On the morning of October 3rd, 2009, about 250 students from four schools in Wakiso town converged at the Joy Centre for the third Schools’ Worship Service.  In youth speak, it was a blast!

Students from St. Michael’s International School, where Ben and Joy have ministered in the past, started the celebration off with a joyful worship session.  Simiyu, DJ Twonjex and the K-Krew took over next and spinning the latest records, led an envigorating praise/dance session under tents that were erected on the slab of the planned Joy Centre auditorium.

Mark B, one of Uganda’s most promising gospel musicians took to the stage next. Everyone danced and sang, “Yesu ye kubbo, mazima n’obulamu bwange … eeeh oooh, eeeh oooh!”

Mark B set up the stage perfectly for the ministry of the Word.  Rowan of the African Evangelical Entreprises, gave her testimony.  What a joy it was for her that she had the opportunity to do so on the anniversary of the day she gave her life to Jesus.  Her husband, Neil, crowned the testimony with remarkable Australian juggling juju.

Uncle Ben then shared his heart with the students.  As most of them were Senior Four and Senior Six students preparing for their national examinations, he challenged them to work hard, trust God and pray, stressing Biblical principles on all three issues.  The sharing ended with a call for the students to return to the one person who knows them, who understands them and has a perfect plan for their lives: Jesus Christ.  About 10 students confessed Christ to much celebration.

Was the day over? No!

Uncle Ben, Aunty Joy, Mark B, the K-Krew, Neil and Rowan prayed a blessing over the exam candidates and then it was time to get down!  The morning ended in another celebration of music and dance.

What a great day to start the climax of a beautiful school year!

It was a great time of fellowship and fun. The energetic KAAYMers worshipped God as only people from Western Uganda can.  Using an empty jerrycan as a drum, they sang their throats hoarse, clapped their hands sore and levelled the Joy Centre grass with their exuberant dance.

It was a wonderful, blessed afternoon… and here’s the evidence!.

Visit our gallery pages (link on the right hand menu list) for more pictures of the afternoon.

The Joy Centre loves visitors. Come see us soon, will you?

It usually takes Joy and me between 30 and 45 minutes to travel from Lweza, where our son Peter and his wife Fiona live, to the Joy Center in Wakiso.  But the evening of 10^th September 2009 was different.  What started off as a quiet day of reflection on the goodness of God ended in madness!

Riots in Kampala (Photo credit: The EastAfrican)

Joy and I spent more than four hours driving through back roads in the middle of swamps and valleys and over strange hills to find our way out of the riots that engulfed Kampala city.  We and hundreds of other Ugandan were trapped in the confusion that broke out when the Uganda Police Force and the Central Government prevented the Kabaka of Buganda from visiting a district to the east of Kampala.

The Buganda Kingdom is a large traditional kingdom whose history dates back to the Bronze Age in the African Great Lakes Region. At one point it was the biggest and most powerful kingdom in the Interlacustrine Region, with an army and a civil service to rival any small European country today.

When the British colonialists came to the area now known as Uganda, they co-opted Buganda to carryout their policy of indirect rule.  Instead of directly administering the countryside, educated Baganda were sent to impose the wishes of the colonial masters.  This relationship created conditions that Uganda has had to grapple with over the years.

With the capital city, Kampala, located in an area considered under Buganda control, questions are who is in charge in the center; the Kabaka (king) of Buganda or the Central Government?

Conflicts over this unresolved issue led to the political crisis of 1966 between the Buganda and Uganda governments.  It ended in the seizing of the Kabaka’s palace in Mengo, by then Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote, Uganda’s first coup, the abrogation of the constitution of the country and the banning of kingdoms.

When Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986, he restored the kingdoms. However a clause in the new constitution clearly states that any traditional leader, including the Kabaka, cannot have political power. They are merely cultural leaders.

This constitutional provision provided ground for yet another conflict.

Among the Baganda, the Kabaka is the end-all.  He is called Magulu Nyondo – the one whose feet crush his enemies like a hammer.  He is Nantawetwa – he bows before none and worships no other.  He is Musota, the serpent and bbaffe, the husband of all husbands in Buganda. At his coronation, the Kabaka is divested with power of chief priest. He is the High Priest of his People.

