By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” – 1 John 3:16-17

Monday, November 24, 2014

Because everyone likes an update...

Undeniably, this year at Switchboard has been our best yet! We have been able to join with the Lord in some amazing ways with the support of you, our awesome donors and team. We knew going into the summer that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was what the people of Northern Uganda were hungry for and needed. And as always, we couldn’t have even imagined what all God had in store for His people. This Fall has been just as exciting, as we press on with renewed excitement for who He is as well as heaps of thankfulness for what He is doing.  We wanted to take a minute and update you on a few things that God’s been up to that has us so excited!

PASTOR TRAINING CONFERENCE
The biggest project of the year was our Pastor Training Conference. When we initially planned the conference, we expected around 20-30 Ugandans to attend, but were floored by the 133 men and women that signed up before the conference.  God wasn’t done, however, and we were even more floored when God delivered almost a hundred more! In the end, we had so many participants that we had to break into two separate conferences with a total of 240 attendees! It was clear that the Lord had been preparing the hearts of the people and has amazing plans for them. 

Over our two weeks of working with these pastors, we were able to teach the overarching story of Scripture and study how each book points to Jesus. We then focused on how to study the Bible, how to teach it to others, and even what discipleship looks like. It was unbelievable to see so many people absolutely gripped by the Word of God, and it inspired us all the more to continue this work. It is because of your prayers and support and the goodness of the Lord that these men and women will now be more fully equipped to spread the Gospel throughout their land. Praise God!

BIBLE UPDATE
As we mentioned in our update while we were on the ground in Uganda, we also had the distinct privilege of delivering 1200 more Bibles to this community. Thanks to the support from Ethos Church in Nashville and amazing donors like yourself, we have now supplied enough Bibles where there can be one in every single home in one of the sub-districts we work in, Parwech. This year, we took the time to step back and notice how the Word of God is changing this community in drastic, tangible ways - even diminishing the tight grip witchcraft had on this region! Again, praise God!

CRUSADE
On January 12-17th, we are sponsoring a revival in the village!  We are partnering with 24 of the churches in Lalogi to put on a 6 day crusade in which thousands of villagers will have a chance to worship together, pray for their community, and many will hear the gospel for the first time.  This is the first time the local church in the Lalogi district has come together as one to advance the gospel, and we are really confident God is going to move in some incredible ways through His people there.


KENYA
This summer God miraculously opened doors and we were asked to come and conduct a Pastors Training conference for the Mogotio District in Kenya in Summer 2015.  We couldn’t be more excited to expand our efforts from one country to two, and are confident God has great things in store for Kenyan people.  We are sending a team in December to meet with local pastors, scout out venues, and prepare the way for our teaching team to come in the summer. 


INDIA
They say you know God is moving when growth happens without you doing a thing, and that couldn’t be more true of our story lately.  In March, we are partnering with Ethos Church in Nashville to work with two of their church plants near Calcutta, India.  We’ll be responsible for leading a small team from Ethos whose main purpose is to empower and encourage the local leadership and church in India.