....01/03/10

Uganda
Missions Update

Another year and another trip to Uganda. I have lost count now but each one has its own unique purpose and quality. We are moving progressively forward on many fronts. For the first time we had a formal certification for the ministry training Stepping Out Programme in Evangelism, Discipleship and Leadership development. This training covers 39 weeks and over 200 pages of material. It is both simple and comprehensive. We had 30 prison pastors and 60 leaders from over 15 churches complete. The prison pastors cover 15 prisons in northern Uganda and what we are seeing in the prisons is nothing short of transformational. On this trip the head of a prison committed his life to Christ and several staff joined the inmates and surrendering their lives to the Great Physician. One of the pastors is so committed that he literal sleeps in the prison to be with the inmates.

We are implementing a clear reporting system this year so we can identify genuine committments, growth in the local churches, people growing in their faith and leaders who know what it means to take responsibility for another person who has come to faith.

We held a Literacy Graduating day for Adult Literacy and during the certification the Community Development Officer announced that our students had received the highest marks in the district! It is one thing running a school so people can read and write. It is quite another taking people who are illiterate of various ages and achieving excellence. I was so proud of our instructors most of whom have come from the school itself and their achievements.

Quite literally while doing the Certification I had to apologise for being late because one of our Boer goats gave birth to twins! In Africa you have to be adaptable and ready for anything at any time.

We have started the Literacy Classes attached to the local churches and their are 15-17 in total. 6 have already started and it is difficult for us to grasp in the west what it means for someone who has never read their Bible to be able to read Gods word for the first time. It will also provide an important bridge to the community and we have already had testimony of people coming who would not of been interested in coming to the church directly.

10 bee hives are now occupied and we are expecting our next harvest at the end of March.

The Sewing School certificated its first students after 2 years of learning. They then put on a wonderful drama and song to demonstrate their passion and appreciation.

Gulu is developing and settling as people take steps to put the war behind them. The blackberrys of some of our team members reached even to Gulu to pick up emails though I not so sure this is such a blessing!

Continued >>