The expected effect of this is a clash of culture and democracy.  For many Baganda, President Yoweri Museveni and his government have no right to prevent the Kabaka from doing as he wishes in his kingdom, no matter whether it is perceived to be political or not. It was therefore an insult that he was refused entry into Kayunga district, a territory he claims as his own.

On September 10^th, hundreds of Buganda royalists took to the streets to protest the travel ban on the Kabaka.  The protests quickly escalated into riots when numerous unemployed youth joined them, using the opportunity to loot shops and homes and to extort people.

Police intervenes (Photo credit: AFP)

Running battles with anti-riot police ensued.  The rioters threw rocks at the police, burned a police station and burned tyres in the middle of streets.  They set up roadblocks, extorting money from motorists and harassed people not from the Buganda tribe.  The police responded by firing teargas canisters at them and shooting in the air.  About 20 people were killed in the rioting and more than 100 were seriously injured.

This was the situation Joy and I found ourselves in.

As we drove home from Lweza, we met a relatively small group of youth some on the bodaboda (motor cycle taxis) heading to palace of the Kabaka.  I quickly turned around, managing to escape the crowd.  We decided that going through the city center may not be such a good idea and headed for the back roads.

We should have stayed on the highway.

The first junction we approached was locked by the fire from burning tyres. Taxi drivers were waving us to turn back. So we climbed up Bunamwaya Hill looking for another route.  It was at the top of the hill that we saw the extent of the rioting.  There was fire everywhere!

Every road junction was blocked by the fires. We could not re-enter the city.

A kind taxi driver led us to another route, in an attempt to help us get to Masaka road.  “Let us go this way please follow me,” he said, determined not to lose us.  We were grateful for such kindness in the midst of confusion.  The taxi driver kept peering through his rear view mirror to make sure we were okay.  Once he found a clear junction, he said goodbye and we parted ways.

On reaching Masaka Road, we found a very long line of pedestrians walking out of the city. With public transport halted by the riots, they had no choice but to walk many kilometers home. We met two ladies carrying their shoes in the hands. They had gone to work dressed in beautiful high heels, not anticipating what a problem the shoes would be to them at the end of the day.

Joy and I drove up to Busega, to the west of Kampala and decided to use a new road called the Northern Bypass.  The journey was going smoothly until a young man shouted at us and threw a burning jerrycan at the car.  The burning volley hit the car, but didn’t affect it and we drove on.

The greatest challenge of the journey was at Nansana, just 10 minutes from our home. There must have been over ten fires in Nansana alone. We were stopped at every fire and roadblock and were told to hand over money or we couldn’t proceed.

We carefully waded through to a stage called Yesu Amala (Jesus Satisfies) with the help of the police. At one of the roadblocks where a huge pile of rubber and wood burned high into the air, a young man looked at me said “Mzee pass here and you will find a road at that point. Follow it and you will come up on the road after the fires.”

Again, in the midst of chaos, hatred and greed, we were blessed by more kindness.

The euphoria of our escape was however short-lived. A young man, who unsuccessfully tried to extort money from us, threw a rock at our car and smashed the rear window. The sound of the glass breaking was like a loud gunshot. A man hidden in the shadows seemed surprised at this.  “Now why have you done that?” he asked the rock thrower.

Riots at Mini Price Bata (Photo credit: Daily Monitor)

Finally we got home after four hours of scare, waiting, surprises, praying and no glass in the rear window of the car.

We are not discouraged by the rioting. If anything, it has shown us that the need for a ministry like the Joy Centre is needed now more than ever.  We must have a new generation of people who hate lawlessness and corruption and stand for peace and justice. We must have a generation of people who fear the Lord.

Joy and I have gone kookoo!

Earlier this year we decided to raise free range chicken at the Joy Center in Wakiso. We were prompted into this venture when a friend brought us a hen that hatched seven chicks.  You cannot imagine our excitement at the thought of starting our own chicken farm.

Joy hired a young man in our village to keep our small food garden and take care of the chicken.  However a few months later the young man fled with the hen and all, but one chick.

The lone chick quickly grew into a proud cock and needed a friend, so we decided to buy another hen. The new hen grew in popularity around the Joy Center.  A tryst with larger cock in the neighborhood led to seven new chicks!

