Last week, on April 27th Renee & I landed on Canadian soil after 6 months away in Africa & England. So many amazing things have happened in our lives & in our ministry; life changing stuff!
We were met by our son Brandon at the Vancouver Int. Airport & taken back to his house where there were 4 very excited grandkids [& of course his lovely wife, Alyssa] waiting for us! What a wonderful welcome home.
Since arriving back in Kamloops, we’ve had an onslaught of friends & more family to see us. Sunday, we returned to the Feast, our home church, with our daughter Jennica & 2 of her kids & enjoyed reuniting with many friends.
I know it’s been a while since sending out our last update, but there were a lot of good reasons for that…..where do I begin?
The last couple of months we spent in Kenya, the Lord really spoke to us about our ministry. We’ve been doing a lot of good ministry, traveling around Kenya & Uganda. We’ve been involved in believer’s & leader’s conferences, school camps & meetings, crusades, door to door evangelism, pastoral time in orphanages, street kids’ outreach centre; all the time, going from place to place. Even though what we’ve been involved in has been good, we’ve really heard the Lord saying to us that we need to focus in on the youth more pastorally – meaning, discipling, developing & mentoring individuals.
As we’ve traveled around Africa, what we have not seen is any decent place for teens & twenties to hang out in. As with young people anywhere, without a positive alternative, they get into drinking, drugs & immorality. Our desire is to open a youth outreach centre in the city of Kisumu, Kenya.
It will be a safe & fun Christian environment for young people to congregate - & where we will minister to them spiritually & practically. We will need a substantial building for the centre, so we can have various games, sports & outreach events. It will be called ‘Integrity Center for Youth’ or ICY – [I see why].
Our mission base has been a rental house located in the village of Butere, Kenya for the past couple of years. When we left at the beginning of April, we gave that up & sold the contents of our place to the neighboring American ministry, RCM {Rainbow Christian Missions} who are doing a great work in the village of Butere. We had prayed that if that sale went thru it was confirmation that the Lord wanted us to move to Kisumu.
As a compliment to the youth outreach center, we will also be opening a trendy coffee shop [Zoostah’s Coffee House]. We’ve all seen the popularity of these venues increase over the past few years in the west & Africa is no different. We’ve visited a couple of them in the city of Nairobi, [which is substantially larger than Kisumu], but there has yet to be one opened in Kisumu. We feel it is timely for us to move forward with this. It is our hope this will help sustain our work in Africa, [making us more self sufficient] & also providing much needed employment for the nationals.
In every part of our vision, we intend to raise up others to take over the work & take it to the next level – so we can move on & replicate the success in other areas of Africa.
Since 2007, Renee & I have been spending six months in Africa & the other six in Canada. God has given us the grace to be in Africa, for being away from kids & grandkids & many other things. As I’ve shared our vision, [at least the beginning stages of it], it has become glaringly obvious that our dedication will have to increase in order for us to accomplish our vision. We have made the decision to move to Kenya in a few months.
Over this next while, we are selling our house in Kamloops, researching the necessary information toward our move & making many preparations for this commitment. Before I could share this information, we had to first share it with our children, hence the delay in a ministry update.
Many great things will happen as a result of this decision. For people who are interested in experiencing African missions, now we can offer any time of the year & any amount of time commitment, meaning anywhere from a week to many months. Because of the full time commitment to our vision, we will see greater fruitfulness for the kingdom of God, as we will be focusing more in a concentrated area in western Kenya & do less traveling around. This will allow us to do more < one on one > discipleship, which is so necessary in Africa.
As we have ‘stepped out of the boat’ – and declared we are doing this, we’ve seen the hand of God opening new doors for us & the windows of heaven. In England, Africa & in Canada, so many Christian leaders & friends have passionately expressed great interest in getting behind this vision in a myriad of ways - practically, spiritually & wanting to participate in missions with us. We thank God for His many confirmations that we are on the right track & keeping in step with Him.
We are making this commitment to make Kenya our home, but will be returning as often as the Lord allows us to Canada & the UK to see our family & friends & to network with other ministries.
I got a word the other day from the Lord – as father Abraham took his son Isaac, [his son of promise] up to the alter to sacrifice him – God saw his willingness & he didn’t have to make the sacrifice. I believe as we’ve laid it all down to the Lord, He is blessing us in much the same way & we won’t have to be separated from our children & grandchildren for too long of an extended time.
