CA in Moroto

By Sara:

In December, I had the opportunity to travel to Moroto to participate in a meeting of different Ugandan organizations working with Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB).  It was interesting to hear about the ways the different organizations have been practicing and teaching conservation agriculture and to listen to the ways they shared with and encouraged one another.

One day, we visited a learning center, a ways outside of Moroto to see what they are teaching.  They didn't have great examples of conservation agriculture (CA) or farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR - this involves pruning trees in agriculture fields rather than chopping them down completely).  But it gave our group some confidence in their own knowledge that they had more experience and understanding of the concepts than this training center did.

I did think their kitchen garden with a little grass-thatched roof over the compost pile in the middle was kind of cool.  It keeps the compost more in the shade and protects it from too much rain.

One of the big challenges we discussed was how to deal with roaming animals during the dry season when doing CA.  Farmers doing CA want to keep their soil covered either with growing plants or with some kind of mulch.  But when animals are set loose during the dry season, they can finish off anything growing and clear entire fields.  No perfect solutions were reached, but it was a good discussion where different people shared ideas for how they have dealt with such challenges so far.

I always am very amused to see long lines of construction workers sweeping roads by hand with brooms.  This road is going to be amazing once it is completed.

Agriculture in the Village

By Sara:

Here are some photos of farmers World Renew works with.  These first ones of Celement show his very productive cassava.  He was very pleased by how well it did and how this particular variety made 16 good-sized tubers after only ten months.

Another farmer, Joseph, has been raising rabbits.  I love the way he cut a hole in the wall of the house he keeps them in so they can go out into the walled-in space to run around and eat.  If I lived in the village and had the space, this is how I would keep my rabbits.

Pastor Silver grew vegetables during the dry season when they're scarce and used the profit to pay people to dig him some fish pans.  He got some help from a government fisheries officer to stock one of the ponds, then decided it would be a good idea to keep digging more ponds so he has a diversity of work to help him through different times of the year.

Owalei Celebration

By Sara:

After meeting with a group of pastors and church leaders in Owalei (near Soroti) for over 5 months to study the Bible and agriculture, Anthony and I had the whole group over to our house for lunch and a final celebration/wrap up of our time together (in November).  There were eleven people who had faithfully attended the group and rode over on their bicycles.

When we began meeting together months earlier, the group had requested to come see my garden, so they were excited to get a tour and see the way I am growing plants we talked about, such as mucuna, jackbean, fish bean, moringa, and pigeon peas.  They also enjoyed looking at my smaller vegetable garden and clay oven (see pictures below).

We had to rush inside after the tour because it started raining, but it was time for lunch anyway.  We all ate together, then spent time sharing testimonies about what everyone learned and put into practice over our time together, then discussed how they are going to continue using their knowledge in the future.

There are so many good stories; I can't share all of them, but here are a few of the testimonies:

Emmanuel made a plan to visit an old man from his church who is blind, to share with him about how God cares about him.  He said it made the man very happy and appreciative that the pastor would come spend time with him.

Peter appreciated learning about making plans and putting them into practice.  He made plans to visit at least two people from his church every week, plans which he implemented and intends to continue doing.

William said he learned about the characteristics of soil in the lesson on soil science, which will be helpful when he decides to buy land - now he knows how better to look for good soil.

Sara, Stephen, and Emmanuel all changed the way they treat their animals after studying Proverbs 12:10-11.  Sara and Stephen both said they now check on their animals every time they go home, to make sure they have enough water and food and shade.  Emmanuel said he used to beat animals when they were bothering him, but because he now recognizes how God cares for all creation, he has changed his attitude towards his animals and doesn't mistreat them any more.

John used the Bible study method we practiced together to study the Bible at home with his family.  His family appreciated it so much they told him they should study the Bible every time like that, which he said brought joy to his heart.

Some months ago, one of the group members asked me a lot of questions about moringa, so I taught a lesson on it - the ways that adding moringa to your diet can help with good nutrition - and we ended that lesson by cooking millet porridge together and adding moringa leaf powder to the porridge.  Previously, the group members had only been disappointed by moringa - years ago they were told to grow it to make lots of money selling the seeds to Europe, but that never happened.  Most people chopped down their trees after that, thinking they were totally useless.  They were pretty excited to learn how it is useful as a very nutritious food.

Clearly that lesson had a big impact on a lot of people - almost half the group shared about how they went home and started teaching their family and neighbors what they learned about moringa.  Benard, unfortunately didn't get a good response from the people he taught - they said moringa was just a charm from witch doctors and so refused to eat it.  The rest of the group encouraged him to keep talking to those people and teaching them about how moringa is food, a plant God has given us to eat, just like collard greens or other vegetables they already eat.

