TrueCity to Kampala
Exploring the Witness of Unity in Mission
Ever since Alison returned from her first trip to Rwanda and Kenya in the fall of 2004, she has talked of the need for me to experience Africa. She has been back twice (and is going again in March), but while I have been open there has never been a clear sense of God’s leading for me to go…until now.
A year ago my friend Matt Pamplin, one of the pastors at Grindstone Church, asked if I thought we could put together a TrueCity team to assist a ministry their church is partnering with in Kampala, Uganda. It is an innovative ministry that opens up pastoral training opportunities for pastors from smaller churches who have had little or no such training.
It is also a ministry Alison visited when she traveled to Uganda in 2008 (see photo). Matt felt that a team of TrueCity pastors would bring great resources and that our unity would be a huge witness to churches that are too often suspicious and divided.
As this seed began to take root I became aware that two other churches involved in TrueCity had strong ties to ministries in Kampala. As I talked with church leaders about these connections the exciting possibility of a collaborative team grew and took form. This fall six of us from five different churches and a partner ministry have begun meeting to plan and prepare.
We will go for two weeks in April. It is a trip that will allow us to bring some great pastoral training resources while simultaneously exploring together the way that global involvement and local engagement interact. We will bring some of the best that TrueCity has to offer–a wonderful mix of experience, passion, gifts, age, and church background.
And yet we are already aware that we will receive more than we bring. It is in this hope–knowing that in God’s economy whenever we give freely of the best we have He stands ready to meet us and pour abundantly back in our laps.
So as we go to share the beauty of the unity in mission God has worked into our lives here in Hamilton I know He will pour more into us that we will bring back to bless the church in Hamilton.
To give to Dave and the TrueCity to Kampala team–
Canadian Giving Link–
US Giving Link–
