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Uganda Trip #13 | Post 2

,

One of the things I always wonder about on these trips is how am I going to sleep——or not. The results of night number one were not good. I started feeling a bit groggy about 8:30 pm Gulu time, 11:30 am Hudson time. For you non math majors, that’s a nine hour difference. I took a book and my iPad to my mosquito net protected bed. I finished the book, watched a World War Two movie (the Allies won!) and still did not fall asleep. I ended up sleeping from 3:30-7:00 am. I have already taken two naps today and still feel brain dead (if my doctor is reading this, I recognize if I were brain dead, I wouldn’t be completing this task).

I got up and took a walk before our 9 am meeting with our Lead Trainers (LT). The LT’s are the key for the vision of an Abiding network of Gospel Centered, Bible Saturated, African Lead Churches. David, our host, told us last night that six of our eleven LT’s would not be making it to our meeting today. That raised a flag for me-is this a sign of their not buying into the vision? The LT’s are the primary delivery system for this vision. It is fair to say that 75% of what is taking place is being done through them.

We have two cohorts in operation now. One of them is being led by our African brothers and follows the week of teaching we offer each trip. Our cohort is team taught with a second group of LT’s. The most important part of our investment is in these nine leaders who will carry on the teaching (through what is known as the Pastoral Training Center-PTC) in the years to come in Gulu. We are planning two more trips to Uganda. One in May, and one in September. According to our plan, September 13th will be my last day in Africa. The plan is that the work of equipping pastors will continue through these eleven men and those they train who show capacity to come alongside of them. Having been equipped and showed capacity to move the ministry forward, we will no longer be needed. Our “missions” strategy will have been completed. The work will move forward by Africans for Africans.

The flag went up a bit higher when 9 am came and went with no sign of our LT’s. Even though Africans display an approach toward time that is much more relaxed that Americans (especially this one), they have been quite punctual in our relationship with them. Half the group absent, the other half late-it had my attention.

Our brothers showed up around 9:20. We went through our routine of hugs and New Year greetings. Then we started to talk about the future of the PTC and my flags went down. I heard vision and commitment from them. I heard a desire for church planting in the villages and locations that currently lack solid fellowships. Our current cohorts are in English, they want to offer cohorts in local languages, so that the non-English speakers are not cut off from this opportunity. As we wrapped up our meeting, Mike suggested that a couple of our brothers pray for a few minutes. They did not listen to Mike. All of them prayed and they prayed at length asking God to empower their dreams, making them a reality. I am back at ease about where things are at.

Our weather is a bit better than our first forecasts. The high for today is about 91, last week they were forecasting 98 for today. However, on Thursday they are forecasting 107!

If you are a bit confused as to why I am sending these posts, when I am on a break till April 1st, (which is when I come back on a part time basis) this was always the plan. I am making this trip and attending a Biblical Counseling conference in February. Otherwise, I will not be performing any tasks with Faith Community Church. I will be focusing on rest and gearing up for the next season of life and ministry.

The picture was taken in our meeting this morning.

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate
Post 1

Uganda Trip #13 | Post 1

,

I am currently typing in the second row of a four row Toyota van as we are driving from Entebbe, where we landed late last night to Gulu, 6-8 hours north near the South Sudanese border. After arriving in Entebbe, we went to a guest house, slept for three hours and met for breakfast at six, having planned for a 6:30 departure. We hit the road at 6:50, wanting to hit it before the traffic (Fridays are notoriously bad) gets nasty.

We are heading down the home stretch of our ministry in Uganda. For those who may be new to what we have been up to since …. Our little network of churches have sponsored twenty four trips to Uganda, also referred to as the pearl of Africa. In September we will complete, God willing, a third cycle of nine units on how to understand and communicate Scripture for church leaders. Each trip we bring three instructors from the St. Croix Valley to train local pastors, who are training others-we call this process discipleship. I will write more about our work in subsequent posts.

This trip we are not taking Delta. Instead of MSP to Amsterdam to Entebbe, we are flying the friendly skies from MSP to Chicago to Brussels to Entebbe. The main reason is that it is significantly cheaper taking United through Chicago. There are at least two additional upsides that I am encountering with this change. #1 I can see the happy faces of Chicago Bears’ fans, whose team is undefeated in 2025-having recently beaten a certain team from northeastern WI. #2 Although the layover was scheduled for less than an hour, I was able to secure one of my favorite Chicago staples-a Vienna hot dog with all the fixings. The short layover did make me a bit nervous, because if our bags did not make this transfer successfully, it could be quite a while before we see our bags. With forecast highs ranging from 98-104, things could get a little…ripe. Thankfully everything arrived in Entebbe.

One of the fun things about these trips is some of the people we meet on the planes. On the first leg we discovered that six fellow cheeseheads were making their way to Uganda as well. They were from Amery, Clear Lake and…. I think all of them were making their first trip to Entebbe. They brought enough gear with them to start their own country. We helped them navigate moving their gear from the baggage claim. We also met a couple and their daughter from Washington. He is a MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) pilot located in Ghana. We have benefitted from MAF pilots in the past as they have flown us from Gulu to Entebbe at the end of a week of teaching.

I also met and had a one hour conversation with a delightful young woman from Kigali, Rwanda (which she pronounced Rhonda). She had been back “home” for her cousin’s wedding. She moved to MA when she was in 7th grade, and she shared the joys and challenges (mostly challenges) of her early years in the states. She is now a US citizen, living in New York. Her boyfriend is from Brooklyn (the Brooklyn!), WI! I never heard of such a place. We googled and discovered the town in Dane County which means not far from Madison. It was fun to hear her views of America as an immigrant who made the radical move to the country we now share.

In my arrival last night, I couldn’t fall asleep right away-sleep is always a strange dance on these trips. I stayed up and watched part of President Carter’s funeral before sleeping. I was particularly intrigued by the Scriptures read in the service. I really enjoyed the eulogy that President Gerald Ford wrote for President Carter before he passed. His son read it. Presidents Ford and Carter opposed each other in the 1976 election (first time I voted). Ford mentioned Carter’s ability to find holes in this platform which Carter went on to win.

Ford wrote that the two of them were on a trip to Egypt together representing the country after their presidencies. The long flight to Egypt was a bit tense, but halfway on their way back they entered a friendship that lasted the rest of their lives and included a commitment to eulogize each other upon their deaths. It was fun to hear Ford’s son read of their relationship and their fondness for one another. An opponent does not have to be an enemy.

I will write some of my activities almost every day while I am here before returning home on Saturday the 18th. Peace to you all!

Larry Szyman

Pastoral Associate

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