Worship at Grace Harvest Church in Iganga, Uganda

Sunday morning we went to Pastor Daniel Mugeni’s church, Grace Harvest Church, here in Iganga, Uganda. In fact, we were there for both of their worship services: Morning service which started at approximately 9:30am, and then sometime around 11am the first service blended into a second worship service. 

People filed in for worship throughout the morning and by the time the second service had started the church was so full that there weren’t nearly enough chairs for everyone. Pastor Gurath and I estimated around 200 were in attendance, including a large group of students from a nearby school. Pastor Daniel informed us that this is one of two schools in the area that often have large groups coming to their worship services.

Pastor Daniel has been preaching here in Iganga since 2010, and after praying to God to lead him to a Lutheran missionary he found Pastor Nathanael Mayhew on the internet. At that time (2011) he only had 3 people he was serving. To see the large and vibrant church he now shepherds is a testament to the grace of God and the miraculous work of His saving Word working in the hearts of people in this area. 

The congregation has had its current  property since 2014. They have a building where Pastor Daniel has been housing boys who need a home (many of which are orphans). Daniel and his wife, Ida, also house a number of young children and girls, many of whom are also orphans, at his home.  Needless to say, Daniel is a tireless worker with a deep love for the Lord and for all people. More will be said about Pastor Daniel and the children he and his wife care for in tomorrow’s blog post.

The church campus also has new building which is used for storage and for the church office. All of this was built and supported by Pastor Daniel and the members here with no “official” CLC USA support from either or the Mission Board or Kinship.  Lord willing, Pastor Daniel will be finishing his colloquy tomorrow and he and his congregation will officially be joining us in fellowship. Praise the Lord!

Pastor Daniel in front of the church building

Neighborhood children getting water and washing clothes in the morning. The congregation allows the neighbors to freely use their water (see the water pump in the background of the photo).

This building currently houses some of the older boys Pastor Daniel and his wife, Ida, are caring for.

A building on the church campus that is being used by a member who runs a nursery school. The rooms are also used for children’s Sunday School classes.

New office and storage building constructed in 2017.

Little ones from the neighborhood coming to get water.

Speaking of praising the Lord, today’s services were without a doubt the most lively and exuberant worship services I have ever attended. The choirs, singers, musicians, dancers, and congregation all very joyfully and loudly sing and dance and praise the Lord—even in a very warm tin church building in a hot and quite humid part of Africa—and did I mention the services lasted for approximately 3 hours? The time flew by, however, and it was a joy to once again hear Pastor Gurath preach in the first service, and was a privilege and a blessing to preach the sermon for the second service (Pastor Daniel translated the sermons for both of us into Lugandan, the native language of the people of Uganda. Although many of the worshippers understood and spoke English quite well.).  

Pastor Gurath preaching while Pastor Daniel translates into Lugandan.

I can say with certainty that I’ve never preached a sermon with that much cheering, enthusiasm and even some loud “ululating” during the introduction (I was saying as I was introducing myself that even though I cannot move or dance like they do, the joy that they show in their worship is the same joy that is in my heart. The congregation then erupted with cheers and shouts and loud “ululating”—if you’ve never heard what that sounds like, you can hear it in the video below around the 23 second mark.  Pastor G. thinks that my words may have been translated “Show me your joy” when I was speaking that line—and wow, did they ever!).  The congregation was so appreciative of the messages we preached from God’s Word and followed along with both sermons very attentively. Both Pastor Daniel and the congregation expressed that they wanted us to preach even longer! (A pastor doesn’t hear that too often 🙂). 

Singing, dancing, and ululating (around the 23 second mark of this video).

After the service we greeted a number of the members and children, and then were invited to Pastor Daniel’s for lunch with him, his family, and the many children who live at his home. His wife, Ida, is an amazing lady and an amazing cook—and regularly cooks meals for more than 26 people living at her home! Pastor Gurath and I agreed that the beef she made for us was easily the best we’ve had on this trip. It was tender and delicious. I made sure to tell her that her meal tasted incredible at least three times :) Again, more about Daniel and his work with the orphans and children in tomorrow’s blog post. See you then! God’s blessings to you all from Uganda, “The Pearl of Africa!” 

- Pastor Luke

The Mugeni’s children and the children they care for. 
The girls in the dresses were some of the very talented singers and dancers in the worship service.

Pastor Daniel and his wife, Ida.