We believe February 2010 will be the right time to go back to Kenya. This timing will allow us to spend Christmas in Canada with our kids & grandkids & to make so many preparations.
We appreciate & are eternally thankful to everyone who has stood with us & supported us prayerfully & practically. We cannot [& do not want to] do this alone & know God has divinely networked us with so many amazing people. Words cannot do justice to how overwhelmed we are for what God has done & continues to do in our lives & ministry. We are involved with so many people who inspire us & provoke us to carry on the call of God in our lives.
We love to hear from you – it encourages us so much. God bless you all & we hope to hear from you soon.
In His Service,
Greg & Renee Plunkett
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
First couple weeks back in Kenya
Coming home to Kenya has been quite wonderful. We arrived on Sunday February 8th to our base in Butere, Kenya. Our place was in desperate need of cleansing as it had remained empty for a couple months. Renee worked & fussed over it until she deemed it acceptable.
We had to make a run into the city, Kisumu to have my infected foot examined at the hospital & to get groceries. I got blood tests, x-rays & an examination. The conclusion was a bad infection caused by me pricking my foot on 'something'. It had gone into my heal & made its way up to my knee swelling my calf up like a balloon & eliminating any sign of bones in my foot like ankles & joints. I was put on the strongest antibiotics & cough medicine.
While in Uganda, I had received an email from a pastor from Winnipeg, Manitoba; someone (Pastor Vince Rattai) who had been on missions to Romania in the 90's with Rev. Mike Jones. He was coming on mission with a team from Canada & the US. We spoke briefly on the phone & made plans for him to hook up with us after arriving in Kenya.
Pastor Vince spent the first week with his team in Eldoret, a city over 4 hours from us in Butere. They did non-stop ministry from the moment they arrived without catching their breath from jet-lag. The team is
Christian International (CI) & they are in Canada & the US.
What was interesting is the leader, Alex Florence is a guy Renee & I met while camping at his campground in Edmonton 4 years ago & for him to be here & connected with Vince was a divine connection.
Full on ministry began on the Thursday. Vince & I went to a village called Shitsitswi, just up the road from Sabatia, the next town from Butere where we live. We began with an afternoon open air crusade in the marketplace where over 30 came forward at the call for salvation. We continued like that for 3 days netting over 150+ souls for Jesus! It was an amazing move of God. Sunday, we planted a new church with Pst. Peter who has been a friend for many years. He was so excited at what God had done in this area as he's been praying over it for some time. He's got a lot of follow up work to do now.
Tuesday, February 17th we met with some pastors & leaders we are working with to lay a good foundation for moving ahead in ministry. I spoke first & then Vince; I pulled some statistics from the internet regarding the religious demographics for Kenya. It says there is 88.5% Christians in Kenya & my view was that if that were true, there wouldn't be the corruption, poverty & problems that there are in this nation. I shared more that once people are saved, foundations of character need to be built into each & every one. I carried on in that vein; Vince added to it with laying good foundations for apostolic ministry teams. We met for lunch & shared for about 3 hours. We heard back from the leaders that it was the most positive & effective leaders' meeting they've been to. We will be continuing to build on that.
On Thursday the 19th we went to Masaba where IMS has planted a church & have been doing more crusades & evening revival meetings. It's been extremely fruitful & enjoyable. There is something really special about this area & we look forward to our continued relationship there.
Tomorrow is Sunday the 22nd & we'll be busy with a service at Butere Boy's school, which is almost next door with a service beginning at 7am. Next is Butere Girls' school at 8am, then Masaba church at 10am with a teaching, then a preach finishing off around 1pm. Then we're darting back to our home in Butere to pick up our suitcases & bus it to Kisumu overnight so Vince Rattai can fly to Nairobi, then back to Canada.
It's very busy here but extremely rewarding. God is utilizing us in a variety of ways & is speaking to us about our focus in ministry.
Things are becoming clearer & always more exciting. We continue to be grateful for all the prayer support we've had & ask that all who pray would continue asking the Lord for protection for us, good health, provision & clear direction. God bless you all so much.
We had to make a run into the city, Kisumu to have my infected foot examined at the hospital & to get groceries. I got blood tests, x-rays & an examination. The conclusion was a bad infection caused by me pricking my foot on 'something'. It had gone into my heal & made its way up to my knee swelling my calf up like a balloon & eliminating any sign of bones in my foot like ankles & joints. I was put on the strongest antibiotics & cough medicine.
