African All-Nighter!

Wow, last night was an amazing experience!  A few of my local friends and I attended an all-night monthly prayer meeting in the heart of the Ugandan bush land with more than 350 people that has been happening since 1986.  This is what Church should be like!

25 years ago, a man from this small village, who had been living in the city, committed his life to Christ after hearing an evangelist speak.  After a short period of discipleship, this man decided to bring the Gospel back to his virtually unreached small village.  Within a week, he had led seven people to the Lord.  These eight men were very hungry to grow closer to God.  So, they started meeting the last Friday night of each month to study, sing, and pray that God would move in their land.

After a few months, these eight men met my friend, pastor and evangelist, Apollo Kabaale.  He began to disciple them, and encouraged them to share Jesus with the rest the surrounding villages, and to form a real church.  They soon began to grow!  First, it was 15 people attending the meetings, then 30. Next, their church was able to plant another church in a neighboring village, then another, and another.

Now, there are 25 connected churches in this rural area with several thousand members!  And the monthly all-night prayer meeting is still going strong.  The 25 churches send representatives to attend the prayer meeting.  And, of course, the meeting is open to any person from the community who wants to attend.  What an amazing testament to how God can use a few unequipped, inexperienced, but willing people to change an entire area!

It is experiences like these that bring 1 Corinthians Ch. 12 to life!  We are one body with many parts, baptized into one spirit.  It is incredibly obvious that God is the same in the heart of Africa as He is back home!  The Oneness of Spirit felt in moments like this is impossible to describe with words.  I’m determined to find some people back home who are willing to help me start a yearly all-night prayer meeting like this!

Scouting Mission

Greetings!  I would like to start by thanking everyone so much for all the prayer, love, and support!  We had a very productive final full week of ministry.  We were concerned that this wouldn’t be a good week because the teachers of Kampala went on strike.  But God turned a struggle into an unexpected blessing!  Isn’t it great how God closes one door just to open an even better one?!

We had a very good week ministering in schools, but that wasn’t the best part.  We were able to scout an area 2.5 hours away from Kampala, called Jinja, which is now the target of our next major project we do in Uganda, hopefully sometime early next year.  We spent the week sharing the Gospel in schools and showing the local pastors/evangelists what we do and how to get it done.  They were enthusiastic, to say the least!  They say there are more than 150 possible schools to visit in the Jinja area.  Also, it seems that this place is much less evangelized than Kampala, and therefore in great need of the Gospel. (This is due in no small part to the amazing evangelists my father has been mentoring and training through his NEST (National Evangelist Support Team) Program for these past five years in Kampala!)

We have also managed to find a beautiful and very affordable hotel on the shore overlooking magnificent Lake Victoria.  So, if you are interested in joining us on a mission project in the future, I highly recommend this one!  Of course, we are praying that our Lord, Jehovah-Jireh, will provide the resources to fund this project along with all of our other upcoming projects as well.  Without generous friends like you praying for us and sending us, none of this would be possible.

This week, we ended up sharing the Good News in seven schools with almost 2,500 students, including some schools we had to reach island-hopping on Lake Victoria with a small fishing boat!  Over 1,800 of these students made professions of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Not bad for a side bonus while scouting a probable future project location during a week when our originally scheduled ministry had to be cancelled!  Praise the Lord!

Once again, thank you all so much!  We are planning to continue ministering in schools through Wednesday, when I am beginning my long journey home.  Please pray for God to guide us and enable us to finish strong during the final days of this campaign!  God bless!!!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

P.S. Please check out www.knowYES.org to find out more about Youth Education Strategies!

Island Hopping

Today was an awesome experience!  Our mission for the day was to reach schools located on some of the small islands on Lake Victoria.  We started the day by driving a few hours to a dock where a fishing boat was to take us island-hopping to share the Gospel in schools that most people don’t even know exist!  There’s just something about going by boat to tell people about Jesus that makes you feel like an old-time apostle!

These islands are mostly populated by fishermen and their families.  Much like Biblical times, these people are considered some of the lowest members of their society.  They almost all use drugs and live, let’s just say, “loose” lifestyles.  Their children almost always fall into these same destructive patterns.  They live in a world that is basically without hope.  I wish I had words that could describe the joy on their faces as they learned about the one true Hope, Jesus Christ!  I will post photos, but I promise they don’t do justice to what it is like to actually be there.

