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
No comments:
Post a Comment