Saturday, June 29.
Final thoughts.
Here are some of my thoughts and reflections on this year's trip to Uganda.
Uganda hasn't changed much over the last couple of years. There is a little more construction and property/home improvements than I observed last year. Still, most everything looked pretty much the same.
Mum's Resort Hotel? What can I say? It's not a Marriott or a Hilton, but its clean, safe, and the food is fairly good. It does need some painting and fixing up. They have added a covered walkway to the attached conference center that they were building the first time we stayed there. The food is basically the same. It's OK, but not something that you would write home about. It still amazes me that most of the items that are on the menu they do not actually have?? The biggest problem we had was with their internet service. We were constantly having problems in logging on to their network. After Wednesday, I was never able to log-in using my iphone? I keep telling myself that its Uganda and I need to be patient. On a positive note, we did not lose power at the hotel at any time during our stay there. That's definitely a good thing.
Iganga hasn't changed much either. It is still dirty and dusty, crowded, and there's lots of garbage and trash in and along the streets.
The drive from Kampala to Iganga is much the same, but they did have some construction going on in several places along the way to patch and repair some of the worst spots. The big trucks and the diesel fumes are still bad.
The streets in Kampala are still very crowded, especially in the mornings and afternoons. The pollution is still terrible, but I found it is not as bad as what I experienced in Yangon, Myanmar. The road to Entebbe from Kampala is still very crowded and bumper to bumper most of the way.
Even though, I did not see much a change in Uganda, I am excited about this nation and what I see that God has in store for His church there. We now have found a leader (Pastor Daniel) that we can work with and who has the same vision as we do to invest in and develop leaders who will truly lead like Jesus.
I am really excited about the next three (3) years and can hardly wait to see the progress that these sixteen men and women will make as we continue to work with them and help them grow as leaders. Luke and I have a lot to do before next year to re-look and tweak some of the things we did this year and to put together the materials and lessons for next year as we focus on the Apprentice level and one-on-one leadership.
I feel deep down in my heart that we are onto something big that God is wanting to do in Uganda and in Africa. He is working there within His people and things are moving. I am truly thankful that He is letting me be a small part of it.
Please continue to pray for Luke and I, for Pastor Daniel and these sixteen leaders, that we will all be faithful to the commitment that we have made and that through this effort many more men and women will rise up who will become leaders who lead like Jesus and that Uganda, Africa, and the world will be impacted for Christ. May it be so Lord Jesus!
Thanks so much for your prayers of support and words of encouragement.
Blessings to you and to yours!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, June 29, 2013
The final leg of the journey
Friday, June 28.
I am writing this from the comfort of my home in Lexington. I rested yesterday after I came home from jury duty orientation that I was required to attend. I am glad to be home. The old saying is true..."there's no place like home."
My return flight from Uganda started out very good. I had no problem checking in at the Entebbe airport, getting through all the security checks along the way (2 checks in Entebbe, one in Brussels, and one in Chicago), or being able to make all the connections. That was until....I arrived in Chicago. After going through customs and the TSA security station, I got on the tram and easily found my gate and sat down to check my email for the first time in almost two days and get ready to fly the last leg of my journey. The plane was on time and it looked like everything was going smoothly.
Several minutes before we started to board, I received a message on my phone from my ABC36 Weather app that there was a severe thunderstorm watch for Lexington and surrounding area. I opened up the weather map on the phone and it did show a line of storms in Louisville and I reasoned that if our flight departed on time we should have no trouble arriving ahead of the storm. I even texted Luke back and forth a couple of times and told him that I hoped and prayed that his 11 pm flight to Lexington would depart and arrive without any delays or problems.
We boarded the plane right on schedule. They did take a few extra minutes to reload some of the baggage in order to level the load but we still pulled away from the gate ahead of schedule. We started towards the runway and just before pulling to the final position where we could take off, the plane came to a halt. We sat there almost 15 minutes and not one word from the cockpit. Meanwhile, ten or so planes came around us and took off. I knew then something was wrong.
The pilot came on the intercom and explained the problem. He told us that we were being delayed due to storms that were now moving towards the Lexington area and would be returning to the gate. I thought OK, this will be alright and they will send us on our way after whatever storm moves through. But, as luck would have it, didn't work out.
An interesting note - in less than a minute after the pilot told us that our flight had been delayed, I turned on my phone and when I did, a text message from United Airlines popped up telling me that our flight had been delayed! When I downloaded their app last year I had signed up for flight alerts. I was surprised how quickly I got the text message. Technology can be amazing!
Once we got to the gate, the flight attendant told us that the wait would be a long one and that they wanted us to de-board the plane and wait in the terminal. So, we gathered all our stuff and went back inside. It wasn't five minutes later that we received a message on the intercom saying that our flight had been cancelled!! We were then directed to go to the customer service desk that was down the concourse and they would help us rebook on another flight. Again, almost immediately afterwards, I got another text message saying that our flight was cancelled. By that time, I wasn't too happy with United Airlines.
All fifty seven of us on the flight walked down to the customer service desk. The line was incredibly long. There must have been 250 or so in the line when we got there. It was about 15-20 minutes later, while standing in line, I received an email from United. It was a notification that I had automatically been rebooked for a flight on Thursday, June 27th at 9:30 pm. My first thought was that this was pretty neat and felt good about it. But, as I started to think more about it, I realized that I would have to wait for over 24 hours before boarding a plane for home!! This was not going to be good, especially since I had to report for jury duty at 9 am on Thursday! I had already requested and been approved to delay my jury duty from April to July and I did not want to ask for another extension.
After being in line for about 45 minutes or so, a customer service lady came walking down the line of customers, checking with them and answering some of their questions. When she came to me, I showed her the email that I received and asked her about what she thought would be my chances to go stand-by on the later flights tonight (Wednesday) or first thing in the morning. She told me that the previous Lexington flight had been cancelled and that every flight from now until 9:30 pm tomorrow evening was completely sold out. Realizing that 114 people had to be rebooked, I asked her about alternatives, refunds, etc. She did not give me much hope.
After weighing my options and saying a short prayer, I decided to rent a car and drive home that night. So, I called the 1-800 customer service number and cancelled my flight and asked for a refund. I determined that I really did need to get this jury duty thing out of the way so that I didn't have to worry about it later on in August, September, or October when I have a lot of things planned. I knew it would be somewhat risky to drive so late at night after flying for over 24 hours without much sleep, but decided that I would take my time, pull over and rest if necessary, and with the Lord's help, would be OK.
I then left the terminal and caught the Avis shuttle bus. I rented a mid-sized car, one-way to Lexington, for $350, which did not include the cost of gas. Ouch?? I finally left the Chicago airport and pulled onto I-90/I-94 at just a few minutes past 7 pm (central time) or 8 pm Lexington time.
It is almost a six hour drive from Chicago to Lexington, but with the rush hour traffic in Chicago, having to stop to get something to eat and to get some coffee and take a few stretch breaks, it took me right at seven hours. So, I finally arrived home and got into bed at 3 am after 34 hours of traveling and with very little sleep.
