Preparations and Settling In | A New Mission Post #2
January 6-8
We woke up in Entebbe to drive across the country 6-7 hours to Abaana’s Hope, the name of the compound we stay at. Over the years, I’ve grown accustomed to the sights, sounds and smells of Uganda. People generally follow the rules as they drive. The road is shared by eighteen-wheelers, small motorcycles, bikes and everything in between. It is not unusual to have a cow or herd of goats on the road as well. The roads have improved significantly since my first trip here, through leadership provided by the Chinese government.
Along the way, Kris Mobbs (our key contact and leader of the Pastor’s Training Center) is our driver and host. We were able to catch up on the road and begin discussing the specifics of our time on this trip. Our friendship with Kris and his family is one of the great gifts of this enterprise. We know each other well enough to ask each other questions of significance, tease each other and share the challenges and joys of our ministries. Mike Evans, who has a bit of car sickness, sits in the front, while Stu Dix and I sit in the back. There is plenty of room in the vehicle.
We arrive at our place, settle in, and do some prep work for the days ahead. Having been to this location about ten times, we understand well how things work, including upgraded wi-fi! I am blessed with an unusually good night’s sleep.
Saturday is an important day as we meet the men who will partner with us in leadership in this next season (if everything comes together). There are two cohorts. The one Mike, Stu and I will teach in is cohort A. We have discussed and been assigned Lead Trainers (LT), who are indigenous leaders and will act like Teacher’s Assistant’s (TA) for college days. They will help with logistics, give feedback, do some teaching, and, God willing, lead future cohorts without the help of Americans. Cohort B will be taught by three leaders from our last cohort. Half the trainees will receive their instruction from fellow Ugandans only. If all works well, and we see this cohort through to the end, in 2026 there will be two cohorts that will be lead by local leadership and we will be out of the picture. It is an exciting prospect.
I have been assigned two Lead Trainers, one of whom I never met before. The first LT is Vincent, who was a trainee in the last cohort. He demonstrated both heart and skill to take this next step. The other LT, Moses, is new to me and to our group. Kris sees him as an exceptional leader who has a solid education (currently working on his master’s degree) and can be trusted to jump in and out of our norms and do well. I’m very impressed with his vision, his knowledge, his English and his hunger to learn. If things move forward as we hope, I will be well served by these Vincent and Moses, and future cohorts will prosper under indigenous leadership.
The forecasted highs of 100-104 are off and we are in the the low to mid 90’s, which makes life a bit easier. With fans blowing all night, I am not sweating in my sleep.
Sunday, we go to church at Living Stones Community Church, which is on the same compound we are staying at, about an eight-minute walk. We are becoming increasingly familiar with the people here and it is good to see the increasing amount of familiar faces. Their service is a blend of Acholi and English songs. When singing in Acholi we invariably clap. Not knowing the words, I seek to clap in order to participate. After about ten minutes of clapping, it gets to be a bit of a challenge, but I want to engage to the degree I can.
Tonight, we went into town with the three missionary families for dinner (Indian) and then came back to the compound to meet the next group of trainees. Tomorrow, we start our taster event, and will seek to discern what God is up to. Will do a little prep tonight and hopefully get a decent night’s sleep so we can engage the trainees and serve them well.
The picture is a bull I came across on my morning walk (a little different than Vine St on my usual path!)