It’s no secret that we love to travel! We make it a priority for our family to save for traveling, plus we often celebrate birthdays and holidays with travel experiences instead of gifts. We never imagined we would get to travel on this side of the world, so it’s been fun and exciting to experience new cultures and ways of life. Australia has always been on our “travel bucket list” but towards the bottom, not because we didn’t want to go, but because we never imagined it would be possible. So when the opportunity arose and the funds became available, we decided there was NO better time to visit Australia (and New Zealand) than Summer 2023 when they were hosting the Women’s World Cup. We would be able to watch some soccer games as we explore two new countries on a new continent. But Australia isn’t very close, and it’s not so cheap…
Continue readingStories
Australia & New Zealand 2023
We had three weeks to explore 1 continent and 2 countries, with Australia alone being as large as the continental United States. So needless to say, we did not see everything, but we did do A LOT!
Let me give you the highlights of our trip…
We arrived in Aukland, New Zealand and started with the U.S. versus Vietnam Women’s World Cup game (WWC games were on the top of Adalyn’s to-do list). The U.S. won and it was such a fun and friendly environment. We then drove down to Wellington, New Zealand for the second U.S. game against the Netherlands. We stopped along the way to see glow worms in Watomo Caves and Hobbiton (the movie set location used for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film trilogy). We also went zip lining in the forest (another favorite of Adalyn) and went to a cultural experience about the Maori people. It is always fun for us to engage with and learn about new cultures, plus try new foods. We drove through Mount Tongariro National Park where it snowed on us, we got a glimpse of “Mount Doom” and we hiked to “Gollum’s Pool” (again from Lord of the Rings trilogies).
One by One Makes a Bundle
There is a Luganda proverb which says: “Kamu kamu gwe muganda,” which means “One by one makes a bundle.” The idea is that a bundle, or large amount of something, is actually just a collection of one item repeatedly; this idea creates the mentality that we don’t have to accomplish BIG goals all at one time, but rather can build up one step at a time. Brick by brick; step by step.
This is the idea of Village Savings & Loans groups…that everyday, ordinary people here in Uganda (and across the developing world) can drastically improve their livelihoods and sustainability if they’ll do it one small step at a time. Village Savings & Loans groups, or VSLs, gather local community members together for the purpose of small-scale savings and loans. Because the vast majority of people in developing economies do not have access to banks, they don’t have access to savings accounts or bank loans which enable upward economic mobility. But VSLs brings those things into the community, working within relational contexts and pre-existing social structures to further a community together. This is not only a realistic approach, but it is also one that works in the culture of Uganda where relationships are at the center of life. It has the added benefit of being Christ-centered and Biblically-oriented, empowering each group member to be a Godly steward of what has been entrusted to him or her AND restoring human dignity by recognizing the value and giftedness of each group member.
Continue readingSawyer Family Farm
Since we moved to Uganda in 2016, we have often used the phrase “I never imagined I would say/do/have…” and we have learned a lot over the last 7+ years. One of the main things that has surprised us is the large garden we have at our house. With both of us being “city” people, garden and farming were never in our vocabulary.
We started with a few small beds of fruits and vegetables that we couldn’t get in Uganda, and we have expanded our garden to have many options. We grow our own sweet corn, colored bell peppers, jalapeños, lettuce, squash of different types, tomatillos, sweet potatoes, strawberries, cantaloupe, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and green onions. We have banana trees, mulberry/blackberry bushes, jackfruit tree, avocado tree, mango tree, and orange trees. We also grow local foods like beans, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and greens to share with our neighbors. It has been a blessing to be able to make meals out of the vegetables from our garden, and to share our abundance with friends around us. It is certainly not something we imagined we’d do with some of our time, but we continue to expand our family farm.
Continue readingWhy Disciplemaking is SO Important
What is a disciple? Is it different than a convert? What do I mean when I say discipleship or disciplemaking?
One of the things we have felt over the past several years is a constant need to DEFINE terms and clarify what we mean by them; what the Bible means by them. It comes from a belief that the words we say and use have real impact only when there is a shared and clear understanding of what those words mean. When I would ask my father-in-law, “What color is that stop-light?” he would automatically say, “They are all green.” He was color-blind, so he had never seen colors through my eyes and we didn’t have a common understanding of what each color was.
Similar things have happened here in Uganda. When we moved here seven years ago, we thought we had a great understanding of the English language…boy, were we wrong?!?! Words we always knew to mean one thing suddenly had a very different meaning, both in Uganda and in other parts of the world. Even our British friends question our English so much that we have stopped saying that we speak English, rather that our family’s heart language is “Texan” and we are learning English.
Continue reading“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…”
Matthew 28:19-20 have been some of our key scriptures in the work we do in Uganda. After Jesus’ resurrection, He commands his disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is the call for every follower of Jesus, whether around the world in a different culture or in your own home, workplace, neighborhood, or village. We are all called to make disciples of Jesus.
Continue readingTraining and Equipping for Ministry
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!
On the Journey – TOGETHER
Marriage is such an important institution in all of human history. And in Scripture, it is the ONLY time that “two become one.” It is a permanent union between a man and a woman all the way back to creation itself. It is a covenant we make with one another. It is an image of the Trinity. It is a metaphor of Christ and His Church. It is beautiful and bears good fruit. And it takes work and effort.
Continue readingLife and Ministry with Covid-19
All of us are too familiar with the struggles over the past few years and the lasting impact that Covid-19 has had on our world. Churches have experienced more change in the past few years than any other period during my lifetime. Here in Uganda, so many aspects of everyday life and ministry were completely halted or altered. But not EVERYTHING! Some aspects of ministry thrived during Covid-19. Some began to bear even more fruit!
This is my friend Alex. He is a pastor of a local church about an hour south of Mbale, where we live. He gives a powerful testimony about the importance and necessity for making disciples that make disciples. And he shares how that greatly impacted his church and community over the past three years.
Continue readingBIG December!!!
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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Sawyers In Uganda 