We ended up going to three different islands and shared the Gospel with around 1,200 students today.  Part of me doesn’t want to share the number that made professions of faith today because you might have doubts because you weren’t here to experience it for yourself! I realize some may have just raised their hands and said that prayer because their friends were doing it, but it was hard to spot any student that didn’t have their hand raised to show that they wanted to commit their lives to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

God is so good!  The end of my time in Uganda is drawing near.  But, I know the memories will last a lifetime!  We still have a few more days available for ministry.  However, the impending teacher strike scheduled to start Wednesday is making it look like tomorrow will be our last day sharing in schools.  Please pray that God will guide us through this difficult situation and bless this struggling nation!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

Please visit YES at  www.knowYES.org to learn more!

The proper name of God, YHWH

I have recently been blessed by studying “The Names of God” by Ken Hemphill.  The name that has stuck in my mind is the proper name of God, YHWH.  I would like to discuss the meaning of this name, why God revealed Himself this way, and how this applies to our lives today.

First, I would like to start with a little background about this name.  “YHWH” was considered such a Holy Name of God that Hebrews wouldn’t even pronounce it! They would substitute Adonai, or Lord, when they came across one of the 6,823 uses of YHWH in the Bible.  This is actually how the word “Jehovah” was developed.  Germanic Jewish scholars of the tenth century, called Masoretes, decided to combine the vowels from the name of God, "Adonai," with the four consonant name of God "YHWH."  However, because of the way Germans pronounce letters, they spelled the word with a "J" instead of a "Y" and a "V" instead of a "W!"  So, this left us with the name of God, "Jehovah," which was originally pronounced more like "Yeh-ho-why."

This name of God was first revealed when God appeared to Moses from the midst of a burning bush (Exodus 3).  Moses asked God, “What should I tell the Israelites is the name of God?”  And God said to Moses, “YHWH.”  This is a difficult thing to translate because we don’t have anything in English that accurately corresponds to its intended meaning.

Most translations say, “I AM WHO I AM.”  However, this doesn’t adequately encompass everything implied in the Hebrew.  The name comes from the imperfect stem of the Hebrew verb “to be.”  The imperfect tense here signals an action that started in the past, continues in the present, but has yet to be completed!  I personally like the translation “I AM Who I have always been” better, but feel that “I will be Who I have always been” is the most accurate.  What is most important is the meaning.  God is unchanging!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

So, why did God reveal Himself through this name to Moses?  Let me summarize the conversation between Moses and God in Exodus 3:

God says: "I am the God of your fathers, and I have come to deliver Israel from the Egyptians.  I will send you to Pharaoh that you will bring my people out of Egypt."

Moses says: "Who am I to do this?"

God says: "I will be with you."

Moses says: "What do I call you?"

God says: "I AM Who I will be.  Tell them the God of their fathers has sent you to deliver them."

It seems as though God was trying to convince Moses that, “The God that helped your fathers is still alive and wants to help you today!”

Isn’t this the way most Christians are today?  We have no problem believing that the stories in the Bible are true.  But how many of us truly believe that God “is Who He has always been,” and that He can work through us today?  We believe that God parted the Red Sea.  We believe that He fed multitudes with five loaves of bread and two fish.  But do we really believe God can work in our lives today?

Do you believe God can use you to teach a Sunday school class?  Do you believe God can use you to reach that unsaved friend?  Do you believe God can use you to impact your city, nation, and world?  Do you believe He is "just" the God of history?  Or do you truly believe that He is the same yesterday and today, and that He can use you today?  How is this evident in your life?

The God Who created heaven and earth, the God Who delivered Israel, the God Who came down to earth to die for our sins on the cross is still the same God today!  And He wants to use you to impact the world around you!  This is also the same God that gave US ALL the Great Commission.  Let’s live our lives as though we actually believe this is true!  When God calls us to a task, we can be certain that He has created us for this very purpose and that He will empower us and enable us to accomplish it.

God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called!

Only one week left in Uganda

Oli otya, mukwano! (Howdy, friend!)  We have had another great week of ministry here in Uganda!  Thank you all so much for the prayer and support.  Most of the issues I mentioned last message have cleared up.  Praise the Lord!  What we accomplish here truly wouldn’t be possible without the help of people back home.

This week, I had the opportunity to share the Gospel in ten schools with almost 3,000 students and more than 1,600 of them said that they were willing to turn from their sin and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for the first time!  God is so good!

Also, our Ugandan leader, Pastor Apollo, had been driving our van, a vehicle provided for him three years ago with funds from our DSEA ministry, with balding and bulging tires. (These African roads are VERY hard on tires!) But this week, thanks to the generous gifts of friends like you, we were able to purchase brand new tires for our van. Apollo was overjoyed to think about the thousands of students that he will be able to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to, driving from school to school on new tires!

