March 2021 - Churches and Farmers

Dear Friends,

This month, we’d like to update you on our church planting and agricultural empowerment work in Northern Uganda. I hope you will consider how you might help churches multiply by investing in this most strategic work!

Helping a Special Family

The church on the Koro Farm ministry center near Gulu is the “mother church” for church planting efforts. It has about 200 adult members and it is alive and vibrant with many strong leaders who have planted 15 daughter churches around Gulu. Each year they do a churchwide project to help a particularly needy or special member. This year, they are working to build a small house for Mama Lillie. Mama Lillie has worked tirelessly at the Koro farm for many years. She cooks the midday meal for whoever and whatever is going on that day. Feeding staff, church leaders, agriculture students and preschoolers is a huge job. The house is almost under roof!

New Commercial Bakery Business

**One of the men organizing raw materials**

In the Acholi culture, getting men engaged in anything is challenging. Recently, nine men have been participating in a men’s discipleship group at Koro. As part of the SEED program, our team has started a new baking business with these men as the employees, and it has blossomed! With recipes from experienced bakers in Kampala, the product is in great demand, and the bakery is figuring out how to move forward. An intern from Gulu University is helping them make a business plan. Our hope and prayer is that this project will prove not only to transform the lives of these men, but also generate profit to support other aspects of the church planting and agricultural empowerment work. If you’re interested in learning more, we would love to talk with you further.

**Specialty treats the bakery produces**

Church Building Underway, and Another Church Plant Coming!

**Church members at their current church building, which is a very large mud/thatch hut**

A church was planted in the community of Awatlela in 2016. This village is in a remote area east of Gulu where there are no other churches. By God’s grace, strong leaders emerged in the young church and it has thrived. Through the generosity of one of our donors, we are able to provide a church building for Awatlela! This will be a huge boost to the church and the community in general. As is usual here, a church building quickly becomes a community center, a meeting place and preschool. It is also an evangelistic tool as well, as people in the community appreciate and respect the church and its leaders for providing such a wonderful resource to them. In April, the team will do an outreach mission to the community of Unyama, likely resulting in another church being planted! Please pray that the building and the new church plant would result in many people coming to know Christ in coming months and years.

Agriculture Training / SEED Loans

**Young and less-young students learning new agriculture principles**

March is the start of “season one” in the Northern Uganda agriculture year. To help people prepare, our team recently held its annual Agribusiness Conference that was attended by over 150 local farmers and future farmers. They are in the process now of interviewing farmers for SEED loans. These are literally microloans of seeds and other supplies that enable farmers to produce commercial crops, rather than just sustenance crops. They grow primarily corn and soybeans in this program, and the farmers pay back their loan with proceeds from the sale of their crop. Please pray that the season would be good, the weather would be great, and that many farmers and their families would improve their economic condition and know of God’s provision and goodness!

Will you help us in this effective work which evolved out of our sports ministry efforts many years ago? We have so many opportunities – supporting the core church planting work, providing for SEED loans, providing church buildings and helping grow the bakery business! Please use the enclosed reply card or visit www.sportsoutreach.net/donate.

And if you have further questions about churches or farmers, we’d love to talk to you. Please contact Ben at bmoomaw@sportsoutreach.net.

Yours in Christ,

Terry Tolbert, for the Sports Outreach Team