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.

Most times Communities and societies we live in try to make us conform and unless we stand up to them and only do only that which is good and right, we will end up looking like them. The illustration is when all the guys and the girls want you to do what they think is good in their own eyes. Often they try to get you believe that what they are offering is better than what you know. Or they show you that what you know is not good enough or completely ignore your opinion. What we need to know if we do not know it already is that those people are trying to devalue you and suggest that until one is like them one does not have a life to be excited about.
 

Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego Stood for the Truth
But the truth is often the reverse of what they are suggesting to you. An excellent example is a story from the Bible in the book of Prophet Daniel chapter 3. This is the story of three Hebrew boys who had been carried into exile when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon destroyed the country of Judah in 352 BC. Shadrach, Meshach and Abedinego were serving in the palace of the King when he had a dream and acted upon it. He built a golden statue and put it in the plains of Ono to worshipped by the whole of his Empire. But Daniel, and his friends Shadrach Meshak and Abednego defied the king’s command by not defiling themselves and worship a golden image because they obeyed the Commandment of the Lord- “You shall not make any graven image and worship it…”
 
The young people were in exile far away from home and from the temple of their God and therefore they could do anything they wished. There were no priests or other religious leaders to keep them in line so to speak. The society they lived in was very challenging because the Kings command was final and the law of the society could not be changed. Most of the people did hat they were asked to especially by the King and promotion in the Kings court often followed the obedience.  But the three boys stuck to what they knew was right and true and decided to obey the Lord God.
 
Dan 3:12-15

“But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon– Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego– who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
 
Standing up even to the King the three Hebrew young men, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They knew very well that if their God does not show up and save them they would be roasted, but we should be very clear when it comes to their obeying God. They would rather die than worship the image set up by the King.

But to their delight and to the amazement of the Nebuchadnezzar, God actually showed up  for them and they did not burn in the blazing fire which moments before, the flames from that fire killed the mighty men of the King who were commanded to throw Shadrach Meshach and Abednego into the fire. 

Remaining loyal to the truth learned in the Church and other Christian group eventually pays off. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ended in triumph for the Young Hebrew people and their God. Staying in the truth eventually pays off even for the young and old people today.

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