Friends, we want to ask you to please pray for our family as we leave on Monday, July 4 to go to rural northern Uganda to conduct a Bible conference. We have been requested to do this by leadership of a group of churches just 15 km from Sudan. At this point, the conference is planned for four days, and we will also be having important meetings with the leadership of the new church movement to set a course for the future and clarify our relationship. Two other ReachGlobal missionaries will be joining us for at least parts of the conference, but the primary responsibility falls to our family to guide the time. Holly will be working with a newly formed nursery school as well as leading the kids program. Our kids will be sharing their testimonies, and trying to connect with Ugandan children. I will be teaching through the Bible, and also covering spiritual growth issues. It is entirely possible that many attending will not be saved, so there will be an evangelistic focus as well. In addition, we will be doing door to door evangelism and praying for people thoughout a nearby refugee camp.

Please pray for the following areas:

1. Pray that God will be glorified and He will be worshipped through our efforts. Spiritual warfare is fierce in this part of Africa due to the long history of tribal animism, and violent bloodshed over the past decades. Pray that God will protect us from the enemy who will try to thwart our efforts.

2. Pray that souls will be saved, those who are struggling will be encouraged, and people will be strengthened in their faith. This is the first conference like this for this new movement, so there is much excitement. We will be preaching the Gospel at the same time as nearby neighbor Southern Sudan secedes from Northern Sudan (July 9), becoming the world’s newest nation. This split between north and south has been and still is bloody and violent, and oppression from the north is intense. While we believe we will be safe, we ask for prayers for the tens of thousands whose lives are in chaos. Many of the people we will be ministering to are from this area.

3. Pray that our family, particularly Holly and the kids, will travel well (it takes two days to get there and two days to return, including long bus rides and many connections). Pray that they will be comfortable and productive despite the “bush” setting, and that God will use this experience to bless our family and grow our kids stronger in their relationship with Christ.

4. Pray for the meetings we will have with movement leadership. To guide this group of churches to health and growth, some adjustments need to be made in some patterns that have developed and we must challenge them in some paradigm shifts. Pray for grace, love, and clear understanding throughout.

Thank you very much for your prayers and support. Pressing on by God’s grace, Eric