{"id":920,"date":"2008-12-02T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-01T21:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robbinsrendezvous.com\/?p=920"},"modified":"2008-12-02T07:04:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-01T21:04:00","slug":"fruit-that-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/?p=920","title":{"rendered":"Fruit that remains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted on January 14, 2012<\/a> by konaallan<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(a visit with Uganda\u2019s First\u00a0Lady)<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Allan leading a participative learning & action exercise in Uganda.
[From an article in Transformations Magazine]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Janet<\/figure>
\n

\u201cSo what do you think we should do about our nation\u02bcs water problems?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u201cWhat does YWAM recommend for the people of my country to obtain clean drinking water?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>Janet Museveni, Uganda's First Lady<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The three of us had been invited to a private meeting at the Ugandan State House, the presidential residence, and the person asking the question was Mrs. Janet Museveni, Uganda\u02bcs First lady and wife of the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In YWAM, we often talk about our goal of discipling nations in every sphere of life, but are we ready to step up to the plate. When leaders of nations ask us for Godly wisdom on their most vexing issues, do we just speak in generalities or are we ready to share specific ways God uses to bring transformation in health, in water, in development?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we even really believe God has good intentions for water?\u2026 for every sphere of life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u02bcm reminded of a conversation I had with a missionary I met in a middle-eastern nation some years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u02bcre restoring water to villages that have not had it since the war,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cWe\u02bcre drilling wells in these communities and installing $10,000 high-tech in-well pumps that we\u02bcre getting donated from the United States and then we\u02bcre sharing with them the Good News of Jesus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow,<\/em> I said. Are you able to train any mechanics in the community to keep the pumps running?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No,<\/em> was the reply. These are too sophisticated a pump to be repaired in this nation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well are they just such a robust design that they can last 10 or 20 years without any maintenance?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well no,<\/em> again was the reply. They\u2019re really only expected to last about two years, but they are our \u201cfoot in the door\u201d as it were to get to share about Jesus and His wonderful plan for our lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to fight back tears as this man continued on about his group\u2019s efforts to use water as an evangelistic tool, but my thoughts were, \u201cWhat are these communities going to think about Jesus\u2019 good news in two years when they again have no water? <\/em> Is the Gospel only Good News about the spiritual part of our lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does God not have good news about water? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the University of the Nations is beginning to evaluate our educational efforts not by what is taught, but by what is caught, so must those working in medical missions and community development focus not on those things we do to and for communities, but on what we help equip them to discover and do themselves, long after we\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has no grandchildren, only children. Unless we learn to seek and find His answers for our lives we will always be dependent on others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose working in medical missions and community development must focus not on those things we do to and for communities, but on what we help equip them to discover and do themselves, long after we\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>Allan Robbins<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 3 months in 2008, a team of 12 from the UofN-Kona Community Health Development school joined long-term YWAM ministries in Uganda in equipping servant-leaders who wanted to see lasting fruit in their nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pioneering Not just a School but a School of Thought<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While drought and food shortage had made life especially difficult in Uganda this year, interest wasn\u2019t just in our workshops on water, malnutrition, and infectious diseases, but on expanding discipleship training through the local church to encompass worldview issues\u00a0which pastors were recognizing as the only hope of\u00a0sustainable change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Uganda, it is not uncommon for many believers to be fatalistic and fearful of spirits that would be angered by change.\u00a0 We worked with Ugandan pastors associations to equip local pastors and YWAM staff to see that the giants in their land can be overcome and to help them decide what their part should be. Much of the enthusiastic feedback we received was that, \u201cYou\u2019ve restored our hope that things can change\u2026 that God does have good intentions for our families, churches, and communities, and there are practical things WE can do about it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping the Church be the Church<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our CHD students helped three communities start meeting to address and resolve their own water problems, we trained a YWAM staff team at their Hopeland base to build inexpensive rain-water catchment tanks to catch and store safe drinking water. We were asked to train two groups of Parish Health Care Workers and got to work with former UofN Health Care graduates  now working long-term in the Buvuma Islands of Lake Victoria in helping equip and launch a new network of community-based health educators comprised mostly of pastors and church leaders who live in the islands. Finally, our team helped YWAM-Uganda prepare for their \ufb01rst School of Health Promotion & Development developed specifically to address the needs of sub-saharan Africa, but our goal was not just another school but a whole new school  of thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning from one-another<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the same time we learned so much from these beautiful Ugandan YWAM staff and local pastors. Their dedication, compassion and personal sacrifice in addressing Uganda\u2019s HIV & AIDS epidemic which has touched every family, creative new community-based savings & loan strategies to address family health issues, high-efficiency, vented, wood-burning clay stoves made freely made from the 12 ft tall termite mounds found everywhere in Uganda and story-telling, one of our students commented, I only wish I could learn to tell such winsome stories in my teaching.