Using Joy’s expertise as a veterinary officer, we built a small chicken house to keep our growing brood.

Jackie, our daughter, visited her mother-in-law in Fort Portal shortly after that and brought us four chicken from the countryside to increase our flock.  Unfortunately she didn’t know they were diseased and soon, they clucked their last and “went to be with the Lord.”

The disease, which we failed to diagnose, spread to the rest of the chicken and so far 14 have died.

We haven’t given up and we’re starting again.  Constance, our niece, gave us a chicken and the farm has begun all over.  We have one cock and four hens. Hopefully soon we’ll have a nest full of chicks and you’ll be invited to your first meal of Wakiso Fried Chicken!

Farmer Joy at the incomplete chicken house

• Inaugural Schools’ Worship Service
• Teens One Day Camp
• Building, Business and Ministry

Joy Centre view - glorious sunsets everyday!

Construction of the Joy Center conference hall has been quiet for a few months, but fundraising is in earnest following the completion of roofing of the boardrooms, offices, kitchen and restaurant. The plan is to complete plastering, wiring, plumbing and furnishing this annex which can be used as money for the main conference hall is raised.

As we wait for finances, the incomplete facility is not lying redundant.  Not at all!  It is a venue for regular meetings (see the Teens One Day Camp and the photo gallery below) and it serves as a constant reminder of the faithfulness of God.

Every evening Ben, Joyie and other residents of the Joy Centre gather at the foundation slab of the conference hall to pray.  In faith they believe that God, who birthed the vision of the centre in them, will bring it to completion in his own perfect time.

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Through the counsel of the Joy Centre project committee, a discussion is underway for the possible financing of a fully-fledged commercial accommodation facility to co-exist with the retreat and meeting center.

The commercial accommodation facility is intended to serve the need of many NGOs, faith-based organizations, community groups and tourists who are in need of a clean and safe environment in the immediate environs of Kampala where they can meet at a reasonable fee.  The accommodation facility would be financed through a bank loan and with the support of the project team, a business proposal and loan request has been drafted.

An architectural drawing of the accommodation facility has been presented and costs of construction are ready in case funding is availed.

The facility will have 40 self-contained double rooms, a lounge and a private meeting room.  It will be served by the conference hall annex that is already under construction.

Please pray with us as we consider this proposal.

If you would like to read the proposal and share other funding options with us, please do so.  Leave your contact information in the comments box below.

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Talent leads worship at schools' ministry

On June 7th, 230 teenagers from secondary schools around Wakiso town came to the Joy Centre for the first Schools’ Worship Service.

For three hours the students prayed together, sang praise to God and fellowshiped with each other.  It was a wonderful time of worship with special performances from Kwazee Group and gospel singing star, Sammy K.  The sermon was preached by Rev. Canon Mugarura-Mutana.

The participating schools were St. Michael’s International School, Wakiso Secondary School, Galaxy Secondary School, City Secondary School Kayunga and Wakiso Secondary School.

The Joy Centre is planning a second Schools’ Worship Service to be held on Sunday August 2^nd.  If you are interested in participating, please leave your contact information in the comments box below.

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It’s not too early to start preparing for the school holiday.

Following the second successful Joy Center Teenagers’ One Day Camp, we are planning a third meeting for September.

The Teenagers’ One Day Camp is an opportunity for youth to meet in a safe setting outside Kampala for warm fellowship, good food and lots of fun.

The May ’09 Teenagers’ One Day Camp was based on the theme ‘Honesty.’  After a short teaching, the youth worked in groups to explore why honesty is a fast declining virtue in society, the biblical view on honesty and how to practice honesty in a dishonest world.

For a registration fee of 10,000 shillings, the teenagers were transported to and from Wakiso, they received training materials and were treated to a sumptuous lunch.

Keep your eye on this page for news on the September ’09 Teenagers’ One Day Camp.

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It has been a busy season for Ben and Joyie Mugarura-Mutana.  They continue to participate in their local church, St. Paul’s Kisimbiri, and have been invited to minister at several churches in and around Kampala.  Ben and Joyie are also active leaders in Alpha Group and are counseling several couples preparing for marriage later this year.

Please join us as we continue to pray for more opportunities to use the Joy Centre to the glory of God.