Hello everyone, my name is Okello Charles, I come from Uganda East Africa. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share something.
My professor in the African Church History class once said, “The church in Africa is a thousand miles wide but half an inch deep.” This indicates that it’s so easy for it to fall and fade away if targeted. To change this notion, it requires a focused attention.
In Uganda Bibles are scarce, and in a world of poverty most people cannot afford one. Without a bible or pastor who knows sound doctrine, the Ugandan people cannot validate which teachings are truth and which teachings are false. Without supporters, we have no way to help newcomers avoid being led astray by false teachings and remember that false teaching here is spreading like wild fire.
Many pastors here are called in ministry by God. Even those who fail and have been implicated in financial and moral scandals are not necessarily fake, but their desire to be trained in what God has called them is what has not been taken seriously. Together we can passionately qualify that one unqualified pastor.
Ugandans want the truth but Many villages lack access to sound doctrine and have been deceived by false teachings of the health, wealth and prosperity preachers. The people in our unreached villages feel like they have to earn heaven through good works, “righteous” living, or monetary sacrifices because that is what the false teachers have made them to believe.
Deceptive false teachers steal their hard-earned money and demand that they give away life’s necessities in exchange for a life that continues to lead to death.
With the economic depression and poverty levels in Uganda many pastors are un able to access this much needed Seminary education. I was only able to because of the generosity of faithful men like you. I am now able to do what I do in ministry correctly handling the Word of God because of the generosity of some faithful men and women who chose to pray and fund my Seminary education. You too can stand with a pastor and save the African Church tomorrow. Let us support the true gospel.
The time I have spent in Seminary (Uganda Baptist Seminary), I have come to realize that a call to ministry is a call to prepare. Most pastors badly need theological preparation. This week and the rest of this education holiday I am teaching Bible study methods and rules of interpretation (Hermeneutics) to our youth group at Heartland Worship Center. We look forward to having a great time in sharing great truths for preachers today two (2) times every week. This I could not do or even think about if I was not taken through a training.
When I got information about an opportunity to Join seminary through 4HIM IN AFRICA MINISTRIES, this was a prayer directly answered. This would come with its challenges but the benefits were worth bearing the challenges. We get to seminary with a preconceived idea of what we think is the gospel but only to realize while there that we have been preaching a miss. We have got to leave a family back home for a month while at seminary without being clear on their welfare but thankfully God takes us through it all. Upon training, it is so easy to realize how we exploited and manipulated God’s people for selfish gain, how we took advantage of their ignorance for lack of a bible, I sure thank God for the opportunity to train.
I could not afford a theological education for becoming a pastor if it meant paying for it out of my pocket. Empowered with access to sound doctrine in Uganda, I am now growing and discipling many people in Christ every week!
A generous contribution empowered and is still empowering me to get a pastor’s education grounded in sound doctrine. With this empowerment, we have led community leaders to Christ and Muslim families to Christ through our evangelism programs, we have revived our children and youth ministries, empowered women in ministry to best serve fellow women. God is at work here and He invites you to be a part of what He is doing here.
This education program at the Uganda Baptist Seminary runs for 9 terms for a certificate and diploma programs and 11 terms for a Bachelors’ program of 3 terms every year. The seminary offers a curriculum that range in areas of doctrine, Church History, Biblical Counseling, Preaching Lab, Bible study methods and rules of interpretation among others and this is intended to empower the preacher man with basic skills to handle the word of God correctly and lead efficiently.
Sound doctrine equips pastors and combats false teachings in Uganda. The future of the Church in Uganda lies in the hands of faithful men that God has called to do the work of ministry, all these ministers need is being empowered though a training that would help them correctly handle God’s Word. Let us together ground the church in Africa and Uganda in particular.
