Blog

Thursday, June 2nd I am home and I think the jet lag is behind me (one never knows) on this the final trip of our four-year excursion (COVID made it longer) into Africa. The goal has been met and I am grateful. We believe we have established the foundation for the vision of an abiding […]

Sunday, May 29th The day after we finished our training, we headed to Murchison National Park so Joel, the Training Leaders International Curriculum Director, could go on his first safari. We had a decent safari (you become a snob of sorts when you’ve been on three!), and Joel left for the airport the next morning. […]

Thursday, May 26th. Today was time to say goodbye to South Sudan and make our way home! We left the Lui Cathedral at 7:00 am to start the 35.5 hour trip home. We drove to Mundri airport which was a bit busier than on Monday. There were about 75 UN peace keeping troops, as well […]

Saturday, May 21st Meet the first cohort graduates of the Living Stones Pastoral Training Center! Graduations are a big deal in Uganda, and it is not that out of the ordinary for family members to run up to a student after receiving a certificate and dance and shout around them as they make their way […]

Friday, May 20th I woke up this morning (Friday, May 20th) in Uganda. Several texts awaited me when I entered the wi-fi zone, alerting me that a hailstorm had come through Hudson, denting cars, and scarring roofs. My neighbors let me know that our cars and home were not exempt. Our insurance agent says that […]

Friday, May 20th Meet Jonathan (see the picture). Mike and I met Jonathan at the lodge we stayed at between finishing our teaching and heading back for graduation. Born to American parents in Brazil, they currently reside in Lakeland (not THE Lakeland, the one in FL). He has seen a lot in his life. He […]

Thursday, May 19th We arrived at the Pakuba Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park on Tuesday. Every time a newbie comes on a trip, we investigate the possibility of going on a safari. Joel seemed quite interested and so the plan was for us to drive the 4.5 hours there, catch the 4 pm safari […]

Wednesday, May 18th Monday marked the last teaching session with a group of church leaders that I have come to love. We completed lesson nine of the nine courses that make up the curriculum that Training Leaders International created to help the 70% of pastors worldwide who serve without any formal biblical training. Our goal […]

Sunday, May 15th Today we worshipped at the church on the compound known as Abaana’s Hope, which also houses the Pastoral Training Center which we serve in. Things were definitively livelier than I’m used to as over thirty pastors from our group joined the regulars. Without any sermons to preach or matters to be responsible […]

Friday, May 13  Thursday and Friday were our first two days of teaching for this course. We go from 8 am to 4 pm with two breaks at 10:00 am for breakfast and 1 pm for lunch. Each course contains ten lessons, and the plan is to complete two lessons a day over a five-day […]

Wednesday, May 11 We arrived in Entebbe on time, and we all had our documentation correct to move through the immigration line quickly. Unfortunately, they weren’t ready for us to move through the immigration line quickly. You could tell the westerners in the crowd. They were regularly switching lines to find a more advantageous route […]

Sunday, May 8 This is a bit different than posts I have written for past trips, as I am writing for churches in New Richmond, Somerset, Baldwin, River Falls and Hudson, rather than the usual Hudson only. I’m Larry Szyman one of the pastors of Faith Community Church-Hudson (FCCH) and this is my seventh trip […]

There is something sweet about the gift of returning home to the familiar, to the beloved. But nothing as sweet as Carol’s face, friendship, and partnership. Though we have both grown accustomed to the times I am away, she remains an anchor for my life. Nearly forty-two years she has been a model of love, […]

Today is the day I hoped to be my last in Uganda until May. The nine-hour time difference has made my virtual participation in FCC activities less than I had hoped. I had two meetings yesterday (Tuesday afternoon Hudson time) at 10 and 11:30 pm Entebbe time. I started to fade around 8 pm local, […]

I am a trailblazer. Turns out that I am the first Training Leaders International (TLI) sponsored pastor left in a country due to COVID. This is not the fame I have been seeking! My last post recounted how I found out I was infected with COVID. There is plenty of good news that accompanies this […]

I guess I didn’t study hard enough as I find myself alone in a hotel, having failed my COVID test, not far from the airport that still seems very far away in Entebbe. Not far as I can hear and see the take off and landings, but far away in that it may be seven […]

It’s Thursday night, and God willing, 25 hours from now I will be on a plan to Amsterdam! With the current COVID protocols, we need a negative test one day before takeoff. We will leave Gulu town around 10 am (after our final session) and hit the road for what we hope is only a […]

Our first two days of lessons have gone well. I think Monday is the best day of teaching I’ve had so far in my trips out here. I had good energy, used the classroom time well, the pastors seemed to grasp the content and I had a good sense of being connected with them. I […]

According to my weather app, there was only a 102-degree difference in our high temperatures in Hudson and Gulu today. Without A/C, things can get a little sticky. So, wherever we go in the guest house (where we are staying) we are each carrying a personal fan and plug it in before we sit down. […]

