Opening our Minds

Some of the Ugandan students

Most of us have our minds set on certain issues as conditioned by our worldview and culture. When Doug was in Uganda recently, Eva Ssemango, wife of Pastor Edward who leads the first Vineyard in the country, remarked to him, “This course has opened our minds.  We are having to change the way we think about the Bible.” Immediately Doug thought of Luke  24:45 which says that when the resurrected Jesus was in the upper room with the disciples he “opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.”

Eva (in yellow)

                                                                                      

 An authentic encounter with Scripture is meant to change our thinking and alter our journey of faith. Eva disciples and mentors many ladies and talked about how what she is learning has had immediate application on what she is teaching the ladies.

        

Cooking lunch

As Doug watched the ladies cook lunch, it occurred  to him that our theological thinking so often depends on what we have already put in our pot (read "mind"). We are attempting to teach theology brewed in an African pot. 

Godfrey and Daniel 

 Regardless of our age, we all have something to learn and pray that Jesus "opens our minds" and hearts to learn. Godfrey, who is twenty-two and Daniel, who is fifty-five, were our youngest and oldest students. Both attacked their studies with equal fervor.

 Please pray:

As we seek to register VSM Africa with the Kenyan Government

As we build the Board of VSM Africa

As we meet with John Neate, a strategic planner from the UK      

As we continue to solidify the Uganda campus

New Birth, New Starts

In this season of celebrating the birth of the baby 

Murray,Miriam Burt & their girls

Jesus we recognize that His birth means the possibility of a new start for all of us. As we rejoice in God as Emmanuel we also anticipate new starts in 2014.                                   

Church Plant  The Burts (pictured) from New Zealand will be sent our from our church to plant on the other side of Nairobi. Murray works for the refugee program with the UN and also has a degree in Theology. We anticipate sending up to seventy-five people with this international church plant.                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                        

Doug with Robert and Samuel

December courses The first two weeks of this December, Vineyard School of Ministry held two courses - Understanding Mission: Christianity and Islam in Africa and Church & Spirit Brewed in an Africa Pot. For new student Robert (pictured) this was a new start. A former street kid and drug user this was like a new birth. He now works in the church led by Pastor Samuel (pictured) and has new hope.

      Another new student was Maureen (pictured)  who both leads worship and writes worship songs for the Vinyard in Kitale near Lake Victoria.  Initially quite shy, Maureen warmed up enough to lead worship before class one day.

                              

Maureen, Dorcas, and Sarah

                                                                                      

John fisher (second from the right) and some students

Doug with potential Ugandan students

 Coming from Capetown South Africa to teach  a course was Vineyard Pastor John Fisher, who at seventy-five has just completed his PhD!   

Uganda Satellite Campus

We are birthing a new campus! In January we will launch a satellite campus in Kampala, Uganda. As the Vineyard in Uganda is young, we hope through developing leaders that we can forge a common identity based on Scripture and a strong bond that learning in community affords. The Vineyard in Uganda is lead by Pastor Edward Ssemango.

Pastor Edward Ssemango & his wife

All three of these new starts represent prayer requests:

Please pray for:

ü    VSMAfrica’s Kenya campus, as we take on new students that we would also be able to identify new teachers.

ü    The launch of the satellite campus in Kampala – the teachers, students, venue, and finances involved.

ü  Murray and Miriam Burt and their team as they plant an international church.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    Sue and Doug

Bride Held Hostage

   

This past weekend Doug traveled to Bondo near the shores of Lake Victoria and on the border with Uganda.  Torrential downpours at night and mud everywhere made the event an interesting one.

Paul Odhiambo, one of Doug's VSM students married Liz, a local girl.

Bride price is still very important in African culture as it not only compensates the bride’s family for the loss of a helping hand, but because it perpetuates relationship.

The bride price is often paid in installments, not only because the groom and his family may not be able to pay it in its entirety, but also because continued payments over the years guarantee contact with the bride and her husband.

Often families need the assurance that their daughter is being treated well. 

However, this day some chose to abuse this custom. The wedding was delayed for five hours, in part due to the demand for more money by those claiming to represent the bride’s family. Tensions ran high when it became clear that hooligans, perhaps brought in by distant relatives, were keeping the bride from entering the church until more money was paid. Doug spent a good part of the afternoon sequestering the bride and bridesmaids in his car far from greedy hands.   
Negotiations ensued until an uneasy peace settled on both parties and the bridal party was permitted to begin the long, swaying dance into the church hall. 

The crowd erupted in dancing and singing at the top of their voices as weddings are seen as a critical reinforcement in the circle of life.  Marriages and the expected children that will come from this union guarantee the preservation of life.

The long delay at this wedding and the subsequent joy at seeing the bride and groom arrive, reminds us of John the Baptist’s prophetic words regarding Jesus ~

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.” John 3.29

Doug and the other VSM Africa instructors are busy preparing for the next term which will begin on the 2nd of December. . .

For the kingdom,
Doug and Sue