Launching a Leadership Network

Earlier this month we loaded up a team of eleven from Kampala and made our way to the big island of Buggala in Kalangala District for our second annual conference of the Island Leadership Network. 

Brent teaches a workshop on worship under a large tree

Since we’ve been working on the islands for the past five years, our vision has expanded from simple weekend church visits to intensive Bible schools to a now comprehensive plan to link local church leaders together and systematically “take the lake” for the Kingdom of God. Here’s our official mission:

The Island Leadership Network (ILN) exists to encourage meaningful relationships and strategic partnerships between local church leaders, equipping them to be more effective in their ministries, for the purpose of maturing strong churches that will transform the communities of Lake Victoria’s islands. 

As I stood on the platform and addressed a group that represents nearly half of all believers on the islands, I was humbled by the humility of the group, their willingness to follow a young foreigner in the vision of God for their congregations, and their eagerness to be trained in the Living Word of God. Many of these leaders have sacrificed more prosperous futures on the mainland to serve in these island slums for more than a decade, fighting through discouraging population shifts, intense spiritual warfare, and a pervasive culture of self-indulgence that has left the majority of the islands infected with HIV, and drunk with sin. 

My few sessions were devoted to vision casting, so from Psalm 24, I iterated the position of local church leaders as the spiritual gatekeepers of their community, capable  and responsible to let the glory of God enter into their local populations, ultimately allowing the glory of the Lord to flood the islands as the waters cover the sea. Our conference theme, “Vessels of Honor” capitalized on the idea of cleansing leaders’ lives from things that would dishonor and mar the glory of God, while becoming useful for the Master and prepared for good works (2 Timothy 2:21). 

Because most “Bible teaching” in Uganda comes in the form of a simple salvation message or a word on material prosperity, topics like “Honorable Marriage,” “Honoring God through a Life of Sacrifice,” and “Honorable Shepherding” were as fresh as they were foreign, producing lasting impact in the hearers. I spoke with one participating leader the other day who so enjoyed the teaching and fellowship at the conference, he hasn’t stopped mulling the principles around in his head ever since. “What was spoken there has done so much in my life, Pastor,” he told me over the phone, the reception crackling due to his remote location, “I’m ready to come back anytime there’s another teaching.” 

Here’s the network’s strategy for infiltrating the entire Lake with the message of the cross:

Annual Conferences - The ILN sponsors an annual conference for the purpose of developing and deepening relationships, inspiring vision, and equipping ministries. These gatherings of all members from across the islands are times of great personal refreshing in the presence of the Lord. 

Regional Conferences - Throughout the year, the ILN sponsors smaller regional conferences in geographical centers so that members can build deeper relationships with leaders closest to them, gain a vision for their region, and come together to implement strategies for continual collaboration. 

Island Leadership School - We offer a 16-week intensive leadership training school for our members. Because of the high cost of attending traditional Bible schools far from home and the great pressures between school, family, and ministry, we position these courses in various regional centers to make training accessible and affordable for leaders as they continue the work of ministry (additional fees apply).

Equipping Seminars - Our specialized equipping seminars train leaders and their congregations on various Biblical topics inside individual local churches. These are designed to boost and sharpen ministry already occurring in members’ churches and are instrumental in taking the entire church to a new place of maturity while allowing those serving the network to understand the state of the church and its leadership.

Resources - ILN offers Bibles and other printed materials to members at subsidized prices, and will eventually publish a membership directory and website (www.islandleadership.net) that can assist people in locating ILN related churches. 

Consultation - Our leadership team is committed to the growing of strong, healthy churches and is always available for pastoral counsel, nurture, and care to members. From personal edification to church strategy to troubleshooting ministry issues, the network will be a source of strength, encouragement, and wisdom to members. 

Evangelism Support - Partnering together with members, the ILN assists in bringing in teams from the mainland and overseas to spread the Gospel throughout the islands while equipping and encouraging island leaders to do the work of evangelism. 

We’ve already been facilitating most of these strategic activities, so the new leadership network is simply a formalization of ministry already taking place across Lake Victoria. It brings together all local church leaders in an entire region of the world under one vision of community transformation by the glory of God through the development of healthy churches led by Christ-like leaders. With 80+ “Born Again” churches located on the islands from all different denominations and church covering organizations, we realize this is an impossible task, but with our God, all things are possible!

As this network continues to form, relationships are being cultivated, leaders are being refreshed, paradigms are being challenged and enlarged, resources are being multiplied, pastors are being equipped, and the impact will only be supernatural in the years to come! 

The Harvest is Plentiful...

An extremely important question I really need you to weigh in on:

If I were to issue a compelling argument for reaching the remainder of the world’s population with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, provide systematic training to equip you for cross-cultural ministry, and guarantee lifetime provision for you and your family, would you offer yourself as a missionary for the remainder of your time on earth, using your talents to finish the Great Commission in your lifetime?

