It is such a blessing to watch the ministry of Partnerships for Training Pastors flourish under the leadership of Dave and Joyce Jones. Dave served for many years at BG as an associate and then lead pastor. During those years and through connections fostered by Susan Hay (see photo below), Uganda became a BG missions focus area. Pastor Andrew Mwenge from Kampala Baptist Church first visited our church in 2004, and in 2007 Dave made his first visit there.
Since 2008, BG has supported teams from our congregation to serve in Medical Missions Week health clinics eight times. Adult and youth teams also went in 2009 and 2010 to work with those at KBC to provide education, encouragement, and hands-on assistance to Ugandans in Kampala and the surrounding area. As friendships with Andrew and KBC grew and needs in Uganda became more apparent, Dave and Joyce followed God’s “stirring in their hearts” to become missionaries, working with the New Horizons Foundation to start Partnerships for Training Pastors (PFTP) in 2014. Since the pandemic 2020, their main focus has been in Uganda.
Little did anyone know God’s future plans for Joyce, Dave, and Andrew and how many adventures they would have together as they focus on their vision: to encourage and equip less-resourced Majority World pastors and church leaders through biblical teaching and the development of biblical resources.
Andrew has noted that there are many churches in Uganda who have untrained leaders. There is also an issue of syncretism, where Christianity is being fused with traditional African religious ideas. PFTP strives to reach out and train these willing leaders by developing biblically-based educational materials in their languages, and by mentoring them to grow as church leaders in their towns and villages.
During the past 11 years, it has been exciting to watch their ministry expand both geographically and in leadership, as the team now includes Daudi Nkuggwa and Elisha Tumusiime. It is encouraging to see fruit as many men and women are being raised up and equipped to take on more responsibility in the training process. This will allow the impacts of the program to continue to spread throughout Uganda.