When we concluded, the group decided they would divide themselves into three smaller groups, based on where they live, so they can continue visiting those people who live close to them, encouraging and praying for each other.  And then they can help one another teach what they learned to others.  They also suggested that I come back occasionally to check on them and hear how they are doing.

Amuria TLT Graduation!

By Anthony:

In January, Sara and I had the joy of attending a Timothy Leadership Training graduation in Amuria town, at Amuria PAG church. From 2014 - 2016, I led a group of church leaders from Amuria district in TLT. After that group graduated, some of those leaders teamed up together to start a new training group for other Christians who had missed out on the first training. They did the trainings over the two years we were in Kenya, all on their own with no financial support. They finished just recently when we returned to Uganda. I am so proud of this group. It is like my grandchild, a fruit from my earlier ministry. I am especially proud of Egwalu Andrew in the photo below who was the lead trainer and organizer of this group. He really persevered and did a great job even though I wasn't around to help him until near the end.

I'm excited to report that we now have many such grandchild groups starting up around Uganda, being led by people who I trained in TLT. But this is the first such group to complete the whole program. Well done to Andrew and his team! After the graduation, Andrew has been getting tons of requests from other people who want to begin TLT. He plans to start a new group soon.



There were 8 people graduating as advanced trainers, and 5 graduating as basic trainers. Basic trainers completed only the first three of six manuals. Here is a video of the graduates marching in to the church:

In this video below one of the graduates, a pastor, is giving a testimony. He was saying that they used to sing a lot of songs in worship that did not have meaningful words. But after TLT they learned about the importance of carefully planning worship and they trained the choir to sing songs with more theological depth.

Not all TLT action plans are about church ministry. This group made a lot of great action plans focused on being better stewards of their personal resources and the development their families. Daniel was able to plan and build a new house for his family. He has gone beyond what is shown in the older photo below, and the house is almost finished. Grace was able to start a piggery project and make good money from her pigs. Michael was able to plant a whole orchard of citrus trees. This is Daniel's new house, halfway built, in the photo below:



Grace with her pigs she is keeping:

The only unfortunate thing about this graduation was that two people of the training group passed away before completing the program. But they had been committed members. It is very sad, but at the same time, it's inspiring to think of them learning God's Word and trying to serve God's people right up to the end of their lives.

I was invited to be the preacher at the graduation. It all took place during the church's worship service on Sunday morning. But since most of the graduates were from this local church, the church members did not mind joining in the long celebration. I preached on John 13 about Jesus washing his disciples' feet. I talked about servant leadership and challenged both pastors and church members to go against the leadership culture of the world, and humble ourselves. Too many church leaders in Africa (and the US) act like dictators, not tolerating other opinions, and they chase after titles, money, and honor.



I also explained why foot-washing was going to be a part of the graduation ceremony. It was a new thing for the church and the people graduating. The foot-washing was to be etched in their mind as a reminder to think about Christ and his service to us, especially our salvation. And the foot-washing was to be a reminder of how their trainers sacrificed to serve them and teach them in TLT. In the same way, we called them to go out and teach what they have learned to others, whether by starting a new TLT group, or just teaching what they learned to neighbors, family, and friends. We gave them a towel with the TLT logo printed on it as a gift and as reminder of their calling. The trainers washed the feet of all the graduates.

Here are some videos of the foot-washing. The graduates found it extremely meaningful, and there were tears.

Standing joyfully with their certificates:

One fun surprise was that the cakes for the graduation were made locally by some of the graduates. And who taught them how to make cakes? Sara did! She had a training that involved a couple of the same people last year. We were both very happy to see them putting into practice what she had taught them. Making these themselves must have saved them tons of money.

You might wonder why there is a photo of a petrol station below. One of the graduates, Michael, made a TLT action plan to start a petrol station in Amuria. (There is only one other station in Amuria to our knowledge). In August 2018, he and his wife started it as their family business. He has a partnership with an oil company, and he is able to buy drums of petrol and bring them to Amuria. There were many motorcycle drivers purchasing fuel when we drove past. Michael is very grateful for the TLT program. He has also been able to do a lot of family counseling programs through what he learned in TLT. 

Thank you for your support to Timothy Leadership Training. Keep praying for Andrew and other trainers as they lead more groups, with my guidance and encouragement.

Bride-Price in Uganda

By Anthony:

I made this post in order to share an interesting documentary with you called bride-price in Uganda. This is a really complicated issue for Ugandan Christians to navigate. It's very difficult, even for Christians, to go against family, clan, and community pressure to try to change anything about this system. I have friends who will not take dowry for their daughters when their daughters marry, but even this choice is difficult as the clan may seriously pressure them to take the money. Pray for Ugandan pastors and leaders as they try to figure out what changes to make and how to do it, and pray for courage and wisdom!