Here is a story I hope you will enjoy: These men are all pastors in our sister church in Uganda, Obadiah Lutheran Synod.
At the request of OLS, I led them in learning from September 2–13. We met in the Bugiri District of southeastern Uganda, just north of the Equator.
The brothers came from various tribes, including Acholi, Bagwere, Banyora, Basoga, Luo, and Nuer. Isn’t that a good story, all on its own?
They are from various Ugandan regions. One of the youngest men came from a refugee camp. Some of the pastors are inexperienced. Some have had lots of formal training. But they are united in faith and purpose. They love God’s Word.
They all speak English too. That helped me a lot.
For eleven mornings and afternoons, we met in this tent. We also broke into various groups near the tent for discussions and projects.
These visitors to our learning tent do not speak English, but they were also welcome.
One great part of the course story: This was the first taught by an American missionary like me. The July course OLS leaders taught. The same will happen in December, God willing.
Here is Pastor Nick, the dean of students. The acronym behind him is a sermon outline. ISLAGOR, he told us, stands for “Introduction, story, law, gospel, response.”
We began each day with worship. Here is an example. Philip, an Acholi pastor with his back to the camera, is leading.
The pastors especially learned about Jesus as true God and as true man. They practiced witnessing God’s grace in Christ to non-Christian neighbors and family members, especially Muslims. As the group kept saying, “We have a better story.”
That was the theme of our course, as we discussed the whole Gospel according to John. “We have a better story.”
Here is Pastor Joseph telling the rest of the group his story. He and his wife have eight children. He loves to laugh.
That is not the best part of the story. He used to be a Muslim. Now he is not only a Christian, he is a Lutheran pastor.
All of the pastors made plans to preach and teach from John in the future.
On the last day of the course, all recited a section of John in his heart language. Some told the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11:17–45. (We have a better story!)
Some of us shared from memory the story of Jesus rising from the dead in John 20.
To check out the same Gospel according to John videos from the Lumo Project which we watched over the two weeks we were together, go to this YouTube playlist (It’s the New International Version. Lumo has Luganda too.)
It was emotional for me on the last day to recite to all the other pastors John 20. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs which are not recorded in this book,” John concludes.
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).
We have the best story to share.
Missionary Dan Witte and his wife Debbie live in Lusaka, Zambia.
Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa
