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Thursday, May 8, 2014

Soroti Timothy Leadership Training

This week I co-led the 6th manual of Timothy Leadership Training here in Soroti.  This group of pastors and leaders started the training a couple years ago.  They will complete the program in October and some will become master trainers who will go on to train many others.  Although I was not with this group for the previous manuals, the coordinators were in need of another facilitator, and so I filled in.  We met from 8-5, Monday-Thursday.



The 6th manual is: "Overcoming Violence in the Family."  This is a powerful manual and very practical.  Some of it is very intimate and hard to speak about.  We looked at what the Bible says about honoring other people who are made in God's image.  We were challenged to honor people in society that are not normally honored, following the example of Jesus.  We looked at examples of family violence in the Bible (there are many), and what they teach us.  We looked at what Christian marriage is supposed to look like, and discussed issues of domestic abuse and other conflicts in marriage.  We not only discussed personally how to deal with these things in our families, but also how to help those in our churches. 

We talked about contemporary issues like land grabbing, verbal abuse, female genital mutilation, protecting children from abuse, and other sensitive topics.  We spent a great deal of time talking about pornography and how we can help those who are struggling.  It is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in Uganda.  While we struggle with it in the US on our computers, in Uganda people commonly have access to it on their phones as well as stores that rent out pornographic DVDs.  We talked about other sexual sins like incest and how to protect people from it.  And we talked about how to help those struggling with homosexual desires.  We talked about how to help victims heal from past abuse, and how to help the perpetrators find forgiveness and transformation.  I also learned that alcoholism is a serious problem in Uganda.


People were very touched by the training, and they are very excited to carry out their new action plans based on this manual.  They are eager to help those in their churches with these difficult topics.  Some are planning to find ways to counsel people in their churches struggling with family violence, and others are going to teach this very manual to others.  Here is a picture of them praying for their action plans.



Here is a photo of me, and Rev. Ngigii in the middle who came from Kenya to be the leading facilitator for this training, and Emmanuel on the left, the local coordinator.  Emmanuel was also at Pentecostal Theological College while we were there, so he is a good friend.



Over the week I was able to hear testimonies about the previous action plans from the other manuals.  Here are three testimonies about action plans that I received permission to share with you.

Emmanuel,  (the one in the picture above), shared about his action plan which consisted of starting a drug store in Soroti, in an area heavily populated by Muslims.  The plan was for this store to help supplement his income to take care of his family, and also a way to reach out to Muslims with the love of Christ.  Emmanuel carried out this plan and created "Grace drug store."  It is doing very well and he has other employees that help him run the store, since Emmanuel also has full-time pastoral work.  They talk and pray for people that come to the store for drugs or treatment.  A few people have come to Jesus and been saved because of talking to him or other employees at the store. 

Martin made a plan to start a small nursery school through his local church.  He talked to the church and they responded well to the plan and they let him start a small school at the church property.  Since that time, the school went from about 20 children to over 100 children.  They are filling a big need in the community.  Martin named this school, "Timothy Nursery School."

Joseph, (another of our former students), is the pastor of the church in Soroti we've been attending.  After the stewardship manual, he wanted his Christians to know about the importance of giving.  He made a plan which consisted of teaching, as well as visiting the individual families in his church.  Once he carried this out the giving increased from about 400,000 shillings for a month to 500,000.   Then it kept going up, to 600,000.  And it kept going up.  I'm told that right now it is at about 1,800,000 - 2,000,000 shillings for a month.  This is about a 400% increase in giving because of the action plan Joseph made in TLT.



When you train in Africa, there is always something interesting in the environment to take notice of.  Here is a cute little guy I found on the church veranda.

3 comments:

  1. thank you Anthony and Sara so much for the work you are doing,training our pastors and church leaders on such useful topics" family violence"God bless you. Thank you Emma and friend from Kenya for the good ! Rev Oluka Charles- Kumi, Uganda.

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  2. The follow-through and results from the Timothy Training action plans is exciting on so many levels! We look forward to hearing some of the stories you will hear as a result of the violence in families action plans your students created in response to your most recent training.

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  3. FGM,PROSTITUTION ON WOMANHOOD -
    BUTCHERS OF WOMANHOOD
    When God told Abraham to sign the covenant of the flesh, he circumcised all the male children and he was
    circumcised. GENESIS 17: 1-27 When God told Moses that the Children of Israel shall not circumcise their
    girls, the message was given in a spiritual language and bore two warnings. The
    Israelis parent shall not sexually mutilate their daughters and fathers were
    commanded not have carnal knowledge (incest) of their daughters making them
    prostitutes. The evil cutting is done in honor of the dead.
    Leviticus 19:28-29. Israelis girl child remained a land fenced,a spring shut up and a blessed fountain sealed in divine state.
    Song of Solomon 4:12, Proverbs 5:18-19.
    Israelis women remained lively and delivered goodly children easily a state known to Pharaoh and he agreed with the midwives reply. Exodus 1:15-22. God has promised our beloved sisters save child delivery. 1Timothy 2: 15. Man is commanded by GOD to give his
    wife her conjugal wrights for its a shared joy. 1Corithians 1:1-4. Her bone is left in the air to dry like wood. This is not circumcision.
    Which man would ever leave any cut part of his bone to dry in the air like wood? After FGM there are no bows left for man to hold. Song of Solomon 7:8 .NO blood should be spilt in FGM. Leviticus 1928-29.
    FGM makes a woman a land without fence and a well without a cover. Song of Solomon 4:12
    They view God at fault for providing the girl child with an active sexual organ a source of immorality . FGM is a
    form of partial castration for a womanhood. The fleshy coals are provided for marriage. 1Corithians7: 9 .Jeremiah 44:19 . in FGM women count on their husbands support. God purposed a woman to enjoy sex in marriage. Song of Solomon 2:2-6.No curse for brethren . Galatians3:10-14, Proverb26:1-2.
    When the earth is fully polluted in FGM, at a point in
    life ,men turn the country a slaughter house for one another and the
    communities at large. The seed of evil is planted and watered by parents. Men can overturn the suffering girls go through in FGM over night when they are not habitually cheated on issues concerning FGM. They will take a firm stand that girls atrocities in FGM resulting in life time suffering is not their joy and refuse sharing wives with Satan in FGM. No trade can exist without customers. When men have true caring love and holy concern for our beloved sisters, Satanic sacrifice in FGM will be an issue in the forgotten past. Men ought to know in FGM that the devil has invaded the sanctuary of marriage and defiled the fountain. Let your fountain be blessed Provebrs5:18-19. Men bear the automate change over. Amen
    It is hypocritical and mockery for parents in Church of Christ to spend their early marriage life in double standards live to perpetuate FGM and live in their twilight years as devoted loving caring parents having soiled their hands with the blood of their daughters in a well intended time staged managed shedding of blood and flesh of their daughters in FGM in early marriage life for demonic chastity sacrifice acceptance
    . FGM exercise the most Dignified Unreserved Beastly Cultural Atrocities on womanhood which is the deadly yoke of Satan hidden in parenthood for demonic chastity acceptance. .Let all Children of Abraham by faith join in spiritual circumcision. Colossians 2: 8-12. Roman2:28-29 .When faithful Abraham the father of faith was commanded by God to be circumcised at 99 years old with his son Ishmael at thirteen years old, he obeyed
    God. Sarah and Hagar were not circumcised or any girl child since there is no women circumcision with God. GENESIS 17: 1-27







    ReplyDelete