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.