Going back and forth between Uganda and America always brings its own quirky challenges. When we return back to our Uganda home, it is always an adjustment to get our house back in order, reconnect with ministry relationships, remembering how to hear / speak Ugandan English again, and just settling back into a different culture. Because we are fully American but live fully in Uganda, sometimes when we travel to and from our two different “homes” we get a bit confused and make the simplest of mistakes. This year coming back to Uganda has brought with it some funny re-learning stories that I shared in a previous blog: Always Learning. After I wrote that blog, I had another funny and humbling experience:
Have you ever thought about the idea of a financially sustainable mission work? I sure have. That’s the dream, right? A mission work that has the capacity to sustain itself financially and continue furthering the Gospel of Jesus without the need for ongoing foreign funds…But is it possible?
That’s the question we are wrestling with as a mission team. Not only do we believe it is possible, but we actually believe it is within reach. One of our major priorities is to be able to sustain the mission work in Mbale, Uganda by using what has already been given to create further ongoing funds for the ministry, plus initial support from partners. And the main priority in this endeavor is to build an apartment building that will provide needed middle class housing in the growing city of Mbale in a convenient location, while giving the mission ongoing funding from right here in Mbale. It may not be 100% sustainable from within (yet), but to be able to provide income that will go directly into the ministry is certainly possible!
The idea of ministry (or mission work) being supported by others is the norm in the modern world, and has been for generations. Truth be told, it has been common since the FIRST missionary was sent: Jesus. When the Father sent Jesus to Earth “to seek and save the lost”, he was supported by several disciples, mostly women. We see this very clearly in Luke 8:1-3 where it says, “They provided financial support for Jesus and his disciples.” Though Jesus did not collect money when He spoke, He also wasn’t 100% self-supporting…he had help from His followers.
It’s hard to believe we have a pre-teen, but it has been such a joy to watch Adalyn grow into the beautiful young woman she is. She’s still a child at heart, but it is a blessing to see how God is molding her to be the woman she will be. We have enjoyed asking her questions each year, and if you’ve been reading them all these years, you’ll see how some of them are the same, and some of them share her heart as she continues to mature. Here are the questions for this year…
Recently, at our National Conference of church leaders from across Uganda, we asked an important question for leaders: “If Jesus is THE Good Shepherd, what does it look like for His people to shepherd others the way He does?” As we try to emulate our Savior, what are the implications for how we lead? If we are to truly be disciplemakers in the Way of Jesus, then this pursuit is essential.
Looking in-depth at John 10:1-18 we can glean much guidance when Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. What qualities and defining characteristics does He point out that we can be sure that we also follow Him in?
Our family has lived in Uganda for almost 9 years, and we are still learning things about the culture, language, people, and different perspectives. In the past, we have shared funny and not so funny mistakes we’ve made in language and culture. It has been a fun journey (most of the time) and we love learning new things as we continue to dive deeper in relationships with people.
With our return after a 2-month visit to the U.S., we have learned even more lessons these past few weeks. I was sitting in the car with a couple of the mission staff, Grace and Peter, while we waited on Leland to visit a church we all couldn’t get to. (That’s a story for another time.) As we were talking, I asked what card game the kids next to us were playing, and Peter said “matatu”. In my understanding, I always used the word matatu to mean “taxi”. As we were talking, Grace and Peter both said that in Uganda, they do not call taxis “matatu”, but that’s the name of the card game. I was surprised and asked them why they never told us, and they said “matatu” is a Swahili word for taxi, so they assumed that’s what we were referring to whenever we would use the word “matatu.” But Ugandans simply call them taxis. After all these years, we just learned that we have been calling the taxis by the wrong name. [FACE PALM]
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” This verse means more to me now that we are doing ministry here in Uganda. Over the last 8 years, it has been amazing to witness the way God is moving in and through the lives of people here. As Leland and I have both mentioned previously, discipleship (making “fishers of men”) has not been an easy road. But Jesus’ call isn’t an easy one. He never promises health and wealth, although that’s often a lie told to people from all backgrounds. He actually says the opposite: that we will be persecuted, mistreated, abused, taken advantage of, scorned, laughed at…we will be tempted and pursued by Satan to discourage us and pull us away from God.