It was very hard to get out of bed at 6 am on Thursday to get a shower and to turn the rental car in at the airport. Normally, I would not have had to get up that early, but Michelle had a 8 am meeting and since I needed her to pick me up and bring me back home, I needed to turn in the rental car first thing that morning. After turning in the rental car, Michelle took me back home and I got into my truck and drove downtown to the courthouse to report for my first day of jury duty.
After resting yesterday afternoon and evening (Thursday), I woke up on Friday feeling fairly refreshed and very glad to be back home. Thanks for your prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
I am writing this from the comfort of my home in Lexington. I rested yesterday after I came home from jury duty orientation that I was required to attend. I am glad to be home. The old saying is true..."there's no place like home."
My return flight from Uganda started out very good. I had no problem checking in at the Entebbe airport, getting through all the security checks along the way (2 checks in Entebbe, one in Brussels, and one in Chicago), or being able to make all the connections. That was until....I arrived in Chicago. After going through customs and the TSA security station, I got on the tram and easily found my gate and sat down to check my email for the first time in almost two days and get ready to fly the last leg of my journey. The plane was on time and it looked like everything was going smoothly.
Several minutes before we started to board, I received a message on my phone from my ABC36 Weather app that there was a severe thunderstorm watch for Lexington and surrounding area. I opened up the weather map on the phone and it did show a line of storms in Louisville and I reasoned that if our flight departed on time we should have no trouble arriving ahead of the storm. I even texted Luke back and forth a couple of times and told him that I hoped and prayed that his 11 pm flight to Lexington would depart and arrive without any delays or problems.
We boarded the plane right on schedule. They did take a few extra minutes to reload some of the baggage in order to level the load but we still pulled away from the gate ahead of schedule. We started towards the runway and just before pulling to the final position where we could take off, the plane came to a halt. We sat there almost 15 minutes and not one word from the cockpit. Meanwhile, ten or so planes came around us and took off. I knew then something was wrong.
The pilot came on the intercom and explained the problem. He told us that we were being delayed due to storms that were now moving towards the Lexington area and would be returning to the gate. I thought OK, this will be alright and they will send us on our way after whatever storm moves through. But, as luck would have it, didn't work out.
An interesting note - in less than a minute after the pilot told us that our flight had been delayed, I turned on my phone and when I did, a text message from United Airlines popped up telling me that our flight had been delayed! When I downloaded their app last year I had signed up for flight alerts. I was surprised how quickly I got the text message. Technology can be amazing!
Once we got to the gate, the flight attendant told us that the wait would be a long one and that they wanted us to de-board the plane and wait in the terminal. So, we gathered all our stuff and went back inside. It wasn't five minutes later that we received a message on the intercom saying that our flight had been cancelled!! We were then directed to go to the customer service desk that was down the concourse and they would help us rebook on another flight. Again, almost immediately afterwards, I got another text message saying that our flight was cancelled. By that time, I wasn't too happy with United Airlines.
All fifty seven of us on the flight walked down to the customer service desk. The line was incredibly long. There must have been 250 or so in the line when we got there. It was about 15-20 minutes later, while standing in line, I received an email from United. It was a notification that I had automatically been rebooked for a flight on Thursday, June 27th at 9:30 pm. My first thought was that this was pretty neat and felt good about it. But, as I started to think more about it, I realized that I would have to wait for over 24 hours before boarding a plane for home!! This was not going to be good, especially since I had to report for jury duty at 9 am on Thursday! I had already requested and been approved to delay my jury duty from April to July and I did not want to ask for another extension.
After being in line for about 45 minutes or so, a customer service lady came walking down the line of customers, checking with them and answering some of their questions. When she came to me, I showed her the email that I received and asked her about what she thought would be my chances to go stand-by on the later flights tonight (Wednesday) or first thing in the morning. She told me that the previous Lexington flight had been cancelled and that every flight from now until 9:30 pm tomorrow evening was completely sold out. Realizing that 114 people had to be rebooked, I asked her about alternatives, refunds, etc. She did not give me much hope.
After weighing my options and saying a short prayer, I decided to rent a car and drive home that night. So, I called the 1-800 customer service number and cancelled my flight and asked for a refund. I determined that I really did need to get this jury duty thing out of the way so that I didn't have to worry about it later on in August, September, or October when I have a lot of things planned. I knew it would be somewhat risky to drive so late at night after flying for over 24 hours without much sleep, but decided that I would take my time, pull over and rest if necessary, and with the Lord's help, would be OK.
I then left the terminal and caught the Avis shuttle bus. I rented a mid-sized car, one-way to Lexington, for $350, which did not include the cost of gas. Ouch?? I finally left the Chicago airport and pulled onto I-90/I-94 at just a few minutes past 7 pm (central time) or 8 pm Lexington time.
It is almost a six hour drive from Chicago to Lexington, but with the rush hour traffic in Chicago, having to stop to get something to eat and to get some coffee and take a few stretch breaks, it took me right at seven hours. So, I finally arrived home and got into bed at 3 am after 34 hours of traveling and with very little sleep.
It was very hard to get out of bed at 6 am on Thursday to get a shower and to turn the rental car in at the airport. Normally, I would not have had to get up that early, but Michelle had a 8 am meeting and since I needed her to pick me up and bring me back home, I needed to turn in the rental car first thing that morning. After turning in the rental car, Michelle took me back home and I got into my truck and drove downtown to the courthouse to report for my first day of jury duty.
After resting yesterday afternoon and evening (Thursday), I woke up on Friday feeling fairly refreshed and very glad to be back home. Thanks for your prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Monday, June 24, 2013
Update from Uganda (June 24)
Monday, June 24.
Greetings from Uganda! Wow!! What a day we've had! Our Encounters went very well today and we just finished eating a great meal at Betty's home (she is one of our students).
We got off to a slow start. Daniel was about 30 minutes late picking us up and there was a slight problem linking up Brittany with Daniel's wife, which took us some more time, so instead of getting to the church at 9 am, we arrived at almost one hour late. It took us a little time to get organized and at even 10 am only a handful of people had showed up to attend the training. We were able to get started at 11 am and after that things sailed smoothly the rest of the day.
Our students did a fantastic job in presenting their lessons and conducting the various activities today. Of course, most of them are pastors and trained in public speaking. They did a good job of including illustrations that the people would understand and relate to. Both Luke and I were impressed.
We learned today that our training model is a valid one. We will be making some tweaks and adjustments to it, but overall we think we've found the way that we should be training and developing leaders. I also believe that this model (with some slight adjustments) will work in the U.S. just as well. Pastor Francis, who oversees 30 churches in Northern Uganda, told Luke and I that, "This (Lead Like Jesus) can change the world." He went on to say, "I spent five years at Bible school (college) and I never heard this before." Isn't that sad? He attended a Bible college and no one taught him that we should lead like Jesus did? Francis is excited because we have shown him that the methods that Jesus used to equip his disciples and send them out as leaders who could change the world are the same ones we should use to equip and train leaders today.
