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 Hills, hills and more hills!
This was how the retiring Archbishop of Uganda, Most Rev. Dr. Livingstone Nkoyoyo, described much of his term of service. This was at his farewell gathering at the Uganda Christian University at Mukono on 24th January 2004. He spoke of many of the challenges he had faced during his term as Archbishop, especially those concerned with the establishment of the Christian University (previously Bishop Tucker Theological College).
Pointing out the number of times he had faced a hill which he could not climb, Dr. Nkoyoyo said I passed it on to the intercessors. They prayed and we got to the top. Another hill appeared and so we passed that on to the intercessors and so we have gone throughout our ministry. With this vivid picture, he outlined his humble dependency on the prayers of others during his ministry.
This testimony, from a man, whom God has used mightily in many ways, both in Uganda and in the wider Anglican community, should encourage us to redouble our commitment to pray for the church leaders and pastors in East Africa.
The new Archbishop, Most Rev Henry Orombi, has also indicated his dependency on prayer. In his previous Diocese of Nebbi, he has established a prayer mountain, after the pattern of those in Korea, and many already witness to the value of this.
Thank you Derek, Thank you Lord
Just a few days after the last News and Prayer was sent out, the Lord called Derek Blundell home to be with Him. He had only been in hospital for about two weeks and had been allowed to go home to be with his family when he died. For Derek it was a quick release. Our prayers are with Jill and the family.
Not only we, but thousands of pastors and church leaders and their families are extremely grateful to the Lord for the many memories of Derek and for his faithfulness in seeing through the vision that God gave him so long ago.
Wherever we go in East Africa we find Bishops and pastors who are grateful for the tremendous assistance they received through Derek and Jill and APF. His enthusiasm, singing and teaching meant a lot to many.
Jane and I have found an organisation which is running effectively with a strong basis of support and a powerful ministry for the Lord. This is thanks, humanly speaking to Derek and Jill and Bishop Sylvanus Wani. (I wonder if Derek and the Bishop have been comparing notes?!) We acknowledge a great debt of gratitude to Derek, in the Lord for all that he and Jill were able to achieve.
The following is part of the thanksgiving given for Derek at his funeral on 5th December 2004
Derek Blundell
Derek was born in Southport in 1932, the fourth of five children. He went to school there, and left at the age of 17 to work in London. He was a Civil Servant; he worked for the Exchange Telegraph (a news agency where he was trained on tele-printers, a skill which stood him in good stead later in life when typing African languages), and in the shipping department of Nestle. By this time, Derek and Jill had met, both being Sunday school teachers at St. Giles, Ickenham.
One day Derek went to a church specifically to hear the preacher (Jim Seddon),who had lived opposite him in Southport. The sermon on Isaiah 6 brought Derek to the point of full commitment to the Lord, and was also his call to ministry. In this period Derek and Jill were involved in CSSM beach missions at Southwold, and attended Emmanuel Church, Northwood, where the ministry of Martin Parsons had a great influence on Derek. He took correspondence courses to gain the qualifications necessary to go to Tyndale Hall, to train for the ministry. He and Jill were married in 1960, and he was ordained in 1961.
Dereks curacy was in Fazakerley, Liverpool until 1964, then followed a move to Odd Down, Bath: first as curate-in-charge, then minister-in-charge, and finally as Vicar. Whilst here (1972), Derek had a sabbatical, for which the family went to Uganda. God used the Archbishops comment that the missionaries have everything and our pastors have nothing, to shape Dereks future life. Coming home, the parish began to support the African Church as best they could. The family moved to Tulse Hill, London, in 1974. The work in Africa was growing steadily, and in 1980, out of Dereks vision, APF was formed. The trustees asked Derek and Jill to go full time in 1981. The ministry of APF was, in those days, unique. Other agencies were missionary or relief organisations, no one was supporting the indigenous churches. God used this ministry to open the eyes of the whole church to a vital area of work.
A move to Coventry was brought about because of the relative cheapness of housing compared to the South East. Between1981 and Dereks retirement 5 years ago, the story of the growth and development of APF is well known to you all.
