Tag Archives: Teso

Trip 18, SOH Uganda, Update 6

Impact summary….we really enjoyed the opportunities to make personal differences in the lives of the kids and community and participate in the efforts of the churches.  We partnered with the Voice of God Church which serves the SOH Home and community and the Teso Church in Torroro.

We saw several people come to accept Jesus as savior.  Last Sunday during service, a woman stood up and the whole church exploded into screams and dancing with joy and excitement.  The woman was a practicing witch whom the church has been praying for and had decided that Christ was her savior and to be born again.

We also saw churches get excited about serving their communities, children being excited about school and their future, the community to see a practical example of the love of Jesus Christ, improved the health of the children and community, and for the children to feel less “Fatherless”.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support that made this possible.  It was everyone that did this….we were the fortunate ones that got to witness it personally.

Trip 17, Update 4 Teso

After 10 days at Stream of Hope Home we traveled to Kenya and spent 2 nights with a ministry evangelizing the Teso people….a people group along the Ugandan border that is unreached in some areas and under reached in most.  Sweet people.

We left 30 audio Bibles in the Ateso language and 2 solar powered projectors with the Jesus Film in Ateso, donated by Campus Crusade for Christ, to allow this group of church planters to show the Jesus Film and start Bible study cells in remote areas.

We encouraged them at one of their churches….the shade under a big mango tree…my kind of church then showed the Jesus Film to two groups.

The Asinge group of believers

The Asinge group of believers

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Trip 17, Introduction

Tomorrow, 26 May, Casey and I will begin Trip 17 which will ultimately include 12 people and transpire over 2 months.  We have a diverse team including teachers, college students, an eye Doctor, and us regulars.  The youngest is 16, several are first timers to mission trips, and some will incorporate the results of their work in their Graduate thesis.

We will be working at the Stream of Hope Home in Uganda, the Lord’s Servants Home and Academy in Kenya , and visiting a Pastors Training College working in the border region with the Teso people.

One of our projects will be installing a water tank that will allow treated drinking water to be available to the community around the SOH home.  This was funded by fund raising efforts from Ms. Spencer’s awesome 4th grade class at Patriots Elementary School who have been studying about water crisis’ in the world.image

We will also be installing additional solar panels at SOH, building a playground at the LSA School, several smaller projects, meetings to chart the future for the orphanages and school, lots of child educational programs, social efforts with the kids involving art therapy discipline, lots of community support activities following up on previous trips, and equipping church planters in the Teso region with audio Bibles in their language and solar powered video equipment to show the Jesus Film, courtesy of Campus Crusade for Christ.

We thank you in advance for your prayers for God’s guidance, wisdom, and provisional safety and for our families that are back home.

Look for my frequent (hopefully) blog updates.

Unengaged People Group … the Kenyan Teso

This is a neat story of some work for the Gospel made possible by God connecting a lot of different people…….I love seeing how God works.

A friend of mine, Randy, was investigating the ethnicity and language data available on the people in western Kenya, near the LSH orphanage and he noticed a people group named that Teso that existed along the Ugandan / Kenyan border, southwest of Kitale, the region where the LSH orphanage is.  On the Ugandan side, they are well engaged with the gospel, have a complete Bible and many churches. The data shows that the Tesos of Kenya are only marginally engaged with the gospel.  It seemed ideal that the Ugandan Teso could be helped and encouraged to evangelize their Kenyan relatives.

Questions were asked of Pastor Moses and The Lord’s Ministries (TLM) group that we work with in Kenya about this apparent opening for the Gospel and it was investigated.  Pastor Moses’ associate Pastor Ben visited the border town of Malaba and he met Pastor Godfrey of the Portable Bible Center (PBC).  Pastor Godfrey is a Ugandan Teso who moved across the border to Malaba and established the PBC in Malaba with a mission to train Pastors to reach the Kenyan Teso people.

We met Pastor Godfrey and several students of the PBC during our recent mission trip as we were traveling from Kenya to Uganda.  There are fledgling churches among them established in the past few years of effort.  They are a determined and passionate group.  Pastor Ben, from Kitale, Kenya has been led to adopt the Teso as his mission.  He will work to encourage and help them.  I hope that we can help in some way, possibly providing digital audio media and printed tools through Pastor Ben to help the PBC reach the unreached Kenyan Teso.

“…….I established  there are many  people  who have  a  zeal  for  the   gospel.  This was from  the way I  was received  and  found   out  from  a number  of   Pastors  around.    In   conclusion   brother,  there   is  a   great   task   ahead.    God   bless  you,          Brother Ben – Kenya TESO MISSIONARY”

From Wikipedia….In Uganda, the Teso live mainly in Teso sub-region, i.e., the districts of Amuria, Soroti, Kumi, Katakwi, Ngora District, Serere District, Pallisa, Bukedea and Kaberamaido, as well as Tororo District and Busia District. They number about 3.2 million (9.6% of Uganda’s population). Until 1959, they were the second largest ethnic group in Uganda.  As of 2002 they were the fifth largest.[2]  The Teso in Kenya, numbering about 279,000, live mainly in Busia District, Teso District.[3]  Teso traditions relate that they originated somewhere in what is now Ethiopia and migrated south West over a period of centuries.[4] They were part of a larger group of Nilotic peoples who migrated from Sudan in several waves.  A splinter of this group later formed a branch called the “Karamojong Cluster” or Ateker.  The Ateker further split into several groups, including Jie, Turkana, Karamojong and Teso.[5]  The Teso established themselves in present-day north-eastern Uganda, and in the mid-18th century some began to move farther south. During the course of this latter migration, conflicts ensued with other ethnic groups in the region, leading to the split of Teso territory into a northern and southern part. In 1902, part of eastern Uganda was transferred to western Kenya – leading to further separation of Teso.[4]

Please pray with us for Pastor Godfrey, Pastor Ben, and the Teso people.

Men from the Teso

Men from the Teso at the PBC

Showing the Jesus film as an example of media technology available in Ateso language.

Showing the Jesus film as an example of media technology available in Ateso language.

Greg and Pastor Moses giving a message to the Teso Pastor Trainees

Greg and Pastor Moses giving a message to the Teso Pastor Trainees