Our First Goodbyes

Rinehimers & Coppedges with our Pastors in Training in Nebbi

As many of you may know, John & I will be leaving Uganda soon! Our commitment here with WGM has been fulfilled as of November, and we will be heading home! We have always felt that God was asking us to come just for these two years. We have been seeking His guidance & direction for our future ever since we got here it seems, and we continue to feel that He is still leading us back home. So we will be returning to the States on November 8!

This past weekend began our goodbyes, as our pastors in Nebbi threw a going away party, Ugandan style, for us! It was so humbling & special! As soon as we told our pastors we were leaving, the first thing they thought of was giving us a party! And a party it was! We left our house with the Coppedges at about 9 am & got home around 5 pm! That is very African~ it isn’t a party unless it lasts 6 hours or more! And I even got a chance to finally wear my traditional Ugandan dress I had made in the market here!

Our 10 pastors in training represent 8 churches in the Nebbi area, and they had representatives from all 8 congregations come to the party! This is huge, because it takes some of them all day just to get there~ so many of them traveled on Thursday to be there on Friday just to honor us… so incredibly humbling! And they gave so extravagantly! We had no idea they’d be giving us even one gift, but each church presented us with a special gift in a special way~ they all lined up & danced their way to us in the front to give us their gift! It was so sweet! Erica is pictured right with Joyce, our only female pastor in training, who gave her a matching hat! And John is pictured right with the Ugandan warrior wood carving~ when the pastors presented this gift to him, they said he gets a hunter, because John is a hunter for Jesus! Precious, isn't it! John preached a sermon as well, challenging them to not miss Jesus in their daily lives, and they had lunch for us and singing too. It is a day that John & I will always remember.

We are so thankful for these pastors & churches that God has placed in ours & the Coppedges’ lives over these past 2 years. And we continue to be amazed at the extravagant love & generosity of our precious friends here in Uganda! We really are so blessed!

Partnering with Pastors

We have made so many great memories while in Africa that it would be impossible to try and list them, let alone rank them, in any kind of order. One of my most recent favorite memories happened just this past Friday & Saturday at pastor training. Two friends of ours from Kampala, James & Kennedy (pictured above with Erica & I) were able to travel up to Arua & help us teach in our most recent pastor training in Nebbi, Uganda. James & Kennedy pastor two of the Africa Gospel Churches in Kampala that World Gospel Mission partners with. Pastor James is a senior pastor and also oversees all of the pastoral training centers around Uganda. Pastor Kennedy planted a church inside of a Muslim University and has nearly 1,000 students and faculty worshiping at the church. These are two guys who really love Jesus and are making a significant difference in the lives of all they come in contact with.

Having James & Kennedy around was such a blessing because they are just so genuine & authentic. It doesn't take very long before one can tell there is something different about these guys, and the difference is Jesus. They are also two of the funniest guys around and having them in our home was truly a blessing. James & Kennedy really carried the major load of the teaching during this training because of the subject matter. Part of our system for teaching is not just teaching all of the lessons ourselves, but doing our best to schedule the best teachers for whatever topics we are covering. In case you were wondering what topics I had these guys teach, it was: "Angels, Demons, Evil Spirits, Witchcraft & Deliverance Ministries." You may find this hard to believe, but we don't have a lot of experience in these areas, and somehow throughout my seminary experience there was never a course offered on casting out demons! This is such foreign material to us as Americans; so we decided the best thing to do would be to use our extended network of AGC pastors and have them come and teach since they are well trained academically and have so much life experience as well.

The Nebbi pastors loved James & Kennedy and the Biblical teaching they brought. They confronted many of the myths that are prevalent in this culture and contrary to a Biblical world view. They reinforced that the Bible needs to be the main source that guides the way we think, the way we live our daily lives and what we base all our decisions on. You would not believe half of the stories and experiences that Kennedy & James have had and how they have seen God move in miraculous ways. They even said, "Bible college never taught us this, we just had to study the Word of God and learn through experience."

This truly was one of the best experiences that I have had while in Uganda, because there was a true sense of interdependency, teamwork and commitment to equip these pastors. Erica and I felt so blessed to have James & Kennedy with us to teach these culturally sensitive lessons, help us to understand how to relate further to this culture, and just have fun serving Jesus with our African brothers. This was a great reminder of how the Body of Christ works together to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.