Tomorrow, we will conduct a debriefing session in the morning, present them with a completion certificate and a Lead Like Jesus Study Guide, and talk with them about the plan for the next three (3) years as we continue to help them move towards becoming leaders who can develop others to lead. I'm really excited about the next three years and cannot wait to see what God will do here in Uganda because of 16 men and women who are completely "sold out" to go and build his kingdom by building leaders who Lead Like Jesus! I truly feel good about what has been accomplished during this year's trip.
After our session is over in Iganga, we will travel back to Kampala and on to Entebbe to catch our flights home. (I depart at 11:59 pm) We are planning to stop for a little sightseeing at the "Source of the Nile" river and we also may be having dinner with Stone Kyambedde in Kampala. We worked with Stone last year when we were in Uganda.
So, our trip is almost complete. It seems like the time went by very quickly. I think it will be difficult to say goodbye tomorrow. Luke and I have grown very close to Daniel and these outstanding Christian men and women that we have been training over the past week.
This is most likely the last post that I will be making on the blog until after I get back to Lexington on Wednesday, June 26th. At that time, I plan on posting my overall thoughts on the trip and some pictures that are on my phone but I can't post them because for some reason I cannot access the wifi at the hotel with my phone??
Farewell from Uganda. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Greetings from Uganda! Wow!! What a day we've had! Our Encounters went very well today and we just finished eating a great meal at Betty's home (she is one of our students).
We got off to a slow start. Daniel was about 30 minutes late picking us up and there was a slight problem linking up Brittany with Daniel's wife, which took us some more time, so instead of getting to the church at 9 am, we arrived at almost one hour late. It took us a little time to get organized and at even 10 am only a handful of people had showed up to attend the training. We were able to get started at 11 am and after that things sailed smoothly the rest of the day.
Our students did a fantastic job in presenting their lessons and conducting the various activities today. Of course, most of them are pastors and trained in public speaking. They did a good job of including illustrations that the people would understand and relate to. Both Luke and I were impressed.
We learned today that our training model is a valid one. We will be making some tweaks and adjustments to it, but overall we think we've found the way that we should be training and developing leaders. I also believe that this model (with some slight adjustments) will work in the U.S. just as well. Pastor Francis, who oversees 30 churches in Northern Uganda, told Luke and I that, "This (Lead Like Jesus) can change the world." He went on to say, "I spent five years at Bible school (college) and I never heard this before." Isn't that sad? He attended a Bible college and no one taught him that we should lead like Jesus did? Francis is excited because we have shown him that the methods that Jesus used to equip his disciples and send them out as leaders who could change the world are the same ones we should use to equip and train leaders today.
Tomorrow, we will conduct a debriefing session in the morning, present them with a completion certificate and a Lead Like Jesus Study Guide, and talk with them about the plan for the next three (3) years as we continue to help them move towards becoming leaders who can develop others to lead. I'm really excited about the next three years and cannot wait to see what God will do here in Uganda because of 16 men and women who are completely "sold out" to go and build his kingdom by building leaders who Lead Like Jesus! I truly feel good about what has been accomplished during this year's trip.
After our session is over in Iganga, we will travel back to Kampala and on to Entebbe to catch our flights home. (I depart at 11:59 pm) We are planning to stop for a little sightseeing at the "Source of the Nile" river and we also may be having dinner with Stone Kyambedde in Kampala. We worked with Stone last year when we were in Uganda.
So, our trip is almost complete. It seems like the time went by very quickly. I think it will be difficult to say goodbye tomorrow. Luke and I have grown very close to Daniel and these outstanding Christian men and women that we have been training over the past week.
This is most likely the last post that I will be making on the blog until after I get back to Lexington on Wednesday, June 26th. At that time, I plan on posting my overall thoughts on the trip and some pictures that are on my phone but I can't post them because for some reason I cannot access the wifi at the hotel with my phone??
Farewell from Uganda. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Update from Uganda (June 23)
Sunday, June 22.
Greetings from Uganda! It was another nice day here in Iganga. Sunny and not very hot. This is good because none of the churches have air conditioning.
I got a good nights rest and slept in a little this morning. Instead of getting up at 6 am, I got up at 6:30 am. We had a leisurely breakfast and sat around and drank coffee for a couple of hours before we left for church. Pastor Daniel picked us up a few minutes past 10 am and we left for church worship services.
I taught the adult Sunday school class this morning and had been given 45 minutes. When we arrived at the church they were already worshipping and singing. By the time that Pastor Daniel introduced me it was 10:45 am. I made a huge mistake. In my planning for teaching this class, I had (without thinking) naturally assumed that I would be teaching in english and had planned accordingly. Unfortunately, everything had to be translated. I did not realize this until just before I walked up to the podium. You see, when you need to have a speech or talk interpreted you can roughly double the time that is required. So, instead of 45 minutes, it now would take 1:30 minutes. I thought about cutting out some parts of my talk but I was afraid that if I did that, I would leave out parts that would make the rest of the teaching not make much sense. So, I quickly said to myself to stick to the notes and ask forgiveness.
My teaching was entitled Leading your Family Like Jesus and it was well received despite going over my allotted time. After I finished, they had several groups of young people get up and sing. Then, it was Luke's turn to speak. He spoke on the topic of why Christians must suffer. He did a fantastic job! (Luke is such a great speaker and preacher and only used a small one page of notes) I believe that his message is one that they needed to hear but maybe one they did not want to hear. As he was preaching, I could help from thinking about the rise of Islam extremism throughout Africa. Pastor Daniel told us a day or so ago that the younger men who are muslims are being radicalized by Imams who have been trained and supported by Saudi Wahhabi's). It seems that in several places around Uganda, Christian pastors have been attacked. One even had acid poured over his head as he was walking down a city street to get to his car. Please pray for the Christian men and women of Uganda that they may remain faithful, even when they face violence and maybe even death.
After church, we went to Pastor Daniel's home and had lunch. He has such a great family and we met his wife, daughter, and one of his sons. His wife is really great cook. The meal was excellent. Pastor's Francis from Gulu and Alex from South Sudan also ate with us. After the meal, Luke and I asked them a lot of questions about where they live, the church they pastor, the challenges they face, as well as the general situation where they live. It is amazing what God can do with just a few resources in the hands of men who are completely surrendered to Jesus! These men are raising up leaders and planting churches in small villages without ANY outside financing from America or other western countries.
We then went back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours. At 6 pm, Pastor Daniel picked us up and we drove to Pastor Jimmie's church on the other side of town. This is a new church plant that is a little over one year old. When we arrived we could see that the place was packed. There were mainly lots of children, middle schoolers, and teenagers, with several young and middle aged women. There were only a few men but most of them were mid-20's. They had all the kids come up and sing songs and several groups of girls also sang. Jimmie asked both Luke and I to speak to the congregation for a few minutes, so Luke and I spoke about 10-15 minutes each, mainly to give them some encouragement. Jimmie even asked Brittany to say a few words. We left at 8 pm and Pastor Daniel drove us through downtown on the way back to the hotel. It was very dark by now, but all the downtown shops and street vendors were open and the place was packed with people. Needless to say, I was surprised that at 8 pm on a Sunday evening people were out in the streets instead of getting some rest for the upcoming work week?
