May 2006 Newsletter
Philista and I send you greetings from our new home in Masindi. We are living in a
construction zone, but it is vastly superior to living out of a garment bag, which has been our
fate for the last year. The stream of visitors has already started, and the diocese has been
very welcoming.
We want to thank all of you that came to our Blessing of Vows at St. John’s, Monterey, on
April 1st. It wasn’t an April fools joke: it really took place, and was a wonderful time. We
are especially grateful to our new friends at St. John’s, who hosted the reception and
supported us in so many other ways. It was gratifying to see old friends again from the
Central Valley and points even further away.
The path that brought us to this new beginning in Masindi Diocese has been filled with
potholes. But we believe that the good Lord took us here for a reason, and He will reveal it
as we are able to understand. One of our favorite verses has become Genesis 50.20:
Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the
survival of many people.
It was not our original intention to have three separate “services” for this marriage. But
moving from the traditional ceremony in Arua, to the legal ceremony in Kampala, to the
Blessing of Vows in Monterey, gave many people a chance to share with us in our new life
and ministry. We are grateful for your participation, and also for the prayers and support.
It is not common in most societies for widows to remarry, and especially in African cultures.
And then for the widow to cross tribal, national and racial lines is even more unusual. It
shows her courage and her commitment. This will surely be needed in the days and weeks
to come, for the challenges of ministry before us are very great.
Masindi is less than two years old as a diocese. And yet it already faces similar challenges
and opportunities with dioceses that are much older. Some of these challenges are lack of
a clear vision of the Lord’s leading, lack of trained leadership to carry out the work, lack of
financial resources, food insecurity, insufficient medical care, widespread illiteracy,
unemployment among the youth, and a lack of adequate tools for ministry (prayer books,
bibles, and so forth).
The opportunities, however, more than compensate for the challenges. The diocesan staff
here is highly motivated and committed to the Kingdom work: it needs to be trained further
and encouraged. The Planning Officer, Mugisa, to whom I report, is a young fellow who is
very bright and very committed to seeing our work succeed. He was born and raised here
in Masindi. He knows the problems, knows the people, the history of the place, and has a
good sense of what needs to be done. He listens well.
The youth worker, Revd. Sarah, is a really bright light. She is also very smart, well trained,
and very hard working. This weekend, she has organized one of several youth conferences
that take place during the year throughout the diocese, to which around 500 young people
will come. “Youth” here means both teenagers and young adults up to about thirty, although
these ages are stretched at both ends. The Church here in Uganda is a very young church,
and quite evangelical. There is a real desire to hear about the Gospel, and to learn how it
applies to daily challenges. Many youth learn to read for the first time from their Bibles.
We will focus our efforts in areas that require minimal funding, but maximum personal
involvement from the participants. The most successful development work always includes
a “local contribution” component. Examples of successful programs include:
*adult literacy programs. Participants are highly motivated to learn, and the costs
are minimal, except for the time to study.
*savings and credit programs at the local level. These involve small businesses
that are already functioning, and just need additional working capital. The local
groups are self-policing and tightly controlled.
*vocational training. Philista has been involved in successful tailoring and crafts
training in the past, and we will replicate this in Masindi, where lack of
employment is a real problem.
*training church leaders and pastors. The greatest results seem to come from the
grassroots of the church, and this is where we will concentrate our efforts.
Although administration/oversight is one of the essential gifts for ministry, it is frequently
ignored when trainings are held. Expenses for training the church leaders are small, in
comparison to the results.
AGRICULTURE
Masindi District is considered the breadbasket of the country, although there is widespread
poverty. There are a few tractors for hire, but they are very old and unreliable. There are
two rainy seasons, but the people say that the rains have become quite unpredictable. We
plan to invest in small scale, sustainable agriculture in one or two parishes initially, as a test
program. There is much virgin land, and the hope is to open it for the Christians (who dig
only with a hoe) and then provide them with some seeds or cuttings to start. We are also
investigating very simple irrigation supplies, which can be either made or purchased here
at the local level.
Masindi Diocese has extensive land holdings, and I am doing a survey of possibilities,
along with Mugisa, the Planning Officer, and the pastors.
If our farmers can be enabled to grow high value crops on more than just an acre or two, it
should be an indirect blessing to the local congregations, which will in turn benefit the
diocese. Many families here eat only one meal a day, and that is a very simple,
unbalanced meal. Meat and fish are not regular parts of the diet, but reserved for
occasions such as Christmas. Vegetables are not common, even though the quality here
is excellent. There are tropical fruits everywhere, but the people take them to market to sell,
rather than keeping them to feed their families. The staples are corn, cassava, millet, and
plantain. A meal may consist of just one of these items, along with a cup of tea and some
sugar.
