Adjumani 2026

From 7-12 September 2026, John Brand will be leading a Church Workers' Conference in Adjumani, northern Uganda, organised by the Africa Inland Churches of Uganda and South Sudan.

As internet connections and time allow, we hope to post regular updates and news from the conference itself here and we covet your prayers for God's blessing on this venture.

All times are local and Uganda is 2 hours ahead of UK time

Friday 4th

There’s nothing quite like it in the world and I hadn’t realised how much I had missed it! It’s the scent and heat of the great continent of Africa that first hits you as soon as the aircraft doors are opened. I remember how it affected me on my first visit back in 1993, as well as all my numerous visits since then, and it felt so good again when I landed in Entebbe airport, Uganda, in the early hours of this morning. There to meet me was my good friend and colleague, Bishop John Kongi, along with his son Caleb, who is now 28 but who I hadn’t seen probably since he was 4 or 5.

It was John who invited me to Khartoum for my first visit to Sudan back in 2001 and for these past 25 years we have worked closely together as he, though Congolose, has given his heart and soul to the people of Sudan and South Sudan over many year. From the beginning, the Lord certainly knit our hearts together, so much so that his late mother used to refer to me as ‘my older son’ or ‘my white son’, which I took as a massive compliment! Some of you may remember him from visits he made to UK when we brought him over to advocate for the Sudanese and South Sudanese believers.

By the time we reached the Christian guesthouse where I am staying for two nights it was 5.30am, local time (3.30 UK) and I had been up for 22 hours and ‘on the road’ for 21 of them. My travel connections went well and my luggage arrived safely with me, so prayers on that account all answered in the goodness of God. After a good but short sleep of just 4 hours I woke and caught up on some emails etc before JK collected me and we enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch and I caught up with news on all sorts of people I have known over the years. What struck me was the number of them who have died in the intervening years; all younger than me.

I’m now back at Adonai Guest House and am going to do a bit of study and correspondence, but I will have to get an early night because John is collecting me around 4 in the morning for our drive to Adjumani. I stand corrected because it’s not 450 miles, as I was led to believe and stated in my itinerary; it’s around 230 miles but will still take more than 8 hours on what I am told are ‘good roads’, but that, of course, is a relative term. Take a look at the video of the road we drove down this afternoon in a busy part of the city.

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bmd7f009oigh5y4ew2jv5/WhatsApp-Video-2026-09-04-at-16.12.42.mp4?rlkey=rvh7cdmo6krb1guxi4a6fzb57&st=wz5ok4q0&dl=0

Thursday 3rd

Day one and I'm sitting in Edinburgh airport, having a coffee and muffin as I wait for my flights to Kampala. I am grateful to my son, Iain, for getting up very early and getting me to the airport. I am grateful for the quickest and smoothest passage through checkin and security that I have ever known in Edinburgh airport, after many years of travelling. I am grateful for, and humbled by, the opportunity of connecting again in person with, ministering to, and learning from South Sudanese believers who have been such an important part of my life for the past 25 years. I am excited to see what God is going to do in them and me in the coming days. And I am grateful for the many friends and supporters - YOU! - who have made all this possible through their earnest prayers and generous giving.

Thursday 3rd

Day one and I'm sitting in Edinburgh airport, having a coffee and muffin as I wait for my flights to Kampala. I am grateful to my son, Iain, for getting up very early and getting me to the airport. I am grateful for the quickest and smoothest passage through checkin and security that I have ever known in Edinburgh airport, after many years of travelling. I am grateful for, and humbled by, the opportunity of connecting again in person with, ministering to, and learning from South Sudanese believers who have been such an important part of my life for the past 25 years. I am excited to see what God is going to do in them and me in the coming days. And I am grateful for the many friends and supporters - YOU! - who have made all this possible through their earnest prayers and generous giving.

I am thrilled to be able to tell you that we have now raised just over £8,100; a total that is well in excess of the initial budget we set of £6,000. How good God is, and how generous are so many of his people - like you - who have contributed. On behalf of everyone involved, please be sure that your financial support is immensely appreciated. This figure allows us to completely cover the costs of 62 delegates who are coming from both Uganda and South Sudan. We are also able to cover the travel expenses of those coming from South Sudan as well as meeting some additional costs that have arisen along the way. On a personal level, as I have experienced in the past, these believers treat visitors like myself as royalty; as one of them once told me when I commented on the reception I had received, 'we welcome you as we would welcome Jesus!' The conference organisers had arranged special accommodation for me that would suit a westerner better, with air conditioning etc, and from their point of view this would have been quite costly, so I am delighted that we can now cover that cost.

I have just about finished my preparation for all the conference sessions, though I still have to finalise my preparation for preaching on the two Sundays I will be in Adjumani. I have also just about finished preparing notes and handouts which I need to print out and am grateful for a generous luggage allowance from Turkish Airlines that will enable me to take quite a quantity of papers with me.

A couple of specific prayer requests, if I may. First, on both my journeys I have a very short transit stop in Istanbul, an airport where, I am reliably told, it can take 30 minutes to walk between different departure gates. Please pray that this will work out smoothly and that both I and my luggage will make the connecting flights in good time, especially on the outward journey when my clothes and most of the things I need for the conference will be in my checked-in case.

Secondly, I would ask for prayer that it might please the Lord to keep me fit and well in all my travels and ministry. It's so easy to catch a bug or get infected in some way, and that could have such an impact on the very reason for going. I used to do this sort of thing two or three times a year but am now 17 years older than when I last did one of these ministry trips to Africa and I am under no illusion as to how tiring this fortnight will be. That is not a complaint, simply a statement of fact, and your prayers are coveted, not so much for my own sake as for the consequences for the ministry.

A big shout out to Sebastian Pinn, who is undertaking a sponsored marathon walk tomorrow, Saturday 29th, to raise finances. I had originally planned to do this myself, but a knee injury got in the way, and I am so grateful to Sebastian for this very practical expression of support. Some funds have already come in as a direct result of this walk and any other finances received, either for the walk or from other sources, will, I assure you, be used for the costs of this conference.

The warmest of greetings to you from a very hot and dry Suffolk where we are spending a few days with our granddaughters and their parents. As we drove south yesterday I mentioned to Caroline that this weather was good preparation for Uganda where I anticipate the temperature being in the mid to high 30s for most of the time I am there, both day and night.

I am enormously grateful for and encouraged by the gifts for this venture that continue to come in and, as of this morning, £6,650 has been raised, getting ever closer to our new target of £7,700 which will allow 60 church workers to attend the conference. Thank you all so much.