More pastors arrived over the next hour and a half and the meeting took about an hour to get past the welcomes, introductions and preliminaries which are so charming in African culture, but which can also be frustratingly slow! Many of the pastors seemed unsure of the purpose of the meeting (a workshop to share ideas and stories) and initially spoke only in generalities. Some seemed overwhelmed by the issues at hand and at the new mindset required to move their churches into 'mission mode' - it all sounded rather familiar... Fred did a great job of trying to keep things on track, as well as getting out of the way at times to allow the local pastors to run the meeting themselves. Eventually we got down to brass tacks, and we got a little more detail and information about the specific initiatives being put into practice, but it feels like this is a long-term process on the part of TAIP who are bringing sophisticated and empowering strategies to this isolated rural area. I shared a little too, and tried to encourage them that TAIP's facilitated programmes really are useful and helpful and cutting edge - rather than trying to do everything for the churches, TAIP is equipping them to use their own God-given local resources to reach people with His love.
The Y.F. struggled with this meeting, mainly because it was hard to comprehend what was going on, but I found it fascinating. The need for locally produced resources for training, Bible study, doctrine and children's work reared its head again and I am resolved to do some research into this area, as it has come up in almost every church we have visited.
 |
| TAIP: bringing hope to poor communities by empowering the local church |
At lunch time we departed for our lodgings once again, and did our final preparations for the child advocacy campaign. The flat-bed truck whihc TAIP were bringing to set up in the main street had been delayed coming from Jinja, and when it did arrive there was trouble with the generator. So there was a lot of waiting around for our slot, which we nevertheless filled with lots of chat and hanging out. Relationships have really grown on this trip - more than I could have hoped. I sometimes feel a surprisingly intense love for these young people - perhaps partly because they have the freshness and inherent beauty which characterises all those in the flush of youth - but also I think it is my pastor's heart.
We finally joined the team at the truck around 6pm, wearing our TAIP Tshirts and brandishing our placards on which were written various individual pressures which young people face today, and which when flipped over, spelled out Phillippians 4:13: "I can face anything through Christ who strengthens me."
200+ children, adults and youth were clustered around the truck, and they listened intently as we sang and shared with them. Kathryn and Sarah both gave powerful testimonies of God's hand at work in their lives and both were applauded by the crowd. They did so well. The generator conked out halfway through Sarah's talk, but she didn't let it faze her, and soon it came back on just in time for us to finish with "Mighty to Save".
It was exhilerating to share Jesus in this way. All felt full of God and full of pleasure at participating in this outreach. It also gave me ideas for back home...
 |
| Child Advocacy campaign gets underway shortly before our slot - we did our bit just as the sun was setting |
A wonderful meal, great conversation and worship and prayer under the stars in the Ugandan sky wound up an amazing evening. Florence Magote shared a word with the young people that something had been born in them during this time - a vision from God that they might not even be able to recognise or articulate, but which was nonetheless going to shape their lives for years to come. It was the perfect, God-given encouragement for the team who have worked so hard and been so open to God's movement in their lives. Praise Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment