Uganda Mission Mobilization

The goal of the Uganda Missions Mobilization ministry is to increase the number of indigenous missionaries being sent cross-culturally by Ugandan churches to people groups that currently have little or no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The sending of many indigenous missionaries should be the long-term impact of good Christian discipleship that we seek to assist our partner churches in doing through our other ministries in generations to come. Therefore, missions mobilization is part of the fabric of every ministry we do in Uganda. However, we also recognize that specific actions need to be taken here and now to shift the mindset of churches so that they step into their role as senders, and to connect individuals who are presently called to be trained as cross-cultural missionaries.

Our current strategies for achieving this goal include raising up missions' advocates in local churches through connecting key individuals and groups to missions' courses, conferences, and missions training, and through organizing visits from African missionaries and short-term team exposure visits to the areas of Uganda least reached with the gospel. Mission courses are facilitated either by us, our partners, or previously trained individuals from other churches. The courses we are currently using are MissionMode and Kairos. One other strategy we are employing is partnering with indigenous Ugandan missions organizations with a focus of ministering to least-reached tribes, and assisting them in their work by connecting them with people exploring their call to missions, pastors who may participate in doing modular trainings of pastors in new church plants, and funding to facilitate their ministry activities (for example, a contribution towards the construction of a dormitory for modular pastors’ trainings).

Achievements 

• Invited and facilitated 5 people from Pader to complete the Kairos course online, hosted by Global Link Afrika (GLA)
• Invited GLA to do an in-person Kairos course in Pader with 7 senior church leaders, 6 church volunteers, and 2 EI Uganda staff.
• Ran a MissionMode course with University Community Church in Gulu with 16 participants, 11 of whom completed the course. Among the participants was the Senior Pastor of the church.
• We connected and supported the transport costs of a Pader couple who began the missionary internship program with The Frontier Mission Team (FMT).
• We sent our General Administrator as well as the two missions interns with FMT to an Express Missions course in Lweza, organized by All Nations University. 
• Our EI Uganda Missions Mobilizer successfully completed an online course offered through YWAM University of the Nations in Missions Advocacy.
• and more

Impact

After the Kairos course, senior church leaders initiated daily lunch hour prayer sessions for cross-cultural missions. Pader Town Church of Uganda's MissionMode course, led by church members, reached 63 new members, fostering a vision for global outreach. Two trainees continued their second year at the Missions and Prayer School, supported by Pader Town Church and others. FMT expanded accommodations, enabling more missions activities. University Community Church in Gulu planned exposure visits and pledged support for a departing missionary couple to the Ik people in 2023.

Looking Forward

In 2022, we've seen significant momentum in our ministry, particularly with churches in Pader and Gulu showing a growing interest in cross-cultural missions. This is evident through initiatives like sending and supporting interns in training, establishing a lunch-hour fellowship dedicated to praying for missions, and expanding mission vision training to other church members. Moving forward into 2023, we aim to formalize our ministry with a dedicated workplan and budget, focusing on specific target outputs. We also plan to integrate mission mobilization more intentionally into our discipleship training programs. We believe that churches sending cross-cultural missionaries is indicative of their health in discipleship and commitment to the Great Commission. While supporting Ugandan churches in sending missionaries, we're careful not to impose a specific support model or discourage local financial participation. Instead, we're exploring various ways to financially support and train Ugandan missionaries that encourage churches to contribute financially to their own missions endeavors. This approach aims to cultivate a culture of local financial support for missions within Ugandan churches.