June 2009 Second Bible Institute Graduation in Uganda! Kazuhiko and Nozomi Sato are Japanese missionaries sent to Uganda from the Takiyama Bible Baptist Church through the Japan Baptist Bible Fellowship. They have been working with us since 1998. Through our combined ministries, six churches have been established, three new church plants have been started, and we have eight other weekly preaching points. Brother Sato and I lead our Bible Institute program training Ugandan men and women for Christian ministry. In May, we celebrated our second Bible Institute Graduation with five students graduating from the first level of our program. In the term leading up to graduation, we offered a full schedule of eight different classes. I taught two classes, and Brother Sato taught two classes. Three classes were taught by national pastors, and one class for pastor’s wives was taught by the wife of one of our national pastors. We had an average of twelve students in each class. We started the term with a lot of excitement. However, at the end of the first day of classes, the mood suddenly changed when we found out that the wife of one of our students had died. Wycliffe Aturyahihi has been leading one of our new church plants. He was one of the students we expected to graduate from the first level of our Bible Institute program this time. We are glad that Wycliffe’s wife is now in Heaven, but it is sad to see this poor man left with five children to care for alone. Please pray for Wycliffe as he struggles to raise his children and to continue serving in the ministry God has called him to. Our Bible Institute classes went ahead, minus Wycliffe’s presence. By the end of the term, the excitement had returned, especially in the How to Witness to Muslims class, taught by Pastor Wilson Nuwamanya. This was our largest class with 23 students, including many of the older orphans in the Orphanage, who sat in on the class just to see what they could learn. We had purchased a number of Korans, and the students were taught how to start by showing the Muslims what the Koran itself says about Jesus. At the end of the term, Pastor Wilson took his students into town for practical experience witnessing to Muslims. That day, three Muslims received Jesus as their Savior, and two of those were led to Christ by Agatha, a 15-year-old girl in the Orphanage! On Saturday, May 16th, we were ready for the Graduation Ceremony. We had five students graduate: Mrs. Annett Muhumuza, the class speaker and wife of one of our national pastors; John Semanda, who is leading the Rwetango Bible Baptist Church under Brother Sato’s ministry; and three young men – Ronald Byarugaba, Didas Kamugisha, and Pike Nyamwasa – who are leaders in the church that Brother Sato is now pastoring. Well over 100 people attended the Graduation, and we celebrated with lunch after the service. Please pray for our Bible Institute program as we continue to train pastors, pastor’s wives, and church leaders. Pray for the students to be faithful to the Lord and to fulfill His plan for their lives. Yours in Uganda, Russ & Sylvia Daniels rsdaniels.uganda@gmail.com Editor's Note:  Click any picture for a closer look and use your browser's back button to return Previous Letter  |  Daniels Home Page Web Editor - Don Tarvin Updated 29 Jan 2010