So how do I occupy my time when school is on summer break? Well, one way was by last week's CHE Conference! All the WGM Uganda missionaries and all the Africa Gospel Church leadership met in Kampala for a Community Health Empowerment, Evangelism, Education and Enrichment Conference. It was an introductory conference for the church and mission leadership to better understand what exactly is involved with teaching community health, and to catch a vision for future possibilities in ministry across Uganda. The photo above is of the church and mission leadership. FYI, by the end of the conference, everyone did agree that this is a direction we will be moving!
What is CHE? Well, it is a program to help the local community to grow in health physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally. For instance, if people would choose immunizations instead of the local witchdoctor, their children would suffer less from numerous avoidable diseases. If families would choose to cook their meals outside (usually they are cooked over a charcoal stove inside the hut), smoke would not overwhelm them and lung cancer would be better avoided. Also, if there could be better communication in families, with husbands and wives, with neighbors, well, those relationships too could improve.
A statistic the CHE teachers gave was that in one community they had 22 people in a CHE conference (8 already knew the Lord). These folks came from across that community (Anglicans, Catholics, non-believers and local followers of witchcraft, other denominations, etc.). By the end of the training, the local villagers had learned how to live an improved healthy lifestyle AND all but 1 came to Christ in salvation! So CHE can really be a wonderful tool for outreach and evangelism. By meeting the immediate need of the person, we can later have an open door to meet Spiritual and other needs. Pray with us as AGC Uganda and WGM Uganda develop these CHE ministries. Thanks!