Superstition. Black magic. Demon possession. Child sacrifices. All unpalatable concepts to the Western mindset. In fact, even Christian believers in the USA have a hard time swallowing the truth that these more explicit manifestations of evil still exist in modern times. These thoughts, however, didn’t cross the minds of ITMI Director Steve Evers and fellow traveler Bob Fulkerson, Missions Deacon of First Baptist Church of Tempe, although they soon would. This was Bob’s first trip to Africa. He had been pray-ing for months to go on a mission trip with Steve to the Dark Continent. The Lord graciously answered Bob’s prayer by sending the two off at the beginning of this year to minister to the saints in Uganda and Sudan. It would be a trip that would challenge many thoughts and preconceptions. Kampala is the capital city of Uganda with an estimated daytime population of 2.5 million people. At night, 1 million people leave the city to sleep in the outlying rural areas. The other 70% of Kampala’s residents live in the slums. Several reports indicate that Kampala has, for decades, operated under the

infrastructure of a 1950s city development plan designed for an urban population of 100,000. City services such as water, sewer and sanitation, electricity, paved roads and street lighting are severely underfunded and poorly maintained. Educational opportuni-ties are rare. Some 36% of university graduates are unem-ployed. “Have money or die” is a proverbial saying in Kampala, creating the perfect environment for Satan to pander to the greedy and marginalized.

Despite many failed attempts by government officials to raise living standards to acceptable norms, city council members have finally embraced the globalist vision of the United Nation’s Millennium

Development Goals as well as opening their empty hands to the financial resources of the World Bank. In order for Kampala to catch up, funding, resources and a national plan of “re-education” must be implemented within a decade. The elite specialists who modernize poor countries must take the

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“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities,

He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15

1 March 2009

Satanism, secularism or the Savior?Satanism, secularism or the Savior?Satanism, secularism or the Savior?Satanism, secularism or the Savior?

Uganda

“Have money or die” - Kampala’s overcrowded market

preparing men and women to share the message and life of our Lord with those in their community. ISM is now 3 ½ years old. Its primary purpose is to equip church leaders (many of whom have never had formal Bible training) to evan-gelize and disciple the world in which they live. ISM offers two programs of instruction: a 2-year diploma in Bible or a 4-year bachelor’s degree in Missions. The cost for a pastor or church leader to attend is $450 per year – a small price to pay to provide solid Biblical instruction for current and future church leaders. In their discussions, Steve, Bob, Bill and Kawede recognized that this task of building up the nation is more about building people than it is about building structures and implementing programs as the UN seeks to do. The power players in the upper echelon of Ugandan society also recognize this and will use whatever means neces-sary to remain in control – even to the point of incorporating the animis-tic practices of the past to stay on top of the ash heap. For instance, child sacrifice is on the rise according to government officials. One prominent Kampala executive hired a local witchdoctor team to sacrifice a kidnapped street kid upon the foundations of a new building project in order to ensure that the spirits in the area were appeased. Not surprisingly, the Ethics and Integrity Minister called for tougher measures on witch- doctors to include the possibility of “life imprisonments” after admitting that child sacrifice was becoming “a national danger!” As partners with ISM, we can get the word out that there is only one sacrifice that truly appeases – and it was finished 2,000 years ago on Calvary’s cross. Another reminder that Africa is under a great measure of darkness revealed itself in a shocking way on the first Sunday that Steve, Bob and

the Kawede family attended church. One of Kawede’s students, the pastor of a local church in Gaba, had invited Steve to preach the morning sermon. Before the message, however, a woman went into a demonic fit during public testimonies. But the pastor of the church appeared to quiet her down with prayer, commands, and Scripture verses spoken aloud – so much so, that she was allowed to remain in the service to listen to Steve’s message about a person’s greatest advantage in life: to be for-given of one’s sins through Christ’s death on the cross. Midway through the message when the blood of Christ was mentioned, the woman went into another demonic rage. She was gently but forcibly ushered out of the service by the church leadership and dealt with in the privacy of the church office where there was much

prayer and agonizing. Not long after, Steve called upon everyone present to find their only hope in Jesus and give Him total control over their thoughts and ways. Many quickly responded. After the service, Steve and Bob spent over an hour with the leadership of the church as they prayed together and spent time working with “Edith” who formerly had been involved with a demonic cult in Senegal. This is just one more reason why the Gospel testimony of Jesus and our partnership with ISM is so important for the future of Kampala – and Uganda at large. The problems

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superstitious and surreal out of the tribes of Africa and replace it with the “more rational” secular sanity that the global community exhibits, which is to say that Satan has two con games going on at once.

