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Prayer Band March 2007
African Bible College Of Uganda
March 3rd 2007
Dear prayer partners,
"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour" (1Peter 5:8). At this point in the life of ABC
Uganda, well into our second year of operation, we have discovered that
the honeymoon period is over, and despite the tiny size of the college
Satan is sufficiently troubled by our existence to begin hurling a
barrage of obstacles against us. Dear prayer partners, now as never
before, we ask you to stand with us in prayer, that our Lord Christ
would be glorified in all our trials.
Items of praise:
1. The Lord was so gracious to send us pastor Rick Phillips, plus Mick,
Bob and Jamey to teach our first year students an intensive course on
personal evangelism last week. Rick taught a rich series of expository
messages on Ephesians 2:1-10, and he was a great blessing and
encouragement to the faculty as well as the students. Many of the
students told us that they had only imagined evangelism in the context
of a big tent crusade. The thought of sharing their faith one-on-one
was a new idea to them, and one which they readily embraced.
2. Praise God for the many people who repented of their sins and turned
to Christ for forgiveness and the gift of eternal life last week. Many
Muslims professed faith in Jesus. Pray for these new converts, that the
Lord will help them to grow in their faith, give them strength to resist
the temptation to fall away, and give them good churches where they will
be fed with a rich diet of faithful biblical teaching, and be discipled
that they may grow in Christian maturity.
3. We mentioned last month that the National Council for Higher
Education in Uganda had received an anonymous letter of complaint,
supposedly from some of our students. We praise God that when our
University Council went to meet with the National Council to bring a
response to the anonymous complaint, they were extremely supportive and
encouraging of ABC.
4. We are so thrilled that work is now well under way for the
construction of the third menŐs dorm. In addition, construction has
begun on the second married studentsŐ quad. We are aware that so many
of our students are hurting because of their separation from their wives
and children.
Items for prayer:
1. Please pray for the students who were involved in the anonymous
complaint about ABC. Pray that they will either repent of their
slander, or be exposed and removed from the college. It would be very
damaging to have a few disgruntled troublemakers among the student body
continually spreading slanderous and malicious rumours, stirring up
dissent. There are proper procedures established for any student to be
able to bring legitimate concerns to the administration, but none of
these procedures were followed. Instead they went straight to the
highest authority in the country when it comes to educational matters.
2. Pray for Iain Campbell, Kenny MackenzieŐs pastor, who arrived in
Uganda last night. He will be spending two weeks in Uganda, ministering
first at Uganda Bible Institute in the west of Uganda, and then bringing
special messages each day to our ABC students from March 12-16.
3. There are some very serious attacks on ABC at present, that could
even threaten our continued ministry here in Uganda. Please be diligent
in prayer that the Lord of Heaven and Earth will show his sovereign
power and not let false accusations prevail. There is much corruption
in Uganda, and justice is easily perverted by an envelope passed under
the table or the giving of a gift.
4. We continue to cry out to the Lord to send us a Business Manager,
and teachers of Bible, Radio and Education, as well as someone to help
Kenny Mackenzie with construction, particularly of the chapel and the
gym. The Lord will have to do an amazing work because there are only 6
months before we need the new faculty to begin teaching, and it can
often take up to two years for new missionaries to raise their necessary
support. Pray that the Lord will raise up the people that we need, and
then marvelously provide for all their needs in super quick time.
5. The time has also come when we turn our thoughts to next yearŐs
intake of students. Once again we ask for your prayers that the Lord
would send us just the right students. Our facilities are set up so
that we can take an incoming class of 30-40 students, or even a few more
than that. However, to this point our enrollment has been small: we
have 17 students in the second year and 14 in the first year. It has
actually been a blessing to have so few students in the beginning, but
we do long to see the college reach its potential for impacting future
leaders for the church and community in different African countries in
the region.
6. Please pray for our current students. There are many issues they
are facing: two students have gone home for funerals of friends and
relatives, two went home last week due to ill health (pneumonia and
malaria), one is fighting a battle with the authorities due to the
ÔdisappearanceŐ of 163 secondary school leaving exam results, including
those of his daughter, one has just left to go home and try to sort out
schooling for his two oldest children. He doesnŐt have money to pay for
their school fees, but desperately wants them to continue in school.
7. Please pray for our construction and ground workers. They are being
tempted to leave ABC and being lured away by promises of a car, an acre
of ground to farm, and water for their houses. We have already lost
several of our best masons in the last few weeks.
8. We are encouraged that things are looking positive for a closer
relationship with SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators). Please pray that
all the details will be ironed out, and that if this partnership in
ministry pleases the Lord, that all remaining obstacles will be removed.
Thank you for your faithful praying. With much love in Christ,
Palmer, Joanna, Murray, Elliot and Daniel Robertson
Mailing Address:
African Bible College, P.O. Box 71242, Clock Tower, Kampala, UGANDA
Tel: 256-41-201-037
Home office: African Bible College, P.O. Box 103, Clinton, MS 39060, USA
Tel: (601) 922-1962
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