Kohler, Ron & Marleen
Mike, Daniel, Christie & Joshua
Phone: 410.384.7957
E-mail: ronaldkoehler@comcast.net and marleenkoehler@comcast.net
Navigators
September 20, 2010
We are now back in Annapolis, Maryland, after an awesome three- week mission trip to Uganda. Our eight member team from the Naval Academy arrived in Uganda the end of July to join Brian, the ninth member of our team, who had previously been ministering in Rwanda.
We had our cultural orientation, did some sightseeing in Kampala, the capital city, and then jumped into a loaded schedule. Kampala Open Bible Church hosted our two day seminar on “Stewardship” and “Basic Discipleship.” I taught the plenary sessions and team members shared their salvation testimony and led breakout groups and other sessions throughout our time together.
Some of the churches we ministered in were not much more than a shack with a tin roof. We found out just how many holes were in the roof when it rained--forcing everyone to position themselves strategically to avoid getting wet.
During week two we spent time with the Navigator ministry leaders in Kampala studying God’s Word together a few mornings a week and then ministering together at Makerere University, the national university. Afternoons also found us in training seminars being led by the Ugandan team to help us be more culturally equipped ambassadors of Christ. Our major emphasis at Makerere was evangelism. Early in our week, we discovered that many students were gone on their equivalent of a summer break. We were pleased, however, to find that a significant number of students had stayed behind to do internships. Several Ugandans hosted us for supper, sometimes as late as 10 PM and that took some getting used to.
In the evenings, we went door-to-door, meeting and befriending students and sharing the Gospel. Like many Africans, they were very open to hearing the Good News. Six made a profession for Christ. At the end of the week, we had a pizza party for all the people we met. At this party we introduce the 55 attending to The Navigators of Uganda and shared more about how to build their lives on God’s Word. This networking laid the groundwork for future connections with The Navs and for continued growth in their faith after we left.
After our time at the university, we traveled northeast to Jinja and Iganga. In Jinja, we went to a Teen Ministry Center, where we played with 75 children, some of whom had walked miles to be with us. We had more than two hours with the kids, leading them in games, playing soccer, listening, and just showering them with love. God also gave Amy, one of our team members, the opportunity to share her journey of coming to Jesus.
This ministry to children is part of Women First, the ministry Twoli and Agnes have pioneered to facilitate a Christian response to holistically meet the needs of families and communities.
More than 15 years ago, Marleen and I had the privilege of inviting Twoli to join our ministry as the first Navigators of Uganda Intern staff.
In Iganga we helped build a kitchen for a school that is located in a Muslim village with an extremely high rate of HIV AIDS. One of the Christian pastors in the area estimated that 8 out of every 10 people have AIDS. Pastor Paul initiated this school project because so many orphaned kids had to walk a great distance to school every day and then come home to take care of their siblings. Since the walk to school was so long, the school kids had too little time to genuinely care for their younger siblings. What a blessing for us to be part of one of Pastor Paul’s construction teams who by building this school have made education much more accessible and have practically loved these villagers with the love of Christ.
While in Iganga, we also had the privilege of preaching the morning worship message and of conducting a seminar on “Building Generations of Laborers.”
Once again, I spoke during the plenary sessions and our team facilitated the small group discussions. It was thrilling to see these men and women searching the scriptures and sharing with one another their plans for application.
Our trip however, was not all work and no play. Jinja is home of the Source of the Nile River and Bujalgali falls, one of many class 5 rapids which we challenged in white water rafts.
As our three weeks in Uganda drew to a close, we had the opportunity to travel to Murchison Falls National Park for a safari.
God gave us an awesome three weeks together. Here is some of what our Ugandan brothers and sisters said about our time together. Edward, the Navigators Country Leader said, “We have fond memories of your visit and thank you for sharing your lives and the seeds of the gospel wherever you ministered.”
Barham, the new leader for The Navigators Church Discipleship Ministry wrote, “It was such a joy Ron to have you share your life with us. I was personally challenged and encouraged in many ways. Your time with us was so refreshing and we give glory for what He did through you and the team. The responses I am receiving are many.”
Barham and I had the privilege of leading our waitress to Christ as we ate lunch together.
Thank you for your prayers and financial gifts making it possible for
the nine of us to invest in advancing God’s kingdom in Uganda.
With gratitude,
Ron and Marleen Koehler
