discovering your purpose       

OUR  CALLING

1.  Our Cultural Commission
 God blessed them and said to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28, NIV)
When we think about God’s intentions for all humanity, our mind often goes to the ten commandments in Exodus 20 or to the great commandment in Matthew 22:34-40 (to love God and then your neighbor), or even the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 and Galatians 3:29 (I will bless you
and you will be a blessing). However, God’s first overarching commandment for every human was given in the first chapter of Genesis. This first commandment also started with a blessing.

 In Psalm 8 David repeats this rule over / dominion idea:
 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 
 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

 We call this the Creation Mandate or, more broadly, the Cultural Commission, because it covers all the works of God’s hands and all things. This mandate to govern covers all of life. We see that God made this planet, put it in the solar system, and put the solar system within the grandness of the universe. Then he said to us human beings, "Take what I have made and govern it. Be stewards of what I have made." All humanity, male and female, has this common shared purpose. We are to develop what God has made. We are not only to procreate but to co-create, co-rule, and co-steward. It takes both male and female, the aspects of our nature as men and women, to fulfill this mandate. God made us to be vice-regents (kings and queens) under his authority. Historically, a regent is a ruler or governor. A vice-regent is one who is second in authority or acting on behalf of the regent.

Creation left to itself is incomplete, and humans are called to be co-creators with God, bringing forth .  the potentialities the Creator has hidden. Creation is full of secrets waiting to be discovered, riddles which human intelligence is expected by the Creator to unlock. The world did not spring from the hand of God as wealthy as human beings might make it.
We are here to govern - to govern musical notes, words, language, numbers, architecture, food, medicine, etc. The world did not spring from the hand of God as wealthy as humans might make it. I was doing my research and found out that, the word economics comes from the Greek word, Oikonomia. Oikos means house. Nomia means governance. We are here to govern the house. Whose house? God's house. 

Economics is ultimately about the stewardship, the governance, of creation. God intends for us, male and female, to govern all that he has made and to make it more bountiful  God didn’t just say eat from the garden. He said to work the garden. Create orchards and vineyards. Make dance, music, and beautiful fabrics. Paint paintings, create symphonies, and write novels.

 God is the creator, and he made us in his image to create. We're here to co-create with God. When you see the homeless person on the street, they are not defined by their poverty. No, their true identity is that they are made in the image of God and put here to rule over creation and co-create with God. This is the framework for our very existence no matter where you live, how rich or poor you are, the language you speak, or the color of your skin.

When God finished his work of creation, it was perfect, but it wasn't finished. He now said to those who bore his image, take what I have given you and do something with it.

This is the Cultural Commission, and it's why we are here. He not only gave us the mandate, but Genesis 1:28 says, "And God blessed them." In other words, God equipped them. He gives each person in the world what they need in order to do the creative, governing task that he has uniquely put before them. His “blessing” includes both internal resource es and external resources. 

In the business world, resources that can be invested for new projects or expanding the business are commonly referred to as “capital.” Likewise, God has given each of us “capital” or what we need to fulfill the mandate he gave us. You may feel like you have little or even nothing. But God has given each person capital to invest. You have a body. You have five senses. You have emotional capital. He has given you the capacity to think creatively.

 He's given you intellectual capital. He's given you the ability to reason and solve problems. He's given you moral capital, the ability to think between right and wrong. And he’s given you vocational capital, the ability to will, to make decisions. He has blessed us with social capital. We have friends; we have community. What does it mean when people come together and work together? What is the power of people working together? We have infrastructure. We have roads and bridges and electricity. We have the ability to imagine those things and build them if we don’t have them.

 We have institutional capital or the ability to create it. We have governments, rule of law, universities, and educational systems. God has blessed us with all that we each need to fulfill his call in this area in our own life. In order to use our internal capital, we first need to recognize that we have it. If we don’t think about it, it may be easily lost or wasted. We need to recognize that we have it, and then we need to be stewards of it. We need to govern ourselves and govern the capital that God has given us. 