NEW CONSTITUTION
Since Masindi is a new diocese, it hasn’t yet created its own constitution, and sent it to the
Provincial Assembly for approval. One of my first tasks will be to synthesize several
constitutions from other dioceses, and then create a draft constitution for the consideration
of a special committee created for this purpose. It is a fascinating assignment, because it
gives the chance to help the new diocese get started on a strong footing, and perhaps
provide leadership ideas to the Province for future growth. I was involved in this work in
Madi/West Nile, so can bring a little knowledge of constitutions and canons to the table.
VISIT BY TEAM FROM CHRIST CHURCH, SEWICKLEY, PA.
Next week, I will be involved in meeting members of a team for short term mission from
Christ Church, who have been assisting this diocese for several years while it was still a
part of the old Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese. Along with seminars for clergy, they have also
helped with various development projects, such as well drilling, a coffee plantation, and
malaria control. It should be a very interesting time of sharing, especially since this church
has a strong relationship with Trinity School for Ministry, where I hope to start on a D.Min.
program in the near future.
UNITED ONE PRODUCTIONS
Philista’s ministry will be featured in a special Christian music and talent show at the
William Saroyan Theater in Fresno on the weekend of June 16th. Our good friends Duane
Goldberg and Judy Rogers are the hosts of this event, and have graciously provided this
opportunity to participate in a very special time. I want to encourage you to attend and see
some wonderful talent offered to the Lord, which will come from all over California. You can
learn more from their website at www.unitedoneproductions.org.. Philista will bring
examples of some of the garments that she is designing and making here in Masindi, and
many of the local crafts.
Duane is a professional musician who plays in many of the Fresno churches, and played
throughout the Hawaian Islands for many years. Judy is a prominent businesswoman in
Fresno, with a real heart for ministry and encouraging others. We are so grateful for their
commitment to help us!
We look forward to further visits with our friends and supporters in the churches in the U.S.
during the months of June and July. In the meantime, our contacts are:
James and Philista Short
Masindi-Kitara Diocese
PO Box 515, Masindi, Uganda
yakoboshort@yahoo.com
c/o Mrs. James H. Short
PO Box 4495
Carmel, Ca. 93921, USA
831 624 4523(phone and fax)
And we continue to be grateful for your support and prayers that enable us to be here and to
serve together.. May the good Lord bless you richly.
construction zone, but it is vastly superior to living out of a garment bag, which has been our
fate for the last year. The stream of visitors has already started, and the diocese has been
very welcoming.
We want to thank all of you that came to our Blessing of Vows at St. John’s, Monterey, on
April 1st. It wasn’t an April fools joke: it really took place, and was a wonderful time. We
are especially grateful to our new friends at St. John’s, who hosted the reception and
supported us in so many other ways. It was gratifying to see old friends again from the
Central Valley and points even further away.
The path that brought us to this new beginning in Masindi Diocese has been filled with
potholes. But we believe that the good Lord took us here for a reason, and He will reveal it
as we are able to understand. One of our favorite verses has become Genesis 50.20:
Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the
survival of many people.
It was not our original intention to have three separate “services” for this marriage. But
moving from the traditional ceremony in Arua, to the legal ceremony in Kampala, to the
Blessing of Vows in Monterey, gave many people a chance to share with us in our new life
and ministry. We are grateful for your participation, and also for the prayers and support.
It is not common in most societies for widows to remarry, and especially in African cultures.
And then for the widow to cross tribal, national and racial lines is even more unusual. It
shows her courage and her commitment. This will surely be needed in the days and weeks
to come, for the challenges of ministry before us are very great.
Masindi is less than two years old as a diocese. And yet it already faces similar challenges
and opportunities with dioceses that are much older. Some of these challenges are lack of
a clear vision of the Lord’s leading, lack of trained leadership to carry out the work, lack of
financial resources, food insecurity, insufficient medical care, widespread illiteracy,
unemployment among the youth, and a lack of adequate tools for ministry (prayer books,
bibles, and so forth).
The opportunities, however, more than compensate for the challenges. The diocesan staff
here is highly motivated and committed to the Kingdom work: it needs to be trained further
and encouraged. The Planning Officer, Mugisa, to whom I report, is a young fellow who is
very bright and very committed to seeing our work succeed. He was born and raised here
in Masindi. He knows the problems, knows the people, the history of the place, and has a
good sense of what needs to be done. He listens well.
The youth worker, Revd. Sarah, is a really bright light. She is also very smart, well trained,
and very hard working. This weekend, she has organized one of several youth conferences
that take place during the year throughout the diocese, to which around 500 young people
will come. “Youth” here means both teenagers and young adults up to about thirty, although
these ages are stretched at both ends. The Church here in Uganda is a very young church,
and quite evangelical. There is a real desire to hear about the Gospel, and to learn how it
applies to daily challenges. Many youth learn to read for the first time from their Bibles.
We will focus our efforts in areas that require minimal funding, but maximum personal
involvement from the participants. The most successful development work always includes
a “local contribution” component. Examples of successful programs include:
*adult literacy programs. Participants are highly motivated to learn, and the costs
are minimal, except for the time to study.
*savings and credit programs at the local level. These involve small businesses
that are already functioning, and just need additional working capital. The local
groups are self-policing and tightly controlled.
*vocational training. Philista has been involved in successful tailoring and crafts
training in the past, and we will replicate this in Masindi, where lack of
employment is a real problem.
*training church leaders and pastors. The greatest results seem to come from the
grassroots of the church, and this is where we will concentrate our efforts.
Although administration/oversight is one of the essential gifts for ministry, it is frequently
ignored when trainings are held. Expenses for training the church leaders are small, in
comparison to the results.
AGRICULTURE
Masindi District is considered the breadbasket of the country, although there is widespread
poverty. There are a few tractors for hire, but they are very old and unreliable. There are
two rainy seasons, but the people say that the rains have become quite unpredictable. We
plan to invest in small scale, sustainable agriculture in one or two parishes initially, as a test
program. There is much virgin land, and the hope is to open it for the Christians (who dig
only with a hoe) and then provide them with some seeds or cuttings to start. We are also
investigating very simple irrigation supplies, which can be either made or purchased here
at the local level.
Masindi Diocese has extensive land holdings, and I am doing a survey of possibilities,
along with Mugisa, the Planning Officer, and the pastors.
If our farmers can be enabled to grow high value crops on more than just an acre or two, it
should be an indirect blessing to the local congregations, which will in turn benefit the
diocese. Many families here eat only one meal a day, and that is a very simple,
unbalanced meal. Meat and fish are not regular parts of the diet, but reserved for
occasions such as Christmas. Vegetables are not common, even though the quality here
is excellent. There are tropical fruits everywhere, but the people take them to market to sell,
rather than keeping them to feed their families. The staples are corn, cassava, millet, and
plantain. A meal may consist of just one of these items, along with a cup of tea and some
sugar.
NEW CONSTITUTION
Since Masindi is a new diocese, it hasn’t yet created its own constitution, and sent it to the
Provincial Assembly for approval. One of my first tasks will be to synthesize several
constitutions from other dioceses, and then create a draft constitution for the consideration
of a special committee created for this purpose. It is a fascinating assignment, because it
gives the chance to help the new diocese get started on a strong footing, and perhaps
provide leadership ideas to the Province for future growth. I was involved in this work in
Madi/West Nile, so can bring a little knowledge of constitutions and canons to the table.
VISIT BY TEAM FROM CHRIST CHURCH, SEWICKLEY, PA.
Next week, I will be involved in meeting members of a team for short term mission from
Christ Church, who have been assisting this diocese for several years while it was still a
part of the old Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese. Along with seminars for clergy, they have also
helped with various development projects, such as well drilling, a coffee plantation, and
malaria control. It should be a very interesting time of sharing, especially since this church
has a strong relationship with Trinity School for Ministry, where I hope to start on a D.Min.
program in the near future.
UNITED ONE PRODUCTIONS
Philista’s ministry will be featured in a special Christian music and talent show at the
William Saroyan Theater in Fresno on the weekend of June 16th. Our good friends Duane
Goldberg and Judy Rogers are the hosts of this event, and have graciously provided this
opportunity to participate in a very special time. I want to encourage you to attend and see
some wonderful talent offered to the Lord, which will come from all over California. You can
learn more from their website at www.unitedoneproductions.org.. Philista will bring
examples of some of the garments that she is designing and making here in Masindi, and
many of the local crafts.
Duane is a professional musician who plays in many of the Fresno churches, and played
throughout the Hawaian Islands for many years. Judy is a prominent businesswoman in
Fresno, with a real heart for ministry and encouraging others. We are so grateful for their
commitment to help us!
We look forward to further visits with our friends and supporters in the churches in the U.S.
during the months of June and July. In the meantime, our contacts are:
James and Philista Short
Masindi-Kitara Diocese
PO Box 515, Masindi, Uganda
yakoboshort@yahoo.com
c/o Mrs. James H. Short
PO Box 4495
Carmel, Ca. 93921, USA
831 624 4523(phone and fax)
And we continue to be grateful for your support and prayers that enable us to be here and to
serve together.. May the good Lord bless you richly.
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