A Super Ten Years! |
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“It sure isn’t Metropolis.” That’s the kind of thought that passes through your mind when you first roll into Mbarara, a small town located in southwestern Uganda. It’s the town where our mission team moved ten years ago, to plant churches among the two million-plus Ankole people. But despite the buildup of excitement and anticipation that had been growing over the previous few months, the entry into Mbarara town was (and still is) quite underwhelming. Renee Fouts remembers having a sinking feeling when we first arrived in October 1997 and thinking, “How am I going to live in this place for ten years?” It was a valid question. But wait: let’s rewind a bit before attempting an answer. Many of you know the story, but here it is in brief, to get everyone up to speed: Young Jay Baker was found near the site of a mysterious meteor crater, and from an early age exhibited super-human strength that could only be thwarted by the presence of kryptonite… Wait a minute, that’s a different story! (More on this later.) The Bakers, Fouts, and Gages met at Harding University and by 1995 had committed to working together as a mission team in Africa to start a movement of indigenous churches that would someday be able to multiply and thrive on their own. In 1996 the Lord connected our team with First Colony church, and we enjoyed a wonderful year there as we prepared for our move to Uganda. The send-off was incredible at the church and in the crowded airport terminal. Getting on that plane was somehow both exciting and frightening at the same time; we were joyful and mournful. We were leaving one life behind, but what an adventure the Lord had in store for us! And it really has been a great adventure, once we got past that first impression of Mbarara town! Nick Fouts, it was soon discovered, possessed an incredible ability to learn the very difficult Runyankore language. He was also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but since there are no tall buildings in Mbarara, that didn’t help our cause as much as his language gifts. (Plus, there aren’t any phone booths in Uganda.) But seriously... One of the greatest things about these past ten years has been to watch the Lord use all the different people on our team in their own uniquely gifted ways. In fact, just being a part of this team will always be one of the singular blessings of my life. There is something very special about being a part of such a close community, the body of Christ, sent out for His purposes… After settling in and beginning to learn the language, we started working in several village “preaching points”, even though we were talking like four-year-old kids. By early 1999, there were six churches and we had begun to get a pretty good idea of how not to do things! But the Lord has worked wonders with the Ankole Mission, despite our mistakes and much of the time even through our weaknesses. There are definitely no “supermen” here, but we do, of course, serve an awesome God! Along the way, the Lord continued to bring more teammates, expanding and diversifying this work in unique and exciting ways. New churches continued to be born, and leaders were raised up and trained. The churches continued to mature, and the missionaries continued to learn many valuable lessons along the way! Fast-forward to 2007, and what we see is ten years of God’s goodness, power, and faithfulness. There are twenty-two churches, along with several more preaching points. We have a good core of Ankole leaders, and we’ve walked together with some of these men for several years now, through tough times and some amazing victories. As we look to the future, we see that the Lord is bringing new teammates to this work, even as we experience feelings of loss as many of us are now being led away from this little town. It didn’t look like much at first, but it’s a town that for ten years we have happily called home. Many people tend to think of missionaries as some kind of “super-Christians.” A study of this mission team would definitely prove that is not the case! We are ordinary folks with our own messy struggles and weaknesses, just like everyone else. We have been saved and sustained by the grace of God, and we did, thankfully, answer His call - and He has been gracious to bless this mission beyond measure. One of those many blessings has been our partnership with all the churches and peopel that have supported this work for so many years. Words cannot express how deeply grateful we are for the support and care that you have given, for your prayers and your love. Thank you for being a part of God’s mission to the Ankole for a super ten years! (Photo below is from the First Colony Church "Family Connection" magazine, October 2007 edition...)
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