Dear Friends,
Here is Gulu District Superintendent David Notogohnya’s inspiring update (words and pictures) on God’s work being done in Gulu.. It is affirming to know that GMPI’s work is complimented by the work of other churches and mission teams. For example the foundation of the Hospitality Wing at the District Conference Center was constructed and funded by a GMPI sponsored short term mission team in 2014. The walls were built with funds donated by GMPI donors from the Hardy UMC, and the roof was built by funds donated by the Central to Life UMC church, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
We will be adding another pastor, Christine, to the list of eight pastors GMPI supports.. This will require an extra $195 a quarter.
You will be excited to read the wonderful things God is doing through GMPI Donors and the work in the Gulu District of other churches and organizations and mission teams.
God bless
Pastor John
Gulu District Superintendent’s Update on What God Is Doing in the Gulu District
Preamble
Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to thank God who has been very faithful to us since this year began with drought and many families surviving with one meal a day, due to the irregular little rains that we had in summer season last year. On the spiritual side God has sustained us and enabled us also to do His work faithfully, though not without difficulty. We have had cases of indiscipline on the part of a few individuals in the church which we have administratively handled locally.
District Center
I am happy to report that the hospitality wing of our District Center was roofed last month with a generous donation of 10,000USD from our long time partners in mission Central to Life UMC church Fayetelle Arkansas. Below are the pictures:
Picture above is the front; the other two below is the elevation from the back just next to the District hall and offices.
The roof over the Hospitality wing has changed the entire Center outlook. The next phase is to secure the property with a wall fence to protect the buildings from vandalism; the neighborhood has many children who play on the premises, they write on walls, break glass panes and make the place dirty. To control use of the property we need this wall fence and a gate which according to the quotation I have will need about 33.5 million Uganda shillings which is close to about 10,000USD. Having a fence will help us to keep the place clean and to begin organizing the compound. The rest of the work we can still do in phases when the place is protected.
Koch corom UMC
The existing building of Koch corom local church was affected by the expansion of the main road from Gulu to Anaka which is under construction at the moment. As a result of loss of part of the land and the front part of the building, the Uganda National Road Authority an agency of government valued the building and land (which is now in the road reserve) at 38,000,000/= (Thirty million Uganda shillings) and was deposited on our church account in the month of June. It is the reason why a new building is being constructed behind the existing structure; we did not want to wait until the old building is brought down, before we build the new one. Hopefully by October the new church will be complete. Below are some pictures of the new building:
Water wells
I am happy to report that the repairs of three of the 4 boreholes of Layibi, Koch corom, Opit and Koch goma have taken place, and the community is appreciative of the assistance of the church to have again clean and safe drinking water. The water committees are in place to manage and oversee the welfare and maintenance of the wells. I sent you the docs. for the new well at Achwang which well has made a difference in the witness of the church in the local community. Below is a copy of the contract of the repair of three boreholes and the payment.
Solomon and a neighbor drawing water at the new Achwang borehole
Children at the repaired borehole at Opit UMC
Grain Project:
It is harvest time now though, the rains were late; the grain project team gave out to farmers seeds at the beginning of the season in form of soft loans; they are now beginning to harvest and Pr Douglas has started moving around the local churches in the district to collect the grain; I will say more on this in my next report
Grace UMC Gony cogoo
Grace UMC is doing fine; our presence and witness in the area was boosted with the medical mobile clinic that we carried out with our friends from Central to Life UMC Arkansas when they visited us last month. Over 200 patients were attended to and many more prayed for; we also had a few who committed their lives to Christ (I will forward to you a full report on the medical clinic as sent to me by Mike one of the volunteers who took a record). Christine is caretaking the church and I would recommend that she be included on the list of supported pastors by GMPI.
Fellowships
The fellowships of Abole, Lalia and Otumpili are expanding with more activities and attendance in their weekly meetings.
Conclusion
The challenges are still many but we really appreciate the support that GMPI has rendered to the church in Gulu both prayers and finances. The annual conference will take place in about two weeks time at the Humble school at Mukono, we hope to have a big representation at the Conference with the pastors and a few lay delegates at least one from each of the churches and fellowships for them to get a feel at what happens at these Methodist meetings.
Shalom
David