We're still catching up on ministry updates, but one of the big things from the past three months was the final semester of the Bishop Lee Theological College (BLR). As you may remember, BLR is a theological school started by our partner church to provide a 2-year certificate course for Lay Readers (lay men and women who are given the authority and responsibility to lead and pastor a sub-parish, under the direction of a parish priest). Marianne has been teaching English to the students, and Michael has been teaching Community Health Empowerment (CHE) as the Development Studies component -- together with Rev. Patrick and the CHE Facilitators. This year was more challenging than past years, as we also had to juggle caring for Elias, but we continue to be encouraged by our involvement with the college. One of the highlights of the term was introducing Elias to the students and staff of BLR. Another highlight was helping the college to expand their limited library. In March of this year, when we returned to Uganda from Canada, we brought a box of donated books. In October we were excited to be able to connect the college with SPCK, who provided a full box of new theology textbooks including Bible commentaries and books on systematic theology, preaching, pastoral counseling, and so much more. The students are very short of books and other resources, so we're glad to see that the school is getting the tools they need to teach and develop the students and curriculum. And on November 13th we had 16 students graduate -- only the second graduating class of this new college. It was a joyous day (as Acholi events always are!), and it was a very long service, too (also common in Acholi events!). Two of the students were not yet wedded (meaning they were traditionally married but not yet church married), so there was a confirmation service and a mass wedding for three couples in addition to the graduation ceremony. The school still has a lot of room to grow, but we continue to be so excited to see the church taking the initiative to train their church leaders. This is a key need that we have seen here in Northern Uganda, so we're delighted to be a part of helping this school achieve it's vision.
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Here's our latest newsletters, to all our dear friends and family keeping tabs on us and interesting in what God is doing here in Pader and the surrounding area!
We've entitled this issue "A Hop, Skip, and a Jump" because we "hopped, skipped, and jumped" over our last newsletter, which on a once-in-two-months schedule, should have been in October. Hope you are encouraged! Last year Marianne acted as the chaplain at Pader Girls’ Academy (PGA), because their chaplain abruptly left after getting an opportunity to continue his education. Marianne really enjoyed mentoring and teaching the girls, and it was a fruitful time of ministry as well: about 60 girls gave their lives to Christ early in the school year, and it was a time of focusing on discipleship and growing roots in their faith. However it was never intended that Marianne would permanently take the role of chaplain, so this year she stepped away from the role and the school looked for a replacement. PGA still doesn’t have a fulltime paid chaplain but this year the role was filled by Concy (pictured left), who is the Mistress of the Scripture Union (the Christian students’ club). So Marianne began a mentoring relationship with Concy, meeting with her weekly and helping with some of the activities and issues that arose. It has been very gratifying to get to know Concy, and to see her grow throughout the year in both her own faith and in the role as chaplain. She has a real heart for the girls, and is extremely dedicated to them and their spiritual growth and physical wellbeing, and she has had a real hunger to grow in her own spiritual walk. She has also become a good friend. Just recently, she gave Marianne a gift of some of her crops that she harvested. She patiently taught Marianne how to wash the sand out of the millet and dry it in the sun. Next week, they will go to the grinding machine together! From time to time, Marianne still gets to visit the school and share with the girls. Recently Marianne joined them to celebrate the Scripture Union handover, as the student leaders handed over to the leadership for next year, and last Sunday Marianne preached on one of their last Sundays in the school year. Working with Concy behind the scenes to help build up the Scripture Union is important to us. We have heard so many testimonies from mature adult believers who have told us that they either became Christians or became rooted in their faith through Scripture Union in secondary school (a.k.a. high school). And in a number of schools, where many or all of the students are boarding students, these clubs act essentially as a student-led church with a Sunday service, choir practice, and mid-week Bible sharing. This year we continued to be involved in supporting the Scripture Union club at Pader Girls’ School, and we introduced the Understanding True Love course at Lagwai Seed Secondary School and Archbishop Flynn Secondary School, because we really see that these groups are an important part of cultivating and discipling the new generation of church members and leaders. Next year we hope to expand our work, even hiring a new staff person to head our school discipleship activities, so we really pray that these groups will continue to grow and thrive!
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October 2021
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