by Jon Konnerup
I first met Russ Daniels when my family drove for four days and nights from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya. I was 12 years old, and while we were in Kenya we went to Eldoret to visit the Daniels, who were the first BBFI missionaries in Kenya.
Russ and I became good friends and later grew up together through our high school years in Kenya. We went camping a lot in remote places and chased wild animals on our motorcycles. At this same time, God was placing in our hearts a love and desire to serve the Lord — mostly in missions — and probably in Africa.
After high school, God began to speak to us both about serving Him as missionaries and, guess what — in Africa. I went back to Kenya and he went on to Uganda — being one of our first missionaries there, and at this moment, our only missionary there.
Russ met Sylvia Durnell in college, and they were married in 1985. Sylvia had surrendered to God’s call to be a missionary in Africa when she was in junior high school. Together, they have done a very commendable job in Uganda. I had the opportunity to visit them, their ministry, and their country in August 2014.
On August 10, 2014, the first church they started in Mbarara, Uganda, celebrated its 20th anniversary. The church began on the front porch of the Daniels’ home and now has its own land and large church building, school buildings for both elementary and high school, a dormitory for boarding students, and a parsonage. Twenty-two fully sponsored orphans are being educated in these schools. Out of this first church, nine other churches have been started, plus two regular preaching points. Five of these other churches also have elementary schools.
The key to everything is the Bible institute program that the Daniels began when they first arrived in Uganda, training men and women for Christian ministry. They started with just a few men, and today more than 30 pastors and lay leaders are being trained. Three of the pastors who were early graduates of the institute are now teaching in the institute and mentoring the new leaders.
Russ and Sylvia have invested their lives into the people, and the pastors and leaders I met showed a genuine love for the Daniels and extreme gratitude for bringing them the Gospel. We did not have time to visit every church that has been started through their efforts, but the ones I did visit are reaching out into their communities with the Gospel and have a desire to start other churches in the surrounding cities, trading centers, and villages.
In the past seven years the Daniels have relocated to an area between the cities of Entebbe and Kampala. These cities are growing rapidly, and the location where they have planted their newest church is one of the fastest growing, as many people are moving their way and building homes all around them. The opportunities here are amazing, and it would be great if we could help them purchase a few more acres and build a more permanent building.
They already have a wonderful core group of people with leaders they have been training to reach the children, youth, and adults. I spoke for this new church plant on a Friday night and one person repented of their sins and trusted in Christ. You should have seen the excitement of the church members! There was much rejoicing. The Daniels hope to see the same thing happen with this church that God did with their first church — that it becomes a lighthouse of the Gospel to the entire community between these two large cities. A permanent auditorium will give them a more serious presence in the community and allow them to expand their ministry among these cities.
The opportunities are amazing. It will take $45,000 to build a completely finished building with an auditorium and several classrooms. Other religious groups made up of cults and false religions are also entering the area seeing the amazing growth. Having a permanent building will give this church a more prominent position in the community. Let’s help them take the lead in reaching people with the truth — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Uganda has over 30 million people with an ever-growing population — each family has on average nine children. Everywhere we drove, through the countryside and from city to city, we would see people all over. There are beautiful mountain ranges as far as the eye can see, with people living on little farms, in villages, and in towns spread throughout.
The Daniels need more help. The national leaders begged me to encourage more missionaries like the Daniels to go to Uganda. They see the desperate need of their people — most without any hope of anything — especially for the forgiveness of their sins and everlasting life.
It grieved my heart as we drove through towns and trading centers knowing there was likely no one sharing the truth of Jesus Christ with those people. It broke my heart to see newly built mosques — sometimes two in every urban center. The Muslims are open about their ambitions to take over the country spiritually, and they are making a strong effort to accomplish this. We could see Muslim people sent from other countries proselytizing for their religion. The mosques were open at any time of the day, and usually many people were gathering around. They are putting a lot of money into buying land and building buildings to influence these people searching in the dark, while sending their own missionaries to reach out to them.
We cannot let these people be deceived by the many false religions spreading throughout Uganda. We must have more missionaries and more financial support to make a strong difference right now in the lives of many and for all eternity. Let’s do all we can to make it possible for Uganda to become a strong Christian nation holding to the truth of the Word of God found only in Jesus Christ. The enemy is working hard but our God is greater and with Him all things are possible. We must send others to help Russ Daniels win people to Christ and to recruit and train Christian leaders.