But God is faithful. Jesus is victorious. And we get to see how the Holy Spirit is transforming lives to be more like Jesus here on earth.
My first discipleship group was an emotional and spiritual challenge. The ladies were very spiritually immature, even though they would never admit it (which was part of the problem). They were hoping to get some financial benefit out of being in the group or from being close to me. Even my co-leader left the group once she realized it wasn’t the employment opportunity she was wanting. But I have stayed in contact with the ladies through phone calls, visits, and conferences, and I have watched how God continues to move in their hearts and lives. It may have been at a much slower pace than I wanted, I have seen how God is transforming each of them into who HE wants them to be. I have also experienced how God has been growing me through my relationships with these ladies: in trusting in His timing and in His plans. He has also humbled me, reminding me that I am NOT the one to save them, but Jesus. My job is to disciple them – He will do the rest.
Before moving to Uganda, I had never heard of Steps to Freedom in Christ by Dr. Neil Anderson. And I had never walked through the steps myself to be set free of past hurts, sin, and bondage that I never really realized I still carried. It wasn’t until we moved to Uganda, and I wrestled with my identity, I let insecurities overcome my thoughts, and I started to see the negative impact I was having on my family, friends, and my own spiritual walk. When I started with the first women in discipleship group, I wanted to join and not lead. I was very happy to sit back and watch, letting another very capable missionary lead. But because of different circumstances, and honestly God pushing me, I began leading the group with a Ugandan co-leader. It was hard. It was frustrating. It was ugly. It was GOOD! It was amazing to watch how God transformed these ladies’ lives, and mine as well. It was encouraging to be in His Word, sharing with others who are very different from me but who were also having similar struggles with living out their faith. God was present.
As part of the Discipleship Journey, my co-leader and I meet with one woman at a time to go through Steps of Freedom. It’s an intense time of sharing, confessing, prayer, and proclaiming God’s Truth. It’s powerful and we have seen God overcome so much in each of the women’s lives time and time again. It’s not an easy day together, but it is so beautiful to see the freedom each woman receives. I also walked through the steps myself before I led the ladies through the process (“you cannot lead where you do not go”), and it was amazing to see how God revealed things in my life that needed to be dealt with. It is also amazing to see how the Holy Spirit continues to work in my life to change me.
We have lived in Uganda for more than 8 years. It’s the longest time we have lived anywhere since we’ve been married. We came to Uganda in our early 30s with a “just turned 3-year old” toddler. I can look back on the transition and think of what a mess it was. It was intense! Yet God was SO faithful in everything: from our financial support, prayer team, overseeing church, families’ blessings, and even our belongings being shipped across the world to arrive in Africa the same day we landed in Uganda (which is truly crazy and amazing all at the same time). We had great teammates who let us stay with them for a few weeks while we made adjustments to get our house ready for us to move into. They let us process the LONG days of culture experiences; they let us ask a million questions about life here; they fed us because there were rats in our oven; they let us vent when we didn’t understand what was really go on in a cultural situation; they drove us places while we sorted out getting vehicles; they celebrated with us when things went well; they helped us transition to our new life here.
We are regularly asked what curriculum we use for making disciples. Many people are eager to know (and try) a curriculum that we use here, with a set of lessons and a timeframe. But that question is always a tricky-one for us to answer because we try NOT to use a curriculum; instead, we try to build relationships. When we look at the example of Jesus, we see Him calling men and women to follow Him. Then He is intentional in those relationships; working in the relationships to grow them spiritually and into His image. This is central for us: If we want to make disciples of Jesus for Jesus, then we also want to make disciples like Jesus; in the same ways he did.
Throughout life, there are always things that make you smile. Hopefully, you smile often. Every day life gets busy, but it’s the little things throughout the day that often bring us joy. Someone wise told me that we should put things in our home that bring us joy. When we see those items, they make us smile. I have some colored glass and sun catchers hanging in windows; I love little succulents; we have family and friend photos (and Christmas cards) as well as artwork on the wall reminding us of where we’ve been; we have rocking chairs that my dad made for us on our back porch, and so many other little things that make our home “home“. These little things are always there, but when I take the time to remember to look, they make me smile.
Sawyers In Uganda 