Thank you once again so much for all the prayer and support!  I only have one more week of ministry in schools.  So, we have scheduled a busy five days.  I plan to do like my football coaches used to tell me, and “leave it all on the field!”  Please continue to pray for peace in the area and God’s blessing as we minister during this upcoming week!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

P.S. keep up with us through the photos we have taken! Please go to www.knowYES.org to find out more about Youth Education Strategies! and don't forget to like YES on Facebook!

Bumpy Road, but God is good!

Well, it has been an interesting week to say the least!  The situation hasn’t improved in Kampala.  We were forced to cancel 5 days of school ministry in the city.  We travelled 3.5 hours on “African” roads to a small village called Bbaale that only has one “hotel” to stay in.  I fought through a “minor” case of malaria.  And I am still struggling with some problems caused by a wisdom tooth.  But God is in control, and we had a great week of ministry in spite of everything else!

Monday, I woke up at 5:30 to leave at 6:00 for a school assembly at 7:00.  We arrived to find out most of the teachers weren’t there because the mini-bus drivers were on strike.   We soon realized that school ministry would not be possible, so we decided to have a day of fun!  We travelled to Jinja to see Lake Victoria, the start of the Nile River, and beautiful Ssezibwa Falls.  We had a great day and took some wonderful pictures!

Tuesday, we made a plan for what to do the rest of the week and spent the day packing and sending Paul and my father back to Texas.  It was decided that I would travel Wednesday to a rural area called Bbaale, or The Rock, with a pastor called Eric and minister in schools and in the village for one week.  It turns out that Bbaale is in an area dominated by a particular religion I’m not going to mention by name.

We have had a great time of ministry here in Bbaale! We shared the Gospel in three schools on Thursday and two on Friday.  We also hosted a two day crusade in the town center.  Overall, more than 1600 people heard the Good News and about 700 made professions of faith in Jesus Christ!

We are planning two more days of ministry in schools in the surrounding rural areas, but I’m honestly not sure what is next after that!  If the situation in Kampala doesn’t get resolved, it might be best just to head home.  Please pray for Uganda and that God will show us what to do and enable us to do it.  Also, please pray for a double portion of discernment for all of us.  Thank you so much!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

P.S. Please visit www.knowYES.org to learn more about Youth Education Strategies!

Amazing week of team ministry!

Praise the LORD!  What an amazing week of ministry!  Despite striking city workers, illnesses, and many other problems, our team was able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in 26 schools with thousands students and many of them said that they are willing to turn from their sin and commit their lives to Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior!

It never ceases to amaze me how open and hungry Africans are to the Gospel.  We even saw a great response from many students that belong to a certain faith I’m not going to mention by name.  Around 1000 students made professions of faith in Jesus Christ at the school directly across the street from the largest Mosque in Uganda!  This week, I had the opportunity to share the Gospel in 12 schools with 4500 students and saw 2300 commit to give their lives to Christ for the first time!

We also completed our Victorious Life leadership and evangelism training conference.  About 100 local pastors, evangelists and other leaders attended the conference.  Almost all who attended made commitments to do a better job of fulfilling the Great Commission and winning the lost for Christ.

Monday, we will be sending 4 of our team members back to the states while 3 of us continue to minister in schools through Tuesday.  Of course, I will be staying in Uganda until August!

I am so excited about what God has done this week!  But I am even more excited to see what He will do in the near future!!  Thank you all so much for the prayer, support, and love!  Please continue to pray for Youth Education Strategies as we continue to share Jesus in Uganda!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

www.knowYES.org

Doing Well in Uganda

Friends, it is amazing to be in beautiful Uganda!  Our team arrived in Kampala Wednesday with ALL our luggage and no major problems through travel.  Praise the LORD!  It is always a blessing to start a project so smoothly.  After spending one night in Kampala, we drove three hours to Ekitangaala (translated “The Light”) Ranch where African Children’s Mission is based.

The past two nights, our team has hosted an open-air crusade -- we call it our CityCelebration -- in a nearby village called Kakooge.  This is one of my favorite parts during all our projects.  It is always great to bring the Gospel to remote areas that are sometimes skipped over by larger organizations.  We have had about 1500 people attend the conference these two nights and 150 made professions of faith.  We are expecting tonight to be even better!

We will stay one more night at the ranch to finish our CityCelebration; then, we will head back to Kampala to begin our school programs Monday morning.  We should have a very busy week ahead.  Our Ugandan leader, Pastor Apollo, has our team scheduled to speak in around 60 schools with tens of thousands of students!   We are expecting God to move mightily here in Uganda!

Thank you all once again so much for standing with YES and praying for us during this project.  Please continue to pray for our team members and the thousands of people we will be speaking with.  God bless!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell