WE DEPENT ON HIM

God is good all the time and all the time...

We are giving glory back to Him in our lives.Even though He has gifted and talented us,we are learning to obey Him in our calling.Whenever He calls us,whatever He wants us to do,wherever He directs us to go,we are saying YES because He has the best for us...

We are carrying the Gospel depending on Him no matter the circumstances.On 7th October 2011,we were invited to minister to an overnight at N'Sambya Worship Center;this is an Ugandan Church which organizes a night of praise and worship once a year,and they always invite us to be part of them.

It started from 10:00pm-6:00am,a good time of praise and worship.


 We really experienced the power of God moving and we were happy to be used by Him in displaying his LOVE to his people.We related to everyone,moved by faithful-obedience,He used us as instruments for his GLORY...The preacher of the night said:"When we worship God in spirit and truth,we can't remain the same."

We discovered that God needs also our love,our attention and our affection,then we refreshed,repented of our selfishness,we sat down and humbled ourselves before Him,connecting to His heart's desires.

It was a good time to be concentrated and everyone found himself closed to the Father,worshiping Him as God.We saw men and women bowing down before Him expressing their gratitude to Him that made them,that didn't  love them in words only,but also in did by giving his only begotten son to us.

God is so so good, He deserves our praise and He is worthy of our worship.

Let His Spirit  have his way in you and guide you as you worship.

--

"In Him was life and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."

Praise and Worship This Sunday

We invite you all to become our guest of honor this Sunday at the Holy Spirit Church in Nsambya/Kampala, Uganda. Praise and worship this Sunday is going to be a good time to display the glory and power of God in our lives again. It is going to start at 1:30pm - 6:30pm We welcome you all, come and enjoy God together with other believers.

Miraculous Concert

    We came from Kampala on Thursday, July 7th in the evening when Peter was sent by Papa to take us to Jinja. We were a team of 15 Doves:  Yves, Aksanti ,Freddy,Serge Kazi, Kaji, Jackson, Serge Cikoma, Robert, Jimmy, Espoir, Boris, Akili, Convoi, Innocent, Sam and Sami. Reaching late at night we didn't go directly to bed, because our hearts were very excited for our family in Jinja, yeah! As everybody knows: Jinja is our Home, so we didn't like to rush to bed till we enjoyed each other of our family and praying together. Jeff has got a heart of wishing us success and he is really a good brother to us. Sometimes events are not ones we can imagine and they really amaze us. The time on Friday he wanted to check out our songs to be ready and it was a good time to revise our arrangement.
   This event was very different and amazing, and we didn't expect what God did for us that night.  We sang at a  restaurant called The Keep, where they have live music on Friday nights.  We started approaching the stage at 8:00pm and God was making a way in every thing .We met many people ready on their chairs, very excited for the music. Each person payed 3,000sh to have access and many others didn't have access to come in because the place was full even before we began. Our CD's were being sold by Mom, after 45 minutes we had a break and we were suprised to see many people who also payed their money sitting outside and enjoying our music from there. Papa told us to sing again outside for these people. We sang an accapela song and they enjoyed it so much. It was a blessed night that no one would like to miss. After 15 minutes we came back on the stage, and it was the time that people were very excited and ready to dance. Everybody was very free and very ready to express his feelings. They were not asked to stand but they found themselves up and dancing and enjoying the concert. God is doing a great work in Jinja. Jinja is a town of very busy persons and Muslims but God is changing them. After another 45 minutes of singing, it was the end of the concert. We used that time to celebrate Todd Bukkenya and Hannnah Smith's birthdays at the same place.  Mom brought out a large chocolate cake to serve everyone after the Dove sang "Happy Birthday".  And then the band sang an encore song, "Angels".
   This concert was organised by Papa and Mom, and it has really been successful.  We thank you for your prayers and for always having the heart of praying for us.  We thank God, our creator, who enabled us to make this good work.  May it please Him.
    We slept well, although we enjoyed each other and shared about our evening before ending the day.  On Saturday, we had a good breakfast before joining The Caring Place boys for a soccer match between The Dove and those young boys who love soccer so much.  We were too tired to be much competition for them, and they beat us 6-1.  We were just happy to end the game so we could rest.  We ate together and enjoyed the boys until Peter took us back to Kampala in the evening, so we could prepare for Sunday.
    On Sunday morning, Papa and Mom joined us in Kampala in our home church.  Papa shared the message in our main service and Mom shared in the youth service after that.  We are hoping they will come back in a few weeks to continue teaching us about marriage and relationships and have a good time of questions and answers.
 

A Couple Days ...

     Plenty of Blessings. 

     Thursday 24th Jun 2011,we had an invitation from papa Paul &Pam Hunter for two nights in their home at Jinja. They took us from Nakumatt at 2:00Pm, where our brother Jeff Kasigwa also joined us.
We departed from there and reached Jinja in the evening when we met our sisters Blair , Robyn and Sera Kasonga cooking food for us and making ready our rooms. We came: Boris, Jackson, Yves, Jimmy, Robert, Espoir, Serge and Sami. We enjoyed a good night.

Prayer for our sisters

     Friday morning, we were ready at 8:00am for breakfast because Mom woke up early to make everything ready. After breakfast, Blair shared with us about “Proverbs 24”, expressing herself how she understands what God is doing in their lives about forgiveness and having a heart of loving people like her (parents, extended family and other relationships). We discovered that these girls are very different now, they were able to share and open their hearts and after that they felt free. God is really doing His work in them, they are changed people. Their today is not like yesterday, and we praise God. We were very blessed by these girls when they were sharing with us. Papa Paul & Pam, Jeff, Mark and us enjoyed so much that time with Blair and Robyn, after this we prayed for them.

     10:00am, Papa brought us at a restaurant named “THE KEEP” for an audition. We went there with Blair and Robyn, then mom met us after. That morning was very wonderfully blessed with singing and dancing. The owner of “THE KEEP” was there, the waiters and customers watching and enjoying us.

Dove audition 

We praise God for Papa Paul that he is loving us more than we can imagine. We are not setting back but God is using him to push us in opportunities. He doesn’t insulate us in this ministry but he likes when we minister in freedom. After auditioning this morning, the owner of The Keep, approved and now we come back and sing on Jul 8th. We will have 90 minutes to sing praise and worship and whatever else we want. We look forward to this wonderful night. You are, everybody, welcome to experience God together with us this night of July 8th. When  the afternoon came, we went back home for practice and we enjoyed Jeff ’s advise for revising our songs.

      Our closing night has been powerful. We felt heaven coming down when we were worshipping with our brother Jeff in the sitting room. It has been a good time for God to manifest His power among us.

Prayer for God's Son, Our Brother Mark

Mark, a 54years old man of God from U.S, shared with us and taught us about ‘DISCIPLESHIP‘. It was a good time to be mentored again, to know which kind of disciple we have to be. Each time we come to Jinja we experience mentorship, no matter how short our time is here.

A Day Well Spent

                           Sunday June 12, 2011, we were invited by Papa Paul to minister in a church named "Christ Worship Church"at Mukono.We left Kampala at 8:15 and reached Mukono at 9:30
14 of us were ready and able to go: Robert, Innocent, Jimmy, Yves, Mukuki, Joseph, Convoi, Serge Cikoma, Espoir, Serge Kazi, Aksante, Boris, Jackson and Sami. Every time, we are motivated and ready to do what God wants us to do, if He calls us to any corner.  We are His soldiers.
We sang well,  and  praise God, He enables us whenever we call on Him and we always see Him working in us.
It really has been a great time to spend in the presence of the Lord and a touching time to worship. Papa Paul has the vision to push us on and always likes our ministry to be known.  He really has the heart of a father.
After the service Mom spoke to the women and at the same time Papa talked to the youth.
The church blessed us with a love offering before closing.

Baby dedication by papa Paul

We were hosted by Pastor Enoch and his wife, Annette, in their home for dinner after the service.  We enjoyed fellowship with each other and our new friends before saying good-bye and heading to our homes.  We left Mama with a big heart from a close time together in the Spirit, even though it was hard for her to say good-bye to the band.

Mama taking care of her children and sharing love after dinner

                               

Living like Kings ... Working like Priests (part II)

Enjoying Unity in pst Salomon's home

We left Mbarara in the late afternoon.  It was a long and very dusty ride to Kamwenge and we arrived after dark.  Club Africa was our home for the next 5 nights and it was a very nice hotel where we shared 2 or 3 to a room and had our breakfasts and some of our other meals.  Papa Paul and Mom had a bigger room where we all met together each day.  Thursday and Friday we had a seminar at Pastor Stephen's church where Jeff and Boris each preached.  Friday morning we all went door to door for evangelism and after a time we met in the center of town and sang on the street.

 Praying over Edgar's farm for prosperity

Edgar was our host in Kamwenge and he took us to his farm on Saturday.  We spent the whole of the day walking his land, praying over it and for God to prosper his land and his animals.  We spent some good time singing and dancing with Edgar's family and neighbors. They made a party for us with plenty of food and sodas and even sorgum.  Edgar had promised us fresh milk from his cows, but we failed to be able to drink after eating so much.  Can you imagine?

We couldn't drink milk...

We were blessed to have with us Blair and Robyn, granddaughters of Papa and Mom.  They did everything with us and we learned to love them as our sisters.  We think they, also, love us as their brothers.

Sunday found us ministering in another Pastor Steven's church that we had not been to yet.  God met us there as we were able to press through some spiritual resistance and lead the body of Christ in worship that was very sweet.  Papa Paul was the preacher for the day, and we were excited to also have two young men in the service who had just given their lives to Christ in the Friday door to door evangelism.  We were able to pray for them and have some time after the service to encourage them.
 
The mayor of Kamwenge attended one of our services that morning and joined us back at the hotel for lunch and a time to visit. He was joined by a few others who also work in the local government.  We were requested to sing by the mayor, and there was freedom to sing in the hotel dining area as we sat.  He was happy to invite us back anytime we want to return to Kamwenge for a concert.

Sunday evening found us all gathered in Papa's room where each of us shared what we had seen God doing in our adventure together.

By this time Papa had treated several sicknesses among the team, and taken them to the clinic and bought medicines and even had one on serum, but all were doing better.

One of the unique experiences we had was when Papa gave each of us 10,000sh for the day so that we could be responsible for our own meals.  It was each one's choice to find where we wanted to eat, or save the money by not eating.  Many of us have never had the opportunity, even from our own parents, to be given our own money to care for our own needs in our own way.  It turned into adventure and we each enjoyed it and learned something.  We found this experience connected to the teaching Papa was giving us throughout the trip about becoming men.  Papa was very good about using this time together to encourage us to keep growing towards manhood.  And he showed and taught us many things.

Papa and Mom gave each of us 20,000sh before we left each other.  It was meant to encourage us and make us to reach home with smiles.


We did arrive safely home and thank God for the safe journey and His presence with us all along the way.  We know that Papa Paul and Mom love us very much and have often made opportunities for us to minister.  We thank them for making this trip possible for us.  We will not remain as we were.  God loves us very much.

Living Like Kings! ... Working Like Priests!

June 7, 2011

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  (Revelation 1:5-6)

None of the members of the Band had an accurate imagination of what our 12 days together in Western Uganda would be like.  We knew we had been invited on a short term mission with Next Generation Ministries.  We knew that we would be singing our music.  But, we had little idea of what living together with a team of 15 would be like.


