Water of Life Festival, Mbale, Uganda
(August 2005)

Praise the Lord we saw God work in powerful ways in Mbale Uganda thanks to your faithful prayers!  Pastor Samuel Macho, our coordinator for the "Water of Life Festival", conveyed this thought to us a week after we returned home:  "Something has broken in the spirit world over our city."  That is the greatest news that we could hope to hear!  Mbale, Uganda has been a stronghold of demonic activity for decades.  This is a place where blood sacrifices to demons are made on a regular basis as where demonic activity is at its highest.  Even before we arrived, we were given materials to read on the history of the demonic activity in that region.  I remember very well the story in Acts 19 where imposters try to cast out demons in Jesus' name and end up beaten to a pulp.  I knew going into this area that we needed to be alert and spiritually ready.  The fight was on!

Praise the Lord that due to your prayers and the prayers of many local leaders that thousands came to Jesus Christ!  We took Jesus Christ to the prisons, schools, hospitals, and even to government officials.  Each night many thousands came to the grounds to hear about Jesus Christ.  Some were Muslim, some were demonized, and some were sick, but all were searching.  The power of the Holy Spirit was evident as people came to Christ for salvation.  Many were delivered from demonic activity and others were healed.  God blessed us with a great team of intercessors and they were kept busy from sun up to sun down. 

It seemed that each night the enemy wanted to drown us out with storms.  Dark clouds filled with thunder, lightning and heavy rain moved towards the grounds, but were always stopped just before they got us.  I was conscious of the presence of evil every night when I gave the invitation.  It was a battle for the souls of people and there was great resistance.  I can honestly say I have not experienced such resistance before.

We were honored to have the governor of the region and the mayoress of the city with us for a special dinner for business and professionals.  Two members of our board of directors, Alan Stewart from San Diego and Ernest Howie from Northern Ireland were able to share how Jesus Christ made a huge difference in their business practices and in their lives.  Campus Crusade helped us put together this first-ever gathering of top business leaders so they could hear the Gospel.  As I gave the invitation, 40 individuals opened their hearts to Christ!  We promptly gave them materials to help them start their new journey.

We were thanked over and over for the wells that brought good water to various villages outside the city.  We were also thanked for the special ministries we did within the prison system.  Pastor Mary Eteu is the only chaplain or minister of more than 20 prisons in the Southeastern region of Uganda.  She said, "I am so thankful for your coming to bring the Gospel to prisons.  Many of the prisoners have written letter of appreciation for the things like the 700 plates given to Maluku prison, which was more than enough for all the prisoners.  They are also thankful for the mats, soap, and toilet paper which they would never have any if it were not for the kindness of evangelist Dan Owens."

She thanks me but she is really thanking all of you who prayed and gave money for the "Water of Life Festival."  We know that we will be hearing testimonies from Mbale for months to come.  We now want to return to Mbale in October of November to bring Bibles to the new believers and to see how the follow-up is going.  Jesus has called us to help make disciples and Eternity Minded Ministries takes that Great Commission seriously.  As a result of our mission last summer to Northern Uganda we have seen nine new churches planted!  We want to see the same thing happen in Mbale.  Please help provide bibles to our new brothers and sisters in Christ.  You can give the Scriptures to a new Christian in Mbale for less than $4 each.  Some churches have just one Bible for the entire church so this will be a huge gift to the people of Mbale!

With Eternity In Mind,

Dan Owens