Walter Brashier Graduate School of Christian Ministry is kicking off its concentration in missions and evangelism with more than just classroom instruction.
North Greenville University representatives on the Ugandan mission team, from left: Gretchen Durrell, Phyllis McMinn, Kathie Burgess and Larry McDonald.In July, it offered its first practicum in missions, as Larry McDonald, dean of the Master of Christian Ministry (MCM) program led a team to north-central Uganda.
“The goal of the graduate program at NGU is to offer sound doctrinal instruction along with active ministerial training,” said McDonald. “We must obey Christ and carry his message into all the world.”
Three students from the MCM program joined McDonald’s team of 11 people, working alongside Uganda’s president of the Baptist Union, Michael Okwakol, to do work in the Ugandan towns of Apac and Lira.
“Primarily, our work was to further equip and encourage the Ugandan pastors and church leaders in this region,” said McDonald, “but anytime such a gathering takes place in Uganda, plenty of children are also guaranteed to show up. One of our students, Gretchen Durrell, is the preschool coordinator at Wellford Baptist Church. Under her leadership, our team conducted a daily Bible school for children.”
Durrell was also joined by students Kathie Burgess of Berea First Baptist Church and Phyllis McMinn of South Main Street Baptist Church, Greenwood. Together they conducted Bible schools in Apac and Lira, reaching a total of about 170 children. The NGU graduate students also participated with pastor Caleb Clark of Calvary Baptist Church in Yazoo City, Miss., with public school evangelism in both towns, reaching a total of approximately 4,500 students with the gospel message.
The NGU effort was not accomplished alone. Churches from around the Greenville-Spartanburg area, and even from as far away as North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, supported the trip through prayers, monetary contributions, donations of supplies or by becoming team members.
McDonald and Okwakol were assisted by local pastors who, like Okwakol, are graduates of Uganda Baptist Seminary in Jinja. Under the auspices of the International Mission Board, Uganda Baptist Seminary’s decades of work underlies the success of short-term ministry such as that by the NGU team. “Uganda Baptist Seminary graduates are noticeably accomplished in their theological, pastoral, and administrative skills,” said McDonald. “It is my hope that every pastor in Uganda will one day be able to receive training at UBS.”
McDonald, Okwakol and Michael Hill (of Grace Baptist Church in Wake Forest, N.C.) conducted Bible conferences for pastors and church leaders, while Tina McDonald led similar sessions for pastors’ wives and women’s ministry leaders. The two conferences combined to reach close to 200 Ugandan Baptist leaders.
Additionally, conference attendees were fed by money raised through the mission team. “Church leaders often traveled many miles at their own expense,” said McDonald. “Arriving by foot, by bicycle and by ‘taxi,’ they brought their mats to sleep each night on the ground. In a sense, this is their ‘Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference,’ – minus the fancy hotels and soft beds. And yet their joy and encouragement knew no bounds as they worshiped and studied God’s word together.”
Berea First Baptist Church of Greenville contributed $2,265 toward the purchase of 302 Bibles written in local languages. Ugandan pastors also received neck ties, while ladies attending the conferences received scarves donated by churches. One hundred toothbrushes were given out to pastors, courtesy of dentist Bob Olson of Greer First Baptist Church and Family Dental Health Clinic of Taylors. Home Depot of Spartanburg contributed 120 seed packets to conference attendees. One hundred gospel bead dolls, handmade by the members of Berea First Baptist Church, became for many children the first toy they had ever received.
“The amount of work accomplished by this team of 11 people in two short weeks is mind-boggling,” McDonald said. “And yet it took the collaborative work of hundreds of people to make it possible.”
McDonald is also keenly aware of the need to assist Ugandan Baptist leaders as they struggle to meet the needs of more than 1 million orphans in the country, a result of rebel warfare in recent decades as well as from illnesses like HIV/AIDS and malaria. To that end, donations through McDonald’s team will provide $1,100 toward the upgrading of facilities and $900 toward the daily feeding of orphans at New Hope Christian Academy in Apac. The NGU mission team also purchased and carried clothing for orphans, largely donated by the Employee Health Department of Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.
“Scripture is plain, that our religion is defiled if we do not reach out to care for the needs of orphans and widows,” said McDonald. “Many Christians here in the southeastern U.S. wonder why we travel to another hemisphere rather than staying right here on the North or South American continents. But if we follow Jesus’ instructions in Acts 1:8, we know that all of these areas are important. Our witness and outreach for Christ begins at home, but it must not stop there. We must continue ‘even to the remotest part of the earth.’ ” – NGU