There is love here

There is love here. That’s what I think when we pile out of the car and hurry into the building of University Community Church (UCC) in Gulu. It’s a building I know well, having seen it in photos many times during my time at BMS World Mission, and I’m a bit overwhelmed to be here experiencing it in real life. Even more exciting though is being greeted by Phionah Okello on the door as we rush in to take our seats – the service is about to start. Phionah, and her husband Jimmy, are well known in the BMS office back home. To meet them in person and experience their ministry first-hand is such a privilege, and I’m excited to learn more about how God is leading them.

Jimmy and Phionah knew from their university days in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, that God was calling them to minister to students – and for Phionah in particular, it’s a beautiful completion of her own journey to faith. When she first went to university, it felt like her first experience of real freedom after spending most of her education at boarding school. She planned to work in a bank and make lots of money – but that all changed when she met some Christians on campus. “I felt like they came at the right time and I came to know the Lord at the right time,” Phionah says. “Imagine if no-one had come to me, I would be lost, completely lost forever.” Phionah and Jimmy met at their church in Kampala, and remained involved in the campus ministry for a number of years. That’s until they felt the Lord calling them to move up north and plant a church at Gulu University.

Eight years later, they’ve built a warm, strong community at UCC – but ministering to students isn’t without its challenges. “It’s so transient and it can be discouraging,” explains Phionah. “Because every three years almost half of the church is gone and you have different people.” But despite the impermanence of the context they’re in, they’re able to offer a safe space for these young people experiencing a huge change in their lives to share their struggles and find hope. “What we’ve seen is that because of our stability, we’ve become a light in that community,” says Jimmy. And that light doesn’t just touch Gulu. The university isn’t just a mission field, it’s also a mission base. Jimmy and Phionah are able to disciple the students they meet to become disciple-makers, so they can continue to share the gospel in their new communities once they leave university.

Many churches in the UK struggle with engaging with young people, but Jimmy and Phionah don’t have a secret formula when it comes to their student ministry. They simply spend their time building strong relationships with the young people in their community, and are available to help them whenever they can. “If you build a relationship of trust, [the students] can listen to you and bring their issues to you,” Jimmy explains. It’s a principle Jimmy and Phionah take to their work outside of UCC with BMS World Mission partner Justice Livelihoods Health (JLH), where Phionah helps with administration and finance, and Jimmy runs outreach and training for local church leaders. “I get the opportunity to share some of my skills and abilities in leadership, which I use at UCC to equip other pastors in different churches,” says Jimmy. “Being able to share with them from what I have so that they’re able to lead more effectively and be equipped is really a beautiful thing.” For Jimmy and Phionah, emulating God’s love is the foundation of their ministry.

There is love here. Not just at UCC, but in this community, in this city. I see love in the worship and welcome we receive at UCC. And I see it throughout the rest of the week we spend in Gulu, in the devotions shared between colleagues at JLH, in the worship of a church savings group, in the laughter shared between a mother and her children, the stories shared between a grandmother and her granddaughter. It’s my main take away from our visit to Gulu: that with God’s unfailing love abounding, any life can be lived with abundance.