After we got back to the hotel, we changed clothes and ordered something to eat and drink. This place is awesome! They have Mountain Dew and Fanta orange and grape soda. I make it a practice to have a Mt. Dew every evening. At least one, if not two.
Well, tomorrow is a big day. We have two Encounter workshops on tap for tomorrow and they will last all day. This is where we see just how well we prepared them. I personally think that most of them will do great, but we do have 2 or 3 that are a little weak. So, keep us in your prayers for tomorrow. Our hope is that the workshops tomorrow will give them the confidence they need to be able to teach this later on when they return to the home communities.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Greetings from Uganda! It was another nice day here in Iganga. Sunny and not very hot. This is good because none of the churches have air conditioning.
I got a good nights rest and slept in a little this morning. Instead of getting up at 6 am, I got up at 6:30 am. We had a leisurely breakfast and sat around and drank coffee for a couple of hours before we left for church. Pastor Daniel picked us up a few minutes past 10 am and we left for church worship services.
I taught the adult Sunday school class this morning and had been given 45 minutes. When we arrived at the church they were already worshipping and singing. By the time that Pastor Daniel introduced me it was 10:45 am. I made a huge mistake. In my planning for teaching this class, I had (without thinking) naturally assumed that I would be teaching in english and had planned accordingly. Unfortunately, everything had to be translated. I did not realize this until just before I walked up to the podium. You see, when you need to have a speech or talk interpreted you can roughly double the time that is required. So, instead of 45 minutes, it now would take 1:30 minutes. I thought about cutting out some parts of my talk but I was afraid that if I did that, I would leave out parts that would make the rest of the teaching not make much sense. So, I quickly said to myself to stick to the notes and ask forgiveness.
My teaching was entitled Leading your Family Like Jesus and it was well received despite going over my allotted time. After I finished, they had several groups of young people get up and sing. Then, it was Luke's turn to speak. He spoke on the topic of why Christians must suffer. He did a fantastic job! (Luke is such a great speaker and preacher and only used a small one page of notes) I believe that his message is one that they needed to hear but maybe one they did not want to hear. As he was preaching, I could help from thinking about the rise of Islam extremism throughout Africa. Pastor Daniel told us a day or so ago that the younger men who are muslims are being radicalized by Imams who have been trained and supported by Saudi Wahhabi's). It seems that in several places around Uganda, Christian pastors have been attacked. One even had acid poured over his head as he was walking down a city street to get to his car. Please pray for the Christian men and women of Uganda that they may remain faithful, even when they face violence and maybe even death.
After church, we went to Pastor Daniel's home and had lunch. He has such a great family and we met his wife, daughter, and one of his sons. His wife is really great cook. The meal was excellent. Pastor's Francis from Gulu and Alex from South Sudan also ate with us. After the meal, Luke and I asked them a lot of questions about where they live, the church they pastor, the challenges they face, as well as the general situation where they live. It is amazing what God can do with just a few resources in the hands of men who are completely surrendered to Jesus! These men are raising up leaders and planting churches in small villages without ANY outside financing from America or other western countries.
We then went back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours. At 6 pm, Pastor Daniel picked us up and we drove to Pastor Jimmie's church on the other side of town. This is a new church plant that is a little over one year old. When we arrived we could see that the place was packed. There were mainly lots of children, middle schoolers, and teenagers, with several young and middle aged women. There were only a few men but most of them were mid-20's. They had all the kids come up and sing songs and several groups of girls also sang. Jimmie asked both Luke and I to speak to the congregation for a few minutes, so Luke and I spoke about 10-15 minutes each, mainly to give them some encouragement. Jimmie even asked Brittany to say a few words. We left at 8 pm and Pastor Daniel drove us through downtown on the way back to the hotel. It was very dark by now, but all the downtown shops and street vendors were open and the place was packed with people. Needless to say, I was surprised that at 8 pm on a Sunday evening people were out in the streets instead of getting some rest for the upcoming work week?
After we got back to the hotel, we changed clothes and ordered something to eat and drink. This place is awesome! They have Mountain Dew and Fanta orange and grape soda. I make it a practice to have a Mt. Dew every evening. At least one, if not two.
Well, tomorrow is a big day. We have two Encounter workshops on tap for tomorrow and they will last all day. This is where we see just how well we prepared them. I personally think that most of them will do great, but we do have 2 or 3 that are a little weak. So, keep us in your prayers for tomorrow. Our hope is that the workshops tomorrow will give them the confidence they need to be able to teach this later on when they return to the home communities.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Pictures from Uganda
Picture #1 - A group is "acting" out the Bible story of Matthew 17: 14-20 where the disciples cannot heal sick boy because they "have little faith".
Picture #2 - Peter is walking on the water towards Jesus in the Bible story of Matthew 14: 22-33.
Picture #3 - Luke Kuepfer is discussing God's Unconditional Love at the conclusion of this group activity.
Update from Uganda (June 22)
Saturday, June 22.
Greetings from Uganda!
Today was a very good day! We were picked up right on time by Pastor Daniels but ended up starting about an hour late as about half the class called in with one problem or another. It was OK because we ended up staying an hour extra to make up the time. Overall, this group is very good about being on time. Unlike much of our experience in most places we've been to before in Uganda.
Today we conducted practice teaching sessions and let each person present small portions of the materials at least three times. We divided the group into four small groups who took turns teaching each other. Luke and I went from room to room to observe and give them some coaching and feedback. Twice during the day, once just before lunch and once at the end of the day, we debriefed the larger group and gave them some general feedback.
The first few presentations were rough. They are not used to "facilitating" learning. Because most of them are pastors, they like to "preach". But, they soon understood and started to do a lot better. At least most of them did. By the end of the day, most of them were doing much better and on track.
After we finished the practice teaching sessions, we spent about an hour preparing them for the two (2) Encounter workshops that we will be having on Monday. We divided them into two groups of eight people each and gave each of them a different part of the material to present.
So, it was a very good day, and only got better when I returned to the hotel and was able to get on the internet with my ipad!! Yeah God!! It was so frustrating not to be able to access the internet last night. I tried everything I could think of and it still would not access the hotel's wifi login page? I finally clicked on the "renew lease" button on the wifi page and the login page came right up??
Tomorrow, we will go to church. The plan has changed slightly. We will leave for the church at 10 am. I will teach a large group adult Sunday school class at 10:15 am and Luke will preach at 11:15 am. In the evening, we will visit Pastor Jimmie's church (a new church plant from a year ago) for their evening service at 6 pm.