Dereks other interests in life were philately, music (especially playing the organ and piano), model railways, African violets, and his allotment all things into which he entered with characteristic commitment and gusto! His ministry of teaching, care, love and support were appreciated immensely by the church of Binley, where he and Jill were members. Two things were central to Dereks life. First was his family. It is with Jill; the children - Marion, Paul, John, Nicola and their partners; the ten grandchildren and the wider family circle that our thoughts and prayers rest today. Second was Dereks commitment to the Lord he loved, and in whose light he now dwells.
During his last weeks in hospital, the verse that Derek returned to over and over again was Philippians 1:21 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Dereks life was given to the service of God, and God used him in amazing ways to do visionary and vital work.
We give thanks today for Dereks life, and praise the Lord our God for the privilege of having known this most remarkable of men.
Archbishop’s enthronement
There were a number of memorable aspects of the enthronement of Bishop Orombi as the new Archbishop of Uganda. It was held at the historic Namirembe Cathedral, in Kampala, on Sunday 25 th January 25 th 2004.
Leaders from the Government, including the President, His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the Prime Minister, a representative of the Kabaka (traditional leader of the Baganda) and representatives of a number of other religious communities were all present to welcome the new Archbishop. Rev Sandy Millar of Holy Trinity, Brompton gave challenging address based on John 21: Do you love me more than these?
In his charge, the new Archbishop, Henry Orombi, mentioned 5 of the challenges he was expecting to face over the next 10 years viz. Towards a Sustainable Church - Church House - HIV/AIDS - Uganda Christian University - Loss of spiritual direction.
In this last section, calling on Christians to revive their commitments, he outlined some of the current reasons why Christians have gone away from practical Christianity as Corruption Witchcraft including human sacrifices Over work to make money without taking rest Commercialising Christianity (attempt to come to faith for what you get out. It is like a give me club) Church attendance by convenience i.e. Christmas, Easter, Funeral, Weddings only.
Whilst we recognise some of these problems in our own country, it should also help us to pray more specifically for the Archbishop and the Church of Uganda in this new era of church life.
The weather was splendid, which was an answer to prayer as it had rained the day before and lunch was served to a very large number of guests, outside, on Mengo Primary school field.
Who is the Archbishop?
We quote from the programme for the Enthronement service. - Right Reverend Orombi was born in Goli on 11 th October 1949, and brought up in Pakwach, Nebbi District, where he also received most of his formal education of Primary and Junior Secondary
Schools. He then trained as a School Teacher from 1966-1969 at Arua Teachers College, qualifying with a Grade II Teachers Certificate.
- He then taught in Ambala from 1970-1973 before taking up the work of a free evangelist. He is married to Phoebe Orombi with whom God has given four children. He later worked as a Diocesan Evangelist of Northern Uganda Diocese before joining Bishop Tucker Theological College for a Diploma in Theology, graduating in 1978. He then served as a Youth Director of Madi/West Nile Diocese from 1979-1986. He went for further studies in Theology at Nottingham University in Britain, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree after a 3-year study. (1980 -1983). He was then made Archdeacon of Goli, a post he held from 1987 until February 1993 when he was later consecrated and enthroned bishop of the newly created Diocese of Nebbi.
- Throughout his ministry, Bishop Orombi has been a zealous evangelist of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has served in partnership with many evangelical groups, Associations and Churches in the USA and Great Britain.
Before his appointment as Archbishop, Bishop Henry had already agreed to be a patron of the African Pastors Fellowship (together with Bishop Colin Bennetts of Coventry Diocese and Capt. Philip Johanson of the Church Army). He now carries on the tradition, as APF was jointly founded by Rev Derek Blundell and Bishop Sylvanus Wani. Bishop Wani was then, Bishop of West Nile, and later became Archbishop of Uganda, following the assassination of Archbishop Luwum by Idi Amin.
Another New Bishop!
Two weeks before the Archbishop of Ugandas enthronement, the President of Uganda was also present at the enthronement (installation) of another Anglican Bishop. On this occasion it was not in the metropolis of Kampala, but in the rural town of Rukungiri in the far west of Uganda, not far from the Queen Elizabeth Game Park and the DR Congo border. We are told it was a very crowded affair with more than 10,000 people present. Tony Cross of Kent Baptist Association, who is a close friend of the new Bishop was there.
