Just Getting Started

JUNE 13, 2022   |   2.5 MINUTE READ
LISA MAYO, MISSIONARY IN UGANDA

At sixty, most people are more likely to be at the end of their ministry than the beginning. Not Margaret. At the age of sixty, she was just getting started. She couldn’t read or write, but she had a longing to tell people about Jesus. And she wasn’t going to let her age or any other perceived limitations hold her back.

Small wooden boats are a common method of travel on Buvuma Island.

Margaret lived in Tojjwe, a village at the southern part of Buvuma Island in Uganda. She heard about a biblical training that WGM and Africa Gospel Church were holding for pastors and leaders. To attend, she had to ride on a small wooden boat for an hour to reach the part of the island where the training was located; when she arrived, she immediately felt a kinship with the others who were attending the training.

Trainees are eager to learn more about Jesus so they can tell the people in their remote areas about Him.

Here were people who, like her, had such a passion for Jesus that they wanted to learn more about Him, then go tell the people in their remote areas about Him. As Margaret and the thirty other students gathered in a mud-walled, one-room church on the east side of Buvuma Island to study, they soaked in all the knowledge they could, hungry for more.

This training had been developed in 1999, mainly for pastors and church leaders who hadn’t had the opportunity to attend seminary or Bible school—some of whom hadn’t been able to finish primary or secondary school, either. Soon, these training sessions were being held in seven different locations, with WGM missionaries and AGC pastors traveling together to meet the students where they were.

Pastor David Dhikusooka (left) and WGM missionary Jonathan Mayo (right) led the training on Buvuma Island together.

Jonathan Mayo, a WGM missionary, partnered with Pastor David Dhikusooka from Africa Gospel Church to lead the training in Buvuma Island. The students spoke a total of seven different languages, two of which Jonathan knew and the other five of which he relied on Pastor David’s help to translate. As they got to know their students, Margaret shared her story with them.

She was more than sixty years old but unsure of her exact age. She was married but had never had children. She loved Jesus and wanted others to know about Him. And she wanted training, but she had never learned how to read or write.

God is working through this training program to raise up leaders from all generations.

At Margaret’s current age, mastering reading and writing would take months or even years. But she wanted to be equipped to tell her neighbors about Jesus now. Jonathan and Pastor David, who were in charge of the training, had to get creative. They found another student who would sit next to Margaret to help her. Anything she needed read to her, he would help. She was thrilled! In this manner, Margaret attended training once a month, for three years, learning more about Jesus by listening, repeating, and discussing.

After that very first training, Margaret went back to Tojjwe and began to tell others what she had learned. Her passion was so contagious that she started three churches during those years of training. Some years later, when WGM conducted a biblical orality training on the island, Margaret became one of the best students. For more than fifteen years, she continued in the work of the Lord in her area.

God is still working through this training program today as Pastor David and other local pastors travel to meet their students where they are.

ACTION STEPS

PRAY: Lift up those whose lives were impacted by Margaret. Pray that they will continue to live out the Gospel, discipling those God places in their paths. Ask God to continue working through this training program, as well, raising up leaders from all generations to carry His light into the world.

GO: Is there something you’re afraid to do because you feel you’re unqualified? No limitation can keep you from obeying God’s call on your life, as long as you are willing to seek His kingdom first. Like Margaret, God can use you to guide others to a deeper relationship with Him, no matter what appears to stand in your way. 

GIVE: These trainings are still being held today. Pastor David and other local pastors travel to meet their students where they are, to provide them with biblical knowledge that equips them to go share Jesus with their communities. You can partner with this cause and help raise up church leaders.

Missionary Bio: Jonathan and Lisa Mayo have been serving as missionaries in East Africa for thirty-three years. They have a passion for discipleship particularly among university students, believing that these students can help take the Gospel to the entire world. Learn more about ministry to university students on WGM’s website, Facebook, Instagram, or www.udmafrica.org.