Czech English Camp Update - June 22

After three days of camp all is going well. There are many returning students and a few new students. I feel this is an opportunity for God to pull together the strands that have been woven and bring to fruition seeds that have been sown in returning students' lives over the past few years. One student, a successful businessman who prior to his first camp had never held a Bible in his hand and had seen no need for God in the past has had some serious health problems which have helped him realize that he can take nothing with him. He told Bronek he is not here for the English; he is here seeking God. Even those who see no need at the time now know he is there when trouble makes their need apparent.

Our daily Bible studies are going well as are the workshops. We are as always inadequate for the task at hand which drives our dependence on the Lord deeper and from there greater confidence in what he will be doing. Additional prayer requests would be for the team to stay focused, for student hearts to be open, for the Spirit to reveal the love and Lordship of Jesus and for God to be glorified throughout. "May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering."

Paul

Czech Team Update - June 21

The team arrived in Malenovice, Czech Republic, Friday afternoon [June 18] and everyone is well. We are experiencing a little jet-lag of course but settled in and ready for final preparations Saturday and student arrival on Sunday.

The team is very upbeat and while aware of the challenge of the week ahead, is confident in the grace of our Lord to see us through and to give the time eternal significance in the lives of many students. We were blessed that Bronek Lipus [the International Messenger national missionary] could meet us at the airport and travel to Malenovice with us. Both he and Larissa are on the mend as the doctors seem now to understand what is going on and can prescribe appropriate treatments.

The team is stretched thin this year as you know, and we would appreciate prayer for strength, endurance, and effectiveness. God is able to do more than we can ask or think and we pray that he will. We simply want to glorify Him and be poured out as a living sacrifice.

God bless,

Paul Rustebakke

Uganda Vision Trip Report - June 21

Our Uganda Vision Team, consisting of Randy McCright, Ron Rohrssen, Mick Schultz, and James Wartian, safely returned last Thursday afternoon. While tired, we had a very productive trip. Not only were we able to spend many hours with Mama Bishop (Florence Kyomya) asking questions and observing the need, we also had opportunities to do ministry. Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Hesed International

One of my (James) favorite things to do is to visit our Kingdom Partners on the field. It seems so selfish, I end up doing other types of trips! But there is nothing like being able to see our supported missionary at work and to spend time with them caring for them.

I am happy to report that our money supporting Hesed International is money well spent. The work they do is amazing and quite diverse. Their goal is to be a catalyst for renewal within the church in Uganda, especially the Anglican Church.

On Saturday we were privileged to see their HOT ministry team (Hesed Outreach Team) in action. We visited Valley Hill Day and Boarding School for a presentation to hundreds of primary and secondary school students. We were a little late getting there, but the program still went over two hours. It included introductions of the American team (us!), a testimony from Randy McCright, worship songs, performances by the school children, and special numbers by HOT. It also included a message by our own Pastor Mick. At the invitation, we had many children and even some teachers indicate a decision to put their trust in Christ. HOT took care of the follow-up with those who made a decision.

In addition to evangelism through HOT, Hesed offers ways for women to find work, pastors and lay leaders to be theologically trained, and a place for orphaned or abandoned children. They just opened a guest house where future teams can stay while ministering in Uganda, and are in the process of building apartments for short and long term workers. They also have a vision of building dormitories at the Hesed office to give African pastors and lay leaders who attend trainings an affordable place to stay.

Throughout our stay we worked side by side with Florence Kyomya or “Mama Bishop” as the Ugandans affectionately call her in their more formal way. She gave us much needed advice, explained what was happening, listened to our thoughts and suggestions, and loved on the children and adults at each of our visits. Mama Bishop’s grasp of the people and of the needs was inspiring. Yet she was always open to new ideas and suggestions from our team. She is a picture of quiet grace in action.

