The first mission station in Uganda was built in Nchwanga, about 160 kilometers outside of the capital city, Kampala.

“The ground where I am speaking is called Nchwanga. This place is very historical in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uganda, because our pioneers in the year 1927, in December, came and camped here. This is where the very first Seventh-day Adventist mission station was established in the country. And from here our church has grown and has spread to all parts of the country, having been launched from this very ground.”

After 20 years of working in this territory, missionaries learned that the work was progressing faster near the city of Kampala. So they moved their headquarters from this fertile one square mile of land, to a spot near Kampala.

Today, the landscape of Uganda might look a little different than it did back then, but there are still great mission opportunities. About 80 percent of the population is under the age of 35 , and the median age for the whole country is 16. There is a vibrancy and energy in the population, but there is also the challenge of unemployment. As leaders of this caring church, they see this challenge as a chance to nurture and equip them by implementing Christ’s method. A center of influence is being started in Nchwanga, where Adventist work began in the country.

“We want to establish discipleship and a livelihood training center. When we bring these young people, we will disciple them, and ground them in our values, we ground them in the Seventh-day Adventist lifestyle. But above all, we also want to integrate livelihood skills so that in addition to being equipped to share the faith and participate in the life and the mission of the church, they are also equipped to be self-supporting, so that they can go all over the country and witness for Christ, but also share in the skills they will acquire from this very ground in Nchwanga.”

At this training center, students will receive hands-on agricultural experience. They will learn how to work with the ground, nurture crops, watch them grow, and enjoy the harvest. The farm is big enough to train and equip many students.

“This farm is seated on 640 acres of land which is one square mile. So we have projects of a banana plantation, a pineapple plantation, a cocoa plantation and fishponds, and also a passion fruit plantation. This farm is here as the initiative of Western Uganda Field to provide food to the community. This is a food basket to the surrounding communities. So the aim of this farm is to provide quality food and to solve the hunger problem in the surrounding communities.”

Currently, the church rents a big portion of the land to community members, which helps their livelihood. There are 13 workers to maintain the farm. The plan to use this farm as a training center is well accepted by the local church and the management of this farm, as well as the community.

“But when the church manages to establish such a center or an institution that can train the people in the skills and also give hands-on knowledge, I think it will be ideal, and also an answer to the church first and also to the community at large.”

“So whenever we bring the youth over, the church can be trained and get the skills to go and advance the mission with the self-supporting skills that they will have gained from this place.”

Your 13th Sabbath Offering will help build this training center. The church is excited to train and equip more youth who can go out to preach the gospel and support themselves to disciple others. Please pray for this project, especially the students that are coming to this training center.

“Thank you for supporting the 13th Sabbath mission offering in this place.”