Kalangala Island

The first Sunday in December Lynn and I had the opportunity to go to Kalangala Island to visit.  A church was started out there a few years ago by a missionary couple who has since returned to the States.  Our purpose for going was to see what is still there and what the opportunities might be.

We planned to have a Children's Bible Club in the morning.  In the afternoon Renee and Jan would meet with the ladies while Lynn and David would meet with the men.

Our journey started off in Entebbe by going to church with Renee and David, hearing him preach, and having a potluck lunch.  (We haven’t had one of those since we left the States.) On the way to the church two camels were strolling down the road.  We had not seen that here either.  Lots of new things on this trip.

These camels acted like the road belonged to them.

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We took all of our supplies and walked onto a ferry for the three-hour ride to the Island. 

Lake Victoria is HUGE.  It feels like being in the ocean.

Kalangala Island in the distance

When we arrived we went to the hotel, left our supplies, and walked to the nearby village to find the church.  Eva was our guide.  She worked on these islands before and still has a heart for the people there.

Lynn walking toward the village

Jan and the rest of the team walking to the church in the nearby village

 

Lutoboka Baptist Church

The church was a pole building, an almost-covered tin roof and a floor that they had put fresh straw on.  The building was no more than 20x20 but it was covered and would keep most of the rain or sun out.

Pastor Moses in front of his house.

Monday morning we woke up to the sound of rain.  The girl at the desk thought the rain would be gone by 10:00 but it looked  like it might stay until afternoon.  As we were seated at breakfast I thought that the dining area would be a much better place for the children since it was totally enclosed and was about 3 times bigger. We were the only ones present and the hotel staff was happy to rent it for the day.

Hotel dining hall

Soon the children came.  We filled up the room, wall-to-wall, with somewhere between 125-150 kids of all ages. We divided them into 9 groups and then handed out coloring pages to go along with the Bible story and let them work on that for a time.  Then they heard the Christmas story from the very beginning.

 

Photos from the Bible Club:

 

 

 We also got a surprise.  A group of children from the church had prepared a special presentation of songs and dance for us.

At the end when the children were leaving, everyone got cookies and juice.  

We had planned for the ladies and men to meet separately in the afternoon, but that, too, changed and all of them met together at the church.  David storied a couple of the stories from Matthew 1.  It was amazing how attentive they were and how they were so eager to hear all the story and then figure how it applied to them. 


The whole day spoke to me.  We have our plans, but it is God who is in charge.

Return home on the ferry