Stories

Boys Becoming Men Through Disciplemaking

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

Recently I read that “The church doesn’t just exist to make disciples. We also exist to bring those disciples to maturity” (Deeper Walk by Marcus Warner). This concept has been a driving force for us as a mission for more than a decade, and has been at the heart of our family’s ministry since we began. We were never called by Jesus to merely make converts, but rather to disciple people into maturity…mature disciples was Jesus’ goal, and it continues to be our goal as His Church.

Earlier this year, me and Peter (a coworker at the Mbale Mission) decided that something MORE was needed to help the young men at the city church grow into deeper maturity in their faith. So we prayed for the young men and decided to invite them into a weekly disciplemaking group. From that first meeting, we have been open with them about the serious commitment that spiritual growth requires of each of us, and that begins with making the time and opportunity a priority: meeting at 8am on Sunday morning for late-teen and twenty-something guys is NOT easy to do in any culture. But that’s the standard we set before them!

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Relationship, NOT a Class

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

Jesus was a disciplemaker! Sure, He was a teacher, healer, miracle worker, resurrecter, rebel-rouser, and troublemaker, too. But first and foremost, when you comb through the pages which describe Jesus’ life, He was a disciplemaker. He was a RELATIONAL disciplemaker.

Jesus spent the majority of His time in ministry, for three years, creating, strengthening, and intentionally utilizing relationships in order to make disciples who will, eventually, make disciples. He would preach and teach in synagogues and hillsides, but in-between formal teaching times he would go to weddings, have meals, travel by foot, take boat rides, and many other things of everyday life. It is in these times that we see Jesus make use of His greatest tool to make disciplemakers – intentional relationships. He took full advantage of these times to share truths about God’s Kingdom, God’s nature, the Holy Spirit, His coming crucifixion and resurrection, Kingdom priorities, and so much more.

As people and leaders who follow Jesus, we look at His way of doing ministry. I heard once, “If you want to see the teachings of Jesus with the results of Jesus, then you better use the methods of Jesus.” So as disciplemakers in our homes, communities, and Uganda, we strive to focus our energy on intentional disciplemaking relationships.

What’s the difference between teaching a class and relational disciplemaking?

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It’s Time to Grow Up!

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

That was the theme at the Leaders’ Conference 2025. We gathered with 150 church leaders from 68 churches from across Eastern Uganda to focus on what God has in store and in mind for us as leaders. And we chose to focus on Ephesians 4…and boy, did it hit home!

Ephesians 4 is such a powerful chapter where Paul is talking with this group of leaders and a church that he has a close, personal relationship (as we see in Acts 20). These are people whom he has poured out his heart, mind, and life. He begins the book of Ephesians giving God glory and thanks for all the growth and faith of the Ephesian church: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:15-16) Paul is encouraged by their faith, but he still wants to urge them – to push them – into something deeper and more mature. He begins from chapter 1 praying that they “may know him better” (1:17) and that God will strengthen them to “have power to grasp” the immeasurable love of God (3:18) in order that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (3:19). Paul is praying some POWERFUL prayers for his friends in Ephesus.

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Partners in Ministry

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

We are always so blessed when people visit Uganda to see the ministry here. Not only do we get the opportunity to show them how God is at work for His kingdom in a variety of ways (from disciplemaking in villages to community development projects to bible studies in churches to conferences and trainings and so much more) but we also get the opportunity to share our life with people. And answer questions about our everyday life that is so different than what our life was like in America.

At the end of June, we were blessed with 15 men and women, ranging in age from 14 years old to adult (we won’t mention ages), from Quaker Avenue Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas. This is a special trip because of the history Quaker Avenue has with the mission work in Uganda. It’s the founding church who sent the first missionaries here to Mbale to start the work with New Testament Churches of Christ thirty years ago, which is the organization from where all the various ministries have come from (Messiah Theological School, Livingstone International University, Tyler Homeschool Cooperative, Good News Production – Mbale branch), and of course what the work is doing now with disciplemaking and church leader development.

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Adalyn’s Baptism

/ Gina Sawyer / 2 Comments

Adalyn made the decision to be baptized last month – May 28th, 2025! We are so thankful for her growing faith and for her commitment! We are so thankful for salvation given to us from Christ’s sacrifice! And we are so thankful we were able to share the event with close friends. Adalyn shares about her baptism and what it all means to her…

It all began when I started asking questions about baptism before we went to Israel two years ago. We discussed what it means to be baptized and what following Jesus means. I was still unsure whether or not I was ready to commit my life to Jesus, but going to Israel really encouraged me. I went to the places that Jesus talked about baptism and where Jesus talked about what it meant to follow him. Honestly, I don’t remember a lot of the specific conversations that happened on that trip but I remember being moved to think and pray more about baptism. In the discussions that I had with my parents, my dad gave me something to think about: “Why now?” And my reply was, “So that I can share The Gospel and the love of God while I still am in Uganda.”

