'I am in a season of my life where God is challenging me about my heart’s motives; why I do what I do.
Why is a very important question; I am increasingly persuaded that we need to stop and ask ourselves why we do the things we do – as often as we can. This is especially the case when it relates to spiritual things.
'What is/are our truest motivation(s)?
'I would like to share why I am doing the ministry work that I do; why I am involved in Veritas College Uganda.
'About six years ago, I made a decision that would influence my life greatly; I was already a Christian but I felt like there was a certain amount of discontentment with my life as it was then; I actually felt that there were many things that God wanted me to do with my life that were yet undone and would remain undone unless I allowed Him to more prominently influence the course of my life. I wanted Him to reveal my calling, and more so, to show me practically how to live it.
'When you really know why you are doing what you are doing, and if that reason is true and noble, it is like a clearer and brighter light to your path. It helps you through the confusing times when the going gets tough or when it gets too easy – because both of those times have the potential to create confusion; they heighten or dull our emotions, blur our minds and challenge us spiritually. It is in those times that we need to check ourselves in the Lord, and it helps if He is our reason why.
'We need to stop and put our focus on Him and remind ourselves of His love for us and remind ourselves to love Him. I have seen this turn situations around.'
Training Coordinator Godfrey Ntale writes:
'I am married to Sarah and we have two boys and one girl Calvin, Nathaniel and Abigail. They all support my involvement with Veritas in Uganda. I work as the Training Coordinator and for me it has been a great experience to serve pastors and other church leaders in Uganda. Statistics show that the population of Uganda is 80% Christian, but this seems very inconsistent with what we experience when you consider what is represented through many media houses, in government, and in other social sectors. One thing that comes across clearly is that there is a lack of proper Bible understanding and application.
'During our training we occasionally receive testimonies from pastors confessing to us the wrong teachings they gave, and some even went ahead repenting to their congregations their wrong doctrines. This happens, not necessarily because of wrong motives on their part, but more often because of lack of proper training. The few Bible Schools in the country are “a drop in a desert" - they cannot reach the great number of churches whose leaders and congregants are in need of training. Worse still, the approach that most theological schools use requires that their students become residential at their institution, which means that the student – often already a leader of a church - needs to be away from his family and ministry, and this also means that the leaders have to be away from their work, be it ministry or tent making.
Veritas’ approach brings the training to where the leaders are. We train them and their congregants within their church setting, and encourage the church to own the training programs through a process known as Integrated Leadership Development, whereby leaders we train are empowered to integrate the same training into his/her own church/ministry by training their own people within their own context.
Pray with us:
Thank you for the past year and the Lord’s provision in so many ways.
Thank you for the new leadership and for them taking up their new roles and responsibilities.
That the current “training season” will go well and that facilitators will be committed to train new leaders and empower them to also facilitate.
That financial support will continue and grow.
May you and your family have a blessed Christmas time and may 2014 be a year where you will experience God’s grace in abundance!'
Equipping to serve … a new chapter in Uganda
It is an exciting time for the work in Uganda and as Veritas College International (VCI) we believe the new leadership will build on the solid foundation which was laid during the years by Richard van de Ruit and his team. Many leaders and the people they serve have been equipped to serve their churches and communities and we pray that many more will be impacted.
On all levels – administration, finances, training and follow-up – the new team has been working hard to keep the same level of service and even to improve on certain areas. As Daniel (National Director) and Godfrey (Training Coordinator) are not new hands in Veritas the training strategy for example was already improved by them a few years ago and we can see the impact of that now.
December 2013
Veritas College Uganda: PO Box 6016, Kampala, Uganda / danielhama@veritascollege.org
Veritas College International (UK): PO Box 100, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 5EU, UK
Veritas College International (SA): PO Box 3434, Matieland, 7602, South Africa / ivan@veritascollege.org
For donations please contact annelee@veritascollege.org