While in Uganda, I had received an email from a pastor from Winnipeg, Manitoba; someone (Pastor Vince Rattai) who had been on missions to Romania in the 90's with Rev. Mike Jones. He was coming on mission with a team from Canada & the US. We spoke briefly on the phone & made plans for him to hook up with us after arriving in Kenya.
Pastor Vince spent the first week with his team in Eldoret, a city over 4 hours from us in Butere. They did non-stop ministry from the moment they arrived without catching their breath from jet-lag. The team is
Christian International (CI) & they are in Canada & the US.
What was interesting is the leader, Alex Florence is a guy Renee & I met while camping at his campground in Edmonton 4 years ago & for him to be here & connected with Vince was a divine connection.
Full on ministry began on the Thursday. Vince & I went to a village called Shitsitswi, just up the road from Sabatia, the next town from Butere where we live. We began with an afternoon open air crusade in the marketplace where over 30 came forward at the call for salvation. We continued like that for 3 days netting over 150+ souls for Jesus! It was an amazing move of God. Sunday, we planted a new church with Pst. Peter who has been a friend for many years. He was so excited at what God had done in this area as he's been praying over it for some time. He's got a lot of follow up work to do now.
Tuesday, February 17th we met with some pastors & leaders we are working with to lay a good foundation for moving ahead in ministry. I spoke first & then Vince; I pulled some statistics from the internet regarding the religious demographics for Kenya. It says there is 88.5% Christians in Kenya & my view was that if that were true, there wouldn't be the corruption, poverty & problems that there are in this nation. I shared more that once people are saved, foundations of character need to be built into each & every one. I carried on in that vein; Vince added to it with laying good foundations for apostolic ministry teams. We met for lunch & shared for about 3 hours. We heard back from the leaders that it was the most positive & effective leaders' meeting they've been to. We will be continuing to build on that.
On Thursday the 19th we went to Masaba where IMS has planted a church & have been doing more crusades & evening revival meetings. It's been extremely fruitful & enjoyable. There is something really special about this area & we look forward to our continued relationship there.
Tomorrow is Sunday the 22nd & we'll be busy with a service at Butere Boy's school, which is almost next door with a service beginning at 7am. Next is Butere Girls' school at 8am, then Masaba church at 10am with a teaching, then a preach finishing off around 1pm. Then we're darting back to our home in Butere to pick up our suitcases & bus it to Kisumu overnight so Vince Rattai can fly to Nairobi, then back to Canada.
It's very busy here but extremely rewarding. God is utilizing us in a variety of ways & is speaking to us about our focus in ministry.
Things are becoming clearer & always more exciting. We continue to be grateful for all the prayer support we've had & ask that all who pray would continue asking the Lord for protection for us, good health, provision & clear direction. God bless you all so much.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Back from Uganda
Almost 2 months in Uganda (Dec.18th to Feb.8th) was really wonderful & rewarding. Our team consisted of Renee & myself, Sally Omundi (from Kenya) and John Abesiga (Plunkett) from Uganda.
1st Week > with RED (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) ministries in Kampala. First time with Pst. Joel & Pamela. Did a 4 day believers’ conference & finished off with a Sunday service. All in all a very enjoyable time.
2nd Week > headed NW in Uganda to Kaihura for 3 weeks at Bringing Hope to the Family, a ministry we’ve been affiliated with for 5 years. The first part was celebrating Christmas together with about 60+ orphans at the Home Again Orphanage. Renee & I were the original sponsors of the first 2 kids there, so we’re known as Papa & Mama to all the kids. We had the great pleasure of presenting a Nintendo Wii Game system to the kids, (a contribution from Nigel & Julie Rowe & family in the UK). The kids had a blast boxing, playing tennis & the other sports games. There was a youth conference as well that involved about 300+ kids. We also did 2 days of a couples’ conference teaching the 5 love languages to many excited couples.
3rd Week > we went out to Katooke, (a village about a ½ hour from Kaihura) with Pst. Prosper & Jocelyn & my namesake, Greg. We took 6 of the Home Again teenage boys out, along with Sally & everyone participated in ministry. We did a 4 day believers’ conference that had a huge impact on the community & was well attended.
