Poster - Worship Slides

Poster - Front-and-Center Slides

Poster - Event Slides

As Christians, life together in Christ allows us to focus on the mission that He sets before us. Even though barriers often persist, our God is ever faithful in providing for our needs and giving opportunities for us to share the love of Christ with the people He puts before us. This past month, life together for the Lutheran Church of Uganda (LCU) included two instances where they continue to walk together, share the love of Christ and proclaim His name.

Baptism

The LCU continues to grow, as they evangelize and share the love of God in communities throughout Uganda. Recently, one of the areas where the LCU has been preaching and teaching is Bubago, Uganda, which is about an hour away from Jinja. As they spent time with the community, they learned many people in the community were not baptized. The LCU saw the need to continue to minister to the people of Bubago, encourage them and continue to teach them the Word of the Lord.

On one Sunday morning, the congregation gathered under tents for a worship service. Bishop Bameka and Rev. Peter Maganda (Dean of the Eastern Deanery) led worship. After reading Acts 2:42–47 in worship, parents gathered with their children around the altar for Holy Baptism.

210 people were baptized that day! We celebrated alongside as the family of God multiplied! We praise God for these moments. The faithful believers at Bubago continue to gather together for worship, and the church continues to minister to their spiritual needs. Please pray for the community in Bubago, and for the LCU as they remain faithful in teaching and preaching God’s Word.

Team Ministry

As you may have heard us share before, the LCU works daily to expand the kingdom of God in Uganda. Even though there are now over 135 congregations, there are few pastors to do His work.

Recently, there have been men from the Lutheran Church of Uganda that graduated from the neighboring Lutheran seminary in Matongo, Kenya, including Erifazi Buluba.

For Erifazi’s wedding and ordination, it was very much a church and community event. In other church denominations throughout Uganda, not all ordinations are done where the local community can witness and participate. Yet, the LCU finds value in actively inviting the congregation and community to be a part of these ministry events. It is one of the ways they use to teach about the church.

The most meaningful part of the ordination for us was witnessing and hearing the pastors gather around Erifazi and pray for him in their native language. It further showed the unity in Christ these men have, even though they come from different backgrounds, languages and experiences. They all belong to the body of Christ. The deans and pastors from other regions were able to assist in the ordination and encourage Erifazi in this way.

Another aspect to this day was witnessing the excitement and joy of the community. They worked together to prepare the church and to put on the reception. They also openly displayed the joy of the Lord for their new pastor, Rev. Erifazi Buluba. We are thankful for these moments of celebration in ministry. We praise God for the twentieth pastor who joyfully serves in the LCU.

Mark and Megan Mantey serve the Lord through The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as career missionaries in Uganda. Mark serves as the project manager for the seminary, and Megan is the seminary’s instructor of Christian education and counseling. You can follow their work at www.facebook.com/MissionMindedManteys.