faithhudson

I woke up this morning refreshed in a way I haven’t felt for months. My regular sleeping habits are not that good. It is not unusual for me to wake up at three or four in the morning (I usually fall asleep around 10:30) and start my day, doing tasks that are quiet that I can do by myself. If things go well, I catch a 15–30-minute nap before seven, when I am more likely to engage the real world. I seldom drag myself out of bed grumbling and I seldom feel refreshed. I simply wake up and start operating. That’s the upside…I not only have overcome jet lag, I feel good.

The downside is today we will drive across the country and have two-nine-hour flights before, God willing, landing at MSP, coming home and start the battle of reversing the challenge of a body that just adjusted to Ugandan time. I don’t regret these matters at all, but they are part of the challenge of this work. All worth it.

I want to close with two items. My hope for the African church and my gratitude to you.

I sent two pictures for this post as I currently sit in the Entebbe Airport, hoping this will go out before the end of your Friday workday.

The first is our regular end of the week recap meeting between Mike, Stu and me and nine Lead Trainers who come from Uganda, South Sudan and Congo. They have set themselves apart and are part of the current teaching team. Six of them assist with the three of us, each taking two sessions for our three small groups. Next week the others will teach the same material that we just finished to a second cohort of current and aspiring pastors. The other cohort with be Africans teaching Africans, a crucial step in our vision of

An abiding network
Of Gospel centered
Bible saturated
African lead churches

They are displaying the skills and attitudes necessary to continue the training for years to come. The vision is becoming reality. They are eager to take the lead, and they show themselves capable. With only one trip left for us in September for the last unit (Revelation!) and graduation, this has been a most gratifying exercise.

None of this would have occurred without the generosity of our little network of churches in Somerset, New Richmond, Baldwin, River Falls and of course, FCC Hudson. Many of you may not remember or have been around when all our churches met at Lakefront Park and had a service called Vision for the Valley 2. We took an offering that has covered all our expenses for these trips. This includes us creating a healthy library for each of the Lead Trainers (The second picture is two of the Lead Trainers who received books purchased by the giving, as well as gifts from a publishing house). Thank you. The church in Africa is already benefitting, and by God’s grace, will continue to do so.

One last trip in September with be my 20th trip to Uganda. There is a sense in which I have had enough, and a sense in which I could continue this forever. I thank God for you, Faith Community, for your partnership and many kindnesses to me.

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate

Today I finished my last teaching assignment for this unit. Tomorrow I will observe one our Lead Trainers in the morning session, get a ride (6-9 hours) depending on traffic. Then it’s off to Entebbe Airport, to Amsterdam, and God willing, land at MSP around noon on Saturday.

I don’t mean to complain, but this really is a grind. Last night I had my first decent night’s sleep, which means I’m adjusting to the new time zone. Problem is, When I land on Saturday, I’ll get to do so all over again. I teach 60% of the time and the other 40% I’m working to stay awake as I take notes giving feedback for our mentees, my body is saying you need a nap. It is a relief to be done teaching for this unit. It’s tiring…

But it’s all well worth it. It is such a privilege to serve in this manner. We continue to see the fruit of our efforts and our confidence that an Abiding Network of Gospel Centered, Bible Saturated, African Led Churches seems to be taking shape. Our nine Lead Trainers are moving toward significant leadership in pastor training with increased effectiveness as they share so many cultural insights that I lack. In all the right ways, they are forward to our last unit in September, when we toss them the keys and it’s all theirs. They are up to it. I’m tired, grateful, resolved.

We are fortunate to have solid accommodations here in northern Uganda, a five-minute walk from where we teach. We stay at a guest house with many fans (it has stayed under 85 degrees), wi-fi, and hot showers with good pressure. The kitchen table is my go-to place to study at 2 am, when I figure I met as well become more effective as a teacher than lay awake in bed. We have a cook who makes our dinners (all some variation of chicken). She makes enough that one night’s dinner is tomorrow’s lunch.

By the way…this unit of training is on understanding and communicating biblical prophecy, featuring the book of Isaiah. It has been by far the most difficult to understand, teach, and the feedback I get is that the trainees are sensing it as well. We have acknowledged our struggle and we’re all trying to do our best. Progress is being made, but it’s been tough sledding. I can’t wait till our September trip-Revelation! We’ll be looking at how to handle apocalyptic literature.

I will likely have one more post on Saturday, before gearing up for next week at FCC.

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate

We were under attack. Perhaps you know some of the ugliness of the history of Uganda and the ravages of war that has taken place here-thankfully this was a different attack-the attack of the white ants. It did feel a little bit like an apocalyptic sci-fi movie.

We (Mike, Stu and I) were sitting in our living room, minding our own business and a few flying creatures flew by my face. Dragonfly in size, but a bit slenderer. A few become a dozen, then dozens and Mike, Stu and I were deploying shoes, brooms and anything we could use to kill the intruders. They were sliding under the doors, making their way through any little hole they could. It felt scary because their numbers kept growing and for 10 minutes or so, we couldn’t seem to get the upper hand. We closed doors and windows, trapping in the heat until we went to bed. This is my 19^th trip to Uganda, and we have never seen anything like this before.

So, we started asking questions about our uninvited guests today. Turns out these flying insects are called White Ants. Apparently, they come out 2-5 times a year for one day, their frequency tied into rain totals.  This morning there was no evidence of them (the picture accompanying this post shows there was plenty of evidence last night).