In one of those God-incidences that keep us on our toes, Ralph and Jane met Rev Edward Muhima on a flight from Heathrow to Nairobi in August last year, fairly soon after he had become Bishop-elect for the Diocese of North Kigezi. He told us how he would like to get all his clergy and wives together for a retreat once he became Bishop and we were thrilled both to offer our services and eventually to lead this retreat during the first week of February 2004.
It took us just over 7 hours to drive down to Rukungiri from Kampala (a faster driver only took 5 hrs on the way back!) so we were aware of a certain degree of isolation. The Diocesan office does not yet have a computer.
This proved to be one of the biggest courses we have run with a total of 245 participants with serving clergy and wives, retired clergy and even two retired bishops, chaplains and students from the Diocese in Theological colleges. There was an excellent spirit through the course and it seemed as though God was really working in many ways. Food was served on time and speedily, which is not always the case on a large course. The wives were particularly pleased to be there. Jane had over 80 wives, which was easily the largest group she has had.
There would seem to be a real need for a move of Gods spirit in the Diocese and we pray that this course might have proved to be the vehicle for this to begin. Testimonies given indicated that it certainly was for some of those present.
Bishop Edward continues to be the team leader for African Evangelistic Enterprise for Uganda. His evangelistic zeal was evident throughout not only the clergy course, but also at the ‘balokole’ conference held the week-end before in a local church. Some 70 or so folk responded to the altar call. The last to testify was a boy of 8/9 yrs. He told the whole congregation of a thousand or more I have been a very bad boy and told many lies. Now I want Jesus in my life so that I can stop this and live for Jesus. It was a challenging moment. Who knows what God has in store for that lad. He is the son of a pastor. It was also good to hear a pastors wife confess to serious back-sliding but determined to go ahead with the Lord.
One of the exciting things was the way in which the Bishops morning devotions, each day dovetailed into the days teaching, without any prior consultations. It is good to sense Gods Spirit at work.
A session run by the Bishop and his wife, Vasta, on Keeping the love fires burning revealed a number of real and potential problems in clergy families and opened our eyes a fair bit too. In situations when clergy wives often live on the family farm and not permanently with their husbands in the parish there can be real difficulties. Problems are also compounded when pastors are transferred from one parish to another.
We need to pray for real wisdom for Bishop Edward and Vasta as they embark on this challenge from the Lord.
At the farewell dinner on the Friday night there was a real celebratory mood as the clergy felt they got to know their Bishop a bit more and hair was let down with some local dancing. It was good to be able to leave the money for each serving clergy family to be given 3 insecticide mosquito nets (1 for parents, 1 for male children and 1 for female children). It was your money that was used to provide this. I only wish you could have seen and experienced the gratitude that was expressed.
(One problem we encountered that we have not yet got on top of, was how to handle the husbands of female clergy during the time that wives of clergy are discussing their situations!)
In the charge the Bishop gave at his installation (he rejects the concept of enthronement) he noted that When the Christians of North Kigezi Diocese first approached me to consider becoming their head shepherd as a Bishop, my initial reaction was that of fright. I was frightened because I felt so terribly inadequate for this kind of undertaking. Through counsel I found comfort and encouragement in the words of Paul that Gods grace is all we need, and that His power is strongest when we are weak and feel inadequate.
Bishop Edwards Vision for his Diocese was stated as:- My vision for this Diocese is to see a people under God and obedient to Him in the way we relate to Him and worship Him, in the way we relate and treat one another; and in the way we relate and treat the rest of His creation (the environment) these last two being the natural results of the first one. These, fulfilled, would be to the glory of His name, and for the general good of our Diocese.
We need to continue to find ways to support the Bishop in this vision.
Baptist Union President beaten up
This unfortunate event happened just before Jane and Ralph and Matt Peak arrived in Kampala in mid-January this year. Pastor John Ekudu, who is Dean of Students at Makerere University as well as President of the Baptist Union of Uganda, went to the rescue of his son who was being beaten up by a mob. Paul had been involved in an accident in which someone had died. After the police had come and removed the body the mob turned on Paul and started to savagely beat him. John, who had arrived on the scene with his wife, Grace, dived in and covered his son with his body saying he would rather be killed than have his son killed. After a while, Grace also got involved. All three of them landed up in hospital, but praise God for His protection and for the fact that no bones were broken. The core of those involved in the incident is a Rastafarian music group with a strong anti-Christian flavour. John would covet our prayers for any repercussions which may come from this event.
