Uganda Trip #15 | Post 8

GRADUATION!

Today (Saturday) is graduation. For three years sixty-eight trainees took two weeks, three times a year, plus meetings in between. Today is a day to celebrate. The people in the picture that accompanies this post are “my guys,” – the group I worked with. The man on the far right is Vincent, who will be filling my shoes in the future. He is more than able.

We sang, led by a choir from our cohort. We heard a welcome from Jimmy, the founder of Four Corners (the ministry that oversees all that goes on here), and Yancy, the current president of Four Corners and Pastor Bernard Anderson, from Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Auburn, AL. We share the guest house with these three Alabama brothers and learned some important uses of the English language. Naked is a person in a shower, and “nekked” is to be in public in a state of nudity. A truly cultural experience.

There were awards for the best servant and student excellence. One of my guys had the best academic scores over the three years. When the certificates were handed out, there was a lot of applause and joy from the friends and family members who made it to the event, and the graduates for one another. They also received a folder with their course work over the three years and nine different books to help them with their library. These books were from Crossway publishing and were donated – a substantial gift to the church in Africa.

Mike, Stu, and I said a few words, and I led a prayer as we commissioned the Lead Trainers who will take over our positions in full when they start to convene with the next cohort in 2026. We were presented with signed pictures and a book.

We finished in song and went out to the lawn for pictures. From there, lunch was served: rice, Irish potatoes, cabbage, chicken, and beef (with intestines in it!). They don’t eat meat here that often. I remember in the past when I’ve asked about Christmas in Uganda and what they like best, the answer is often “we eat meat.” So, this was quite a spread.

I am now back in the guest house, and we were invited to watch the first 45 minutes of the Badgers game that starts at 7 PM (11 AM Hudson time). After that, the TV will be all about Auburn. Our Alabama friends are all about Auburn.

By the way I was up at 3:45 this morning and was able to catch the Hudson Raiders 24-21 win over New Richmond. FCC’r Ben Englund had two interceptions, the last one sealing the win.

We don’t have much to do till Monday when we finally make our way back home. But I have plenty more to share.