Find sustainable resources instead.

Northern Uganda has been through some terrible times. A 20 year war isolating the North from the South of the country, placing people in camps, constantly worried if they will make it through to the next day. Aid groups have mercifully worked in the region serving for decades now helping through the crisis and the rebuilding of social norms.  But 20 years of living like this has had long term impacts on the internal monologue or messages people tell themselves here.

One of those messages is, subtly being told that they are not able to sustain themselves. That they are not strong enough to do it on their own. Aide must come, and it must come from outside.  These messages have come across in practical skills as well as in ministry.

Northern Uganda has been bombarded with missionaries, from around the world, as well as from within Uganda’s own borders, handing out bibles, tracks and making big speeches about converting to Christianity. The truth of the Gospel is sometimes proclaimed, but the model given is that leaders must come from the outside of the region.  The message is clear, you need Jesus AND a foreigners help to get on the right track. 

For a movement to be sustained here everyday Northern Ugandans need to be able to follow Jesus within their normal life schedule, and have the confidence that they can make disciples themselves.  When growth or discipleship is tied to outside leaders or resources provided by foreigners, movements stop.  If we are providing bibles, pamphlets, audio readers, and endless supplies to Ugandans who want to follow Jesus, then we are hinging the growth of a movement on the resources we provide. That is simply not sustainable.  The short term benefit from handouts is out-weighed by the dependence it continues to reinforce.

We have challenged our leaders, and they have challenged us, to find culturally relevant ways to answer these places of need in ways that will  reinforce community values and strengths. We have to think outside of the typical resource provision to find simple ways Ugandans can pass on their methods to others.

We cannot introduce financial constraints when God is moving. We want to give Him as much space as he needs to move and do his thing, and reducing the barriers to encountering his word together is something we are very serious about. 

We have the patience to see God move here in a way that honors and respects our friends.  That lifts them up and says we believe in your ability to lead others into all that God has for them.  

Uganda is a beautiful country with a difficult history of oppression and tribal division through British Colonization, the horrific reign of President Idi Amin, and the over 20-year terror of the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army. Ugandans are resilient, strong, forgiving, and kind people, and they desire to thrive.

This is where we are stepping in, into a people who are finally free of war-time life and are seeking to find themselves, their value, their authority all over again. They are such a strong people but a people who have been oppressed by governments, rebellions, and even aid groups. The repeated message to Ugandans has been, “You are helpless. You cannot do this yourself.” They have been made to feel like victims with no authority. They have been exploited and stereotyped as “poor helpless Africans”.

We want to be different. We want to empower. We don’t want to “fix” Africans, because they are not broken. We take our foreign perspectives out of the picture, as much as possible, to allow space for God to work through Ugandans. Through reading the bible and hearing the Holy Spirit, we know that Ugandans are able to grow in their confidence of discipling one another. We know that God has called each of us (not just Westerners) a chosen people, that all who know God to declare His praises.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. -1 Peter 2:9

We love working with Ugandans, and our calling is to provide them the resources and discipleship they need in their process of becoming more confident leaders and disciplers of others around them. Ugandans have a unique understanding of who God is, that they bring to their conversations with other Ugandans. When they are able to share God’s love in their lives with others, that is the beginning of a ripple effect that can transform all of Africa.