Picking up the Oxen (literally)
This is probably not the time and place to relate all the fun and games we had evaluating the Busia Sustainable Agriculture Scheme in South East Uganda, but we can report a varied and interesting time! From the time that there was no-one to meet Jane and me when we crossed the road border from Kenya to Uganda we knew things would not be straight forward. The scheme is being funded through BMS, Operation Agri and Woodstock Baptist Church in UK. It is being operated through the Baptist Union of Uganda with the pastors of the Busia Baptist Association heavily involved. Jane learned a lot about the teaching of the Farmer Trainers who are key to the scheme. I learned a lot about the attitudes of pastors to schemes like this! (Desire to control, jealousy and tribal feelings all came to the forefront at times.) Having said this, we were pleased to leave behind a much happier atmosphere than we had found with a stated willingness to work together in a more positive way.
In the middle of a tropical rainstorm we found ourselves lifting two oxen onto the back of a pickup and transporting them to a different group. Lifting them out again, after they had been somewhat traumatised was a decidedly mucky affair!
What was exciting, was coming across a brand new congregation, which was just two weeks old and about to take 15 new Christians to the nearest river for a Baptism service. The challenging and thought provoking thing was that the person who was going to be responsible for this new congregation was one of those being baptised!
Arranged by SMS
The first training course we had in Uganda was with the Anglican Diocese of Luweero.The details for this were far from finalised as we left UK, but the technology of SMS (mobile phone text messages) enabled it all to be sorted out by the time we arrived in Kampala or so we thought. We were actually on the way to Luweero, when a casual comment to the Training Officer revealed that they had forgotten to invite any wives. To give folk their due, as soon as we arrived, those that could be contacted by phone were informed and on most days Jane had a group of 7/8 wives to discuss with. Some 40 or so pastors seemed to have a valuable time and we made some new friends. The Bishop and his wife were very hospitable and impressed us with the way they have used the land around their palace for agriculture. The Bishop was also kind enough to obtain invitations to the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Uganda, the following weekend, for us. Again. Jane was able to go and visit an Agricultural project, run by a friend of our daughters, to get new ideas for the Busia oxen project.
Baptist Courses
Between the two Anglican courses in Uganda, we were involved in two Baptist courses in the same week. The Baptist Union had called together two key pastors and their wives from each of their eight regions in the country. We met in Kampala with the intention that these pastors would go back to their regions and share the teaching with other pastors there. In the end we did not have quite all of the pastors but all regions were represented so we trust that some of the teaching will be passed on. At the same time Julius Twongyeirwe of Proclamation Task had a group of mainly Baptist pastors for a course in preaching basics in another part of Kampala. He had a number of other folk sharing the ministry with him, so we just joined them for one afternoon, whilst Alex Wanyama, BUU General Secretary chatted through administrative details with the BUU pastors. The need for training at every level in the Baptist church is great, especially as the emphasis on evangelism has almost undervalued the importance of the shepherding and nurturing roles of the pastor.
The area around Soroti, which was badly affected by LRA rebels last year is gradually returning to normal, although many folk are still nervous about returning home and still sleep in the churches in town.
Death of former Archbishop
The first African archbishop of the Anglican church of Kenya, the Rt Rev Festo Olang died peacefully on 3rd February 2004. He was 95 years old and is survived by 10 children, 45 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren. Bishop Olang was among the first crop of black Kenyans to rise to a position of leadership in the then colonial church, becoming the first African rural dean for Central Nyanza in 1952. Many will remember Bishop Olang with gratitude for his leadership at a crucial time in church history.
Biography of retired Archbishop
is the title of the authorised biography of the recently retired Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo of Uganda. It makes fascinating reading as you realise God’s hand was on this man even before his father was born. His grandfather was rescued, at the very last minute, from being one of the martyrs at Namugongo. We are expecting copies of this book for sale in the next few months. If you would like to reserve a copy for 10 please let us know.
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