New Assignment: UGANDA, EAST AFRICA

Jan 10, 2009

Greetings to all our friends and partners in the work of the ministry all over the world!

One phrase that has been impressed into my spirit over the past few years—probably you have heard me say it. It goes like this: “Life is an adventure when you make God your passion”. I believe it more today than ever! By now I am sure you have heard the word concerning some transitions in our lives, and I wanted to send you a personal note so that you are fully aware of what God is doing.

A year and a half ago Sharon and I took a STORM team of 24 people to Uganda, East Africa. This is the country where Sharon grew up with missionary parents, and where we started our ministry together when we were married in 1969. We had been back a few times since we left in 1973, but there was a gap of 10 years before the team went. We were overjoyed about much that we saw. We dedicated a new Kampala church building, a facility that can seat upwards of 1500 people. There is also a large piece of property 20 km away on Lake Victoria that houses the Leadership Institute as well as a Christian school and another campus for the church. This is where we had a wonderful week of meetings with the pastors associated with MFI (in East Africa known as MFEA).

The one thing that we did see, however, was the need for more growth at the leadership level in the church. Because of the close connection with City Bible Church and us personally, we were asked to help them restructure the church to position them for the future. To help with this, I made 3 trips to Uganda last year. Things have gone very well, and one of the needs that became apparent was a greater gift-mix at the senior pastor position in order to release the church to the next level.

In view of this, the leadership team in Uganda asked City Bible Church to send leadership to help them in the interim until the next senior pastor is ready. Specifically, they requested that Sharon and I come, since we are so well aware of the situation and have the historical and cultural understanding that would make this a viable approach.

This proposal of course was a great challenge to us personally! We have enjoyed 25 years of ministry in City Bible Church, and “normal” thinking would not lead a person to make such a dramatic change at our time of life. A three car garage and HD widescreen TV etc. have brought us well into the comfort zone of American life. But it has been very clear to us that this is an assignment from the Lord, so here we go stepping out of the boat when more time! Life is never boring when you are trying to be obedient to God, but really we wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

So here we are! We are committed to remain here until it is clear that the church is healthy and strong, with a senior pastor to lead them.

Since we landed in Uganda Jan 13, there has been a flurry of activity. There is already a fresh faith in the people, and a willingness to move on through the open door of opportunity that God has set before them. Please continue to pray for us and the church here to “move forward with passion to the next level”!