We bring you sentence by sentence, word by word, letter by letter of this historical address.

HICGI News Agency

J&M Hotel, Bwebajja Entebbe Highway, Uganda-East Africa

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Top 100 Pastors,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen.

I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is an honor and a blessing to convene the first ever Pastors Retreat of this kind. Thank you for the invitation you accorded me to grace this occasion.

I would have loved to be with you in person, but due to other unavoidable national engagements, I have, however, delegated the Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Hon. Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, to represent me.

It is my sincere hope that with God’s guidance, you will share experiences that shall result into increased spiritual revival, prosperity and socio-economic transformation in your lives. I encourage you to continue praying for our country.

I am glad that you have come together to seek God’s guidance and to share experiences. God has given you a noble duty to shepherd his people. In this season and time, the church should not sleep but be watchful. The beginning of the church in Uganda was faced with several resistances from the Governments of the time. This was because of ideological misconceptions. Each institution looked at the other as an adversary and there was a belief that paying allegiance to religion meant being a renegade to the state.

We have successfully moved on from religious persecutions. We have also moved on from the period when political parties were affiliated to religious denominations.

The NRM government has successfully transformed the minds and understanding of Ugandans from confusing religions with politics.

When we launched the armed struggle, our aim was to build a new political order that prioritizes peace, security and development; and the results can apparently be seen. It was a shame that by the time we took power in 1986, Uganda was one of the poorest countries in Africa. The entire vital infrastructure had broken down. We are still on the path by the strength of God to deliver Uganda to a glorious position!

I am glad this nation is blessed with God fearing people and we must all take on the mantle to serve God and our nation basing on God’s principles of righteousness and justice to all mankind.

The Church in Uganda must position itself to participate actively in the social transformation of society.  It is, incumbent on you as the leaders at the helm of the church, to fully appreciate your role in this process.

The Bible is full of wisdom and knowledge. If it is taught to our people in the best way they understand, we can achieve great transformation. Our preachers should learn the art of transmitting God’s word. God is our creator and everyone needs to listen to his word because it brings salvation to mankind. It is indeed written that “my people perish due to lack of knowledge”. If you are not in the know of what to do, you will lag behind.

The Church, as I have always said, has been a good partner in development with Government in providing social services and relief to disadvantaged communities. We encourage you the Pastors to forge an honest and constructive relationship with government and other faiths in supporting the provision of social services and relief to our people.

I encourage you to do your work because you are ambassadors of hope and reconciliation here on earth. You must offer leadership to the church and the communities because you are the vision bearers of the people you lead. Emulate preachers in Uganda like Bishop Festo Kivengere who was a leading figure in the East African Revival movement as you all know. He won a reputation as the best preacher and evangelist of his day and his powerful preaching impacted several African countries. He did not simply preach in a manner that captivated and ministered to us deeply but he lived a life that glorified the Lord.

I salute you all and I wish you a fruitful conference.

Thank you very much.