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Rev. Charles BamekaWhen I was first traveling in the States and sharing this story of how God is working here in Uganda, I shared one staggering statistic that was accurate at the time: For the over 60 Lutheran congregations in Uganda, there is only one seminary-trained ordained Ugandan Pastor in the LCMU (Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda). Since that time, I'm very happy to report, the situation has changed!
We still have that one pastor, Reverend Charles Bameka (pictured right), who went to seminary in Ghana and has been serving the church here in Uganda for many years. When I was visiting congregations, friends, and sponsors in the States, this is the man I was referring to as that sole pastor. Recently, a group of congregations in the northeast of Uganda near the Kenyan border has been handed over to the LCMU. Pastoring those congregations is an ordained man, Reverend Moses Kodos Lokong. So as those congregations were handed over from the Kenyan Lutheran Church to the LCMU, this pastor came with them and doubled the number of seminary-trained clergy in the LCMU!
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Vicar Jerome WamalaAlso of note is that just before I arrived in Uganda, three men returned from their final year of studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane, Pretoria, South Africa. These men began serving a vicarage (internship) in Uganda - Vicar Samuel Ogwang in the southwest, Vicar Jerome Wamala (pictured left) in the central area, and Vicar Aaron Bamuwamge in the east. Their time of vicarage was supposed to be six months, with ordinations expected August 1st. These three men will bring the number of ordained seminary-trained Lutheran pastors in the LCMU to FIVE! But...
This week, about ten days before the scheduled ordination of these three men, their ordination date was moved. That's right. Moved. To October 11th. Not because of any fault or concern about these three ordination candidates, but because of a collection of other factors including scheduling of special guests and preparations for the reception. It all seemed to be acceptable to reschedule these ordinations just ten days before they were supposed to occur, so it's fine by me. I can't imagine being in their shoes, though. To be so close to that celebration of the culmination of years and years of hard work and then be delayed by more than two months. Well, these vicars are strong and resilient servants of the church and accept the delay with great grace. I look forward to reporting in October about this wonderful celebration. Until then, the LCMU continues moving forward with 2 ordained pastors, 3 vicars, 2 missionaries, and over 70 congregations and preaching stations across the country. Praise the Lord for raising up servants of the church in this place! -Shauen