Summer Visitors

/ Gina Sawyer / Leave a comment

This summer has been full of visitors. It’s the first post-Covid summer that people are back in full swing of international travel, so we were blessed to host many friends over the last couple months.

The first visitor came at the end of May. We had the pleasure of having one of the mission founders, Shawn Tyler, stay with us for a week while he was visiting in Mbale. We enjoyed a village church visit, meeting and reconnecting with the mission staff, and organizing three separate village seminars teaching on the importance of the Lord’s Supper. In all, we taught over 210 church leaders from 51 churches the relational, Biblical, and practical aspects of taking the Lord’s Supper together as a church family.

After his visit, Ryan Hayes (former missionary to Malawi) and Blazio Styford (his Malawian teammate) came to Mbale to conduct a training for village churches interested in forming Village Savings & Loans groups. We had over 140 participants in the sensitizations meeting and 47 churches signed up for further training.

Continue reading →

One by One Makes a Bundle

/ Leland Sawyer / 2 Comments

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 reading →

Re-Learning English

/ Gina Sawyer / 2 Comments

When we moved to Uganda, we were happy to know that the official language is English. And while there are more than 70 different tribal/local languages, English is common. But the funny thing that we realized after spending time here is that it’s not the same English we are used to speaking. It turns out we speak American, or more precisely, Texan. So we have had to learn to speak “English” with a Ugandan accent and different words / phrases. For fun, we thought we’d share some words and phrases that may be new to you but are everyday language for us (NOW):

Continue reading →

Sawyer Family Farm

/ Gina Sawyer / 1 Comment

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 reading →

Why Disciplemaking is SO Important

/ Leland Sawyer / 2 Comments

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 →

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.

Continue reading →

2023…New Year, New Opportunities

/ Leland Sawyer / Leave a comment

As a New Year is upon us (beginning year number eight for our family in Uganda), we are off and running towards the work that the Lord has put before us. Last year was such an encouraging and challenging year, and as we look back on it we can see how God provided for many things throughout. If you haven’t read the reflection on 2022, I would encourage you to go HERE first.

Once we know where we are coming from and where we want to go, we can clearly try to plot the course for the upcoming year. We have spent the past two months clarifying some of our 2023 ministry, personal, and family goals, and I want to take a minute to share those with you here:

Continue reading →

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….

Continue reading →

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.)

Continue reading →

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…”

/ Gina Sawyer / 2 Comments

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 reading →