My wife, Debbie, and I were so blessed to return to Uganda for our sixth teaching trip, reuniting with old friends and making new ones, especially enjoying time with Peterson and Sarah Sozi.
We’ve just completed the whole Dunamis track and plan to return yearly as God leads. We’re always open to others joining us. Most of this time was spent teaching on the Father heart of God, sharing our testimonies of how God changed our lives this last year while in YWAM on sabbatical, then we used Dunamis materials to teach about prayer.
Ugandans hold up their Ignite booklets, used by Allen and Debbie Kemp (in the back of the group) to teach about prayer
Love in the Midst of Hardship
Most of students were rural Ugandan pastors and lay leaders who live in serious poverty. Just affording a ride to the farm for the two week course was a challenge for many. Life is hard.
But we have a Heavenly Father who loves to take care of His kids. We shared how the Holy Spirit loves to manifest power for ministry and opens the eyes of our hearts to receive the love of the Father (Ephesians 1:17-20).
He does this because we are His children, not because we’re pastors or ministry leaders.
Our Comforter, Advocate, and Counselor
We taught that the Greek word parakletos means “Comforter” as well as “Advocate” and “Counselor,” the one Jesus promised would come on Pentecost. In John 14.18 Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
An orphan is one who is by definition “comfortless” and left alone to fend for himself. With the civil wars in Uganda, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and pervasive poverty, orphans abound.
Experiencing Joy and Sonship
Many people lack an identity and many of the pastors work hard out of a sense of responsibility and debt, not from joy and sonship. There is so much need to know and experience true love there.
Much of the model for ministry in Uganda has been TV preachers teaching power, health, deliverance, and wealth. While these things are needed, the message of God as Father loving His children, nurturing and caring for them through His Spirit was eagerly received.
Children, not Slaves
The Dunamis teaching emphasizes that Jesus spoke and did only what he heard His Father saying and doing. What has changed for Debbie and me this last year, by experiencing a literal revelation of Father’s love in our hearts, is to see our lives and ministry as sons and daughters, not as servants or slaves.
Though we serve gladly, even washing people’s dirty feet, we do so as beloved sons (John 13:1-3). The Holy Spirit lives in us and we cry “Abba Father,” just as Jesus cried and prayed “Abba Father” (Galatians 4:6).
Jesus died not just so we’ll go to heaven and be face to face with God in glory one day, but also that we may have His relationship with Father God. We have in us and upon us that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead yet by this same Spirit we know we are His children (John 14:17, 20).
An Outbreak of Joy
As we shared these thoughts in class one day, the joy of the Lord literally broke out all over the classroom and just about everyone spontaneously came forward not for prayer ministry, but big long hugs from Debbie and me.
We cried with such joy.
The Privilege of Sharing Vital Teaching
God’s Spirit is powerfully at work in Uganda, but the church and society at large is vulnerable.
There is great need for spiritual maturity. Good teaching is paramount. The message of sonship—knowing and experiencing God’s love as Father—is what will bring real and lasting healing to this nation.
It was an awesome privilege to share this message.
Thanks be to God who has done in us what we now get to share with others. What joy!