If not, why not?

If so, when do we get started? =)

Casting out Demons

I think I was in the middle of crushing g-nut grains between my molars when she poked her head into the mud & thatch church shelter we were using as a dining room and kitchen. A handful of team members looked up briefly from their bowls of fried dough, bananas, & nuts to exchange greetings with this member of Faith and Deliverance Community Church in Kamesse, Buvu Island. Her words were brief, if not strained, indicating she had come for more than a casual greeting. As I continued to munch my breakfast, she spoke a long sentence in the Luganda language while a brother interpreted her plea for help. “I woke up this morning with a splitting headache,” she began, “half of my sight is gone, I feel weak, and desperately need prayer.”

I set down my chapati and milk tea, slightly annoyed at the disturbance, since we were still preparing for the day and “ministry time” had not yet begun. I called together a handful of our mighty men and we went to work, laying hands and believing God for a miracle to remove the migraine from this precious woman. But after a few minutes of intense prayer, commanding the sickness to go in Jesus’ name, she stopped us, sat down, and through excruciating pain, communicated the real source of the ailment: “This is not the first time this attack has come upon me,” she painstakingly reported. “I normally have demonic attacks in my body because of my background in witchcraft from where I come from.”

Knowing that believers cannot be cursed or oppressed unless a door has been opened to the enemy, we began probing for the cause of the torment. “There’s no witchcraft in my house, and I haven’t participated in it since I gave my life to Jesus,” she responded to our inquiry. “This curse is coming from my family back in the village.” We began instructing her on her authority in Christ, and coached her on renouncing the power of the devil in her life. Still wracked with pain & torment, with her eyes clenched shut and her head swaying back & forth in agony, she began to pray timidly as the attack worsened.

Sensing the need for further help, Elisha grabbed her hand and had her repeat a prayer of renunciation, claiming the blood of Jesus over her life, and commanding the devil to leave her alone. She became bold and prayed with strength for a few minutes while we prayed fervently and then she opened her eyes. The attack was over. The pain was gone. Her sight was restored. Her soul was at peace. With sweat on her forehead and tears in her now functioning eyes, she thanked us for our help. I opened my Bible to Numbers 23:23, explaining how a believer can’t be bewitched and not to give in to any oppression in the future.

It was this newly delivered friend who later on warded off a thief who came to steal the acoustic guitar we had left behind, and proceeded to prepare for our team a sumptuous supper of fried rice, g-nut paste, and smoked fish. I thought of Peter’s mother-in-law who rose from her sick bed and immediately began serving Jesus.

The next day, Jackson, Elisha, & Frank were circuiting the largest landing site in this particular string of islands, named “Kachanga” due to the large turnover of sexual partners in days past. As they passed by a certain open door a neighbor entreated the brothers to enter the house and pray for an acutely sick woman who was struggling to live. They respectfully removed their shoes on the dirty porch and ducked beneath the low doorway onto a vinyl floor covering in the two room house.

There on a twin mattress lay a sister in the Lord who had come under demonic attack after being cursed by a jealous lady who worked the field next to hers. Our sister had been a diligent worker and was prospering in her produce when the envious onlooker picked a fight claiming the land wasn’t hers to work on. The feud had gone on for some weeks until finally our sister fell sick and came near death as the demonic forces sent from the other woman battered her aging body.

The three disciples knew nothing of this until later, and confidently went to work in prayer, commanding her body to be made whole in the mighty name of Jesus. When a demon began to speak through the woman they spoke back, commanding it to be quiet and come out of her. After some struggle it appeared the demon had gone and the now sane woman shared her story with our brothers, ate some food, was completely whole, and got up to move around, promising to attend our crusade that evening and our seminar the next day.

The next morning Seth and I approached pastor Kamulali and his wife as they chatted on the road. They hurriedly briefed us on the situation at hand: It seemed the pastor had gone to visit our newly freed sister early that morning and all was well. She testified of her healing and deliverance and was up washing, cooking, and carrying on in a normal fashion. But soon after he had departed, another member of the church called him back to the house, saying the demons had come back in full force and she was worse off than before. Pastor stopped short at that point and at a loss as to what to do next, he led us to the house and brought us inside.

There she lay, lips trembling, head twitching in slight, uncontrolled movements. Pastor indicated they had been praying for the peace of God but hadn’t dealt with the demons yet. Learning that she was a believer I wanted her to pray a prayer of renunciation as we had successfully done earlier in the week, but it was clear she wasn’t coherent enough to even speak. Pa

stor sat her up, stood behind her and cradled her head in his hands as Seth and I laid hands on her arm and shoulder and began to pray. In her feverish stupor, she began to shout and flail about, while other brethren jumped on the opportunity to scream, “FIRE!” in her ears at the top of their voices.