We also spent time with Timothy Kyomya, son of Michael and Florence, and his wife, Sallie May. Timothy is taking on the leadership of Hesed, taking over for his parents, and is doing a great job. Our visit ended with breakfast with Bishop Michael Kyomya. We enjoyed catching up with him and talking about our visit, old friends at New Covenant, and what he plans to do when he retires in five years as Bishop.

For more information about Hesed International, visit their website at www.hesedinternational.org .

Ministry Options

One crucial thing we learned through this Vision Trip was to distinguish between two different ways to help with ministry to children. One option is to focus on their schools. Unlike America, Uganda does not have a well-developed school system. The government relies on private and religious schools to provide an education to the children. This joint venture between the church and the government creates its own set of tensions and challenges.

Much of our visit was spent at four different Anglican day and boarding schools. There is a very high ratio of kids to teachers – in many cases apparently as high as 100 students for each teacher, even in the lower grades. Parents who can afford to do so send their kids to boarding school simply so that the child can have more time with a teacher and hopefully pass their classes.

The schools we visited are under the authority of the Anglican Church in Uganda. However, many of the teachers and administrators are not believers, so most are not really “Christian” schools. They are simply schools run by a church denomination. Ministry in this setting would be very different than anything we are used to here in the States.

The other option is to focus on what we would consider a Sunday School program on Sunday morning. With rare exception, the Anglican churches in Uganda do not offer much in terms of Sunday School. They might have a service for children shortly before the main worship service, but not something that really focuses on training them in biblical issues.

After talking with Hesed, we left with a joint decision to focus first on the Sunday morning needs. While there is overlap because many of the boarding school children also attend church at the parish on Sunday, the greater need right now is with the church. This decision also allows us to focus first on an area where we have more experience. Of course, we hold all of this with an open hand and trust God to direct our steps. But as of right now, that is the direction where we will put our initial efforts.

Next Steps & Prayer Requests

Our first step will be for the Uganda Vision Team to meet and come up with a recommended plan to present to the Missions Committee and other church leaders. As noted above, we intend to focus our efforts on helping with Sunday School, but we need to talk through what this will look like.

Once we come up with a plan in the next few weeks, we will then know what the next team and trip will look like. Now that we have seen the need and have a clearer idea of what we want to do, our original idea of a January team may change dramatically. It is too soon to say whether we need 3 or 15 individuals for the team, and what skills and experiences would be required to be on the team. Once we know, we will put information in the bulletin to keep you informed.

Here are a few requests to remember in the coming weeks:

• Pray for wisdom to know how to provide training in Sunday School to the church in Uganda.
• Pray for wisdom as to what a training team might look like and who should be on that team.
• Pray for wisdom for Hesed as they determine the best leaders to attend a training opportunity.
• Pray for follow-up of those who made decisions during our recent visit.
• Pray for Bishop Michael, Mamma Bishop (Florence), and Timothy as they lead Hesed.

Uganda Vision Trip Update - June 13

Thanks for reading this short update about our Uganda Vision Trip. I hope to post at least one more update later this week. But here is an update half way through our time here in Uganda.

What Is a Vision Trip?

A “vision trip” is one where our primary purpose is to investigate the need and how we can best send future teams. Around four years ago one of our Kingdom Partners, Florence Kyomya (Hesed International), visited New Covenant. When she saw our Children’s Ministry in action, she told Pastor Mick that they desperately needed someone to come and train the church in Uganda how to do effective ministry to children. At the time, we were not able to send a team. But as other opportunities came to an end, we decided to explore helping Hesed and the Ugandan church as requested.

So far this vision trip has been very successful. While Florence did her best to describe the need and what life was like in Uganda, we have learned many things while here. Because of this vision trip, we will be better prepared to hopefully bring a team sometime next year (probably in January 2011) to train and model children’s ministry. So even if we went home today, this trip has been profitable.

What Is Uganda Like?

That is an impossible question to really answer! You have to come and visit to really understand. But let me give you a few snapshots of what I have observed.