Just as God has put potential into a single seed, he has placed great potential in each human being. We may think our potential is very small or limited. But think of a small seed and what it can produce. Consider a mango seed. In the span of a human lifetime, how many mangoes can one mango seed produce? In com parison to a plant or tree seed, think of the fact that God made human beings in his image and then blessed them and purposed them to govern and rule over all creation.

Amazing! No matter how weak and poor we are, we must never say I am nothing. We must never say I have nothing. That is not the language of God. No, we are made a little lower than the angels, but we are made to rule over the works of God's hands. Wow! How do you see your life? What is the world view framework in which you are living? Is this it? This is the true framework. The Cultural Commission is comprehensive. It's in chronological time for all of human history. It's in space over all the earth. It’s over all the spheres of society – family, business, political governance, science, education, the arts, and agriculture.

Reflection Questions to help us discover ourselves deeper:
  1.  What are the internal and external resources God has “blessed” you with? List them. 
  2. Are we first and foremost consumers? Or are we first producers? 
  3.  What are you called to govern over? How are you currently developing the internal and external resources God has given you? What did you do in the past month to develop these?
  4.  How are you helping others to embrace their governing role? How can you help a homeless person recognize and fulfill his or her cultural commission?  
  5.  What significant thing did you learn or think about? What action do you need to take? What do you want to remember from this lesson?

2 . Discipling our Cultures

We are culture creators
 A husband and wife create the culture of their family. A business owner works hard to create a successful business culture. A coach works to create a culture in a sports team that will result in high performance. We can see how intellectuals, artists, and professionals influence the culture of a society. The term “cultural commission” implies that our “creative” work on this earth includes the formation or shaping of culture.

''Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
 What is culture? Culture is “the way we do things around here.” Cultures can represent an entire nation or a much smaller subgroup.
Culture is powerful.
 It is not neutral. It determines the kinds of societies we build and the communities we live in. It also shapes us. It’s been said that we are the prod uct of our culture.
We are the product of culture but we are also to be the creator of culture. Genesis 1:28 says, “Be fruitful and  multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”

 

The smallest cultural unit is the family. To have children and create a family is to create a culture. Multiple families create a community, and communities create a soci ety with businesses, economic systems, laws, and institutions

 How do we create Kingdom culture through our work?
 A good starting point is to simply do good, and even more specifically, do good work. 

 The Bible says a lot about the concept of good and doing good. In speaking creation into existence God uses the word good seven times in Genesis 1. In Genesis 2, God uses it five times.

 Psalm 34 says the Lord is good, and those who seek him lack no good thing and whoever desires to see many good days should turn from evil and do good.
 Psalm 37 says to trust in the Lord and do good. Turn from evil and do good.
 Psalm 119:68 (NIV) says of the Lord, “You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” 
 We see the idea of good and doing good throughout the New Testament. 
 Jesus said, “But love your enemies, do good to them.” (Luke 6:35) 
 2 Corinthians 9:8 reads, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (Greek word for work is áŒ”ÏÎłÏ‰Îœ (ergƍn)

. In Paul’s final charge to Timothy, he reminds him that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profit able for teaching “
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Again the Greek word used here is áŒ”ÏÎłÏ‰Îœ (ergƍn). (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

 Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works [áŒ”ÏÎłÎżÎčς (ergo is) plural of áŒ”ÏÎłÏ‰Îœ (ergƍn)], which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 Often, we read these last three verses and think of good work as moral goodness. That is, we are not lying or stealing in our work, etc. Or we think of good work as random acts of kindness like helping an old person cross the street. These are both good things to do, but the underlying idea in this word áŒ”ÏÎłÏ‰Îœ (ergƍn) is actually vocational. The words are literally what someone would say to describe doing good quality work in their job. In Christ Jesus that is what we are created to do. In Genesis 1 God declared his work of creation good and very good. We who are made in the image of God are called to do the same. We are to do “very good” work. This is God’s glory.

Reflection quetion;
  • What kind of culture is your community working to create? Does it lead to flourishing or to brokenness and poverty?
  • When Jesus talks to his followers about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world in Matthew 5:13-16, was he talking about creating culture? What do you think? 
3. Your Vocation – Your Calling
As believers and followers of Jesus we are the “called out ones” as discussed earlier. As the “called out ones” we also have a calling. 
 The Latin word vocare means “to call” and it is the root word from which we get the word “vocation.” Every person has a general call and a particular call.