When the violent activity seemed to produce no results, we began to command the evil spirit to be quiet and come out of her in the name of Jesus. Her face would contort uncontrollably while she would wail and cry out in the Luganda language. The demon was talking through the woman’s tortured voice. Pastor interpreted for us that the spirit had come from another village to take her back. It said it would come out if we would sacrifice a goat and make her drink the blood. We laughed at it and kept commanding it out.

At one point the demon declared that it was going to kill her, and she lay back on the mattress, still and quiet. That was enough for me. I jumped on her, commanding the spirit of death to leave her alone, declaring the life of Jesus over his blood-bought servant. Many more violent reactions continued, but at times the demon would stop, pretend to be gone, and release her mind and mouth for a moment. She would come to, looked around the room, call for the pastor and ask what was going on. But a nod towards a closing prayer would bring back the attack, and we were at it again. At one point, I wanted to grab my camera as Seth held his face and accusatory index finger an inch from her face forcing the demon to be quiet and stop tormenting her. After nearly an hour of this whole process the pastor discerned, “It’s soon leaving,” and sure enough following a final violent outburst, the spirit left and did not return.

Out on the doorstep, two of the pastors were talking together expressing their opinion that the devils were being revealed in the lives of their believers because they were scared of the anointing our team had brought to the island. I was excited for the opportunity to be a part of their deliverance, but more so to help these precious believers understand their authority in Christ over every demonic power.

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. - Luke 10:19

Back in Action

I'm sure glad to be back in Uganda. After 5.5 weeks touring the Western USofA, it's nice to sleep in my own bed (with it's 6' mattress & footboard for my 6'2" body), bathe in my own shower (once I remember to turn on the water heater), and be in familiar surroundings (plucking bettle larvae from my bedsheets). In the first 24 hours on the red soil, I've been re-baptized into the culture, having viewed the holes in my ceiling from the exterminator frantically escaping biting bats in the attic, the marred passenger door on the LandCruiser that lost more parts than were fixed while at the mechanic's, & killing a black mamba lurking sneakily beneath the cover of the sandbox.

While in America, many people asked us what our biggest difficulty is in living over here. You would think it might be demon possessed people or witchdoctors or corrupt officials opposing the freedom of the church, or lack of funds, lack of laborers, or lack of sleep from the burden of the work. But it's not. Our biggest challenge is the daily frustrations that come from living in a place so different than the one we grew up in. Having to boil water and strain the ants out to get a lukewarm drink of water. Having to talk the tomato seller down .50 on principle as she tries to take advantage of our white skin. Being forced to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order to not participate in corruption and pay bribes. It's the little things that try to get us.

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You..." This is our greatest challenge - that in the midst of daily setbacks and frustrations we would be in perfect peace as we work for the One who sent us here. On the other side of all these little things, a great harvest is begging to be saved.

Sailor's Log

Left sailing club over an hour late at 9:20, due to some slothfulness and staying up too late again on the CD mixing. This lifestyle is terrible and needs to end this week. I'm looking forward to Monday very much. Seth stayed behind to fix our awful vocals in time for the launch, but helped load the boat after a 3 hour rest.

We forgot to have Geoffrey clean the boat this week, need to make that a weekly task for him (or Lawrence these two weeks that Geoffrey's gone). After bailing, loaded 11 rolls of papyrus for the Kaaya church walls, picked up the guys on the beach to avoid Fred's weekend club fees, and were off.

I was trying out my "new" GPS, and figured we were racing at 15MPH at full throttle, 4 adults on board (me, Alan, Frank, Moses) with little cargo. With my head down calculating the D/T=S equation, SMSing Peter on our ETA, and updating Twitter for prayer support, I failed to see some nets that startled me as they broke free from our prop. But the fiberglass is helping with fuel & speed, worth the investment despite the added weight and difficulty in parking.

We made it to Kaaya in 1:38, slowing to a crawl as the 24 liters of fuel depleted towards the end. We borrowed AIM's extra fuel tank this morning - so much easier to switch the fuel line instead of pouring petrol into the funnel in the waves.

Excited children and one mzee from the church helped us carry the mats to the church and we took a few pictures of the now tarpless structure that desperately needs something to keep out wind and rain. After briefly greeting Mukyala Musumba, were back on the water to Misonzi at 11:15.

I was tentative about the trip having only been here once by water and over 1 year ago, but encountered no stones on the way on the :18 trip. (reached at 11:33)

The fishermen assisted in landing the boat and I was pleased they didn't ask for money (to my knowledge). The beach was packed with boats and parking space was scarce. Because of our weight, we left some length in the water, secured our things and found Peter teaching a group of 7 believers in Misonzi's pastorless church.


Should be a great couple days of impartation.

- Brent