Sunday – but no Sabbath rest!
This morning BVA had organized a major program at Mvara Secondary School. MSS is probably the best secondary (middle and high school combined) school in Arua. With 1000 students, it was founded by the Church of Uganda, but now also takes Catholic and Moslem students. The BVA Board and I gathered for the Sunday Morning Worship Service at the school, at which I was asked to preach. I preached a combination of Genesis 2 (a vision for work) and 2 Kings 4: 1-7 (a way of going to work). After an “intermission” in which we were served a breakfast of hot tea and chapattis we moved for the second session, a workshop on business for the students. There are always a lot of speeches from everybody in a large Ugandan gathering like this, but the essential parts of the program were the members of the BVA board introducing themselves and saying a little about their businesses; two of our members giving “Inspirational Stories” about their business lives; me giving a practical “how to” when thinking about starting a business in an environment like Arua, and finally an open mike Q&A session.
We were all delighted with the outcome of the meeting. About 200 students attended. By a show of hands at the end, about 90% would claim to have been inspired to pursue business in their life. Each member of the Board performed wonderfully well and captivated their audience, and afterwards they were swarmed by students asking questions and asking for practical help. There is probably nothing we said that would be a surprise to a US audience, but these students have never had the chance to be exposed to this kind of opportunity. As we look to change a whole community, we have to work with all constituencies, and clearly young people who will be entering the workforce in the next few years are a vital target. If they can be inspired to work and be part of the solution, we have a real hope of long-term change. If not, the future will remain bleak.
While in buoyant mood, the Board went to the Chairman’s house for lunch. A mix of chicken, goat, guinea fowl and beef with all the fixings. Delicious! I even managed to eat my mango without wearing most of it! I call that progress.
In the afternoon I met with a committee of the Church of Uganda who are tasked with building an office complex that the church will own and rent as a way of generating funds to support their churches and outreach. While the church works with few resources and its pastors live in poverty, the mosques are supported by petro dollars, are substantial structures and compete for our attention at all hours of the day with music and prayers emanating from loudspeakers on their various minarets. The competition for hearts and mind is real. Therefore any business approach that the church can take to strengthen its financial position is to be supported. Unfortunately their real estate plan does not hang together and would lead to a real financial meltdown. I described the problems to the committee and they heard me, accepted and understood what I was saying and graciously did not shoot the messenger. We also worked out the next steps in the planning process and I hope to be able to work with them from a distance for the next few months. The good news is they feel no urgency to rush into the project.
Blessings to all who are still reading the blog!
A
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