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what to you recommend our nation should do about water?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The First Lady looked at me expectantly. I glanced across the table at Jeff, also with Kona\u2019s Water For Life team, and Sam, YWAM\u2019s Foundations in Community Development school leader in Uganda, but they both had their eyes closed in what I hoped was a fervent prayer for my response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said,\u00a0\"If it were an easy problem you would have already solved it long ago. It\u2019s not just a problem of contaminated water but the problems where families even have difficulty even gaining access to water.<\/em>\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a problem of technology that needs to be affordable, acceptable and sustainable, but mostly it is a problem of beliefs and behaviors that must change.  Yet as you prayed when we opened our meeting today, we KNOW God has answer\u2019s, that He has good intentions for our families and communities.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Lady nodded and I continued,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YWAM has worked with water issues for over nearly 50 years all over the world. We keep learning as we see successes and we have several household and community-based approaches to water that we think could be very helpful, but each nation is unique. We would like an opportunity for ongoing work with your office, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Water & Environment in finding the answers we know God has for Uganda.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uganda\u2019s churches and Pastor\u2019s Associations want to help with this, because at the heart of the water problem, there is a need to renew how we think, to change our behavior.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would you do this? the First Lady asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other nations, YWAM, and other organizations have begun having amazing results with a Care Group network where a handful of trainers each equip 8 Care Group Leaders who each lead 8 groups over a two week cycle. Each Care Group is made up of 10 Leader Mothers who then go back and each week visit 5-10 of their closest neighbor families sharing the simple messages they learned.  When the messages are kept simple but profound, we have been amazed at the lasting behavior change this approach has had in families and suddenly that small group of trainers are impacting 12-20,000 families.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Kiwinacha reminded the First Lady of her visit to the YWAM Hopeland training center for a Global AIDS conference last, and she asked, What kind of training can YWAM offer us in Uganda? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were ready with an answer: from YWAM-Uganda\u2019s many years of experience with community HIV\/AIDS work, children at risk and satellite family support networks, and Integrated Health Projects they could offer 2 day \u2013 2 week seminars and workshops on Water & Sanitation, Village Technology, Health Promotion & Global Health Issues, Food & Income Security, Community Leadership & Capacity Building and Biblical Worldview Training and networking with Pastor\u2019s Associations.  YWAM-Uganda also offered 6 month certificate courses in Community Development and Health Promotion & Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nodding and looking thoughtful, the First Lady asked, What could my office do for you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glancing at Jeff & Sam, I replied, \u201cYou could help promote our training opportunities to a wider audience and include us in future collaborations on water.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could help identify people who would especially benefit from our training seminars\u2026and  if possible, you could help fund scholarships for those students.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut mostly you could help us have an on-going relationship in working together to make water safe and accessible, and in convincing communities that God has good intentions for them in every area of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smiling broadly, the First Lady said, I can do this. Yes this is something I can do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it mean to disciple a nation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re still discovering it, but you\u2019re invited to come walk walk with some fellow followers of Jesus, who are convinced that we\u2019ve never lived in such exciting days.  It\u2019s not about what we do TO or FOR people. It\u2019s about what\u2019s left behind\u2026trusting friendships, nationals equipped with new skills and new revelation of God\u2019s nature and character \u2013 that He has good intentions for all aspects of our lives; and seeing churches with a new passion to fulfill their role of bringing Hope through simple, practical gifts of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Allan Robbins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Allan serves as an Int\u2019l. Assoc. Dean overseeing UofN\u2019s\u00a0Health Care training. He leads the Community Health\u00a0Development program and is one of the founding members\u00a0of YWAM\u2019s Water For Life Institute.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted on January 14, 2012 by konaallan (a visit with Uganda\u2019s First\u00a0Lady) \u201cSo what do you think we should do about our nation\u02bcs water problems?\u201d \u201cWhat does YWAM recommend for the people of my country to obtain clean drinking water?\u201d Janet Museveni, Uganda’s First Lady The three of us had been invited to a private meeting at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robbinsrendezvous.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}