Observations from the Camps
11. Nothing’s wasted in God’s
economy
The fact that I speak Arabic vastly changes
what I can do in the camps. This is encouraging because it shows how our years in South Sudan prepared us for this next step. There is an opportunity to teach and disciple in Arabic.
22. I’m surprised at how
untrained pastors and church leaders are.
They haven’t had an opportunity to go
to school and they’re doing the best they can. They do have an eagerness to be
trained.
33. A lot of people are ministering and trying to teach the Bible out of a pure love for their community and for Christ but they’re not
equipped. They’re willing to stand up and lead even though they have no training.
For example, my friend, Mawa – no training and yet he and a
group of Ugandan friends go into the refugee camps and have Bible studies
and it’s all on their own dime. Out of love for the Sudanese
and a love for God.
Wherever I go, pastors are saying that the government wants anyone who stands up in the pulpit to have some kind of Bible training. So the need and desire for training exists.
Wherever I go, pastors are saying that the government wants anyone who stands up in the pulpit to have some kind of Bible training. So the need and desire for training exists.
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4. Everybody has some pretty
significant trauma that’s happened in their life.
Ex. A good friend spent 2
years as a child soldier in the Lord's Resistance Army. Many have lost family members from the war.
Everyone has lost their entire household and community.
5. There is a wide open door for the gospel.
A few weeks ago I met a refugee from Sudan who is a Muslim background believer. He has
the desire to reach out to Muslims around him because of the
freedom here in Uganda. He’s the leader of his community and has a great platform for impacting
others. He just doesn’t know how to. He wants to grow in his faith and learn
how to share his faith.
We could speak Arabic together but I didn’t know his mother tongue.
However, I’ve run into an organization called Gospel Recordings who have
recorded a basic telling from Creation to Christ in many different tribal
languages. So I looked up the 5Fish app and within a minute downloaded the
Creation to Christ story in his language. When he heard it for the first time,
a huge smile burst across his face and he stood up and started dancing around, he was so excited! He then ran over to his wife who isn’t a believer and put
the phone to her ear so she could hear it too.
Here is another opportunity: discipling Muslim background believers in order to evangelize the unreached.
6 Where does this leave me?
This month I’m traveling around to different Ugandan towns
and refugee camps, speaking to the counties and sharing what the TEE program is
about and what it has to offer, and passing out applications for students and
teachers. I will then need to hire a few teachers and do a training for them.
All in time to hopefully kick off the new TEE program on March 9! Thankfully
God has provided partners in this ministry. My right hand man, Anthony, is South Sudanese
and a trained teacher with a heart for fellow refugees.
TEE is just one of many discipleship and training ministries that is needed in our area. And that is where we’re
at. Realizing these fields are so very ripe for harvest and I’m just me. There are so many opportunities for the gospel here: Discipleship in Arabic, Bible studies with believers, TEE, formal training for Pastors. It is all needs to be done but we need more long-term people to invest their lives and faith here.
Do you know anyone that would get excited about these types
of ministries? Share our blog post. And pray for others to join us.
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| The different camps I'm traveling to (particularly the ones in the east.) |