The General Call 

The general call of each person is to salvation and to follow /obey Christ as members of his body. We live and express this general call within the context of three mandates from God to us: 
  1.  The Great Commandment – to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.
  2.  The Great Commission – to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Christ com manded.
  3.  The Cultural Commission – given at Creation: to cultivate; develop the land; create Kingdom culture (truth, goodness, beauty) 
 We can say that the general call of every person is to know God through his Son and to live under the rule of God – that is, to live the kingdom of God, and to help others know God and live under his rule.
This is our general call. Our particular call is the unique context in which God has placed each of us and the unique way in which he has made us in order to live out this general call.

 The Particular Call
Each person is created by God uniquely and for a purpose. There is no such thing as an ordinary person. Every human life is unique and valuable to God. Psalm 139:14 says we are fearfully and won fearfully made. Current worldviews tell us that a person’s value and identity are primarily linked to his tribe, ethnicity, and race. But the Bible makes clear that God sees and values our individuality. God knows our names, thoughts, comings and goings, and the number of hairs on our heads. There are about eight billion people on this earth and no two are alike. Think about that. Each of us is a unique expression for reflecting the image of God to creation and for carrying out God’s eternal purposes. In this sense, we each have a particular call. An important expression of your particular call is your work and vocation.

 As mentioned in an earlier lesson, we each have internal and external capital that God gives us to use. This includes the hours of our days and the days of our lives, reason and creativity, natural talents, skills, and abilities, as well as our interests. 
 For those who have been redeemed by Christ, there is also the special grace of salvation, the Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts.
 God invests much in every person, not so that they become an end in themselves but for his good purposes. His good purposes include good for people and for the world. The end of which is God’s glory. 
 You can discover your particular call by looking at where God has placed you and how God has made you
                                 
                                            

                                               ******     *********        **********

 

 SEEING THE HAND OF THE LORD IN MY DARKEST TIMES

    The month of December 2024 was one of the darkest times of my life. My dad suffered a stroke and his blood pressure rose so high that he almost passed on. Money was needed for a quick cerebrum scan, but I didn’t have any money and I came to a point where there was nothing more I could do; so I left everything to God.

    I thought I should reach out to my friends for help, but all those I tried to reach out to were also going through rough times. I was left with only one option, to look to the heavens.

My mother and I standing behind my dad the day
he was discharged from the hospital.
    God worked miracles for my dad. The doctors offered to run the cerebral scan for free and they found that the right side of his brain was damaged, affecting his memory.

    The necessary medications were very expensive and I didn’t know what to do. My whole family was looking to me for help, expecting that I had money because I was in the mission field. In fact, it is the very opposite because I choose to trust God with my daily needs for food and other provisions. 

    So one morning, as I was doing my morning devotion, I read James chapter 5 and verse 15 caught my attention.

"Prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven’’ JAMES 5:15

    I never stopped praying for my dad and asking friends to pray. After a week my dad’s memory started to come back, and he was discharged, though not totally recovered yet. I want to thank you for showing up for me in this battle.

Mario and I arrived at the base.
    After the new year, I started to prepare to travel back to the Isiro area of the Congo to plan a DTS. I was determined to see that the DTS, which the team in Isiro was longing for, came to pass.

    My friend Mario was with them and was also ready to travel with me to the Congo. We left Uganda on January 8th and traveled by motorcycle across the border to DRC. We then boarded a bus to a town called Duruba where we spent a night at DISSA. Early the following day, we left by motorcyclist to Isiro. It took us 10 hours to reach it but God was so faithful and provided us a way, for the first time, to complete our journey.


JANUARY 2025

    When we arrived at the base I was warmly welcomed by kids from the surrounding neighborhood. These kids brought me so much joy and I missed them almost as much as they missed me. Three days later I was with them teaching Bible stories. They love to color pictures after hearing the stories from me.