Things are going really well. In fact, amazingly well!! God has linked us up with the right person (Pastor Daniel) and he has brought the right people to become part of this four year process.
The weather has been warm (mid-80's) but not too hot or humid, and it has rained only once since we've been here. The staff at the Mum's Hotel are coming around as well. They recognized us from last two years because of Lead Like Jesus and have taken care of us very well. We even got our dinner tonight in about 30 minutes after we ordered it!! Amazing! Life is good!
I'm looking forward to Sunday and spending time worshipping and praising God, and in Uganda they can really worship! It should be a very enjoyable day.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Greetings from Uganda!
Today was a very good day! We were picked up right on time by Pastor Daniels but ended up starting about an hour late as about half the class called in with one problem or another. It was OK because we ended up staying an hour extra to make up the time. Overall, this group is very good about being on time. Unlike much of our experience in most places we've been to before in Uganda.
Today we conducted practice teaching sessions and let each person present small portions of the materials at least three times. We divided the group into four small groups who took turns teaching each other. Luke and I went from room to room to observe and give them some coaching and feedback. Twice during the day, once just before lunch and once at the end of the day, we debriefed the larger group and gave them some general feedback.
The first few presentations were rough. They are not used to "facilitating" learning. Because most of them are pastors, they like to "preach". But, they soon understood and started to do a lot better. At least most of them did. By the end of the day, most of them were doing much better and on track.
After we finished the practice teaching sessions, we spent about an hour preparing them for the two (2) Encounter workshops that we will be having on Monday. We divided them into two groups of eight people each and gave each of them a different part of the material to present.
So, it was a very good day, and only got better when I returned to the hotel and was able to get on the internet with my ipad!! Yeah God!! It was so frustrating not to be able to access the internet last night. I tried everything I could think of and it still would not access the hotel's wifi login page? I finally clicked on the "renew lease" button on the wifi page and the login page came right up??
Tomorrow, we will go to church. The plan has changed slightly. We will leave for the church at 10 am. I will teach a large group adult Sunday school class at 10:15 am and Luke will preach at 11:15 am. In the evening, we will visit Pastor Jimmie's church (a new church plant from a year ago) for their evening service at 6 pm.
Things are going really well. In fact, amazingly well!! God has linked us up with the right person (Pastor Daniel) and he has brought the right people to become part of this four year process.
The weather has been warm (mid-80's) but not too hot or humid, and it has rained only once since we've been here. The staff at the Mum's Hotel are coming around as well. They recognized us from last two years because of Lead Like Jesus and have taken care of us very well. We even got our dinner tonight in about 30 minutes after we ordered it!! Amazing! Life is good!
I'm looking forward to Sunday and spending time worshipping and praising God, and in Uganda they can really worship! It should be a very enjoyable day.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Friday, June 21, 2013
Update from Uganda (June 21)
Greetings from Uganda! We are having Internet problems at the hotel and today I am only able to get online with my phone. So, this post will be short one.
What a day! We concluded our teaching, reviewed the material with them, and now we are ready for them to do teach-backs tomorrow. The discussions that we had, their questions, and their thoughts and ideas, showed me that these 16 men and women really understand what it means to lead like Jesus.
To top it off, we had the most moving "foot washing" activity that I've ever experienced. Luke and I decided early on that we would wash their feet. So, I arranged for a basin, water, and towel to be provided for us. At the very end, Luke explained what we were going to do and the significance of it and then we took turns washing and drying their feet. I think it really surprised them to see the both of us on our knees washing their feet. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room and just as we were washing the last person's feet, they starting singing and hugging us and each other. We must have worshipped like this for a good 30 minutes or so.
What a day!!
We met with Pastor Daniel this evening and jointly laid out our strategy for the next Three years.
Hopefully, I'll be able to access the Internet with my iPad vs cellphone.
Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPhone
What a day! We concluded our teaching, reviewed the material with them, and now we are ready for them to do teach-backs tomorrow. The discussions that we had, their questions, and their thoughts and ideas, showed me that these 16 men and women really understand what it means to lead like Jesus.
To top it off, we had the most moving "foot washing" activity that I've ever experienced. Luke and I decided early on that we would wash their feet. So, I arranged for a basin, water, and towel to be provided for us. At the very end, Luke explained what we were going to do and the significance of it and then we took turns washing and drying their feet. I think it really surprised them to see the both of us on our knees washing their feet. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room and just as we were washing the last person's feet, they starting singing and hugging us and each other. We must have worshipped like this for a good 30 minutes or so.
What a day!!
We met with Pastor Daniel this evening and jointly laid out our strategy for the next Three years.
Hopefully, I'll be able to access the Internet with my iPad vs cellphone.
Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement.
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Update from Uganda (June 20)
Thursday, June 20.
Today, we began our training. Pastor Daniel picked us up a few minutes late and we were about 10 minutes late arriving at the church. But, because we are not using laptops or projectors, it took us about five minutes to get ourselves organized, people to take their seats, and get started.
We have a total of 16 people that came for the training. Two of them are women leaders. We did have three young men in their early to mid-20's. Most of them were from the local area. However, we did have one pastor from South Sudan, one from Gulu, and one of the women drove 300 kilometers (approximately 200 miles) to attend.
Those that came made an upfront commitment to Pastor Daniel that they would be faithful to attend all of our sessions over a four year period, that they would take this back to their community and teach others, and that they would select and train others to also be able to teach. Daniel even had them sign a commitment form and they also had to pay a small fee to cover the cost of their meals. Undoubtedly, several people decided not to make the commitment because originally we had 25 sign up but only 16 showed up!
Overall, this was a very, very good day. We quickly found that approximately one-half of the people had never attended one of our Encounters, so this was their first exposure to Lead Like Jesus. Initially, this slowed us down a little as we focused a lot of time to discussing the concept of "influence", the "not so with you" mandate, and the transformational leadership cycle and making sure they understood. Several of those who had been a pastor for several years really asked us a lot of questions about servant leadership and how they can apply the "not so with you" mandate in their situation.
Once, we got them through this initial section, the light bulb came on as we talked about Edging God Out, Pride, Fear, and Exalting God Only. We ended the day with covering about seventy-five percent of the material and we should be able to cover the remaining amount in the morning before lunch. Both Luke and I are very encouraged by what we did accomplish today. They get it!
So, tomorrow we will finish teaching the material, review the key concepts from each section, and instruct them on ways to facilitate and present the material. If time permits, we may have them start the teach-backs (practice teaching) of the material.
Great day! I'm excited thus far. It is a wonderful experience to look into someone's eyes and as you are covering a particular concept or idea you suddenly see their entire face brighten up as they grasp it - they get it! I saw this on numerous faces today. Yes, it was a good day. Thank you Lord.
Continue to pray for us and these leaders who are devoting a lot of their time and personal resources to become men and women who are committed to Leading Like Jesus.
Blessings from Uganda!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Today, we began our training. Pastor Daniel picked us up a few minutes late and we were about 10 minutes late arriving at the church. But, because we are not using laptops or projectors, it took us about five minutes to get ourselves organized, people to take their seats, and get started.