The rest of our trip from Amsterdam was fairly uneventful. Josh, Stu and I all got a bit of sleep on our last eight-hour flight and arrival in Entebbe, Uganda. On my last trip, my time at the Entebbe was challenging. It was their first day of new protocols which included getting tested for COVID […]

Thankfully, our getting off the ground at MSP was not all that difficult, although the paperwork was fairly extensive, including: Passport Negative COVID test. We took the test a 9 am for our 1 pm departure from MSP. Thankfully they came back negative (and only $200!). E-Visa to Uganda (for those who remember my last […]

Refuge Student Ministries’ annual Heart for the Valley service project is quickly approaching. This event provides an invitation to FCC attendees to donate money to provide meal boxes for local families in need. But instead of just raising money and giving it to a food charity, Heart for the Valley takes it a step further […]

I am home and had my first night’s sleep on a night we turned the clocks back (hurray!). One of the many things I am grateful for is that I like what I am doing. I love going to Uganda and I love coming home. I had an extra good reason for coming home, because […]

Our goal was to wrap up our teaching by 10 am on Friday. 8 – 9:20 was to finish up lesson nine.  Then a half hour was left for all to gather for lesson ten and close at 10:00. Lesson ten is basically giving the assignment between that day and January 10th, when we will […]

Thursday was a busy, yet life giving day. The teaching was shared by three teachers for our learning group. Sunday finished up lesson seven by the end of the first session (8-10 am). You can tell when it is almost ten o’clock as the trainees’ get a little bit antsy, looking to their first meal […]

Today I will cover days two and three of teaching. We only teach five days, but what we do that’s most important is meeting with and equipping our Ugandan leaders on the front side. This part of the trip was severely impacted by our visa problems. After the chaos of our first couple of days, […]

Monday morning was such a welcome sight because I would now see a bunch of men who have become friends and some of them my heroes. Take Omar Mohammed. A native of Khartoum, Sudan, he has fled from war four times and his parents were both killed in protests. Yet he finds his way here from the […]

It’s Saturday, we’re short one person (our leader, Mike Evans!) and we wake up for a 7 am breakfast and a ride across the country to get to Gulu. As we are eating omelets (not quite a Key’s event, but pretty good!) and sausage when we meet two women from Finland (turns out they don’t […]

I woke up today (Thursday) to Kris working his phone and his “guy” trying to find a way to get Peter and Mike to Entebbe today. There is one flight a day from Amsterdam (where Mike and Peter are) and Entebbe (where Kris and I are) and our hope is that we can get the […]

After an eight our flight to Rwanda, sitting in the plane for an hour while a few people joined us for the 38-minute trip to Entebbe, I finally arrived at the destination. My first hope was to find wi-fi, get a hold of Kris and ask since I already had a visa (stamped, by the […]

I am sitting at a delightful (since the power and hot water came on an hour ago!) guest house in Entebbe, Uganda. It is sunny, about eighty degrees and I am in a small restaurant about 75 feet from my room in the shade and a nice breeze. It is a welcome reprieve from the […]

And the Journey Begins (this first post is a long one)! It’s an hour and a half before take-off from MSP and already I have had quite an experience. It started when I was home packing and tried to access my work files on my iPad, so I could leave my laptop at home. It […]

All of life is partnerships and interdependence. Most of this we are oblivious to. If we took time to consider all the partnerships, that is, the way we work together and how that took place, we would hardly have time to think. I am currently sitting on seat 33C (aisle seat, yes!). My bags were […]

Many of you may not know this, but this is our second round of training leaders in Uganda. There was a lot of joy in the first cohort. Leaders strengthened, churches planted , relationships developed. We also saw a number of factors that were working against us being more fruitful. We were requested to come […]

For those of you who have been reading my posts, you will know the first night I had a dream (nightmare) about bees and wounded my head fleeing my bunkbed in the process. My most recent brush with the dangerous parts of the animal kingdom was while walking a path (very narrow) with brush all […]

It’s Tuesday evening and after a full day of classes, I got in a little basketball before we had a downpour sending us inside. It’s rainy season, things are lush and green and it’s so very good to be with the forty-two trainees who have become friends, and my beloved co-teachers Mike Evans and Stu […]

Today (Saturday) may have been the most important day for our time here, even though the training doesn’t start till Monday. That is because today we met with six of our key participants of the forty two trainees who make up this cohort. These “Lead Trainers” come along side our team of three (Mike Evans, […]

Just another trip to Uganda. This trip makes it about an even dozen. I’m pretty used to it all. Waiting in line, two eight hour trips-one to Amsterdam, one to Entebbe. By all standards this trip was quite boring till a half hour ago. It’s not unusual to be up at strange hours on one […]