To prepare for Divine Encounter 2008, John decided to seek for the blessing of the pastors in whose division the Encounter was to be held. Kampala city is divided into five local governmental areas, and each area is called a division. Lugogo Indoor Stadium where the Encounter was held is in Nakawa division. John, accompanied by Peter Odoi, the CRMI administrator, and Pastor Joseph Kabuye met with Nakawa division pastors, on two different occasions. First, they met with 5 chairpersons of pastoral fellowships in the division, and then through the five leaders, they had a meeting with a larger group, representing many denominations. During the second meeting, a number of the pastors observed that it was the first time that so many of them from different denominations were coming together as church leaders in the area. God was obviously on the move.
John shared with the pastors his vision for the Encounter, and how he was seeking their blessing and support. John was very clear that the Lord had directed him to take the Encounter back to the venue where the very first Encounter was held on 3rd June 2005, because God wanted to birth a new thing in the area. He encouraged the pastors to send their congregations to the meetings and to ensure that each of them attended the special pastors/leaders' session on the morning of the second day. The pastors were very enthusiastic in their response, welcoming the Encounter to their division, and pledging their support in prayers, morally and financially. Later, John's assistants met with other smaller groups of pastors in the division.
Advertisement was primarily on TOP radio, which broadcasts John & Sarah's messages daily. Thousands of handbills were also distributed around the city. A church pastored by a lady who is attending CRMI's Bible School offered to do all the ushering, while another church, offered their choir. Several churches gave chairs. CRMI's administrator oversaw the general administration of the entire Encounter, while Pastor Joseph Kabuye, Thomas Kibirige and others of John's spiritual sons were on hand to help with whatever was required.
Day 1
The first day of Divine Encounter 2008 fell on a Sunday. Not to interfere with the Sunday services of churches around the city, the very first meeting was scheduled for the afternoon, from 2.00 pm. John Michael Mugerwa, a pastor of a large church in Kampala, preached a powerful message on praise and thanksgiving and then John led the congregation in an extended time of praise and worship. The glory of God came down.
Day 2
The morning of June 2nd was for the special session for pastors. It rained heavily the whole morning, and Kampala can be messy when it rains, but we were surprised when hundreds of mainly pastors were packed in the stadium. Many of them arrived hours before the official opening time.
John spent close to two hours talking to the leaders on the essential place of godly character in effective ministry. He dealt with many of the common issues destroying ministries and churches in Uganda, such as neglect of family life, lack of balance in teaching, greed for wealth, pride, love of titles, envy, etc. Though not the kind of message one often hears in Kampala, the leaders received it well, proving that deep inside, they are longing for something more than what they have. Michael Kimuli, known for his prayer ministry, exhorted the preachers to get back to their knees and seek God with all their hearts. An extended time of prayer followed, with many being wonderfully rejuvenated and blessed.
The afternoon was for everyone. John preached on Samson, emphasizing the importance of maintaining godly character in our walk with God and in ministry. He decried the type of ministry which the Church was offering, which shunned mention of holiness, and focused on exciting the flesh with promises that dwelt on meeting carnal desires. Extended time was spent in prayer of dedication at the close of the service.
Day 3
In Uganda, 3rd June is a holiday. It is the day when the famous Uganda martyrs, some of the very first Ugandan Roman Catholics and Anglicans, were murdered by a local tribal king because of their faith. "Pilgrims" travel from surrounding countries, and even from as far as Nigeria, to Uganda to commemorate the day. There are shrines built in Namugongo, on the outskirts of Kampala to honour the martyrs and they are thronged with all kinds of persons on this day, from genuine worshippers to pick pockets and loud sellers of cheap local alcoholic brew. The "celebration" has become synonymous with drunkenness, immorality and some of the ugliest moral vices. Born again Christians do not observe this day the way others do, and so the Divine Encounter came as a great opportunity to spend that holiday seeking God.