We have a total of 16 people that came for the training. Two of them are women leaders. We did have three young men in their early to mid-20's. Most of them were from the local area. However, we did have one pastor from South Sudan, one from Gulu, and one of the women drove 300 kilometers (approximately 200 miles) to attend.
Those that came made an upfront commitment to Pastor Daniel that they would be faithful to attend all of our sessions over a four year period, that they would take this back to their community and teach others, and that they would select and train others to also be able to teach. Daniel even had them sign a commitment form and they also had to pay a small fee to cover the cost of their meals. Undoubtedly, several people decided not to make the commitment because originally we had 25 sign up but only 16 showed up!
Overall, this was a very, very good day. We quickly found that approximately one-half of the people had never attended one of our Encounters, so this was their first exposure to Lead Like Jesus. Initially, this slowed us down a little as we focused a lot of time to discussing the concept of "influence", the "not so with you" mandate, and the transformational leadership cycle and making sure they understood. Several of those who had been a pastor for several years really asked us a lot of questions about servant leadership and how they can apply the "not so with you" mandate in their situation.
Once, we got them through this initial section, the light bulb came on as we talked about Edging God Out, Pride, Fear, and Exalting God Only. We ended the day with covering about seventy-five percent of the material and we should be able to cover the remaining amount in the morning before lunch. Both Luke and I are very encouraged by what we did accomplish today. They get it!
So, tomorrow we will finish teaching the material, review the key concepts from each section, and instruct them on ways to facilitate and present the material. If time permits, we may have them start the teach-backs (practice teaching) of the material.
Great day! I'm excited thus far. It is a wonderful experience to look into someone's eyes and as you are covering a particular concept or idea you suddenly see their entire face brighten up as they grasp it - they get it! I saw this on numerous faces today. Yes, it was a good day. Thank you Lord.
Continue to pray for us and these leaders who are devoting a lot of their time and personal resources to become men and women who are committed to Leading Like Jesus.
Blessings from Uganda!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Update from Uganda (June 19)
Wednesday, June 19., continued.
Yesterday afternoon, Pastor Daniel took us to visit some of the projects/ministries that his church sponsors that give people a "hand up" and not a hand out. The first place that he took us was to visit two of his church plants and their woman's craft-making project. Both these churches are in very rural areas, and with the help of Monica, a young lady from Iganga who teaches the women, they make and sell necklaces, bracelets, purses, handbags, etc., to help support their families. Most of the women are single mothers with small children. However, several are older widows. (See pictures) What a great ministry! They could use your help. If you know of any business that sell items like these or you think might be interested in selling them, please let me know. Also, this could be a great project for your churches' women's ministry.
The second project that we visited is a small farm that Pastor Daniel raised his own funds to purchase. They will use this project to fulfill two purposes. First, their plan is to bring young men and teach them how to farm. They plan on raising corn, oranges, coffee, bananas, chickens, cows, goats, etc. At the same time they are teaching them to farm, they will be training them to be a pastor or teacher. It is Daniel's goal to send them back to their village where they can make a living for their family and also teach others the farming skills they have learned so they can be more productive. This project is just getting started. They have bought the land and have just finished planting their first crops, orange trees, banana trees, etc.
After our visits, Daniel took us back to the hotel. Brittany and I stayed at the hotel and ate dinner while Luke went with Daniel to preach on his ministry's radio show. PS: the service in the restaurant is not any better than it was the last two times we were here. Go figure?
Luke preached on a local secular radio station and they even had people call in. The station here has a coverage area of approximately 10 million people in eastern Uganda and parts of Kenya. Luke said that it very well and several called and asked some great questions.
Thanks again for your prayers.
Blessings from Uganda!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Yesterday afternoon, Pastor Daniel took us to visit some of the projects/ministries that his church sponsors that give people a "hand up" and not a hand out. The first place that he took us was to visit two of his church plants and their woman's craft-making project. Both these churches are in very rural areas, and with the help of Monica, a young lady from Iganga who teaches the women, they make and sell necklaces, bracelets, purses, handbags, etc., to help support their families. Most of the women are single mothers with small children. However, several are older widows. (See pictures) What a great ministry! They could use your help. If you know of any business that sell items like these or you think might be interested in selling them, please let me know. Also, this could be a great project for your churches' women's ministry.
The second project that we visited is a small farm that Pastor Daniel raised his own funds to purchase. They will use this project to fulfill two purposes. First, their plan is to bring young men and teach them how to farm. They plan on raising corn, oranges, coffee, bananas, chickens, cows, goats, etc. At the same time they are teaching them to farm, they will be training them to be a pastor or teacher. It is Daniel's goal to send them back to their village where they can make a living for their family and also teach others the farming skills they have learned so they can be more productive. This project is just getting started. They have bought the land and have just finished planting their first crops, orange trees, banana trees, etc.
After our visits, Daniel took us back to the hotel. Brittany and I stayed at the hotel and ate dinner while Luke went with Daniel to preach on his ministry's radio show. PS: the service in the restaurant is not any better than it was the last two times we were here. Go figure?
Luke preached on a local secular radio station and they even had people call in. The station here has a coverage area of approximately 10 million people in eastern Uganda and parts of Kenya. Luke said that it very well and several called and asked some great questions.
Thanks again for your prayers.
Blessings from Uganda!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Blessings from Uganda
Monday, June 17.
I got to the airport about 1 1/2 hours prior to departure. No problems getting checked in. One of my bags weighed 47.5 pounds and the other one weighed 40 pounds. The TSA line was short, so I breezed right on through.
I got to my gate and sat down to catch my breath and relax a little. What a hectic morning. I had so many things to get done, errands to run, Michelle's flowers to water, dishes to wash, emails to send, cat litter box to clean, and I had to pack! Needless to say, I was somewhat frazzled by the time I got to the airport.
The flight to Chicago left right on time. The weather was good and we actually got into Chicago about 10 minutes early. After I got off the plane, I decided that I probably ought to grab a quick bite to eat. So, I stopped at a McDonalds that was along the route to my next flight and got a McDouble and a sweet iced tea! Looking back, that was a pretty wise move on my part.
The flight to Brussels boarded on time but for whatever reason, we left about 45 minutes late. So, it was now 7:45 pm and I was hungry. I would have been really hungry if I hadn't stopped at McD's. And, because of turbulence we did not get our dinner meal until we had been in the air for over 2 hours!!
This had to be the bumpiest and coldest flight I have ever had. It seems like we had turbulence almost the entire flight. Between the cold and the bumps, I may have slept for an hour of the eight hour flight. Oh, well?
Tuesday, June 18.
Even though we left Chicago 45 minutes late, we arrived right on time in Brussels at 9 am local time. Nice day here. Partly cloudy and about 70 degrees.
