Servant leadership, is a high value of House to House, and a value deeply ingrained in the teachings of Jesus. He emphasizes embodying a servant's role rather than seeking authority for a position of power. Servant leadership was modeled by Jesus himself through his acts of humility and selflessness towards others.

In the Bible, the act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples is described in the Gospel of John 13:1-17. This moment is a powerful demonstration of humility and service, as Jesus, despite being their teacher and Lord, took on the role of a servant by washing the feet of his disciples.

“so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

— John 13:4-5

The disciples feet were not lightly dusty, no; they were quite filthy from walking in sandals through dirty and littered roads (my feet often get this way walking on dusty roads in Uganda in my flip flops). Jesus saw a need for clean feet to sit more comfortably at a meal, and rose to meet it with his disciples. Through serving his followers in this practical way, Jesus exemplifies a message of love, humility and serving one another with compassion.

3 Things Jesus did as a Servant Leader

1. Humility: Jesus exemplified humility by washing his disciples' feet, a task typically reserved for servants.

2. Compassion: He showed compassion towards the sick, the marginalized, and the needy, demonstrating empathy and care for others.

3. Sacrifice: Jesus willingly sacrificed his life for the salvation of all, embodying the ultimate act of selflessness and servant leadership.

As followers of Jesus we are urged to follow his example by prioritizing the needs of others over opportunities for power and recognition. We can try every day, in little ways and big, to embody the values of humility, compassion and sacrifice in our own life. Genuine leadership is bigger than titles and praise; it is grounded in the unwavering dedication to serve and elevate those around us. Let us mirror our leadership style after the ultimate servant leader, Jesus, who illustrated that true leadership is rooted in a heart of service.

When you hear that, as a follower of Jesus, you are called share God’s love, what comes to your mind?  Does it excite you? Scare you?  Do certain expectations come to your mind? A certain experience? 

Consider these words that Jesus said:

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.  The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.   No other commandment is greater than these.” – Mark 12: 30-31 

God’s heart of love is seen all through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  The earth, and everything in it, was created from God’s love.   His design for how the world was to be was from love.  His response to sin is love.  His hope and future for eternity for all who believe is from love.  His heart for the lost is love.   Love is His being.  It is freely shared with us and for those who choose to receive Him.  Thinking of it this way, how easy is it for us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength?   And the more we understand it, and know Him, how much does this love for Him increase? You look at someone like Paul, who lived a life of suffering and persecution, but found pure joy in following Christ and loving his people despite the challenges.  He found everything else to be “rubbish.”  It poured out from Him in every part of his life: through his words of truth and encouragement, in his letters, and his actions to others, even to those who opposed him.

Looking at the second half of the scripture from Mark, the love we receive from Him and also have for him is commanded to be poured out to those around us. I think of our love for God as a reservoir being filled and filled, so much that it bursts open and flows out to others.   The more we know and love Christ, the more we are filled by Him.  It becomes a natural outpouring of that love to others around us! It becomes more and more a part of our being, and our perspective changes.  It becomes less of an “act” to carry out, or criteria to meet, but just our lifestyle.    

So, how can you share God’s love?  Through acts of kindness, hospitality, and service? Through words of love, truth, and God’s Word? Through prayer or walking through forgiveness for someone?

My prayer as that as you read this, you realize the depth of love the Father has for you.  I pray that in your own relationships, there will be an outpouring of His love from you for people in the ways that will show Jesus to them.  If you don’t know what that looks like, just look at the Bible and how Jesus did it.  Then ask the Lord to guide you in your own life!  His love is abundant, free, and ready for all to receive!  Go share it!

Life is full of challenges, and every person is walking through trials of some capacity in their life.  Some trials can feel manageable, others almost too much to bear.  Pride or shame can creep in, preventing a person from wanting to be open with others.  Over time, their mindset can become a position of isolation, where they feel they are the only one walking through such a trial.  This can create bitterness, discouragement, and separating themselves from community.  

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

In this scripture, Jesus invites those who are facing trials to come to Him for rest.   When we allow His Word to work within our hearts, His presence, His Word, and His Truth, makes our burdens light.   When a person enters a fellowship of people who are seeking God, the Holy Spirit to work in hearts, and are sharing each other’s victories and burdens, trust and value is established and strengthened.  People can share openly about their lives and share their burdens with one another.   The group can provide love, support, and prayer into these areas of need.  Everything about this type of fellowship leads towards Kingdom work, and against bitterness, discouragement, and isolation.

I pray that as you read this, you can celebrate that you are part of such a community.  If not, I encourage you to consider where can you find precious fellowship like this.  If you aren’t sure, maybe consider starting one!  May we all as the body of Christ work towards knowing more of Him and experiencing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).

