SAND ON THE SEA SHORE

On Monday, September 26th Ben and Tami gave me a ride back to Hayward. But on our way we planned to spend the day on the beach. We chose to visit the Santa Cruz beach.
This was going to be my very first time to be on the beach.
On reaching the beach, i was told that rule number one of the beach i was supposed to remove my shoes! So off went my shoes and i found my self bare footed on the beach sand. It felt good to walk on that sand. I remembered those days when i would walk barefooted when i was still young. My parents were very poor, they could not afford to buy for me a pair of shoes. I started to put on shoes at the age of 15 when i started to work for my own money.
Any way, here i was on the beach walking on the sand. This was too much sand than i had ever seen in my life. This reminded me of God's promise to Abraham that his descendant would be like the sand on the sea shore. Isn't God amazing? Abraham had no child at 100 years of age and Sarah his wife was too old to have babies, but the promise was very strong. God told Abraham to go walk on the sand on the sea shore, he too must have obeyed rule number one and removed his shoes, he must have felt how good that sand felt and as he stepped on it he pondered on the promise of God, "countless will be your children like the sand on the sea shore". He believed God and changed his name to Abraham (Father of many nations).And surely as God is faithful,Sarah gave birth to Isaac at a good old age. As i stepped on this sand at Santa Cruz in my heart i said, "thank you Lord, you are a covenant keeping God!" Dear reader, all the promises of God for your life, though they delay, they will come to pass!!! Never cry too soon, you never know! Hung on there, God is a faithful God!

Then Ben and Tami told me that i needed to roll up my pants and get in the water to feel at the beach. I did,and into the pacific ocean, i went! At first the water felt cold but soon my body temperature adjusted to it. It was fun to see all these mighty waves come strongly to the shores but loose their strength as they reach the point where God said, "this far and no further"! Isn't God amazing?! Even the waters obey the word of God.
Ben asked me to taste the water, Oh my! I didn't know that sea water was salty until then. Where does this salt come from?  We are used to the waters of our big lakes in Uganda like Bunyonyi and Victoria that are fresh. This was another surprise of the day.
It was just fun. As the water waves pushed to the shores, they pushed more sand to the shores and you would feel the sand move under your feet. At one time i felt as if the whole earth moved under me. As water pushes back, sand seems to move with it.


Any way that was it for the day but it left a lasting impression and impact upon my heart. I left the beach singing,"Oh Lord my God, when i, in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hand has made...then sings my soul, my savior God to thee, how great thought art!!!!"

HOUSE OF HOPE PLANS TO BE SELF SUSTAINING-MODESTO

On Monday September 19th, i left for Modesto. Bill and Shirley gave me a ride. I was scheduled to spend the first three days with Pastor Tracy and Mary and the then spend the rest with Ben and family.
It was great to meet all my friends in Modesto. It is amazing how God connects people and how we are reminded again and again that this is a small world. 
Pastor Tracy and Mary with some people from Brethren Community Fellowship had been going to Uganda since 2003. They partner with Kabale Trinity college. As God would have it, in 2008, while on their trip to Uganda, Tracy and Mary felt like going to Google and find out more about what is going on in Kabale, Uganda, there they found Kabale House of Hope and wanted to know more. They eventually got in touch with me and together with Chad and Maria came to visit Kabale House of Hope.Since then the relationship between Kabale House of Hope and Modesto has grown from year to year with more people in Modesto picking interest to at least sponsor a child at House of Hope. It is interesting that most of the children sponsored by Modesto friends go to Kabale Trinity college!
I had a good time with  most of my friends here and it was good to make new connections and friends. Our main objective as part of the short term goal for House of Hope is to start projects that will help House of Hope be self sustaining. The priority will be on purchasing  sweater weaving machines at least two to begin with. These will help us to generate funds from selling the sweaters. With most school being friends with us since we send there our students, we have ready market. Not only will these machines generate funds to help run the operational costs of House of Hope but they will help teach a skill to our children in the orphanage which can help them to make a living. Each machine costs $5000.
We also plan to purchase land on which we can grow our own food. Available land will cost $4000 per acre, at the moment, we need three acres to four acres of land where we can plant maize (corn), beans, Matoke (banana plantation) and vegetables.
If you want to know how you can help, please let us know. You can write to me at: jbakashaba@gmail.com or call Ben Miller at 209-499-8903

THE ARABIC CHURCH

At times one wonders how time seems to fly, i can't imagine a lot has been going on since my last story. But any way on Sunday September 18th i was scheduled to preach at Gate International church in San Mateo, California. I was connected to this church by Tiffany, one of my friends that has made several trips to Uganda. She is the church worship leader. To my surprise the church is predominantly Arabic, the Pastor is Persian, several members too come from Iran, a few come from Jordan and other parts of the middle east. These people are believers in Jesus and they worship him in spirit and truth! God is amazing how he can save Moslems and fill them with his spirit.
I enjoyed the worship and when it was time to preach, i shared all that God has put upon my heart for this wonderful church. The presence of God was so tangible that you could literally feel the move of God. I had a great time!
When the pastor asked me to share with the church about our child sponsorship ministry, i was surprised when several people signed up to sponsor at least a child in Uganda for education. $35 support per month is enough to make a dramatic change in the life of a precious child. It gives such a great joy to know that you are getting such an attachment to the child in Uganda whom, without your support would not get education instead be reduced to a beggar, street child or prostitute. Let us know if you are interested to sponsor a child and we can always give you all the information you need.

