Worship Night 2015

In October I had the privilege of flying a ministry team from Uganda, up to Juba, South Sudan, for an all-night Worship event. These folks have been doing a massive Worship Night each Year, in Uganda, for a number of years now, and the opportunity came for them to start spreading out to nearby countries. Despite the security threats, and the ongoing instability in that fledgling country, thousands showed up to glorify God. Somehow, as a result of the connections I made with the awesome folks who I flew up there to South Sudan, my wife, Joy, got invited to speak at the all-night Worship Night here in Uganda in December. It happened last Friday night, December 4th.  All the pictures in this post are ones I took during that amazing evening.

So, last week was full of activities related to Worship Night 2015. It's a HUGE deal, inspired and hosted by Light the World Church, here in Kampala. Although this was something like the seventh year in a row that they've held the Worship Night here in Kampala, it was our first time attending, so we had no idea what to expect.

The event, which is held in an outdoor football (soccer) stadium starts at 6:00pm on a Friday Night and goes ALL night till 6:00am Saturday morning. What was it? It was tens of thousands of people coming together to worship God through music and teaching from the Word. What was it not? It was not an all-too-typical U.S.-style church service, where people sit (or sometimes stand) quietly with there hands folded or in there pockets. No, this was Ugandan-style worship--people on there feet, singing loudly, dancing, with hands held high in praise to their Creator! It's fantastic!

Here, below, our new friend, Pastor Wilson Bugembe, a very gifted and well-known Ugandan Gospel singer and the main preacher at Light the World Church, along with our friend Scott Lambie, who works with the renowned and inspiring African Children's Choir,  are getting ready to introduce my very good friend (and girlfriend haha) Joy, to the crowd. You can see Joy way over on the right side of the photo. This was sometime around 11:15pm, not quite half-way through the 12 hour, all-night event.

Joy was asked to share about Christ our Rock.

Although she's spoken at quite a number of events over the years, they've mostly been women's gatherings, and usually without a translator. Having an opportunity to speak at an event like this, with tens of thousands of people, and the addition of a translator (the translators, by the way, were extremely good at what they did!) is a totally different thing. She did a really great job--sharing the Gospel clearly, and glorifying Jesus!
  
Two days ago I was on my motorcycle stuck in a traffic jam where nothing (not even the motorcycles) were moving. A guy got off the back of a motorcycle taxi a few meters ahead of me, and walked over to me and asked, "Are you the one?"  Ummm... I wasn't sure how to answer.  Which one? Who are we talking about? It depends who or what 'the one' did or didn't do...  He asked again, "Are you the very one--the one who's wife spoke and blessed us at the Worship Night last week? I was there, and I was so blessed and encouraged by what she shared--she brought honor and glory to God. You tell her!"  Wow! Ok!

Our new friend Jesse Reeves (who came all the way from Texas for this event) preached the word. And man can this guy bring it! We're trying to get him to move over here with his family. He's the real deal--transparent, humble and living for and loving Jesus.

Another new friend, Icha Kavons, came all the way from Toronto, Canada to bless the Lord and the crowd through his gift of music. Man can this guy sing! Originally from Congo, this was Icha's first time back to Africa since moving to Canada many years ago. But you wouldn't have known that from the way he connected with the crowd in singing praises to Jesus. Incredible!

The African Children's Choir was equally amazing! I love hearing those kids sing!

And there were So many, many more! One after another, musicians and preachers took turns glorifying God during Worship Night 2015.

If you happen to be here in Uganda, next December, don't miss the all-night Worship Night. It's an incredible experience, where God is present and working in a powerful way!