Geoff Holder

“I have trained pastors throughout Uganda,” Joshua explains, “and I’ve witnessed God using our team to open the eyes of countless church leaders.” This dedication became tangible in 2014 when Joshua assumed the National Coordinator role for Africans Teaching Africans (ATA).

ATA addresses a critical need in Africa, where Joshua says only 15% of pastors have any formal theological training. Their solution is a simple curriculum designed especially for pastors in rural villages and urban slums. The programme’s impact is evident in the stories of young pastors like Nsubuga John and Jude Ssekyanzi.

John, a pastor from an informal settlement outside Kampala, shares, “Before ATA’s training, I didn’t know how to interpret the Bible. I blindly followed everything the preacher said.” Thanks to ATA, John says he can now “read and study the Bible carefully.”

Jude, unable to afford Bible college fees, found hope with ATA. “The program opened my eyes to God’s Word and ministry,” he says. “It also made me aware of the dangers of false teachings used for personal gain.”

Joshua emphasises the consequences of inadequate ministerial training and oversight. He shares the story of Vincent, a young man misled by a church that taught that God does not forgive and that Christians must avenge everyone that hurts them so they feel the same pain they have caused. Through Joshua’s guidance, Vincent now seeks proper theological education.

“We need to save such young men,” pleads Joshua, highlighting the urgency of equipping future leaders.

A key barrier to effective training is the lack of affordable Bibles in local languages. Many pastors arrive at ATA sessions empty-handed. “We’ve been helping leaders own a Bible, but the need remains immense,” Joshua explains.

“In Uganda, a Bible in your own language is a powerful gift. We greatly appreciate the support we’ve received from APF donors to buy Bibles for rural pastors in remote Ibanda District, and we keep praying for your continued support.”

In Kitgum Diocese in the far north of Uganda you can find a small rural trading centre near Pader Town. It provides a vitally important market for the many thousands of smallholder farmers who live in rural communities across the area. Pader District was badly affected by the long Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency which ravaged northern Uganda around the turn of the millennium but since then, the area has recovered quickly, in part due to trade up and down the highway to Lira, Kitgum and with South Sudan.

In 2014, without a single Ugandan Shilling of donor funding, the Diocese of Kitgum opened the Bishop Lee Rayfield Leadership College in the trading centre with a mission to train up new Readers (called catechists) to serve across the Diocese and beyond.

In rural Uganda, ordained clergy frequently oversee twenty-five churches or more spread over vast areas. Each congregation needs a trained leader and that’s where the Readers step in.
Readers read the prayer book (that’s why they’re called ‘Readers’) but they also teach, preach and provide pastoral care in their villages.

Based in some refurbished temporary classroom blocks, Bishop Lee Rayfield Leadership College offers a Certificate course in Theology and Development for Readers. It now trains men and women from across northern Uganda and South Sudan, keen to serve in this way in their own communities.

College Principal Rev Okidi Charles has a big vision for Bishop Lee Rayfield Leadership College. He describes the college as a flower that attracts insects. While the insects pollinate the flower, the flower provides nectar to make honey that is beneficial to their community. It’s a beautiful picture, perfectly illustrating the mutually beneficial relationship between the college, its students and the communities the students belong to.

Rev Charles has another metaphor for the work of the college. He says that one person having a monopoly of knowledge is like a tall eucalyptus tree standing in middle of a compound. It can only provide a little shade and is not very useful by itself. Training many people with knowledge and skills, however, is like a swam of caterpillars that can cover the entire community in any given moment. ‘I believe in teamwork and building human resources that will meet the quest of the Ministry of Christ’ he says, quoting an old saying in Acholi ‘Cing acel pe konyo’ which means ‘One hand alone cannot help but many hands put food on the table’.

Digital ministry is also creating new opportunities that Rev Charles is keen to embrace. He has a deep concern for the growing number who he recognises are called to Christian ministry but cannot study full time at a training institute because of work or home situations. ‘Training through digital ministry will rock the world’ he says. The solution is to ‘create digital space classrooms to enhance those God has touch to become tent makers. This is the desire of the college: training should be both physical and online.’

In order to achieve this vision, Rev Charles is aware of the need for investment in IT equipment, internet connectivity and web resources at the college. It is a big ask but he is not deterred. ‘Through digital tools we will be able to give the community and the Church in northern Uganda access to the message of God and developmental skills for holistic transformation’ he says. ‘This calls for collective efforts of all the stakeholders of Bishop Lee Rayfield Leadership College from within and without.’