Friday, May 27th, nine members of the band had the amazing privilege of traveling from Kampala, Uganda to Mbarara, Uganda in the vehicle owned by Next Generation Ministries.  We loaded the drum set of NGM on top of the vehicle along with a 12 string guitar, bass and our luggage.  Some of our members had to remain at home for school or work, but because Paul and Pam Hunter, our team leaders for this mission, were also taking their two oldest granddaughters, Pastor Jeff Kasigwa of Kampala, and our driver, Peter Bukenya on the trip, we were limited to nine members:  Yves, Mukuki, Joseph, Hope, Robert, Serge Kazi, Jackson, Boris, and Sami.

Solomon, wife Lily, baby with Pam, Paul & granddaughters

After a full day of driving, we arrived in a small village outside of Mbarara called Ruti.  Ruti is the home of Pastor Solomon and his wife Lillian.  They volunteered to host our entire time in their house.  We had no idea how motivating our time with them would be.  We gathered for prayer at 6 AM each morning and had another hour of prayer and the Word just before bed each evening.  Sometimes the mission pushed our prayer late into the night, even going past midnight one evening!  But, we were so blessed by the love, leadership, and teaching of Solomon.  He is a young, but mature pastor who has the heart of a spiritual father.  He was a man who could make us laugh so much, but also have very serious times as well.  Can you imagine?!?

Solomon ... a spiritual father to Robyn & Blair

We spent five nights in this home of peace, joy, prayer and community.  Our first day we traveled to Isaka to minister to one of the fellowships of Kampala International University.  The Medical School is on this campus and we ministered to about 200 students in a jam packed classroom, with several dozens seated outside and looking through the windows.  Papa Paul preached from the first three chapters of Ephesians about the eternal purpose of God ... how God desired a family for Himself and a Bride for His Son ... even before the world was created.


Sunday morning, Papa Paul preached in two services to over 1500 people at the Evangelical Christian Church of Uganda.  Jeff sang a couple of songs and we sang in the second service.  Soon after lunch together we moved to a Praise and Worship session in Pastor Solomon's church until the sun disappeared behind the Rwenzori Mountains.

Papa Paul with interpreter

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we sang in the Lunch Hour at the Evangelical Christian Church which runs from midday until 2 PM and again Papa Paul taught.  His subject was Relational Mentoring/Discipleship.  Monday evening we shared at a Workers Fellowship and Tuesday afternoon we ministered in a vocational/secondary school for disabled students.  It was a very moving experience.  Boris shared his life testimony and Papa Paul gave a short message followed by an invitation for students to give their life to Christ with about five students responding.


After a stimulating and fulfilling 5 days in Mbarara, the mission team traveled on Wednesday evening to Kamwenge.  Tomorrow we will write about our five days there and how we lived as kings.  For now, we were discovering how to be a part of a team of ministering priests during the first half of our mission.

Crusade for Kamuli

Since starting this blog we had our first outing as a band, in a small village called Ndolwa, on the other side of Kamuli. The invitation came from our Papa (Paul Hunter), and the pastors who coordinated this event. We gathered 10 members and headed for Jinja last Thursday the 19th. We shared a good meal with Papa Paul, Mama Pam, and our sisters Blair and Robyn. On Friday we were well fed by Mama, and once we were finished working around the house we set out for Kamuli. The three hour drive was not so bad, but the roads demanded us to move at a slow pace. When we arrived, we found many people surrounded by the stage. Everything was set up and we were able to get started right away. Although there were some troubles with the sound system it did not disturb our mission in serving God. When we were finished Papa was asked to share a word with the people. We spent some time praying for some 20 to 30 people who gave their lives to Christ. The time with each other was good for us. Saturday morning was the end of our trip to Jinja and Kamuli, but not the end of the work God was doing through that weekend. Sunday 74 people were baptized and led to Christ.

