Church Restoration in Masiwe
Many of you have heard the amazing story of how Sozo Ministries inherited the church in Masiwe on the slopes of Mount Wanale near Mbale. Founded as a prayer house after a local Muslim woman came to the Lord, the church grew rapidly. In time, needing a pastor, they called upon a local preacher who was becoming known in the area as a miracle worker and prophet to come and lead the church. Unfortunately, though the church grew very large with this man's influence, he was actually the son of the chief witch doctor of the bordering district, who had come to the area deceiving weak churches.
It was at this point our ministry was contacted and asked to take over the leadership of the church to bring them back to the true gospel and establish the members as strong disciples of Christ. Over the years, this church has had its ups and downs, including the departure of two pastors we have placed in the church. (This is a difficult area for ministry and not an ideal area to live in if you are not locally born.) After last year's crusade near the church, and the appointment of a new senior pastor not long before that, we have believed the church was stable. Unfortunately that is not the case.
For the last few months, we have been made aware of disqualifying factors in the life of the pastor that have led to his removal. (Sadly, it is not for willful sin but is instead connected to the current state of his marriage, which came about before his conversion to Christ.) To make matters worse, the other leadership of the church has been fully exposed as leading the church into a state of chaos and disunity. There is a spirit of competition between various leaders. There is much gossip and backbiting taking place. To be very honest, our first inclination was to close the church and recommend the members join other churches in the area.
However, the Lord's calling on us to build, disciple, and empower our people has kept us from giving up. Now, our senior leadership in Uganda, and with the help of a few other ministry friends, we are undertaking to revitalize this church, beginning with a deep dive into the book of Titus and a shift toward discipleship discussion over a mid-week preaching service.
Scott Ingram took the first three weeks to introduce the church to the change in direction, to introduce the book of Titus, and to walk through the qualifications for church leaders and how to appropriately deal with bad ones. Last week, our friend Henry Baale took the church into a discussion of how mature Christians should behave from Titus 2:1-10. In the coming weeks, Sarah Miller, Juliana Baale, and Scott will finish the rest of the book of Titus and then lead the church through more critical changes that must take place.
Right now, we do not have a qualified candidate for senior pastor, and many of the church's current leadership do not qualify according to biblical standards. As we walk through this difficult season, we are asking that you pray with us on behalf of this church and the area around it. We know that this congregation is key to our opening of discipleship cells across Mount Wanale and beyond.
This is also a significant season of spiritual warfare in the area, as Wanale is home to the imbalu circumcision ceremony, which is a very witchcraft-involved cultural activity. Each week as our services run, the kadode parades are walking past the church toward the ceremonial site for the ritual. Please also pray for our spiritual strength and protection, as the demonic spirits of the local culture are not happy with our activities on the mountain.