This third day was the big day. The stadium was packed out. From 6.00 am when the doors were open, the people kept flocking in until there wasn't any space. As usual, the first few of hours of the day were spent in intensive worship and intercession. When Apostle Bunjo took the microphone, he announced that the day was going to witness a powerful release of the glory of God. Then a preacher, whom John had invited after hearing him minister on radio just three days earlier, Pastor Nelson Kabugo, taught on how the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant could not save the Israelites when they chose to disobey God. The gist of his message was that God was not an errand boy to be instructed by believers, in the name of prayer, to do whatever the believers want, wherever and whenever. After a powerfully anointed message, there was a time of repentance, and then as the thousands of participants waited before God in silence, the glory hit the stadium. All over the place, people were worshipping, praying, laughing, groaning, lying prostrate before God, shouting, weeping, and so on. Michael Kimuli spoke next on the dangers and signs of a prayerless life. He was very bold in exposing the shallowness that characterizes the lives of many born again Christians. Another wave of glory hit the place as participants cried out to God to work in them and make them what He wants them to be.
When Apostle Bunjo took the pulpit, he called a woman whose dead child had been raised in an earlier Encounter to testify. The woman, her pastor husband and their two children had traveled over 100 Km to attend the Encounter. The woman narrated how in 2006, her son fell sick, and while on the way to hospital, the child passed away. Confused and distraught, she did not know what to do. She did not have any money on her, not even the means to transport her dead child back home. She had heard that Apostle Bunjo was conducting an Encounter in a large church auditorium nearby, and so she decided that she was going to be in the meeting as she contemplated what to do. When she got to the church compound, she saw the Apostle, and she went to him. Her thinking was that God might do something and John gave her some money. She did not tell John that her child had died but rather that the child was very sick and asked for prayer. The child's body was covered by a sheet on the mother's arms. From the way she was dressed, John knew she was a very poor peasant, and so he decided to give her little money to buy something to eat for her herself and her "sick" child. John lightly touched the boy's covered head and said, "And may this child live". He then turned and went into the auditorium. The woman sighed with relief that at least she had some money to take her corpse home, but before beginning the journey, she thought she might sit in the congregation for a while. Inside the auditorium, she found thousands of people engrossed in worshipping God, and since she was a born again Christian, in fact a pastor's wife, she stayed a little longer. The time for John to minister came and he went up to the pulpit. Just as he was about to begin preaching, Sarah Bunjo rushed to him and announced that he did not need to preach because God was already moving in the congregation. John was a little irritated by the interruption, after all, Sarah had already preached earlier and it was unfair for her to try to disorganize his time for preaching too! When he looked out over the audience, John saw a commotion in one area, and then a big praise erupted. It eventually emerged that the woman to whom he had given money had been carrying a dead child and the child had come back to life.
The resurrected boy was with the mother and father right there, as the woman recounted the story of the raising of her child. The congregation was captivated by the testimony. When she concluded, John laid hands on her and husband, and prophesied, that as God had raised their child, God was going to raise them out of the stinking poverty that had captivated them. Those words released something in the auditorium, and people began flowing to the pulpit to give money to the couple as John watched. Then others began bringing clothes. Men took off their shoes and brought them to the altar. Women brought handbags. At the end of it all, over 1,000,000 Uganda Shillings had been collected and three sacks of clothes, shoes, bags, suits, etc, had been given to the rural pastor and his family. As John watched, he burst into tears of joy. It took a long time, but finally when the spontaneous giving was over, John said CRMI was going to build a house for the couple. From one corner, a woman announced that she was going to educate the resurrected boy in her boarding school for 7 years free of charge. Two trustees of CRMI who were in the building promised that they were going to take the blessing of building a house for the couple.
Then healings broke out all over the auditorium. A middle aged woman testified that she had suffered with an issue for over 10 years but had just been healed. A pastor testified of a healing of an incurable ailment that had struck his foot. And on and on.
Days after the Encounter ended, people were still calling on John's radio program and testifying how they had been healed, not just physically but spiritually as well.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY
