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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October 2021
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