Reflection

Reunited DiscipleMakers

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

This month I had the pleasure of reuniting with the first women’s discipleship group. This was the first time we were all together to share and spend quality time with one another since we concluded our meetings at the end of 2021. I have made phone calls to each of the ladies throughout the year and we worshipped together at the women’s conference in December 2022, but this was the first time we were ALL TOGETHER to share what God has been doing through and in each of us over the past year.

We started the morning together in praise and worship. It was a beautiful time to worship and thank God for our time together and for watching over us while we were apart. We shared challenges from the past year and how the Lord had stood with us throughout the year. We shared ways we could be continuing to pray for one another, both personally and in regards to making disciples. While each of these women has different challenges, styles, and ways they are discipling others, the confidence I saw in them was truly a testament to the Holy Spirit working in their hearts.

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7-Year Ugandaversary

/ Gina Sawyer / 4 Comments

We are happy to celebrate 7 years of living in Uganda. It is hard to believe it has been that long, and at the same time, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long at all. Like any place, there are things that frustrate us, but there are also many things we love about living here. There are many things we count as blessings and there are many things that make us shake our head and laugh. It’s a fun mix, and God is always faithful in reminding us that He’s got us.

So with that being said, We want to share some fun everyday life items with you….

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2022 Recap – A Year at Warp Speed

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

What a year it has been! Having now celebrated Christmas in Uganda, we are taking the time to reflect on the past year – personally, as a family, and as a ministry. A New Year will bring NEW opportunities, but first, let’s look back on a great year…

Discipleship Groups – At the end of 2021, both Gina and I finished meeting regularly with our discipleship groups. Those groups had been meeting for more than three years (thanks to Covid lockdowns) and we were ready to launch into new groups. The other women’s discipleship group met throughout 2022 and finished their meetings in November 2022. We have now completed 4 discipleship groups of men and 2 of women, plus one more co-ed group. Those are in addition to the 12 groups we have walked with in MTI. In total, we have discipled over 120 men and women to be passionate disciples of Jesus and to be make disciples in their churches, communities, families, and villages. In September, we also began new groups – Gina with a group of women and Leland with a group of men. We are seeing the fruits of disciplemaking and spiritual growth in many of these churches, and we thank the Lord for this focus. (Click HERE for more.)

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Training and Equipping for Ministry

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

Last Saturday, November 19th, we were thrilled to celebrate and mark the 21st Graduation of our theological school, Messiah Theological Institute (MTI). We had 27 graduates completing the training that began back in April. It was a day full of celebration, congratulations, singing, dancing, and joy. And it marked the completion of these students commitment. It was a really good day!

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Reflection on Spiritual Growth

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

Since we have been in Uganda, we have used this graphic to talk with discipleship groups about their spiritual journey and where they may be on this path to spiritual development in regards to truly following Jesus. Like many Christians, they immediately said they were spiritual young adults or parents because of age, how long they have been a Christian, etc. But as we continue through the journey together, they start to recognize their spiritual immaturity and the real conversations start to happen. These men and women start sharing how they have grown over the time we have been meeting together, and we have seen spiritual growth in them as well.

But something else happened to me… As I was walking through the different development stages with the women’s discipleship group and we were discussing the “Spiritual Child”, I realized I was in this phase for most of my ministry in the U.S. I never would’ve made this realization if I hadn’t walked through this journey with the discipleship ladies.

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Looking Back on 2021

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

As you are aware, 2021 was another “different” year. We continued to balance the important ministry God has for us here with concern for safety, health, and making wise decisions. Ministry, as well as everyday living, continued to take on new forms on a regular basis. Here are some highlights from 2021:

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BIG December!!!

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

Wow, December has been such a busy and great month. November was too…but that was last month. Today, we’re focused on December!

The first week of December was our theological classes, MTI. This was the first time since May that we’ve been able to have full classes, due to lockdown and Covid restrictions, so we were overjoyed about the opportunity. We had a total of 30 students come for teaching, discipling, and sharing.

During the week of MTI, our family also had some celebrations. Adalyn has been taking a dance class from a missionary here in Mbale since September. They worked so hard over the past few months, even overcoming practice cancellations due to Covid, to put together a lovely Christmas Dance Program. In all, there were 12 dance routines, six of which Adalyn participated. She went into dance a little reluctant, but in the end, she thoroughly enjoyed it! She persevered and reaped the blessings! It was also really fun for us to watch our beautiful little girl shine and enjoy something that isn’t usually her cup-of-tea.

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Unique Community

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

One aspect of missionary life that I was not anticipating is the close-knit community that surrounds us here in Mbale, Uganda. Not only do we live among like-minded people serving God through different ministries here, but we all are away from our home cultures and need to rely on each other for life stuff. Whether it’s celebrating Thanksgiving together, helping a family who needs medical treatment, someone who has to leave unexpectedly, or having a pool party to celebrate the end of the school year, it is a beautiful thing called COMMUNITY. And while being a close-knit community also has challenges, we are thankful because not all missionaries have community like we do. And not all people have relationships that are connected through the desire to follow God to wherever He calls.

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Lockdown, Take 2

/ Gina Sawyer / 2 Comments
2020 Lockdown

We can all agree that 2020 was a crazy year, and for us personally, 2021 wasn’t looking any better with my dad’s death, an unexpected ice storm that affected my travel, getting back to life in Uganda amidst the pandemic, A LOT of house repairs needed, and ministry struggles. But things seemed to be settling down…

Just in time for another lockdown. While the U.S. and Europe has a large population of people who are vaccinated, there are many countries around the world that don’t have vaccines. In Uganda, we were watching as Kenya and other surrounding countries were struggling with the new Covid variant from India, but Uganda seemed to be okay. Uganda has been okay throughout the Covid situation with no real explanation.

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Same storm, different boats

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

I have seen this meme or image around lately, and while it’s mainly talking about Covid-19 and all that this past year entails, I think it also speaks volumes about our life in general. We are all in the same ocean or storm, depending on which image you see, but we are all in different boats. Meaning, we do not all live with the same status, same education, same wealth, same abilities. We each live in different and unique circumstances. We all have different life stories, wounds, struggles, and perspectives.

The biggest impact from this image came also from the quote “we may not all be in the same boat but we’re sailing the same storm. Some may be in a yacht, some in a canoe, some in a dinghy, and some may be drowning. So just be kind and help whoever you can.” Be kind. Help whoever you can. That is so true, for life in general. We don’t truly know what someone is going through, so that annoying student, that unhelpful salesperson, that angry coworker, the unfair boss, that rude neighbor, that homeless person on the street, that struggling shopkeeper, and the list goes on…. We don’t know the situation they are going through and we are called to be kind, showing love because that’s what Jesus did when he saw people hurting or when people were hurling insults at Him. He was LOVE. He is LOVE. We are called to love.

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