Sub-Saharan Africa Q3 Update 2025

The Lausanne Movement, a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to “accelerating global mission together”, compiled a detailed report bringing together data and insights from over 150 global resources to assess the “current status and future trajectory” of the Great Commission. The purpose of this report is to guide the global church by providing strategic insights into where gaps and opportunities exist for fulfilling the Great Commission.  This report is aptly called, “The State of the Great Commission” (SoGC).  You can download a free copy of the report here.  At Shepherd 23:1, we use this report to help guide us in our strategy and in our prayers. An excerpt from SoGC says that “by 2050, half the world’s evangelical population will be in Africa.”  

Praise God for the growth of the Christian population in Africa! This promising prediction fuels the Shepherd team in Uganda to disciple the boys in the Shepherd’s Home, on the streets, and at the school, that they may know the one True God, be able to defend their faith, and eventually rise as Christian leaders in their homes and communities. The same goals exist for the churches, evangelism outreach, and pastoral training, which all take place amid primarily Muslim communities.

 

A message from Pastor Fred:

“James 2:18 NIV – But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

God has been good to us here as always and we cannot thank him enough. We have been challenged to walk and live our confession during this period. The Lord has been grounding us so that we are mature in his mission field. As usual, I appreciate you so much for your support in every way and I wish great finish of the year in the Lord.

 

Q3 Praises and Prayer Requests…

Shepherd homes:

  • Wafula Mark, the mute and deaf was admitted to Mbale School of the deaf for skills training in welding and metal fabrication. He is very excited!
  • All boys are doing well in school.
  • In the home, the boys are introduced to Christ and encouraged to have a personal relationship with him, some are already witnessing Christ to others and serving others.
  • As the Shepherd family Uganda, we were happy to host the Shepherd family US that visited us in July/August. It was majorly an introduction of the new ministry leadership of US to the Uganda partners. We enjoyed the time with them.
  • There are five boys living in the Mbale outreach center, whose age ranges between 13-18 years. Most of them have accepted Christ and are happily serving him in our congregation. These boys are willing to do vocational training so that they are empowered to thrive on their own upon leaving the Shepherd house.
  • Our goal at Shepherds Home Uganda is rehabilitation, reconnection, and reintegration with their villages, all with a focus on Christ. We have now traced most of the families of origin for all 30 boys on campus. A reconciliation program between the boys and their families is ongoing with our social work team. Some families are very hesitant to accept the boys.

 

Praise Bible churches:

  • In August, we evangelized the communities in Busiu town council with a team of youths around 45 in number and around 86 people gave their lives to Christ.
  • The new converts are under discipleship training by Pastor Ben and his team so that they are well grounded in the Lord.
  • Ten new members were baptized after evangelism.
  • There is a marked growing influence of our ministry to the communities surrounding us whether in Mbale or Busiu.

 

Pastoral Training:

  • Classes are ongoing in 13 different locales, each meeting for 2 days every other month.
  • Most of the pastors are coming toward the finishing up of level one. There are 3 levels to this training.
  • There are currently close to 350 trainees.

Challenges:

  • Very slow process of land titling though the survey process was completed.
  • A lot of bureaucracy with the registration of the home and other sections within the ministry.
  • The houses in Busiu are housing boys beyond their capacity. Each house was designed to hold a maximum of 12 boys but because of the huge need and pressure from the district authorities, we were forced to increase the numbers to 15 per house, which has affected our quality of services considering the budget constraints.

 

Praises to God:

  • Purchase of the new motorcycle for Field work!
  • Salvation of the 86 souls!
  • Baptisms of 10 members!
  • Christ centered influence in our communities!
  • Wafula Mark was admitted for skills training!

 

Prayer requests:

  • Pray for my church member called Patrick who has been sick since April this year. He is paralyzed and critically ill.
  • Willingness of the land owner close to our church in Mbale to sell us that plot before the end of this year. We have the funds for this reserved, we just need him to sign the contract.
  • Each “family” (home) cares for 15 boys, which is 3 additional to the normal capacity for our home design and discipleship model. We are prayerful for a 3rd home and funding soon.
  • Votech tools to help with the vocational training of the boys at Mbale Center.
  • School block to cater for classes that are currently being conducted in the homes due to lack of space in the school.
  • Laptop for the social worker.
  • Home registration and approval process to speed up and same for the land titling process.
  • Purchase of the land across our property for the use of agricultural training, food security, and income.
  • Clear direction by the Lord to another place that is virgin for the gospel and church plant
  • Spiritual and physical wellbeing of the boys and the staff of the Shepherd’s Home.