Author: Leland Sawyer

Village Work

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IMG_6341The past two Sundays I have had the pleasure and responsibility of standing in the pulpit and speaking on behalf of the mission for village church clusters. Wow!!!

Let me back up…the mission that we work with, New Testament Churches of Christ (NTCC), is connected to about 300 churches all over Uganda. These churches are grouped together into clusters that are near one another, and these clusters come together occasionally for mutual support, worship, encouragement, fundraising and unity. We at the mission office travel to visit churches and clusters in order to strengthen, teach, lead and encourage them. We are partners with them in the work they are doing in their local community. Continue reading →

Visiting the Village

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As many of you know, much of my work will take me into villages around Uganda. I have finally started traveling a little bit with our team. Within the past two weeks, we have made three trips to different areas and churches. Here’s a peak into ministry and life in the village… Continue reading →

Crying Over Old Dishes

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IMG_5920When it comes to emotions, I’ve never been one who is overly expressive. I try to use my words and think/talk it out, but in sadness or joy, tears are few and far between. But I had a weird experience last week unpacking our plates and bowls, and I think there is more to it. Continue reading →

Prayer…the FINAL Frontier!

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I have a confession to make: I don’t pray as much as I wish I did. I don’t pray as fervently as I wish I did. And while I value conversing with the Almighty God, sometimes my actions don’t reflect that. But prayer is at the core of what it means to be a Christian… We have an approachable, involved God that we can interact with (talk to and hear from), who cares what we have going on, and who wants us to pursue Him in all things. There is so much power in prayer because of WHO we pray to! Continue reading →

Living in the Moment…

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IMG_4659In mid-October, we returned to Texas from our cultural training in Colorado and we hit the ground running. Our hope to have a garage sale the weekend we returned was postponed due to severe storms all weekend. But, after some creativity, Continue reading →

So What IS Missionary Training?

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We really had no clue coming into this. We didn’t know what to expect. Our team members in Mbale raved about it but gave us very little details. So we showed up with our car full of stuff, our 2-1/2 year old, and a lost look on our face. And now, near the end of the second week of our training, we are starting to get into a rhythm here. Sort of. Continue reading →

It’s been a BIG, BIG month!!!

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For those of you who don’t receive our monthly e-newsletter, click here to sign up and get all the updates.

Since ALOT has happened this past month, we felt it was worthy of a newsletter and a blog post. We are excited to see how God continues to move.

First of all, we have a rent house in Uganda. I have attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure. The photos are in  order from top left to bottom right: panorama of front/back of house, living room, dining room, kitchen & laundry nook, master bedroom & bathroom, Continue reading →

Signs of Adventure

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IMG_5057My daughter is pure adventurer. That or a klutz. Adalyn runs everywhere. Everywhere. She jumps and plays and runs. And that means she falls. Often. And so she has bruises, scrapes, cuts, bumps, and boo-boos. They happen. IMG_2603And I don’t want my daughter to think that boo-boos are bad or something to be scared of. So one day, I told her that “Boo-boos are signs of adventure.” I don’t know if I made it up or pulled it out of a memory that I had forgotten. But it has stuck in our family. Continue reading →

June Recap…

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It has been an emotional week. Got to attend some of our Nichols Family Reunion and see family I hadn’t seen in years. Marked the two year anniversary since my Pops, Steve Piland, died and all the stories and tears that brings. Moved away from our home of seven years in Belton to take the first major transition towards Uganda. Continue reading →

Thanks to Belton

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It has been an interesting year. And as always, time has flown by. We are at the end of our time here in Belton with under a month left and it’s a bittersweet “see you later.” While we know God has quite an adventure in store for us in Uganda, it is also hard to say goodbye to friends and family who we’ve shared life with for 7 years.

Seniors 2015We celebrated our 2015 graduating seniors this past weekend. We usually give them a hard time when they get emotional because we remind them they have all summer together. But this year is different for us because we won’t have the summer to send them off to their next adventure. And it’s not just the Seniors…it’s the Juniors and Sophomores and Freshmen Continue reading →