, Eastside Baptist, Windhoek, spoke on, “Our Common Delight in the Doctrines of Grace”.
- On the same day (04 September 2015 – Session 3) – Errol Wagner spoke on, “Authority: Our Common Submission to the Three Spheres of Human Government”.
- On Saturday (05 September 2015 – Session 4) – Chris Wooley spoke on, “Inter-Dependence: Our Common Commitment to the Local Church”.
- On the same day (05 September 2015 – Session 5) – Mark Lillie spoke on, “Discipline: Our common Commitment to Holiness”.
- On Sunday (06 September 2015 – Session 6) – Conrad Mbewe closed the 2015 Sola 5 conference. His subject was, “Unity: Our Common Commitment to the Universal Church”.
The committee instituted a 15 minutes or more prayer time at the conclusion of each speaker’s message. This was very wise indeed. What an awesome experience to not only get to know others but to hear prayers being offered up in unity! People from all walks of life and cultures, different accents but truly united in our precious Lord Jesus Christ. The quiet buzzing of voices across the whole church was an enormous blessing. What struck me was the deeply thankful and dependent spirit that prevailed before the petitions were brought to our Lord. One cannot but ponder on both the Old and New Testament words: sweet savour or fragrance. May this spirit and practice continue until we meet again! Amen.
