At this point I have not begun formally discipling anyone in a one-to-one context. In a sense, I am mentoring the pastors as a group as we have begun meeting every Saturday. I would also hasten to say that I am being mentored by them at the same time. I have also begun establishing a base of relationship with a couple of the young men here in Jinja. I have been fishing with some of the young men on two occasions and hope to continue fostering those relationships.The setup in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Uganda very strongly supports mentoring. In each of the congregations there are young men (late teens to mid-twenties) who are called assistants. They are men who have demonstrated their commitment to Christ and to the ministry of the congregation and who have a heart to minister to others. The pastors have been serving as mentors for these young men and in many cases rely on them heavily in the parish ministry. When the pastor is visiting another church, the assistants will be in charge of the service. I have encouraged the pastors to invest heavily in these young men and to train them through discipleship.
The result of the discipleship effort in the ELCU is young leaders who are not book-learned, but who have learned through experience alongside the pastor. They have watched the pastors in different ministry situations and learned by observing. They have learned to conduct the service and some have learned to preach. Pastor Sospeter in particular has sought to train the young leaders. He has planted several churches around his home area and in each of the churches he has trained assistants to carry on the work.
Since our coming, the pastors have had opportunity to gather together more frequently and become more united in spirit and purpose. As the pastors are encouraged and challenged, the congregations will also receive the blessing through their pastors. The work of the pastors to make disciples has created a love for the church among the youth as they are seen as a valuable part of the ministry. They are invested in as the church of tomorrow.
The purpose of our first year in Uganda is to be students of the language and culture of the people we have come to serve. We will also be focusing on building relationships with the people and investing in those with whom we will be working in the future. Beyond the first year, we hope to begin a program for training church leaders so that the churches will be firmly grounded on the Word of God. In five years, our goal is to have free and living congregations that are active in prayer and evangelism and that are reproducing and multiplying. We hope to have national church leaders that are actively training others to carry on the work of the ministry.
Nate Jore