I was told that a local guy got a whole tote (think of the plastic bins you get at Home Depot or Fleet Farm) full of them and took them to the market and walked away with a lot of money. I found out the guys in the dormitories that exist here were catching them to eat and that they are considered a local delicacy. They were going to fry some, and they asked if I was interested in trying it, to which I gave a quick yes response. So far, no delicacy. This ends today’s cuisine update.

Our subject matter for this trip (the actual reason I am here) is Understanding and Communicating Prophecy, using portions of Isiah. Yesterday I spent Monday giving an introduction to both the nature of Old Testament Prophecy and Isaiah and began a study of Isaiah six (where Isaiah answers, “send me” to the question “who will go for us?”).   I finished up this morning, teaching from 8-12, before scurrying home for a 25-minute jet lagged induced nap that really took the edge off. Last night was my best night of sleep since leaving Hudson last Tuesday, and I still hit a wall.

For our afternoon session, Vincent, my TA (we call them lead trainers) was teaching based on Isaiah 22. He does an excellent job and will be one of the main teachers when this Pastoral Training Center becomes fully lead by Africans-they are quite capable. He and his wife (I guess mostly his wife ☺) had a little girl next week, but he was ready to go today. This leader is willing to do whatever he can to see an abiding network of solid African lead churches in Uganda, South Sudan and the Congo.

One of the functions our students have this unit is to give a ten minute talk on a passage from Isaiah demonstrating that they understand the author’s main point of the passage, how it fits within the broader context of Scripture and how to apply it to their setting.

Our second presentation was a disaster…the poor guy didn’t know how bad he was until he tried to land the plane. We went through our normal feedback session and his fears were realized…. I was really encouraged when he confessed to the entire group how hard it was for him and asked if would we allow him to try again on Friday. I was really encouraged by his humility and courage and the group’s desire to give him a second shot. That’s all for today.

I’m off to a going away dinner for another American leaving tomorrow.

Fun fact…as a youth I lived about ten miles from the new pope!

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate

It’s 2:30 am and I am wide awake. I must be in Gulu, Uganda with jet lag!

This is my 19th trip to Uganda, and we started off with a two-day diversion from our normal schedule. About fifteen of my trips have included a layover in Amsterdam but I have never been outside the airport. At Carol’s encouragement, I broached the subject with traveling mates Mike Evans and Stu Dix about spending some time in the town. The agreed and we spent two days (Wednesday and Thursday-May 7& 8) in town. What an interesting city.

Their public transportation is easy to use. We took a train from the airport to the Amsterdam equivalent of Grand Central Station, and we were able to walk to our hotel in about 15 minutes. One of the other things that struck out about transportation was their use of bikes-they are everywhere. Young and old, they would pour out of the ferry that runs constantly like the beginning of a marathon. Many of the streets are about 1/3 the width of Carmichael Road so the few cars, many bikes and pedestrians have a well-choreographed dance getting from place to place. We almost got hit by bike a few times.

Let me answer two questions more than one of my siblings asked…no we didn’t smoke any weed and we walked by the few brothels that were nearby without slowing down-at all. Apparently, the number of such shops have dwindled significantly in recent years and the goal is that they will all be gone in two years-apparently moving from this area in the city center.

Beside the wonder of the canal system (we took a boat tour on Wednesday) the other thing that stuck out to me was how compact everything was. The hotel we stayed at was about 40 feet wide. Their staircases are about 18 inches wider than my shoulders. The steps are very steep, and they vary in size. Navigating the steps was interesting, almost challenging. It made me grateful for the codes that make climbing and descending stairs in the US uneventful. You must concentrate here-at one restaurant, we would use our hands and feet at the same time. It was almost like using a ladder!

I wondered how you could move furniture and other items in the hotel. The answer is that the buildings have pulley systems near their roofline and larger items are pulled up and brought into the hotel or house or business through their windows.

On Thursday we did a bus tour where we saw an amazing array of thousands upon thousands of flowers-mostly tulips. I don’t consider myself a flower guy, but this place was amazing. Their peak growing season is over, so we missed the opportunity to see fields full of their prized flower as we traveled, but it was still a sight to behold. We also went to an old Dutch village of sorts, where we saw demonstrations on making wooden shoes and making cheese surrounded by windmills. Stu Dix of Baldwin related to the locals by telling them that his town has a windmill, and he is a cheesehead.

The other thing that stuck out is how much older everything is. Amsterdam recently celebrated its 750th year. We saw many brick structures from the 17th century and the church across the canal from our hotel was built in the 13th century. Unfortunately, the “church” is now and art gallery.

Our hotel host, Karl gave us the latest updates on the papal selection every time we walked by, and we thought he was joking when he said the new pope is a native of America. I was further surprised to find out he grew up a few miles away from me in Chicago’s south side. Go Bears!

On Friday morning we made our way back to the airport and our eight-hour flight to Entebbe. It’s interesting the people you meet. I met an Iowa State professor who is a native of Ghana and approached me because I was wearing a shirt from the U of M, where he got his Ph.D. We had a great chat as he shared his fondness of the St. Paul campus (he’s an agriculture guy-kind of a Tim Prince) and the state fair which he could walk to from his apartment. We also met two young men from Holland who are on fire and were excited to share their plans for their short-term trip to Gulu and Adjumani, two towns we know pretty well.

We have arrived in Gulu and its very early Sunday morning. My next post should have use turning the corner for this trips unit on understanding and communicating prophetic literature in the Bible focusing on Isaiah. I hope to get some sleep soon!

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate