Major Strides at Home and Abroad

Our first adopted orphan - 6 month old baby ‘Light’ 

It’s been exactly 32 days since I departed from Africa, narrowly escaping the travel disaster taking place in Europe as a result of the volcano in Iceland. As my family and friends know, I left Uganda feeling the euphoria of victory. One of my Dad’s heroes, Vince Lombardi, said, "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.” Lombardi was dead on. 


Our battle included the effort to launch a business from scratch in just five weeks, the pressure to fulfill the dreams of a pastor, managing individuals with different personalities and tribal tendencies, and overcoming cultural obstacles. By the end of my time in Uganda, I was ready to drop. But, people who have experienced exhaustion to their core know that the outcome associated with the feeling typically equates to success. Even with all of that, our successes in Uganda we’re just baby steps in the direction of our long term vision. The much greater challenge now is fulfilling our mission statement of creating self-sustaining ministries and programs around the globe. As you will find below, our team in Uganda is already showing great signs of taking control of their own destiny. 

Mission Statement

Light of the Lord Global Missions is dedicated to serving and sharing the love and light of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to foster and support global partners and ministries to become self-sustaining while caring for the needs of their local communities.

Our goal is to encourage and empower individuals and communities to lead purpose-driven and interdependent lives with God through Christ. As the Apostle Paul had his tent-making business, our objective is to implement a ministry model that becomes largely self-sufficient by providing intellectual, financial, and physical resources to these communities.

First, before I reveal the progress taking shape in Uganda, I want to outline my responsibilities as the Global Missions Coordinator at home in the United States.  Included in the list are some key developments that are unfolding from our Washington D.C. headquarters. 

Top Priorities, Duties, and Development: 

1) Remote oversight and management of current operations in Uganda - The keyword is ‘remote.’ My goal is not to micromanage from abroad. I schedule a weekly conference call with my team and receive a weekly progress report. 

2) Develop official website - A website is key in establishing ourselves as a serious contender in the mission world. Soon this blog will be incorporated into the website. I am currently working with a wonderful freelance developer (more information to follow).

3) Fund Raise - Inherent to fund raising is also networking, relationship building, forming partnerships with other reputable organizations, etc. Fund raising is critical and necessary for assisting in the growth and success of our long term vision. 

4) Plan and budget for future projects - Example, we are in the process of forming LOLGM Israel and a formal business plan is complete. Per the plan - LOLGM Israel is a retail business, that sells travel-related products and services to customers, on behalf of suppliers, such as airlines, car rentals, hotels, sightseeing tours and package holidays.  Products of the company will include tour packages of most likely 9 days in duration including travel days to and from their home country.  We will be targeting Hispanics and Latin-American Christians. 

Progress From Uganda

Pastor Jackson, one of our three pastor’s, leading the newly formed church choir

Mary’s Milk:

• Open for 6 weeks
• We began selling only milk. We are now selling milk, yogurt, and bread
• We began selling 100L of milk per day with a milk cooler capacity of 600L. We’re currently selling 200-250L per day as we slowly establish ourselves in the market. In order to sell at capacity and beyond, it is critical that we continue developing relationships with wholesaler’s who approach the store and buy milk in large quantities. Based on our projections, it will take 3-4 months to fully penetrate the market and sell at max capacity. 
• We have profited since day one and have been in the black every single day for 6 weeks
• Both of our employees, Sam and Angela, have passed their medical examinations. 
• We passed inspection and received our operating license from the Dairy Development Authority (DDA), putting us in good order with the authorities. 

LOLGMU Sunday Service: 

• Our first Sunday included one mass with Pastor Aba leading the way. In just five Sunday’s, the men have added a second evening mass with around 100 followers total for the day. 
• Launched Sunday School for the children of the parents attending mass, which takes place an hour before the morning service. During Sunday School, the kids are taught lessons from the Bible and lessons on discipline, leadership, values, etc. The kids present what they learned in class to their parents during the service. 
• Two additional pastor’s, Pastor Amos and Pastor Jackson, have joined Pastor Aba to assist in church services. 
• Pastor Jackson has formed a 15 person choir and organizes regular practice during the week. Along with the choir, the men are training an orphan to play on the keyboard that they recently purchased. 
• Beyond Sunday, the men are performing lunch hour prayers and counseling on Monday’s, Tuesday’s, and Thursday’s, evening fellowship and choir practice on Wednesday’s, and choir practice again on Saturday’s. 
• On Sunday’s, the men are selling milk at a discount for all church attendees. Our goal is to one day provide a free meal to all of our fellowship on Sunday’s. 

Other Developments and Programs: 

• A 6-month old baby girl was left in a trash bin in front of the offices of LOLGMU. Pastor Aba discovered her and has taken her in. He has named her ‘Light.' If all goes well with the authorities, she will be a our first adopted orphan. 
• The LOLGMU Director’s have created and written their first monthly report, entitled Monthly Ministry Activity Report (MMAR). 
• The men have been pro-active in attempting to form an official partnership with Heifer International. This week, they are meeting with a woman’s group sponsored by Heifer in an attempt to buy their yogurt and sell it in our store. 

As you can realize, the above progress in Uganda occurred after I departed. The LOLGMU Director’s have worked tremendously hard since I left them and it is heartwarming to see how they are prospering in their new roles as leaders of the organization. I am so proud of them!

Jackson leading choir practice 

Pastor Aba doing his thing!

More fun with the kids