One thing that is immediately apparent is that English is a language most people here speak. A former part of the British Empire, virtually every sign here is in English. Most people we meet speak at least a little English. Of course, that doesn’t mean they understand us – we do, after all, have an accent! Oh, and some of us speak too fast!! Still, being surrounded by English makes it a very comfortable place to be.

The people of Uganda are also very hospitable. We have felt welcomed everywhere we have been. They are very helpful, quick to assist us in any need.

The country here is beautiful. We are staying in Jinja, which is right by Lake Victoria – no small body of water! It is as large as one of our Great Lakes. We are also by the source of the Nile River. Everything is green. And we have come at the cooler time of year – the temperature is in the low 80’s during the day, and pleasant at night.

What Have You Learned?

We have been able to spend some time with Florence Kyomya and with others on the Hesed staff. Saturday afternoon we experienced a program at a boarding school which is one of close to 500 schools (day and boarding) under Bishop Michael Kyomya’s oversight. And Sunday we participated in the worship service at the chapel for another boarding school. There are far more lessons we have learned than I can record here, but here are two highlights:

God is at work – While that may seem obvious, it is always good to see God’s fingerprints when you go to visit a ministry you support. And God’s fingerprints are all over things related to Hesed. Bishop Kyomya and his wife are doing an amazing work here, both within the Anglican Church and through Hesed International.

• We have met one young man who was Muslim who through the ministry of Hesed has professed Christ and is now part of H.O.T. – The Hesed Outreach Team.
• We spent time with the head teacher of a Christian boarding school who is willing to take a stand that the boarding school he leads is Christian. If parents of other religions wish to send their children to the school, they are welcome to do so, but they must be willing to have their children learn about Christ. Just as important, the school would not be assisting the children if they chose to worship in their own religion.
• I sat in the back of the van and heard the story of an Archdeacon who at an early age expressed a desire to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. Years later, he did just that and has visited many of the same churches his grandfather used to visit as Archdeacon many years ago.

This is a different setting than we are accustomed to – We are not used to an Anglican setting where the church and school are so intertwined. Before this trip, we were confused by some things Mama Bishop (as Florence is affectionately called here) described to us. This trip will help us to better consider who and how we can strategically train Ugandan leaders to do children’s ministry in this setting.

Let me give just one example: To graduate, students must pass an exam. This is not an easy thing to do, and the normal “day” school education is often not enough preparation. So if the parents are able, they try to put at least one of their children in a boarding school so that their child can pass the exams. What this means is a ministry focused on children needs to consider the literally thousands of children who live in boarding schools rather than with their parents. And while many of these schools are “Christian” in name, the teachers and administrators are not necessarily believers. So this presents a setting very unique from what we encounter in Cedar Rapids or even most of America.

What Is Next

On Monday we will spend time at two more boarding schools, participating in their program and sharing the Gospel.

On Tuesday we will join with Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in the morning. Their church has been very involved with Hesed over the years and they have come to also help train in children’s ministry. They are conducting a VBS this week at the church/school we visited today (Sunday). We will observe what they are doing and later talk to them concerning how we can work together on future trainings. We will spend the afternoon with Mama Bishop and see some local sites.

On Wednesday we will check out of our hotel and spend the morning with Hesed staff debriefing. We will then head back to Entebbe to begin our trip back to Cedar Rapids. If all goes well, we should be back at home in Iowa around Noon on Thursday.

How Can You Pray?

Here are some prayer requests:

• So far we are all in good health. Pray that we would continue to avoid the many illnesses and problems that could hinder us.
• Pray for Ron and Mick as they give a message to children at two different schools on Monday. Pray that the message of salvation would be clear and that students and teachers alike would understand and put their trust in Christ.
• Pray for our time Tuesday as we observe and partner with Bent Tree as they train leaders and conduct a VBS.
• Pray for out time debriefing with Hesed. Pray that we would ask the right questions to discern how we can best help them with a possible future team.
• Pray for wisdom for us after we return to process things and determine our next steps in this process.

Thanks for your prayers!

For His Kingdom,

James Wartian for the entire Uganda Vision Team