We know that life and ministry in Kampala can feel quite distant and hard to comprehend. Relationships, lectures, school, Sunday school and even marking papers is different. So, to help bridge this gap of unfamiliarity, we’ve been thinking of creative ways to communicate what life here is like. Here are some numbers that highlight a bit of what our ministry at Uganda Martyrs’ Seminary Namugongo (UMSN) in Kampala looks like.
280: The number of full-time residential theology students currently training at UMSN, plus an additional 65 students who we are training over in Eastern Uganda. This is remarkable growth, as the average number of students from 2010–2020 was 70! Bishops have repeatedly told us that they send students here because they see the significant growth in practical leadership and teaching skills in them when they return for ministry. Please pray that we’d continue to prioritise the same gospel and ministry emphases as we work out how to adapt to this growth.
3: The number of different year groups that Ros teaches each week. Yes, the class sizes in each year group are small (one!) but preparing, delivering, and marking work for Years 8 (Josh), Year 6 (Dan) and Year 4 (Chloe) is a challenge. Please pray for successful and God-honouring learning and growth for the kids, and for us as we continue to think through how their education will continue through their teenage years.
14: The number of hours Chris and the UMSN principal (Rev Bbosa) spent on a bus getting to Kigali (Rwanda) for the large global Anglican conference GAFCON in April. The week-long event was mostly successful, but please pray for the Archbishop of Uganda Stephen Kaziimba, and other senior leaders. Faithfully and counter-culturally Christian, courageous leadership (especially regarding issues of scripture, sexuality, and sin) can require different expressions in Uganda than in the UK.
517: The number of children we had in our Sunday school (and this was just one of our three services) on Easter Sunday. Sometimes, our efforts and usefulness as a team of teachers can feel insignificant with groups of this size. Yet, every face in that crowd is a young person created and loved in Christ. We long for all of them to know, trust, love, and walk with God in the light of that. Please pray for them, and for the teaching team.
80: The number of hours of marking Chris calculated was in his pile a few weeks ago. It is slowly reducing, but it does reflect the bigger challenge of prioritising relationship-building, mentoring, and discipleship with students when the administrative and ‘desk load’ of the job threaten to overwhelm!
Please pray for wisdom for Chris to assign his time where he fulfils the requirements of this role but also where it makes a practical, personal difference in the lives of students.
1000: The number of current subscribers to ‘Mission Hits’, the monthly email that Chris compiles and sends to missionaries, missiologists, and mission leaders containing links to top recent world mission resources. Keeping up with the demands of this is sometimes tough, but it is a valuable experience for Chris and, feedback suggests, for the readers as well. Please pray that the late nights that go into this would bear fruit as more people consider God’s invitation into global gospel purposes.
8: The number of former UMSN students who have communicated with me recently to share that they are building on their experiences of Bible study groups during their time at college to lead Bible studies with youth, adults, and kids in their churches. Not many pastors in Uganda do this, but UMSN graduates are starting to change that. The feedback over the years has been exciting and encouraging – God is clearly at work! Please pray for these students to lead wisely and faithfully, and for many more to start this in their parishes.
1.5 million: The number of Christian pilgrims from across Uganda and east Africa who are expected to gather here in Namugongo in early June to commemorate and celebrate the story of the Uganda Martyrs of 1886. After us being away last year, and following two smaller Martyrs Day events due to Covid, we are preparing ourselves for the huge crowds, chaos, and little sleep with our bedroom meters from the hustle and bustle of a loading depot. Please pray for our students to give themselves sacrificially and faithfully in prayer, counselling, and evangelism during that week.
72: The number of student sermons in chapel that the UMSN chaplain (a senior Ugandan clergyman) and I have sat under in college chapel this semester. On each occasion, we give constructive feedback in front of the whole college community. Give thanks that we have both observed that the standard of faithful, passionate, loving, and well-applied Christ-centred preaching has hugely developed in recent months. Please pray that this would continue, and that UMSN graduates would not drift away from preaching biblical truth when away from the support and ‘safety’ of UMSN life.
I hope this helps give a flavour of our life and ministry here! As you can tell, it is busy but there is much to be thankful for, and we rejoice in working for the Lord and his global church one marked paper, one chapel service, one home-school lesson at a time.