Kids showing off their work
    After giving the kids the opportunity to color I am able to look at each kid’s picture and speak words of encouragement over them. Several parents from the community approached me and thanked me so much for what I was doing for their kids. Those who were shy are now becoming brighter. They have learned how to pray and they pray every day in their homes. Some have even shared the stories I tell them with their parents.


Sharing ideas

 

The kids express joy in being together.




A mom and her children travel home after a King Kids program.














PIONEERING THE LONG AWAITED DTS

 

January-March 2025 update

    It is a wonderful privilege to be part of this great team. God has been doing amazing things as we transition between old and new staff
    In the past, the base has had trouble growing due to fights among team members. This delayed the fulfillment of God's purpose and it took them 9 years to build and pioneer their first DTS. But God, through the old team, prepared the ground for the new team and it is wonderful to see how God's plan isn't man's plan.
                                          

The old DTS team and God's work

    Well, we were supposed to run this DTS in June 2024, but there was resistance. None of the speakers were available to teach at that time, we had no students, our classroom construction process was so slow, and the team struggled to decide who should lead the school. After we came together to pray, we felt the peace of the Lord leading us to move the DTS to February 2025. 
    In these few months, a lot of changes took place. One old staff member dropped off, so I stepped in to replace them. A few months later another member dropped off so another local staff member came to join us. Towards the start of the DTS school, God added Roger and Lucia to our staff, a couple from the local community. These two did their DTS in 2016 in Arua and have been very actively involved in the Church and led all the churches in the province. It was amazing to see how God prompted them to be part of this DTS.

STUDENTS of 2025

    Processing the students was another thing. We prayed for each student who applied and on their arrival we heard testimonies from each student on how God prompted them to do this DTS. Five students were admitted and three of them tried their best to pay for half of their lecture phase. This was a huge encouragement to us as a staff.

Student reporting for their first day of DTS.




Leading worship and Intercession.

Praying for our visitors who had to be evacuated due to the war in the Eastern Congo.





GOD SPOKE TO OUR FIRST SPEAKER THAT CAME TO TEACH.

   The journey was very hectic and it took Leo, our first speaker, 3 days to arrive at the base. God spoke to Leo and prompted him to come and bless the opening of the base, but he was delayed on the road when their bus broke down. He came and taught on the nature and character of God in the first week and then in the second week he taught on hearing God's voice. You could say it was God's voice teaching through him. 

    We had a wonderful two weeks with him, and the lord spoke to Him so powerfully. By the end of the two weeks, the students were receiving dreams and visions and felt that God was already speaking to them.



Students and staff praying for God's will to be done in their lives to reach the communities


Thank You!

MY TIME WITH THE DEAF IN UGANDA


At some point in life many people become deaf, the cause of deafness varies from person to person.  some people are born deaf, others become deaf due to sickness and strong medication such as quinine, Deafness might be caused due to environmental factor such as Loud explosives, thunder and Lightening, Loud music and Old age.

Other than all the languages we all speak, I encourage Sign language to be learnt by all as a medium  of communication.  its so sad to see how society at times view deaf people. But there is a lot to learn and explore in this silent world. the world of signs, when you know it you gone rock it...

Those people who are able bodied and have the heart to bridged the gap between the deaf and hearing, we call them Sign language interpreters, Who knows you will be one of them. They help the in coordinating the flow of information from one world to another, what I call them as " Delivery Angels" they play much important role both in the Deaf and the hearing world. without a bridge no one can cross to the other side of the River.
To be honest this interpreter have the biggest job of all, as the bridge carries the weight of all the heavy loads on it so are the sign language interpreter 

MY TEAMATES




Ywam Arua Deaf Ministry

If you would like to learn sign Language and volunteer in the deaf ministry, please  you can visit Outreach — YWAM Arua 

Currently Dorcus and Grace are the main key leaders spare heading this ministry I do assist them from time to time. Dorcus is a female young youth, fluent in Ugandan Sign language Interpreter and has huge heart for the deaf people you will defiantly enjoy working with her alongside Grace who is a male Youth, He his deaf and a fluent communicator of Ugandan Sign language. and in case you need more information please free to contact me.