Good flight to Entebbe but long. We even had ice cream! Awesome! We first stopped in Kigali Rwanda and then on to Uganda. Total of 10 hours. My back and hips are killing me! Thank The Lord for Aleve. I arrived in Entebbe at 11 pm, got through customs very quickly, and both of my suitcases were on the carousel waiting for me. Another big hurdle was crossed.
Pastor Daniel and our driver were waiting for me just outside the security area. We loaded my bags in the van and went to a nearby hotel to catch a few hours sleep before having to pick up Luke and Brittany. The folks at the hotel were very nice. They even fixed us an omelet and hot tea! I think I finally got to bed at about 12:30. I love coming back to see my friends here in Uganda but these 22 to 24 hours of flight time is tough!
Wednesday, June 19.
Daniel and our driver left at 3 am to pick up Luke and Brittany. I got up at 3:30 am to take a shower and get ready. I found that there was very little water pressure. I thought that I was never going to get the soap out of my hair! At least the water was hot? Luke and Brittany arrived at 3:15 am, they came to the hotel to pick me up, and we departed for Iganga at 4 am.
The drive to Iganga from Entebbe, depending on the traffic, can take 4-6 hours. We hit it just right this morning. At 4 am there is hardly anyone on the road. Usually, the road between Entebbe and Kampala is bumper to bumper, but not this morning. We sailed right through downtown Kampala. Once we got through Kampala, we did start seeing a lot big semi-trucks on the road to Iganga, but we were able to pass them fairly easily and safely.
We rolled into Mums Resort Hotel at 7:15 am, got checked in and decided to rest a few hours. After lunch, Daniel is going to take us to a bank to get some dollars exchanged for Ugandan schillings and to visit some of his projects in the local area. After that, we will spend some time getting ready for our teaching which will start in the morning. Luke is supposed to preach on the radio later this evening. Daniel didn't say anything about it this morning, so it might not happen.
Well, that's the report from Uganda for today. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
I got to the airport about 1 1/2 hours prior to departure. No problems getting checked in. One of my bags weighed 47.5 pounds and the other one weighed 40 pounds. The TSA line was short, so I breezed right on through.
I got to my gate and sat down to catch my breath and relax a little. What a hectic morning. I had so many things to get done, errands to run, Michelle's flowers to water, dishes to wash, emails to send, cat litter box to clean, and I had to pack! Needless to say, I was somewhat frazzled by the time I got to the airport.
The flight to Chicago left right on time. The weather was good and we actually got into Chicago about 10 minutes early. After I got off the plane, I decided that I probably ought to grab a quick bite to eat. So, I stopped at a McDonalds that was along the route to my next flight and got a McDouble and a sweet iced tea! Looking back, that was a pretty wise move on my part.
The flight to Brussels boarded on time but for whatever reason, we left about 45 minutes late. So, it was now 7:45 pm and I was hungry. I would have been really hungry if I hadn't stopped at McD's. And, because of turbulence we did not get our dinner meal until we had been in the air for over 2 hours!!
This had to be the bumpiest and coldest flight I have ever had. It seems like we had turbulence almost the entire flight. Between the cold and the bumps, I may have slept for an hour of the eight hour flight. Oh, well?
Tuesday, June 18.
Even though we left Chicago 45 minutes late, we arrived right on time in Brussels at 9 am local time. Nice day here. Partly cloudy and about 70 degrees.
Good flight to Entebbe but long. We even had ice cream! Awesome! We first stopped in Kigali Rwanda and then on to Uganda. Total of 10 hours. My back and hips are killing me! Thank The Lord for Aleve. I arrived in Entebbe at 11 pm, got through customs very quickly, and both of my suitcases were on the carousel waiting for me. Another big hurdle was crossed.
Pastor Daniel and our driver were waiting for me just outside the security area. We loaded my bags in the van and went to a nearby hotel to catch a few hours sleep before having to pick up Luke and Brittany. The folks at the hotel were very nice. They even fixed us an omelet and hot tea! I think I finally got to bed at about 12:30. I love coming back to see my friends here in Uganda but these 22 to 24 hours of flight time is tough!
Wednesday, June 19.
Daniel and our driver left at 3 am to pick up Luke and Brittany. I got up at 3:30 am to take a shower and get ready. I found that there was very little water pressure. I thought that I was never going to get the soap out of my hair! At least the water was hot? Luke and Brittany arrived at 3:15 am, they came to the hotel to pick me up, and we departed for Iganga at 4 am.
The drive to Iganga from Entebbe, depending on the traffic, can take 4-6 hours. We hit it just right this morning. At 4 am there is hardly anyone on the road. Usually, the road between Entebbe and Kampala is bumper to bumper, but not this morning. We sailed right through downtown Kampala. Once we got through Kampala, we did start seeing a lot big semi-trucks on the road to Iganga, but we were able to pass them fairly easily and safely.
We rolled into Mums Resort Hotel at 7:15 am, got checked in and decided to rest a few hours. After lunch, Daniel is going to take us to a bank to get some dollars exchanged for Ugandan schillings and to visit some of his projects in the local area. After that, we will spend some time getting ready for our teaching which will start in the morning. Luke is supposed to preach on the radio later this evening. Daniel didn't say anything about it this morning, so it might not happen.
Well, that's the report from Uganda for today. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
Blessings!
Fred
Sent from my iPad
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Well, tomorrow's the big day. I depart for Uganda at 3:50 pm from the Lexington Airport and will return on June 26th. I will be linking up with Luke Kuepfer (also with Lead Like Jesus) and his daughter Brittany who will be coming to Uganda from Ghana, where they have been working with church leaders this past week.
Luke and I will be returning to work with Pastor Daniel Byamukam in the city of Iganga. This will be Luke's second trip and my third trip to Uganda to teach Lead Like Jesus. But this trip will be different. Instead of teaching to large groups, we will be focusing our attention on 20-25 young pastors that serve with Pastor Daniel's ministry. These pastors will be coming primarily from eastern Uganda, but there will be some from northern Uganda and at least one pastor from South Sudan.
Our goal is to teach and equip these leaders so that they can teach others and to provide them with low-cost, easily reproducible materials, that they can use to take the Lead Like Jesus message to their church and communities without having to rely on financial assistance from the U.S. So, no powerpoint or videos this year. We will be using Bible storying and drama to present those portions of the training that in the U.S. we would show clips from the video Bible.
Luke and I have put together a four year program of leader development for them. This will be the beginning of Year #1. This year we will focus on the basic principles of becoming a servant leader like Jesus and equip/prepare them to teach these principles to others. This year we will concentrate on self-leadership. Year 2 will be on one-on-one leadership. Year 3 on team and family leadership. Finally, year 4 will be on organizational leadership.
We truly believe that God has put this on our heart and has given us a vision of creating a group of pastors, who like Jesus did, equip and release other men and women who also go out and teach others what they have learned. By doing so, they will create a leadership development "factory" in Uganda. 2 Timothy 2:2 is our model. Paul tells Timothy, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others".
