Cell Group

Wed. night I went to a cell group (like a small group) with a friend from the office, Doreen. She is the head of the logistics dept. and such a hard working woman. I think she is around my age and is from western Uganda. She is not Acholi. She had mentioned the group in passing one day and I asked her if I could join and she was super excited about the idea. We ended up going to the group another IC staffer, Patrick, goes to so I knew one other person there and I had met his wife too. We walked to the market which is in the middle of town. Right across from the market there are little shops, we walked between two through a little alley that opened up to a sort of courtyard, kind of like where we stayed in Pabbo. There was a small group of people standing around. We all introduced ourselves and then we started the time with songs. I did not know the words but they were
kind of repetitive so I caught on. Then I just found myself thanking the Lord for the opportunity to worship Him in such truth. There were no gimmics or pretenses. Just people gathered together because they saw worth in spending time worshipping and reading the Word together.

So after the singing, the host/leader of the group welcomed everyone and we all signed the guest book, so Ugandan. We went through a little more indepth introductions and then we got to the Bible study part. As usual I was very skeptical because I have had a few experiences here where things were very scripted and they did not feel natural or authentic. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The leader did have a sheet that he followed but it was just what verses to read and some application questions and the questions did not have answers. It was really great to hear the Ugandan’s perspectives. We read out of 1
Corinthians when Paul says that we are to be ambassadors of Christ. We talked about what that meant. We also talked about how we could practically carry that out. One woman said that we were to minister to the poor, poor materially and poor in spirit. I was so thrilled about the whole thing. Regardless of what you believe there were people getting together and critically analyzing things and applying what they were learning, that is huge for places like Gulu. Of course I wasn’t super surprised since Doreen and Patrick are two very intelligent people that the conversation was intellectually mature but the spiritual aspect of the conversation was what really got me excited!

After reading and discussing we sang some more and then left. I came home on cloud 9! I was so excited to have been a part of that time. I am hoping to go back again. I visited the church, Watoto Church, that sponsors the cells. They say they are a cell based church, meaning that a lot of their ministry is based on people meeting throughout the week at different parts of the city to worship and study together. They had a men of valor night on Friday that sounded pretty great. There are 2 women who play guitar on the praise band and the pastor said, you know our culture reserves certain things like playing the guitar for men but God transforms culture, and all the Luo men said. Amen! I was so amazed to hear that. What a bold statement he was making. In his message on prayer he talked about the importance of praying to maintain your relationship with God and also to pray with your wife and kids! It was beautiful to witness the transformation of the family through reading and applying the Word! And the best part is I get to see the real affects of this church in Doreen and Patrick.