Even if you have plans to be elsewhere, even if it feels like you need to be moving forward. You are where you are for a reason. You are friends with who you're friends with... for a reason! God is giving you an opportunity to share about his love with everyone you have a relationship with. Don't waste it! We hope you enjoy our discussion between House to House staff, Monica and Colleen, on sharing God's love with the people around you!

Raed grew up as a Muslim and then decided to dedicate his life to follow Jesus. Raed lived in Arua where our House to House team member, Korwen, met him. They developed a discipling relationship over the last few years and this past year Korwen trained Raed to use an app developed to help guide Bible Sharing groups through scriptures.

Raed has since used the app as a guide to found a bible sharing group at his nursing school. He as also taken the opportunity to reach out to the youth, in his home town, sharing Gods love with them during his school breaks.

Raed has grown in his love of Jesus, developed as a servant-leader and grown in confidence to share his faith with those around him.

In the heart of the ministry of House to House, we ask God to put us in relationship with people who have a desire to reach the people around them, where then we could equip them to become disciple makers in the plentiful harvest.     Sometimes this is harder to find than some would think.   We’ve had many invitations to come and disciple hundreds of people, and where there is discernment in situations, most times it isn’t at all sustainable.   We’ve met with interested individuals, only to find the heart is not to expand God’s kingdom, but rather for their own personal motives.   We’ve definitely had our ups and downs, but God has shown us His faithfulness in prayer and waiting for the connections with those He has prepared for us.  

But what happens when God brings this desired partnership together?  The result is that all He wants to see done, will be completed.   In one heart and vision in the Holy Spirit, we can work to empower these individuals to see God’s plans and purposes move among the people placed around them.  This could be pastors, teachers, mothers, businessmen, young adults, and any non-believer.  The list goes on and on and is limited to no person, but rather a person whose heart is on fire for the Great Commission. 

From there, we can give them the tools they are needing to disciple effectively.  We can help them strategically think about the people they are reaching, how to structure their groups, what tools to use in their discipleship, and how to tackle the challenges that come along the way.  Our desire is that they feel not only prepared to initiate these discipleship groups, but also equip others to become disciple makers.  This is how discipleship movements happen. 

Once the leaders are equipped, they can be sent.  Now this doesn’t mean that our relationship with them is finished, in fact it’s just getting started.   We have the opportunity to have an on-going, supportive relationship with these leaders as they continue to pour into their groups and the later groups that can also emerge.  

This is a discipleship movement.  Not just a one individual person moving.  It’s the body of Christ, moving together with the Holy Spirit, to obey Christ and teach others to do the same.   Leaving space for the Lord to do His work is the best thing we can do as disciple makers.  It’s not about us, it’s about Him.  

Winnie B was leading a Bible sharing group that was struggling to meet together regularly. In order to address this critical issue and help grow the group in community, they resolved to rotate the groups location to meet at different members houses each week.

One of these members invited their neighbors when she was the host for the week. Some Muslim neighbors who were curious to see what the group was about decided to attend. They were moved by the spirit of God’s love and 3 of these women decided to dedicate their life to following Jesus.

They have continued to grow in their faith, connecting with a local church and growing in their love of Jesus.

In 2022/2023, we continued to partner with Kijani forestry, training their staff in Bible Sharing methods that House to House has developed. Our team members drove to their farm weekly to train over 50 believers who wanted to grow in their skills of sharing God’s love and guiding their communities in sharing the Bible together.

Roger and Santo shared House to House methods with these believers, encouraged them in their faith and in turn we saw them grow together as a community. They also expanded their vision to see the communities they were a part of as potential places to bring God into their conversations.

The Kijani forestry staff, once trained, have been assigned to locations all over the Northern Regions of Uganda. There, they have opportunity to build communities of Jesus followers with these simple tools.

The House to House team focused this past year on growing together as a team, praying for each other, as well as sharing ideas and resources. Our leadership gathered monthly to discuss the progress of our bible sharing networks and to encourage one another in leadership and direction. Out of these discussions our team has created a Healthy Groups Guidance Manual. This document outlines all of the characteristics of a healthy group, the structures needed to be in place and potential solutions to common issues in growing bible sharing groups. We are excited to see the benefits of having this Ugandan developed resource in place as our leadership is training and coaching new leadership for other generations of bible sharing groups.

You have God given Gifts. God made you unique for a reason! He has given you a mix of gifts that no one else in the world has. He is inviting you to share your gifts with other around you. So, what does it mean to share your gifts with others? How can you use the gifts and talents God has given you to create community. Here's the perspectives of some of our team on sharing their gifts with others.