Here is our schedule:
Mon-Tues, June 17-18 - Travel to Uganda. I arrive in Entebbe at 11 pm on June 18th. Luke and Brittany arrive at 3:15 am on June 19.
Wed, June 19 - Travel to Iganga and check into the Mums Resort Hotel. (It's not really a resort?? By the way, I've spent a lot of nights in that hotel over the past two years. I'm going to ask them for rewards points!) After we check in we are going to visit several of Pastor Daniel's projects in the Iganga area. Also, Luke will be preaching on a radio program at 8:15 pm this evening.
Thurs, June 20 - We will conduct a LLJ Encounter for the pastors.
Fri-Sat, June 21-22 - Practice teaching/facilitating.
Sun, June 23 - Day of Worship. Luke preaches and I will be teaching a large group Sunday school class.
Mon, June 24 - The Pastors will teach/facilitate their own Encounters. They will be divided into 2 (possibly 3) groups and each pastor will facilitate parts of the workshop.
Tues, June 25 - In the morning, we will debrief the Encounters from Monday and do some coaching and mentoring. We will also lay out their "homework" and assignments for the next year and present each pastor with a certificate of completion of Phase I of their training. In the afternoon, we travel to Entebbe. Luke and Brittany will remain overnight there in a hotel and I will depart for the U.S. at 11:59 pm.
Wed, June 26 - Luke and Brittany depart the Entebbe airport for the U.S. at 4:15 am. I will arrive back in Lexington at 6:30 pm.
Please keep us in your prayers and especially pray for those who are coming for this training. My plan is to post again on Wednesday after we get settled into our hotel in Iganga.
Blessings!
Fred Waggoner
Well, tomorrow's the big day. I depart for Uganda at 3:50 pm from the Lexington Airport and will return on June 26th. I will be linking up with Luke Kuepfer (also with Lead Like Jesus) and his daughter Brittany who will be coming to Uganda from Ghana, where they have been working with church leaders this past week.
Luke and I will be returning to work with Pastor Daniel Byamukam in the city of Iganga. This will be Luke's second trip and my third trip to Uganda to teach Lead Like Jesus. But this trip will be different. Instead of teaching to large groups, we will be focusing our attention on 20-25 young pastors that serve with Pastor Daniel's ministry. These pastors will be coming primarily from eastern Uganda, but there will be some from northern Uganda and at least one pastor from South Sudan.
Our goal is to teach and equip these leaders so that they can teach others and to provide them with low-cost, easily reproducible materials, that they can use to take the Lead Like Jesus message to their church and communities without having to rely on financial assistance from the U.S. So, no powerpoint or videos this year. We will be using Bible storying and drama to present those portions of the training that in the U.S. we would show clips from the video Bible.
Luke and I have put together a four year program of leader development for them. This will be the beginning of Year #1. This year we will focus on the basic principles of becoming a servant leader like Jesus and equip/prepare them to teach these principles to others. This year we will concentrate on self-leadership. Year 2 will be on one-on-one leadership. Year 3 on team and family leadership. Finally, year 4 will be on organizational leadership.
We truly believe that God has put this on our heart and has given us a vision of creating a group of pastors, who like Jesus did, equip and release other men and women who also go out and teach others what they have learned. By doing so, they will create a leadership development "factory" in Uganda. 2 Timothy 2:2 is our model. Paul tells Timothy, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others".
Here is our schedule:
Mon-Tues, June 17-18 - Travel to Uganda. I arrive in Entebbe at 11 pm on June 18th. Luke and Brittany arrive at 3:15 am on June 19.
Wed, June 19 - Travel to Iganga and check into the Mums Resort Hotel. (It's not really a resort?? By the way, I've spent a lot of nights in that hotel over the past two years. I'm going to ask them for rewards points!) After we check in we are going to visit several of Pastor Daniel's projects in the Iganga area. Also, Luke will be preaching on a radio program at 8:15 pm this evening.
Thurs, June 20 - We will conduct a LLJ Encounter for the pastors.
Fri-Sat, June 21-22 - Practice teaching/facilitating.
Sun, June 23 - Day of Worship. Luke preaches and I will be teaching a large group Sunday school class.
Mon, June 24 - The Pastors will teach/facilitate their own Encounters. They will be divided into 2 (possibly 3) groups and each pastor will facilitate parts of the workshop.
Tues, June 25 - In the morning, we will debrief the Encounters from Monday and do some coaching and mentoring. We will also lay out their "homework" and assignments for the next year and present each pastor with a certificate of completion of Phase I of their training. In the afternoon, we travel to Entebbe. Luke and Brittany will remain overnight there in a hotel and I will depart for the U.S. at 11:59 pm.
Wed, June 26 - Luke and Brittany depart the Entebbe airport for the U.S. at 4:15 am. I will arrive back in Lexington at 6:30 pm.
Please keep us in your prayers and especially pray for those who are coming for this training. My plan is to post again on Wednesday after we get settled into our hotel in Iganga.
Blessings!
Fred Waggoner
Thursday, June 13, 2013
UpWords · 06/13/2013
An important reminder that we should be content no matter what our situation is.
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>
Date: June 13, 2013, 7:07:44 AM EDT
To: <frwaggoner@hotmail.com>
Subject: UpWords · 06/13/2013
Reply-To: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>
UpWords · 06/13/2013
Today's MP3 A man once went to a minister for counseling.
"I've lost everything" he bemoaned.
"Oh," the preacher responded, "I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your faith."
"No," the man corrected him, "I haven't lost my faith."
"Well then," replied the preacher, "I'm sad to hear you've lost your character."
"I didn't say that," the man corrected. "I still have my character."
"Then I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your salvation."
"That's not what I said!" the man objected, beginning to lose patience.
The minister explained, "Well, you have your faith, your character, and your salvation. Seems to me, you have lost none of the things that really matter."We haven't either. You and I could pray like the Puritan who sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, "All this and Jesus too?" Can't we be equally content? Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain!"
From Traveling Light
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Monday, June 10, 2013
Verse of the day
1 John 4:9 NIV
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."
See it at YouVersion.com:
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Fwd: UpWords · 06/04/2013
Very good advice.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>
Date: June 4, 2013, 7:06:30 AM EDT
To: <frwaggoner@hotmail.com>
Subject: UpWords · 06/04/2013
Reply-To: MaxLucado.com <email@maxlucado.com>
UpWords · 06/04/2013
Today's MP3 God wants to use you my friend, but how can He if you're exhausted?
The other day when I was getting ready for my run, the sun was out, but the wind was chilly. Jacket or sweatshirt? The Boy Scout within me prevailed and I wore both. Got my cell phone, my water bottle. So no one would steal my car, I pocketed my keys. I looked more like a pack mule than a runner! Within half a mile, I was pealing off the jacket.
That kind of weight will slow you down. What's true in jogging is true in faith. God has a great race for you to run. But you have to drop some stuff. How can you lift someone else's load if your arms are full with your own?
For the sake of those you love, travel light. For the sake of the God you serve, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light!
From Traveling Light
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