In 2012 the Anglican Bishop of Mityana in Uganda, Bishop Stephen Kaziimba, visited our church and was guest speaker at a lunch attended by local clergy. Someone asked him what had impressed on him most during his trip to England. His answer was very telling. He said how shocked he was that England had become so secular a society – not everyone, of course, but by and large people had become prosperous and had forgotten the Lord; and even within the church many were abandoning traditional biblical teachings. Bishop Stephen shared how English missionaries had first taken the gospel to Uganda less than a century and a half ago and the King of Uganda was converted. In their National Museum there’s a letter on display dated 1875, from King Mutesa to Queen Victoria requesting that Christian missionaries come to Uganda to spread the gospel. As a direct result, today some 80% of the country is Christian and the church is thriving… and now Uganda are sending missionaries back here to the UK.

R. Ian Seymour