Mbale
Meredith has prepared a lovely breakfast, and then Phil and I leave the house by 8:20 to get to Knox Theological College, only about a kilometer away.
Phil has asked me to speak at chapel. There are about 11 students. After chapel, I am introduced to Pastors Steven Hamya and Mesulamu Musamali. They are members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Uganda; although they have similar names, there is no organic connection with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the United States. I sit in the college library with these men while Phil gives a lecture the students on the book of Titus. They tell me of the history of the church in Uganda, which dates back to 1877, when a Scottish Presbyterian by the name of Alexander McKay came to the region. They tell of the formation of the Presbyterian Church of Uganda, through the labours of Kefa Sempangi, a man who was trained at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. He is one of the men who suffered under the brutality of Idi Amin in the early 70s, a story that he tells in his book A Distant Grief. They give me a copy of that book to take with me. Recently the PCU has become corrupted through a bad combination of dictatorial leadership (even though there is a Presbyterian form of government in place) combined with a sudden influx of great sums of money from the US. This has not served the church well at all. When several of the men rise to protest the discarding of the Westminster Confession, the abuse of power, poor church planting methods, and the lack of financial accountability, they are put out of their churches. They subsequently form the OPCU, which is a young work, having begun in 2003. They have left church buildings behind for the sake of the gospel, meeting under mango trees or coffee plants. They joke about their Mango Church. The OPCU presently has five congregations with two ordained minsters and three licentiates, as well as others who are studying for the ministry at Knox.
We have a wonderful lunch of fried rice and cabbage.
I sit in on a homiletics practice session, where a student preaches.
Phil shows me the five-acre property that has been purchased for the mission work there. Lord willing, it will house not only the college, but faculty homes, dormitories, and a primary school. They have dug a well already, along the idea of what the Bible College of East Africa has done. There they put a faucet from their well outside the wall of the college offering water freely for all who are needy. Over the faucet is the verse from John 4:13-14: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Here in Mbale there is no wall to put up a verse, but the principle is the same. There are 4-5 women filling containers with water.
From here we have a beautiful view of Mount Wanale, a major mountain that sits before Mount Eglon, but hides it from view.
I have a very relaxing evening with the Proctors and we prepare to leave for Kampala early the next day.
Phil has asked me to speak at chapel. There are about 11 students. After chapel, I am introduced to Pastors Steven Hamya and Mesulamu Musamali. They are members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Uganda; although they have similar names, there is no organic connection with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the United States. I sit in the college library with these men while Phil gives a lecture the students on the book of Titus. They tell me of the history of the church in Uganda, which dates back to 1877, when a Scottish Presbyterian by the name of Alexander McKay came to the region. They tell of the formation of the Presbyterian Church of Uganda, through the labours of Kefa Sempangi, a man who was trained at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. He is one of the men who suffered under the brutality of Idi Amin in the early 70s, a story that he tells in his book A Distant Grief. They give me a copy of that book to take with me. Recently the PCU has become corrupted through a bad combination of dictatorial leadership (even though there is a Presbyterian form of government in place) combined with a sudden influx of great sums of money from the US. This has not served the church well at all. When several of the men rise to protest the discarding of the Westminster Confession, the abuse of power, poor church planting methods, and the lack of financial accountability, they are put out of their churches. They subsequently form the OPCU, which is a young work, having begun in 2003. They have left church buildings behind for the sake of the gospel, meeting under mango trees or coffee plants. They joke about their Mango Church. The OPCU presently has five congregations with two ordained minsters and three licentiates, as well as others who are studying for the ministry at Knox.
We have a wonderful lunch of fried rice and cabbage.
I sit in on a homiletics practice session, where a student preaches.
Phil shows me the five-acre property that has been purchased for the mission work there. Lord willing, it will house not only the college, but faculty homes, dormitories, and a primary school. They have dug a well already, along the idea of what the Bible College of East Africa has done. There they put a faucet from their well outside the wall of the college offering water freely for all who are needy. Over the faucet is the verse from John 4:13-14: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Here in Mbale there is no wall to put up a verse, but the principle is the same. There are 4-5 women filling containers with water.
From here we have a beautiful view of Mount Wanale, a major mountain that sits before Mount Eglon, but hides it from view.
I have a very relaxing evening with the Proctors and we prepare to leave for Kampala early the next day.
posted by Unknown | 6:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home