In the Hard Place

Mugumu means “hard place” in Swahili and it is appropriately named. The town is very poor and the farmers are at the mercy of the land and the weather, which is too wet this year. They live a hard life, yet the believers here love the Lord and are eager to learn.

We held a conference for about 125 pastors, mostly Mennonite. They seemed to enjoy it although they asked fewer questions than those in Mwanza. Perhaps because they are more reserved being from the countryside. Nevertheless, they showed their enthusiasm in the singing and in their comments after the sessions.


After the conference, the attendees went into the neighborhoods to do some evangelism. There were 162 professions of faith. Hallelujah!


One of the bright spots was meeting Samuel Ongong’a, pictured here between Paul Buhwahwa (left) and Michael Omega (right). Samuel went to a First Steps conference just like this one last October in Mwanza, then moved here and started a church which now runs about 25 members. We were excited to hear his testimony.

We call the conference “First Steps” because it lays out very simply how to start a church. The material is really easy to learn and remember and has been used to start thousands of churches around the world.

The way back to Mugumu was just as adventurous as the trip there. More on that in the next post.

For the Harvest,
Phil