Pastor Brad Abley: Biblical Educator and Religious Broadcaster

Uganda Ministry Report

“I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.”

— Ps. 116:1-2

Uganda Ministry Summary Report: August/September 2024

Pastor Brad Mathew Abley

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you ”

— 1 Thess. 1:2-4

As Maureen and I think of expressing our gratitude to you for your partnership, the above two passages keep coming to mind; first, the emphasis on prayer, and second, the emphasis on works, the church moving as one to bring our God glory.

And all that happened to a Church that has very little biblical training for its leadership – and yet the Christian faith is exploding in Uganda. The quality of that Church will depend on the kind of leadership it has – whether the leadership patterns after what we find in Scripture – or not.

Once again, thank you for your friendship and your partnership with Maureen and me in this ministry; I’m convinced that the great fruitfulness of it all is tied to you and your faithfulness!

First was the 3-day pastors and leaders conference; the theme I chose was “The Kind of Leader God is Looking For,” from 2 Chronicles 16:9. I did this because pastors and leaders in Uganda (and Kenya) rarely understand what biblical leadership is – what it looks and acts like.

I taught the surprising and important background of 2 Chr. 16:9, concluding by emphasizing the summons from the Holy Spirit to meet the challenge to end our lives well (2 Tim. 4:7-8), unlike Asa.

Then, I taught through Titus 1 for the rest of the time, hoping to get through all of Titus, but I wasn't able to. However, I've just begun teaching through Titus on the radio broadcast in Kamuli which, according to the station manager of KBS, now reaches up to 8 million people every Friday night.

I'm grateful to God for the turnout in this conference, which at its height reached more than 500 people, and that in a pretty remote area. Pastor Joseph did an incredible job putting this conference together, in every regard.

He made everything easy for me. He also drove 3 /2 hours to Entebbe to pick me up at the airport, brought me to Kamuli, and then did the trip back again six days later. It was great to be with him after four years!

Uganda - I’m here because of you! Thank you.
Dear friends and partners! I felt that it would be best to thank you via video while I was in Uganda and actually the last thing I did before heading to the airport and that is to express my gratitude to you for your partnership with me in a minister trip that was so vital in so many ways! I hope this video conveys what's in my heart toward you!

Thank you for sending me and praying for the ministry that went forth!

Pastor James was once again stellar in his translating for me, and a joy to be with as well!

Beyond the teaching, however, was the vast importance of the example Pastor Paul and I were able to give them in many ways.

Speaking of numbers, I've always been maintained that the one is just as important as the many, and I mention this because I felt all along that one of my most important assignments and opportunities was to sow into Pastor Paul Ochieng, my ministry partner from Kenya.

Accordingly, we met every morning for breakfast and most of the evenings for dinner and I ended up speaking with him every day for at least a few hours as we discussed the ministry there, as well as the upcoming ministry in Kenya at the end of this November.

He has invited me to be the keynote speaker once again at what they call their “Mega” conference, which is turning out to impact all of Kenya. This year he's expecting 3 to 5,000 people and there's a good chance it will be televised throughout the country.

He also shared with me that Kenya’s presidential Escort Service (their equivalent of our Secret Service), received so much and experienced such a great deal of transformation when I spoke to them last year that they are asking me to come back again. So, we have plans for that when I return at the end of November as well.

In addition, there is a more concerted effort by Pastor Paul and others to get a meeting between the two of us and the president of Kenya, President Ruto, for us to pray over him for a possibility of 20 to 30 minutes.

Furthermore, Paul is going to arrange for he and I to do the same ministry with the Governor of the region of Siaya, where I minister. If I recall correctly, this man listens to my weekly broadcast there.

Time permitting, we also have an invitation for me to speak at an exceptionally large prison in that area of about 400 prisoners. This comes from the warden, who listens to my radio broadcasts in that area every week.

I asked Paul to join me in Uganda and share the teaching and ministry load, because I knew he would do a phenomenal job -- and sure enough -- he did! He was extremely well received by the Ugandans -- so much so that he received many invitations to come back and minister to them. This is what I had prayed would happen.

Kenya borders Uganda, but Paul took a taxi and bus to get there, and it took him 10 hours to get there and return home!

The conference was Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Friday night at 6:00 p.m. I went to KBS studio (the station my weekly broadcast airs on) and preached live for one hour. We had six people call in to say they received Jesus when I prayed with them.

Pst Brad and team hosted lunch for 78 Muslim clerics and leaders! God established creditability and favor.

The highlight of the trip happened the next day; it was our two and a half hour meeting on Saturday morning with 78 Muslims, among them some of the leading clerics in that region.

No one knew what to expect, but I was determined to greet them with joy as soon as they walked in the door and demonstrate the love of Jesus -- with confidence --throughout the time. We provided lunch for them, also we set up the room in a casual semi-circle atmosphere!

The Holy Spirit greatly enabled me to do these things and establish a genuine, sincere friendship with them, to the extent that when it was time to leave to go speak to the high school students across town, I told them that I was genuinely sad to leave them!

They assured me that the next time we meet there would be several hundred of them. So many wonderful things were accomplished for the glory of God in that meeting, chiefly because I wanted them to see a pastor who loved them and reached out to them -- yet did not compromise his faith or convictions.

I actually prayed over them on two separate occasions and established great credibility going forward for the Ugandan pastors to reach out to these men and women in love and honor -- rather than treating them with fear, suspicion, and as enemies.

The leading cleric had a stern countenance, and his arms crossed initially, but I chose on purpose to sit as close to him as I could (instead of at the head table that was arranged), and a lot of the time I focused my attention on him. Within a brief time, I had him laughing and we connected extremely well.

This was not just a highlight of this time of ministry but a highlight of my entire ministry. Pastor Paul was astonished, and he said he learned a great deal about how to interact with Muslim leaders and will take that back with him to Kenya.

After that I preached to about 60 high school students, 30 of whom gave their lives to Jesus. At an exceptionally large church service the next day of about 500, 35 more prayed to receive Jesus as Lord.

Exceedingly early Monday morning I got diarrhea and was planning to cancel the half day marriage seminar I was scheduled to do and preaching at the college. I also got almost no sleep the night before and was exhausted.

But with Pastor Paul's encouragement I managed to do this marriage seminar with a topic I'd never used before and that was the Holy Spirit and Marriage.

I believe I stumbled onto something pretty profound, and they were so overjoyed that they essentially begged us to come back and do an entire week on marriage -- which is a matter that needs desperate attention in Uganda.

Sadly, by the time I was done I was spent and I had nothing left to preach at the college; that was the only negative of the whole trip. Now, we were scheduled for me to preach at the college two days earlier, on Saturday, but when we showed up, they weren't ready for us!

All I heard was something about “last minute testing,” and they asked us to come back Monday but again, I was unable to. however, I left continually saying, “Mission Accomplished” – two words that are never part of my normal vocabulary. I sense that is something from the Lord for you and for me.

I end this report with a passage I was meditating on during the 8-days days in Uganda:

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen
”

— Rom. 11:33-36

We invite you to view Pst Brad’s other ministry blog posts and YouTube videos: "8-Days of Ministry in Uganda!"
More testimonies, YouTube videos and blogs to be added in the next few weeks!

https://www.bradabley.com/

https://www.bradabley.com/blog

https://www.Youtube.com/@BradAbley -"Uganda Missions Trip August 2024"