This is the “world” that Steve and Bob traveled to on December 31, 2008 – a world of satanism and secularism, magic and modernism. ITMI Project Partner, Bill Johnson, picked them up from Entebbe airport about thirty miles southwest of Kampala. Bill, in his 70s, teaches Bible courses at International School of Missions where another project partner, Muhindo Kawede, serves as Principal. The school for pastors and church leaders is a critical project for the glory of God in this part of Uganda and seeks to shed the light of the Gospel of Christ upon a people living in darkness. There was much talk over the next several days of how strategic a position ISM occupies in

Steve & Bob

Steve dealing with “Edith”

Bill & Kawede

YÉâÇwxÜËá ctzx March 2009

Dear Team, ITMI’s Dr. Piotr Zaremba had a very successful trip across America last month. His translation of the Psalms is almost complete and he is very encouraged by the growth of his work in Poland. Please continue to pray for all the team there. Gerhard and Elmane le Roux of the Moreson Children Haven near Cape Town, South Africa report positive growth recently with the addition of new staff members Abraham and Chantel Warren and their three children. The Warrens are working with Moreson Mission under whose auspice MCH operates. Also a Christian widow, Charmaine Clementson and her four children have joined MCH. Please pray that the adoption papers will soon be completed for 1-year old Keil Edwards. Steve Evers’ report on his most recent African trip is the lead story this month. It answers many questions you may have had about ITMI’s ministry in Uganda. I’ve postponed until next month my usual essay in the Islam series on page 2 in order to accommodate this important information. America is a mission field too. We are astonished at the growth of Islam here in the USA and alarmed at the general lack of understanding concerning their intentions. However I am greatly encouraged by the positive response I’ve had to the “page 2” essays on Islam. Frequently I hear about Muslim “moderates.” I even hear that they are the majority. Really? Why then do we only hear “about” them and not “from” them? Could it be that they are merely the figment of some Islamic propagandist’s imagination or perhaps the wishful thinking of some naïve head-in-the-sand hopeful? The problem is not so much that “only a minority of Muslims are terrorists,” but that the majority of Muslims will not rise up and condemn the murderous excesses of their fellow religionists. The conspicuous absence of any rebuke from the “silent majority” speaks volumes. The unspoken truth today is that without any visible outrage from within Islam to condemn the wanton slaughter of innocent people across the world, the entire religious / political and economic system of Islam stands condemned as a wicked, retro-religion of death. Jesus Christ said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The principal fruit of Islam is death. Islam’s strategy we observed in Cape Town: They select a beautiful home in an upscale neighborhood and (with petro-dollars from Saudi Arabia) pay top market value for the property. Then when the family moves out, six or seven Muslim families move in. This is repeated several times until the surrounding homes lose their value and are quickly bought up at below market value by other Muslims and the area becomes a ghetto. When Muslims move into a new country they do not assimilate; they intimidate until they dominate. Be warned America: this is the strategy they are using here. Yours in His grip, Bill Bathman P.S. Our private mailing address is: PO Box 7555, Mesa, AZ 85216 e-mail: bill@intouchmission.org

Our first request is that you partner with us to pray. We can do all things through Christ Who gives us strength – and these are problems that no man or woman can tackle alone. Pray for the believers in Uganda. Pray for the work of ISM, Muhindo Kawede, and Bill Johnson. Pray that God might arrest the powers of darkness in order for Ugandans to live by His truth and build a better society. Our second request is that you partner with us to proclaim. Tell people in your community what God is doing in Uganda. Tell them that the only hope Ugandans have is in Christ Jesus and that you’re praying that God might raise up more workers for the harvest fields. There is work to be done and Christ has thrown down the gauntlet to the rulers of this dark world saying, “Uganda is Mine!” Maybe the Lord is preparing to send you or one of your friends to help Kawede and Bill Johnson teach a

For PraiseFor PraiseFor PraiseFor Praise . . .

1. International School of Missions has 29 enrolled students studying Bible & Missions! 2. Dr. Piotr Zaremba had a successful USA tour and is almost completed with translating the Book of Psalms! 3. Funds & materials continue to pour in for the Tim & Ashley Keller container project for Zambia!

For PrayerFor PrayerFor PrayerFor Prayer . . .

1. Completion of adoptions papers for Keil Edwards, 1-year old, at Moreson Children Haven. 2. Rev. Richard Nungesser asks for prayer concerning the need for an additional therapist at the New Life Center. 3. Charl van Wyk requests prayer for the timely approval of a 3-year religious visa to the USA.

that face the country can only be met head on by a changed people. And Christ is changing people and building His Church even in the faraway places of the Earth. Last year at this time, Kawede wrote that the Libyan president, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, called the Bible “worthless” because it did not mention the prophet Muham-mad. Gadaffi was in Old Kampala opening a $30 million dollar mosque for Muslims. Yet in mid-January under a tin roof and mud-brick walls, Steve and Bob were witness to the 16 students preparing to graduate from ISM with a Bible diploma and 3 with a degree in Missions. Christ Jesus will prevail. More evidences of the spiritual darkness that Steve and Bob witnessed in Uganda (and later Sudan), will have to wait another issue. Both men returned with a fresh and invigorating sense of God’s Almighty power over the darkness of this world through our Lord Jesus Christ!

What can you do to help?

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course or two. What a joy it is to catch a vision of our Risen King! Our final request is that you part-ner with us to provide. Would you consider financially supporting one of our Project Partners, Muhindo Kawede or Bill Johnson, as they labor to instruct pastors and church leaders? Maybe you know someone who would be interested in giving toward the tuition costs of a needy pastor? Is there a church group who could get behind a container project of medical equipment from Project C.U.R.E. to use in a land purchase for ISM? Each gift is precious and bears eternal dividends. Above all, remember that Christ died for the nations. How many Ugandans will you see in heaven who benefited directly from your prayers, your proclamations, and your provisions as God moved you along to do His good will? To God Be The Glory!

Jeff Black – Tempe, Arizona

International School of Missions