A Tale of Two Days (Tuesday) : Trip #7

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 have worked with this learning group of thirteen for five trips, so we are becoming old friends. 

Tuesday was a different story. Certainly not a nightmare, everything was more laborious. Part of it is probably due to jet lag and two miserable night’s sleep in a row. The trainees sleep in dorm style settings and they seemed to be dragging a bit as well. So far, we have worked through an introduction to the prophets and given them tools to help them more accurately understand and communicate prophetic writings. We are focusing on passages in Isaiah, but the tools are transferable and should result in being able to help the interpretation process of any prophet. It is amazing how much of Isaiah is found in the gospels, demonstrating a remarkable cohesion between multiple authors over hundreds of years. Teaching these courses are good for my heart and reinforce the divine nature of Scripture.

One of the two Lead Trainers that are assigned to me and my group, Pastor Sunday taught his first lesson in this course today and did a real solid job. He is demonstrating capacities to help continue the trainings at this Pastor Training Center once this cohort is completed and another one begins (Jan 2023). He is a natural leader, well prepared and has the respect of his fellow Ugandans. The future looks good with him and the others we are prepping to ensure this becomes an African lead adventure. 

One of the side joys of these trips is getting to know the families who live here year-round. The Mobbs’s and the Corbin’s have established themselves as serious players in kingdom advancing work in this area of Africa. They are hardworking and given to the task before them-it’s amazing to watch them navigate the cultures around them as they lead a church, a school, a clinic along with vocational training for women, both domestic and on the farm. We have dinner with them once every time we come over. I brought the game “Just One” that Carol and I have been playing as of late. They really liked it, so I gave them the game and will pick up another one when I return.

Today’s 106 degrees should be our last over 100 for the week. One interesting note: our leaves fall when it starts to get cold. The leaves here fall during the dry and hot season. During this time of year, all the local animals are free range, meaning they can go anywhere to eat. This is a favorite place for animals, since the care that are shown the facilities here is really good. Kris Mobbs tells the story that the first year after they built their church building with the sides open. They had to create a fence of sort on the side as they got tired of cleaning up all the dung from the church floor. That’s one area Josh and Donna don’t have to contend with at FCC! 

We only have three more nights crashing here, and one on the plane (I don’t mean the plan crashing!). These trips are both a delight and a grind. A good night’s sleep should help put a little more life in me. The most interesting time in our trip should be Friday, when we must do same day COVID testing, and hopefully not have to stay put and quarantine.

Larry Szyman

Pastor for Missional Life