Oh, Kampala, Uganda!

I don’t know where to start.

I know I had lots of wonderful conferences in many churches in Ethiopia, US, Canada, Europe and Australia but none of them come close to the conference I had in Kampala, Uganda, at the Shalom Life Stream Church. It was a twelve day conference. It was the most successful and fulfilling conference ever!

I first want to thank God though. Yes, He is the Author of every good and perfect gift. Thank You, Abba Father, for giving me such a meaningful and purposeful time with your people. I bless Your name forever! Thank You for being with me throughout the program and touching Your people.

Next, I want to thank my husband who happily sent me very far away to minister to many people. I know very well that my husband, Berhan, always wants me to be next to him but when it comes to our call and ministry, he is always the one to push me to go so I can be a blessing to many. Thank you my Love! Without you being by my side, without your love and prayer, I wouldn’t be able to do what I always do. May God bless you, Hun!

Well, my kids, they want me to travel to drive my car and eat lots of pizza. Even if they enjoy those things, they always pray for me whenever I travel. They are my beautiful blessings. Just so happened, our older son, Abel Banko, is on a mission trip with five or six men of God to Nicaragua, to tell the Good News to the people of Nicaragua in the most underprivileged and poor cities. Praise God! My son, may God go before you and use you and the men who are with you to bring many to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ!

I next want to thank all the leaders of Shalom Life Stream Church (SLSC) for inviting me to their church. Pastor Elias, is the senior pastor. When I first met him with other two guys, I turned around to my friend and asked, “Didn’t you say that your pastor would come to meet me? Where is he?” She was like, “He just hugged you! That is our pastor.” Why did I ask her like that? Well, I was expecting to meet one old man. Pastor Elias is a young man, a husband of a beautiful woman, Sara, and a father of three little beautiful kids. I was very surprised to see a young man leading that big church. When I came to know him though, I realized that he is the man of God who had paid lots of price for the Gospel. So, even if he is not a 60 year old man that I expected, he is a very humble and spiritually matured man. I am so proud of him! Thank you, Pastor Elias and all the elders of SLSC (Afeworki, Tsehaye, Daniel and all the others that I didn’t mention) for inviting me to your church. The love, care and hospitality of everybody was above my expectations and I won’t forget it as long as I live.  Thank You! May God continue blessing you and all your hard work!

I also would like to thank the Golden Tulip Hotel (Five Star hotel), owners, beautiful Eritrean couple, Biemnet and Semhar, for all the treatments they have shown me since day one. Not only them but the whole hotel crew, including the cooks who made me special “gluten free” chapatti every day, I don’t know how to thank you all enough. You all guys made my stay in Kampala, a memorable one. I enjoyed all the service, special attention from the front desk receptionists, the special fruit tray in my room, the food and I enjoyed my bed too! Thank you! May God continue blessing your business!

I also want to thank every member of SLSC. I mean, I literally met everybody from age 8 and above. I had time with different groups, kids, preteens, teenagers, young-adults, singles, married couples and the whole congregation. Oh, my Eritrean brothers and sisters, words fail me to express my appreciation and gratitude to all of you! Thank you for all the love you all have shown me and for all the squishy hugs and handshakes. Thank you for receiving me and my message as if we’ve come directly from heaven. I love you all very much! Thank you very much and may God continue doing new things among you every day! You will be, especially your lovely children, in my daily prayer for some time. May God bless you all!

And I want to thank all the sound and video crew who worked very hard to make everything nice. I especially want to thank Kibret, a young, handsome man and he is a single man (Oops, I said it, didn’t I? I mean, I have to! Somebody has to hear that). Thank you Kibretyie for serving me with my annoying “please correct this mic again” requests from the podium. Thank you for your patience and thank you for listening to me always with a nice smile. May God bless you my brother!

Last but not least, I want you all, the Appeal for Purity (A4P) Facebook page followers, to meet this beautiful couple. They are from Eritrea and they live in Kampala, Uganda, worship God in SLSC. They have been the admins of A4P Facebook page since 2015. Their love and care for me and for A4P are totally outside this world but I hadn’t gotten a chance to meet them in person until now. When I met them in person for the first time, I said in my heart, “Wow! They are real people!” They are parents of three beautiful children, Ruth (10), Hanna (8) and Biruk (1 & half). I knew their kids too but only virtually. Now I met the whole family in person and I can’t express my joy! This beautiful couple, Michael Kifle Yohannes and his beautiful wife, my sister in Christ and my best friend, Merhaba Tsegei (or, Kuku). Oh, how can I tell you how much I love these people! I have no words! Kuku is the chief admin of the A4P Facebook page. She sometimes lets me take a break whenever she notices that I responds to people angrily.  Oh, Kukuyie, what can I say? May God reward you for so many things that you have done for me personally and for this great ministry. Mikeyie, you are just a God-given gift to me! Your continuous support, encouragement and love mean a lot to me. Thank you Mikeyie for being patient with me and Kuku when we act crazy. May God bless you! You know after I came to Kampala, Kuku always calls me in the morning and says, “We didn’t invite you here to sleep but to minister to us. So, get up!” Oh, Kukuyie, your jokes and sense of humor always brighten up my day. Thank you my lovely sister and I love you! I love you too, Mikeyie! May God continue blessing you two and your three bundle of blessings! Oh, I love you guys!

Yes, there are other people who are working on the A4P Facebook page and I will introduce them to you as I meet them in person. Until then, Kuku and Mike are the people I want you all to meet and know about. Migraine headache sometimes takes me away from the page for days, they are the ones who always keep the page alive. They are my colleagues, co-laborers and servants on this page. When the message inbox was open, they were the ones who responded to many of your questions. What can I say? May God bless you my friends! ///