"He is the LORD!" - A month of prayer and fasting

January was unique this year. Not only were the university students at home for the holidays, but national elections took place, so everywhere was quiet and the students were delayed to return. Internet was out for almost a week and for a few days around elections, shops and banks were closed. Places felt like ghost towns as people voted for their national leaders.

Every January, at church, we have a month of prayer and fasting. From 6am until 6pm, most of the adults in church fast and then at 5pm we would meet at church for communal prayers and then break the fast together with tea and an escort.

For me, the Book of Leviticus is coming to life. Have you ever studied it? I've "read" it a number of times and always considered it kind of boring. Full of laws and instructions. But this time it is fresh and exciting for me!! There are a number of things that keep standing out for me.

1. He is the Lord! Over and over God states that we should fear HIM because He is the LORD.

2. The number 7 flows through the book, reminding us that we need to rest. God's Sabbath plan for us is not a good suggestion, but a necessity.

3. Holy, Holy, Holy! God is Holy and he desires for us to also be holy and set apart for him. We can not do this on our own though, our earthly sacrifices will never be enough, so I thank God for His gift of Jesus Christ, the ultimate and final sacrifice.

It is such a blessing to belong to a household of faith.

One new idea that stood out to me from Leviticus was how much the Holy Tabernacle represents the original Garden of Eden and how God desires for us to be dwelling in His presence. The cherubim that guard Eden are sewn into the curtain of the temple. The golden lampstand has branches on it that represent life. And all the rules about uncleanness come because the Lord detests brokenness and death. He is a God of light and LIFE.

One difficult thing to watch this month is how our current landlord at church is changing things around and we feel like he is squeezing us out. He cut down the tree right outside the front door of the church - where we often fellowship and take tea together. He put up a pit latrine, a car washing bay and more.

Our Sunday school children are reaching 50 in number and no longer fit in the church offices, so we had been meeting outside under the tree, especially since it's dry season and it's cooler outside than cramped in a classroom. And the ground is dry for mats to be put down for the kids to sit on every Sunday. But now even our meeting space is over taken and the parking lot is got.

Our lovely little church is the bamboo building on the right. It doesn't feel inviting or seen anymore.

Thankfully, we still gather for prayer, fellowship, and praise, whether at church or in our homes. During the fasting season, we would gather at church Monday through Friday, then on Saturday night we would gather in someone's home. We were blessed to have 18 adults and 4 children gather for prayer.

Even the little children are welcome to make noise as we enter the Throne Room.

Moses often led the singing before prayers.

Our friends crowned the month by hosting 28 of us. God is good. Although, it's not about the numbers. It's about gathering together to pray for a number of things. This month we focused on: 1 - A university campus around Uganda. 2 - Our church - University Community Church. 3 - An unreached people group in our corner of the world. And 4 - Our nation.

Even while in Soroti, for voting, we went to a dear friends house to help lead and participate in a family altar. Being a household that comes before the Lord together. The theme was repentance and having our hearts right before the Lord.

I am often grateful for my past and Christian upbringing, but I love how Ugandans cherish being in prayer, song, and fellowship together. God is on their lips for hours on end.

"Come, let us worship and bow down!"

"From the lips of children and infants, You have ordained praise."

We thank the Lord that UCC has its own piece of land though. One Sunday after church, many of us walked one kilometer, to the other side of campus, to see the land and begin the ground breaking. We want to shift this year - either to another temporary structure, or our own permanent church building. God is doing a new thing!