4th Week > SW to Kabale for the first time. We spent over 2 weeks there & were involved with so many churches & ministries. We spent 3 afternoons with Pst. Obed of Word of Faith Church; several days at a street kids drop in centre, (with Eddy, Pam & Ben Ward) where we had the privilege of leading 8 of the kids to the Lord several days at Revival Tabernacle with Pst. Johnson doing services & crusades; many days with Pst. Santu & Pst. Donna of Inward Temple Church having mid-day meetings & a Sunday service; a too short time with Pst. Frank of World Evangelical Ministries, but we’ll make up for that next year. Our host for the entire time was Dr. Mike Osinde who took excellent care of us & looked after our many needs. Our good friend Rev. Richard Zimbalist was the instigator of this visit & coordinated the entire goings on. We were joined by an anointed man of God from Tanzania (originally Uganda) Pst. Fred who we hope to work with more in the future. There were so many highlights during our time in Kabale including a day trip to the deepest (& most beautiful) lake in Africa, with many islands on it (with Donna & Santu Laxman). It reminded me of the gulf coast between Vancouver & Vancouver Island.
Final Week > buses in Africa are truly of the devil – we waited in the afternoon over 3 hours for our reserved seat bus & then watched it whiz by us without stopping. We had to take the late bus that left after 10pm & got into Kampala at 4 am. Our good friend Greg Lempke (a Canadian brother) of Spring of Life Ministries in Kampala picked us up. Sadly, we had to part from John (our Uganda son) as it was time to go back to school. We were thankful for the over 5 weeks we were able to spend with him this time & at the end truly felt like a family. Sally also departed for Kenya, but we will see her very shortly. I barely caught my breath & Renee & I separated as I went off with the SOLMA team to a remote village for believer’s conference & crusades, (another 8 hour journey on top of the all night bus ride). It was extremely fruitful & netted many new souls for the Kingdom of God. Renee went with Greg & Sandy’s daughter Samantha back to the Kienjojo district to a refuge camp of 81 sq. miles with no end of needs. They traveled by boda boda (motorbike taxis) to every corner of the camp. The refugees are from the Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia & a couple other countries. They were on a data compiling mission to evaluate the many needs for the refugees.
During this entire time in Uganda, I have been mostly sick. I began with a convulsive cough Christmas day that required injections to stop it & the sickness continued for 3 weeks. I also got a jigger in my toe which is like a flesh eating parasite. In Kabale, along with Renee & Sally, I got an intestinal infection that came on with a high fever & severe diarrhea for a few days. In Kampala, I arrived with yet another bad cough that continues & the night before we returned to Kenya, I came down with a 39.6c fever which turned out to be malaria. I spent the evening with chills & diarrhea. We got up at 5am to catch the bus & I discovered yet another jigger in my heal. It has developed now into a massive infection in my foot & leg up to my knee that is swollen, red & painful. I spent today at a good hospital in Kisumu City & had prayed for the right doctor & got a very competent & caring Christian doctor. I have been diagnosed with a nasty infection from a prick from ‘something’ I can’t remember happening. I have a bronchial infection & my malaria is cleared up. This has been my sickest year of my life. When I returned to Kenya, the first thing a friend remarked was how much weight I’ve lost; (I call it my African weight loss plan; haw haw). It’s been quite a battle but I thank God who has given me the grace & love for what we do to press on.
We are massively grateful for the prayers that have been petitioned on our behalf. We couldn’t & wouldn’t want to do this without that support.
We look forward to the next 2 months of ministry in Kenya until we return to England on April 7th for 20 days, where we have an outstanding itinerary awaiting us. Our return to Canada is April 27th.
Almost 2 months in Uganda (Dec.18th to Feb.8th) was really wonderful & rewarding. Our team consisted of Renee & myself, Sally Omundi (from Kenya) and John Abesiga (Plunkett) from Uganda.
1st Week > with RED (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) ministries in Kampala. First time with Pst. Joel & Pamela. Did a 4 day believers’ conference & finished off with a Sunday service. All in all a very enjoyable time.
2nd Week > headed NW in Uganda to Kaihura for 3 weeks at Bringing Hope to the Family, a ministry we’ve been affiliated with for 5 years. The first part was celebrating Christmas together with about 60+ orphans at the Home Again Orphanage. Renee & I were the original sponsors of the first 2 kids there, so we’re known as Papa & Mama to all the kids. We had the great pleasure of presenting a Nintendo Wii Game system to the kids, (a contribution from Nigel & Julie Rowe & family in the UK). The kids had a blast boxing, playing tennis & the other sports games. There was a youth conference as well that involved about 300+ kids. We also did 2 days of a couples’ conference teaching the 5 love languages to many excited couples.