 
Reciting the Creation Story in Sign language
Play the video to watch 



CURRENT ACTIVITIES

  • Signed drama's.
  • Bible studies 
  • Sign language Class.
  • Sports through school visiting's
  • Song creation
We would like the deaf to know the goodness of God through the inductive bible studies such that they develop a close relationship in their lives and family to walk with Him 
we also guide them to create songs of their own in sign language to express their heart to enable them to grow spiritually.
we are still seeking resources to see how to Impact the deaf community in these areas.
  • Tailoring
  • Agriculture
  • art and graphics
  • home visits to offer guidance and counseling.
with an aim to impact the deaf community with skills that will enable thrive their Niche.



LESSON, I LEARNT DURING MY DTS

 


MY DTS STORY


During DTS I felt like the Lord was speaking to me about something’s I am  to do after YWAM. I was so excited and early wanting to know what God was going to tell me, that made me not to miss my quite time.  I  just made my heart open to the lord and waited for him patiently, sometimes I go for my time expecting him to speak to me about what He wants me to do after DTS but hen He tells me other things. well When He speaks I had to obey it though it wasn't what I was expecting of Him.  It was until week 8 of my DTS when He finally Opened up to me about the nation of Congo. We had a long conversation wit God, The lord begun to show for me my childhood memories and I found my self deeply self immerged in those memories  

Side effects DTS: you have spent six months crazy scheduled  and controlled you time was predesignated. Quite time was built in and you became accustom to it. It kept you strait and sane most days but now you have excuses. So this article is or you. Or if your the person who knows what it's like to plan out your Monday and use it as your fresh start then you need to read this too. 

Mondays, another one has come and gone. 

But before you can get to Mondays you have Sunday. And (most) every Sunday you go to church, you sit in the service, you go home and on Sunday nights you lay in bed and vow to do better this week, physically, spiritually, mentally, and personally. Tomorrows a new day! You lie in bed contemplating the mountains you are going to concur this week (do 500 crunches every day, re-train the dogs, re-do the kitchen, do more paintings, plan out future, start a wildly successful Etsy business and grow closer to God, closer than anyone else!) and you perfectly measure the miles you must march tomorrow in order to reach to top of success by the end of the week. You go to bed counting the number of rocks you have to climb an hurdles you must jump. ...work out, do the laundry, wash the dogs, clean the kitchen, make bed, make dinner, work on project...etc, oh yeah and have some bible time. Then Monday morning comes and it's harder to get out of be than usual, you finally crawl out and find your gym clothes wet in the laundry, because that was something you were supposed to do last night. You wait for your pants to dry and make your bed, you get dressed and think. I need to do my devotions. But then you hear the dogs, oh I need to walk them, and well if I'm going to walk them I might as well workout too. You get back, it's time for lunch, I should read my devotions with lunch, oh but there is a new Greys episode, an hour later your done with lunch. Okay now I'll do my devotions, but wait the kitchen is a mess, and I need to take a shower but I should really wash the dogs before that. Before you know it you need to make dinner, then you think now I will do it but you realize the premiere of your favorite show comes on tonight so you find one more thing to push it away with, then your back in bed, thinking about tomorrow. You wish today had gone differently, you know you want a closer relationship to God but there just seems to be no time. You can't stay up and do it now because you have to get up early and do something in the morning, so that knocks out then too. So then you pray God help me, help me make time for you and help me grow closer to you. Help me stick to my diet and workout routine, help me be more positive, help me not worry, help me find a job, provide the money for my trip, can I get a new car, I could use some new jeans, can you do this and that etc, then you feel guilty about asking for so much but giving him virtually nothing, you beg him to make your walk more than Sundays. You give him thanks for his grace and then you put on worship music and write a blog about Mondays and how your spiritual life needs to change. And here you are, at the end of the article, in bed with your thumbs cramping not sure how your going to fit your devotions into your busy day of nothing tomorrow but still know that God heard your prayers and he hears this, and he would still love you if all you did was push him out of the way and ask him for things, but your smart. You know that you wouldn't be happy in that relationship. So you look ahead to make a change, you don't know what its going to be, but your committing to it,
even if every day is monday, because you need this, and you know it. So,
tomorrows a new day, another day of grace,
another chance to figure it out. 

Tomorrows going to be different.