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Women’s DiscipleMaking

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

It is exciting to see how God’s kingdom continue to expand not just with pastors and men, but also with women. Since 2018, there have been three women’s discipleship groups that have concluded their meetings, and there are two women’s discipleship groups that are currently meeting in two different villages with women from area churches in the same cluster. These clusters are made up of area churches who come together for encouragement and helping one another.

At the end of April, the first two women discipleship groups met together for a time of prayer, encouragement, and spurring on one another to making disciplemakers. These groups started in 2018 and 2019, so we moved together through two Covid-related lockdowns and restrictions that delayed our group meetings, extending our time together for more than three years. It was a challenging journey for both groups, and we completed the groups unsure how the ladies would take disciplemaking to their churches and villages.

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A Little Glimpse of Heaven

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about living in Uganda is hearing the many different languages. While sometimes it’s a little overwhelming to be surrounded by languages I don’t understand, I am reminded of how diverse our world really is. When I hear other people praying to God in their native tongue or are singing worship to our God in a variety of languages, it makes me think of heaven.

This world has so many different people, cultures, and languages. What an amazing God we have to create so many unique people! And while sometimes we get distracted by our differences, it is so refreshing to share the unity in Christ when I come together with brothers and sisters in Uganda and recognize there are so many amazing things we can celebrate about one another.

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Highs & Lows of Mission Work

/ Leland Sawyer / 1 Comment

I remember when I used to play high school football in Texas. Every Saturday I was a different person because every Friday held its own highs and lows. Many times, my family didn’t want to spend time with me the Saturday after a Friday night loss because I was a different person. It’s silly now, but they were right: my identity was wrapped up in what happened in the Friday night lights, so the high or low greatly impacted my Saturday (and often Sundays).

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Disciples Expectations

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

At the beginning of 2024, I asked the discipleship ladies to write down their expectations – how they wanted God to be moving in their lives, in their families, in their churches, and in their communities. When I looked at the expectations, they were common prayers I had heard before: they wanted God to help them by providing school fees for their children, provide ways for them to pay off loans or get money for various needs – seeds for the garden, building a home, etc. These were – and continue to be – ongoing needs, but my hope for these ladies was different. I wanted them to seek God for more than just physical needs. In a country of poverty, there will always be these needs.

So at the beginning of 2025, I asked them to reflect on what they had written in 2024, and prayerfully write down their expectations for how they wanted God to be moving in their lives, in their families, in the churches, and in their communities for this upcoming year. And man, was I blown away….

The expectations are so different than in 2024, and it’s a testimony to the spiritual growth and maturity I have seen in each of them this past year. What these ladies wrote down gave me chills. I am excited about how God will work in their lives and use them in 2025 because they are open and seeking Him.

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We Can Do Hard Things

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

Over Christmas break, our family took a trip to Indonesia, and we spent 4 days trekking in the Sumatra jungle. Why, you ask? In hopes to see orangutans in the wild, as well as some other wild animals. We did see orangutans and their babies, several different types of monkeys and lots of leeches (which we were NOT expecting). The trek was HARD! I have never done anything this hard before. I’ve hiked mountains in Colorado, Utah, Dominican Republic and Uganda, I live in Africa, I’ve had a baby, I’ve had lots of adventures… But I have never experienced anything THIS hard. I don’t usually push my body to its limits; that just doesn’t sound enjoyable to me. Some of you thrive on intense challenges, so this post is not for you. 😉

So when Day 1 started with steep climbs up a mountain and then steep climbs down another mountain, and up and down again, it was intense! Then rain poured down on us for several hours as we were trying to climb down the mountain to our campsite. We were carrying all our clothes and things for camping in backpacks of about 25+ pounds, and they were soaked! Everything was soaked! When we got to camp while it was still pouring rain, I tried to hang out all our wet stuff in a cramped space with 6 people in one tent area to air it out some. I thought I had reached my limit. I was exhausted, smelly, soaking wet, and overwhelmed with the day… I wanted to quit. We still had 3 more days of this, and I wasn’t sure I could make it.

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