3rd Week > we went out to Katooke, (a village about a ½ hour from Kaihura) with Pst. Prosper & Jocelyn & my namesake, Greg. We took 6 of the Home Again teenage boys out, along with Sally & everyone participated in ministry. We did a 4 day believers’ conference that had a huge impact on the community & was well attended.
4th Week > SW to Kabale for the first time. We spent over 2 weeks there & were involved with so many churches & ministries. We spent 3 afternoons with Pst. Obed of Word of Faith Church; several days at a street kids drop in centre, (with Eddy, Pam & Ben Ward) where we had the privilege of leading 8 of the kids to the Lord several days at Revival Tabernacle with Pst. Johnson doing services & crusades; many days with Pst. Santu & Pst. Donna of Inward Temple Church having mid-day meetings & a Sunday service; a too short time with Pst. Frank of World Evangelical Ministries, but we’ll make up for that next year. Our host for the entire time was Dr. Mike Osinde who took excellent care of us & looked after our many needs. Our good friend Rev. Richard Zimbalist was the instigator of this visit & coordinated the entire goings on. We were joined by an anointed man of God from Tanzania (originally Uganda) Pst. Fred who we hope to work with more in the future. There were so many highlights during our time in Kabale including a day trip to the deepest (& most beautiful) lake in Africa, with many islands on it (with Donna & Santu Laxman). It reminded me of the gulf coast between Vancouver & Vancouver Island.
Final Week > buses in Africa are truly of the devil – we waited in the afternoon over 3 hours for our reserved seat bus & then watched it whiz by us without stopping. We had to take the late bus that left after 10pm & got into Kampala at 4 am. Our good friend Greg Lempke (a Canadian brother) of Spring of Life Ministries in Kampala picked us up. Sadly, we had to part from John (our Uganda son) as it was time to go back to school. We were thankful for the over 5 weeks we were able to spend with him this time & at the end truly felt like a family. Sally also departed for Kenya, but we will see her very shortly. I barely caught my breath & Renee & I separated as I went off with the SOLMA team to a remote village for believer’s conference & crusades, (another 8 hour journey on top of the all night bus ride). It was extremely fruitful & netted many new souls for the Kingdom of God. Renee went with Greg & Sandy’s daughter Samantha back to the Kienjojo district to a refuge camp of 81 sq. miles with no end of needs. They traveled by boda boda (motorbike taxis) to every corner of the camp. The refugees are from the Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia & a couple other countries. They were on a data compiling mission to evaluate the many needs for the refugees.
During this entire time in Uganda, I have been mostly sick. I began with a convulsive cough Christmas day that required injections to stop it & the sickness continued for 3 weeks. I also got a jigger in my toe which is like a flesh eating parasite. In Kabale, along with Renee & Sally, I got an intestinal infection that came on with a high fever & severe diarrhea for a few days. In Kampala, I arrived with yet another bad cough that continues & the night before we returned to Kenya, I came down with a 39.6c fever which turned out to be malaria. I spent the evening with chills & diarrhea. We got up at 5am to catch the bus & I discovered yet another jigger in my heal. It has developed now into a massive infection in my foot & leg up to my knee that is swollen, red & painful. I spent today at a good hospital in Kisumu City & had prayed for the right doctor & got a very competent & caring Christian doctor. I have been diagnosed with a nasty infection from a prick from ‘something’ I can’t remember happening. I have a bronchial infection & my malaria is cleared up. This has been my sickest year of my life. When I returned to Kenya, the first thing a friend remarked was how much weight I’ve lost; (I call it my African weight loss plan; haw haw). It’s been quite a battle but I thank God who has given me the grace & love for what we do to press on.
We are massively grateful for the prayers that have been petitioned on our behalf. We couldn’t & wouldn’t want to do this without that support.
We look forward to the next 2 months of ministry in Kenya until we return to England on April 7th for 20 days, where we have an outstanding itinerary awaiting us. Our return to Canada is April 27th.
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Year 2009 from Uganda
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
End of 2008 Blog
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
1. As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
2. Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
3. We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
4. Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
5. Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
--
Greg Plunkett
SKYPE me @ 1-251-243-0210
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
End of 2008 Blog
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
1. As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
2. Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
3. We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
4. Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
5. Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
--
Greg Plunkett
SKYPE me @ 1-251-243-0210
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