A Glimpse of Youth Ministry in Uganda

As I write to you at this very moment, my dad is teaching a little over 120 youth workers about how to prepare a sermon.

I wish you could see it. We’re in the basement of an Anglican church, and when I say “basement”, understand I mean dirt floor, echoing cement walls, and exposed electric wires that function most of the time (we were in the dark for a good 12 minutes of one of my workshops yesterday… I just kept going).

Dad and I are team-teaching this enthusiastic group of young leaders (I think the oldest person in the audience is 35). They are educated, they are sharp, they are dedicated… and they are starving for resources and training.

So much fun!!!

We brought almost 100 books with us to give away this week. I handed out 20 this morning and it was as if I was handing a glass of cool spring water to someone stranded in the Sahara. The coordinator of their local youth leader network held up one of the books I had brought (Doug’s Purpose Driven Youth Ministry) and said, “We will keep several copies of this in our library for you to borrow.” Immediately you could people’s face light up, practically raising their hands, “Where do I sign up to borrow that?”

As we wrap up today we will have trained them in the following:

–       Connecting with Youth

–       Planning Activities that Engage Youth

–       Preparing Biblical Sermons

–       Training the Trainer

–       Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers!

I had better quit typing… we’re about to give out certificates to all the youth leaders who have completed this two-day training. I was just told we are awarding 134 certificates. Wow!

I’ll try to share more of what I observe in the next few days (my thoughts last year).

Keep us in your prayers. I’m speaking at a large convention here tomorrow, then teaching University student leaders on Saturday, then speaking at “secondary schools” through Tuesday. (Here’s the breakdown.)

Thanks for your prayers!