This week we are starting a new journey. We will be traveling with Papa & Mama, Blair & Robyn, and Jeff Kasigwa. We begin leaving Jinja at 7am, traveling all day to Mbarara. Our trip includes ministering at KIU in Ishaka on Saturday, visiting Holy Spirit Fire Church and another church in the village on Sunday, Wednesday we will travel to Kamwenge, Thurs. and Fri. we are attending a seminar, a dinner in the village on Saturday, Sunday involves ministering in a friends church. On Monday we start the journey back home. We ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers. When we return from this trip, we will share the experience's we encountered.

Amazing Relationship

God's ways are amazing!

May 8, 2011

Mama Pam & Papa Paul

We find ourselves occupied with our music, not in our home country of Congo, but in Uganda.  It is here that God gave us a relationship with Paul and Pam Hunter of the United States, but who live in Jinja east of Kampala where we all stay.  Through a mutual friend, Raoul Mugosa, who lives in Jinja, but is also from the Congo, we met a year ago.  Because Papa Paul and Mama Pam are in Uganda to disciple the next generation of leaders in Uganda we found ourselves with a relationship that has become significant.  For over ten years, the Hunters have been coming to Uganda to encourage, equip, empower and release the next generation to display the glory of Jesus. Four years ago they officially began Next Generation Ministries and now normally stay in Uganda for six months each year.  You can read about their activities in Uganda here.

Papa Paul and Mama Pam want their relationship with us to see Christ exalted in our personal and ministry lives. They have invited us to come to Jinja, paid our transport, feed us food, and even accommodated us at their home. They were our special guest when we launched our first CD and DVD on March 27, 2011.  They host short term missionaries from the United States and usually invite us to come play some of our music, worship, pray, and minister to the members of those teams.

Praying for Matt & Kristi

Currently the Hunters are hosting a recently married couple from America, Matt and Kristi Bellamy, and wanted to share our lives and music with them.  Papa had to leave his compound at 7:45AM to come to Uganda to pick us from Kampala yesterday.  They invited some friends and neighbors to come to their compound, listen to our music, feed us some good food, and return us to Kampala so that we can minister in our church today.  They didn't get into their beds until early this morning after driving back to Jinja.

We never would have imagined God would give us a Mama and a Papa from the United States.  But, that's our God. The Hunters have invited a few of us to accompany them on a mission to Western Uganda sometime within the next month to six weeks.  We are all praying for it to come together so that we can benefit each other as we serve the Lord.  We honor them and want God to use them in our lives to encourage us, equip us and empower us for the glory of God.

Praying for Papa & Mama

WELCOME!

Enter the World of the Dove Voice Band!

May 7, 2011

Pushed out of our native country of Congo, a group of men who were largely refugees to the west, we settled in Uganda. Colonized by France, we found ourselves drowning in the language of English since Uganda was colonized by the British.  Along with our communication challenge, we found it difficult to either attend school or get jobs.  We had a strong background in the Church ... and it was there that we found that we enjoyed making music together.

Between 15 and 20 young men have been composing, singing, and making music together over the past two years from the capital city of Kampala, Uganda.  We have relied on the strong musical heritage of our mother country.  We have benefited from the support of our families and church.  We have even found some help from friends from the United States in the past year.

It's time that we make ourselves and our music available to those who have just learned about us or want to learn about us or who have yet to even hear about us.  Welcome to our blog!

Our music is intended to exalt Jesus Christ.  We have no ambition to make a name for ourselves to generate a business from our music abilities.  We want to lift up the name of Jesus.  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit's purpose is to exalt Jesus Christ.  We have chosen the name "Dove Voice" as a musical expression of the Holy Spirit to exalt Jesus Christ.  When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a voice from Heaven was heard as a dove appeared over the head of Jesus saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  Our ambition is to hear the same pleasure of the Father over our music.  We want Jesus to be exalted and the Father pleased as His Son is lifted up.

2010 at Sports View Hotel