PASTOR BILL & SHIRLEY CELEBRATE THEIR 50TH ANNIVERSARY

It is not common to see couples make 50 years in marriage in Uganda. Not necessarily because of divorce. In fact divorce is not something common in our country even among unbelievers. Even culturally it was always "until death do us part". A marriage covenant is taken seriously and not matter what struggles a man and wife may go through they always tend to stick together. They have a saying back home that the devil i know is better than the angel i don't know. And besides this, traditionally a man pays a big dowry depending on the family and girl he is marrying. Divorce means that the girl's parents have to pay back all the cows. Therefore it bad news for the girl to come back home and her parents do not want to see her back. So if a girl is finding difficulty living with her husband, parents always call the two and talk to them into reconciliation and if this fails they talk their daughter into perseverance.
But any way despite this, it still uncommon to see couple celebrate 50 years in marriage because most couples don't live to make more than 30 years in marriage. Most people in our country die at the age of 40 to 50, due to diseases, poverty and hard life. And normally when a woman dies first the husband too dies shortly after. Women tend to live longer even after the passing on her husband.
Last week September 17th 2011, Pastor Bill and Shirley celebrated their 50 years in marriage. It was a great joy to celebrate this 50th anniversary with them. Bill and Shirley have been a tremendous blessing to many people. It was a joy to hear the great testimonies one by one from the many people who call them Mum and Dad whose lives they have touched.
They are a blessing to me and are very supportive to me and ministry as well. They accommodate me and transport around every time I am in the bay area in California. It was a blessing for me to attend this day and celebrate with the lives of such a man and woman that have been a blessing to me.
Most of their friends came to attend this great day in their lives. Their children Tom, Tim and Willy together with their families worked together to make a big dinner for their parents. It was great. I mean this is not a common thing even in America.
I enjoyed every bit of it and had a few lesson to learn from this man and woman who have gone through the wind and waves of life but kept true to the covenant they made fifty years ago.

THE CHINESE MOON FESTIVAL-SAN FRANCISCO

Apart from the Hurricane Irene, my visit to Virginia was good and enjoyable.It was great to spend time with my friends Tom and Sandy and also preach at Pastor Walt's church.

Sunday i visited a new church called New Beginnings Outreach church led by Pastors Robert and Barbara Gibbs. We had a great time. It was good to meet and make new friends.

Robert and Barbara took me to the air port the following Monday September 5th on my way to California, where i plan to spend another four weeks.

It was a long days trip, we arrived in California a few minutes after 4:00 p.m.

My friends from New Life Christian church, Tony and Joe were waiting for me at Oakland airport and we headed for Tony's home. His wife Grace is a good cook, so you can imagine how i have gained more weight since.

SAN FRANCISCO

Tony took me for a visit to San Francisco, we took a Bart, which is kind of a train that is powered by electricity. It is so fast.

San Francisco is so beautiful with a lot of history behind it. It has so many good sights to view including the beach, bay bridge, the China town, the most crooked straight, the Golden gate bridge, the ocean and sharks...

On this beautiful day we chose to visit the China town. This place has everything Chinese you can think of. From stores to food, clothes, jewelry and so many other things that are popularly used by Chinese.Years ago, the Chinese came to this country and for some reason they decided to live and work together from this small location in the heart of San Francisco.

On this particular day, it was a big day for the Chinese. So the Chinese here made a festival, they had a parade to join their brothers and sisters back home to commemorate the moon festival. Whatever that means, but this is kind of moon worship and they do this on a new moon once every year. They put out stalls, make shows and put out many things to sell  food, clothes etc..it was kind of a trade fair. And then this band was praying music through the China town street. It was amazing.

We visited a few other areas and before we knew it, it was coming to evening and time to go back home.

On Sunday i preached at New Life Christian church. I was glad to meet all my great friends that go to New Life Christian church.

Revival Outreach Ministries partners with New Life Christian Church to help receive support for our orphanage and children. Our plans are to register the ministry as a Non-profit organisation in the USA. But until then, all our partners, donors and sponsors for children send tax deductible support to us through New Life Christian church. This has been a great blessing to us and has helped us to get more children sponsors. It means much for a child in our village to go to school as that is the only way they will be able to get a good future. In our country education is paid for right from Kindergarten to college and these orphans and poor children have no way to get money to go to school unless they are helped. $35 in enough to make a dramatic change in a child's life. This pays for tuition, medical bills, lunch every day, school uniform and a pair of shoes every year. It is such a great blessing to give a child hope and a future. We still have hundreds of children that need help, if anyone is interested to help a child or know more please write to me at: jbakashaba@gmail.com or call New Life Christian church at (510) 889-1304.

I got opportunity to speak at another church on Wednesday night. God has given me a message of encouragement and about the hope which can be found in personal relationship and fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Every where i go, you feel people hurting and almost lost hope because of the bad economy in the US now. In Africa we are kind of used to hard conditions and can do without a few things, but no so with most Americans, God has blessed them so much so that it is hard for them to live with out the comfortable, good living. Unfortunately things have changed and many have lost their jobs and homes. It is always a joy to speak a word in season to people whose attention is focused onto the sovereignty of God. In Africa, people have need for God because that is all they have. Whereas in America people bless and pray over food, ordinary people in Africa cannot afford a meal per day and always pray for food.

I am always amused by the great difference between our culture and the American people. There are many things that are so different. There is this couple that are signing for a divorce; reason, the husband is not cleaning dishes and laundry!!! To a common person in Africa, it is hard to understand. We are not used to that. My wife can never ask me to clean dishes. She one day told me that i am getting spoiled and learning bad manners because i found her in the kitchen and wanted to help her as i saw Americans do. "You have no business coming to my kitchen, go sit, relax and let me serve you..." she said.