Mbale, Uganda Partnership

We would like to invite you to partner with us as we 
prepare for ministry in Uganda with the Mbale Team


The Vision
One of the most inspiring verses in the book of Acts is the description of King David, who “served God’s purpose in his own generation.” (Acts 13:36) It indicates that God gives us opportunities that must be carried out in due season. Because we believe that the Gospel of Jesus is the true hope of the world, we’d like to tell you about a door of opportunity that the Lord has opened to us that we believe will bless not only this generation but many generations to come.

Laurie and I are thrilled to have been invited to serve with the Mbale Mission Team in Mbale, Uganda. This teams ministers to a population that is currently the youngest in the world, with 50% of its people aged 15 or younger, and 75% under the age of 21. This presents great challenges as well as incredible opportunities. 

The Mbale team works with a network of 450 churches that have been planted in Uganda, western Kenya, southern Sudan and Tanzania over the past 30 years. These Christians believe they are at a critical juncture for serving the present and upcoming generations of Ugandans. 

In order for the church to continue to expand and mature, they must address the need for a sustainable model of discipleship. Leaders must be equipped in order to care for and feed churches in rural and urban settings. Young believers need training in order to be an effective influence for Christ in all walks of life. 

The Mbale team seeks to use a wholistic approach to meet these needs. 
 Their core ministries provide a basis for continued growth in discipleship and outreach in a diversity of areas, as described below.     


 Ministries Under the Mbale Mission Team “Umbrella"

Daryl attending weekly staff meeting of: Mbale Church of Christ, Good News Production Int’l.-Mbale,
 LivingStone Int'l University, Church Planting & Discipleship Group and Messiah Theological Institute

CPD • Church Planting & Discipling
CPD is the ministry of Mbale Mission team which focuses on evangelism, church planting, teaching seminars, and relevant community service outreach. It is mainly focused on rural areas.  In the early years this ministry was led mainly by missionaries, but is now carried out primarily by local Christians.


MCC • Mbale Church of Christ
Street View/Front of Church
MCC is a multicultural  church located on a main roadway in Mbale. MCC reaches out and ministers to this city of 90,000. Each week Christians from different tribes and nations gather for Bible teaching, fellowship, and heartfelt worship of Jesus as Lord. 

Here they renew their vision to be the "light of the world." MCC also serves as the "home church" for most of the students of LIU during the school year, and seeks to provide a nurturing spiritual environment for them to develop as followers of Christ. 


MTI • Messiah Theological Institute

MTI offers Bible and ministry training at either basic or advanced certificate level. The majority of people who benefit from MTI’s services are preachers and church leaders in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan who live in rural areas, and have limited or no access to Biblical education and technological resources.  

MTI offers as many as 50 courses per year in its Mbale location and in its seven extension locations in Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan.


LIU • LivingStone International University
LIU students during chapel
With its first intake of students in January 2012, LivingStone International University seeks to honor God and equip students through academic training as well as spiritual instruction in Bible and Biblical principles. LIU’s four-year program employs international standards and a strong liberal arts core to give students a well-rounded education that is greatly needed in Uganda today. 

LIU believes in the importance of hands-on application of knowledge, using current technology to ensure that students are exceptionally prepared to enter their career fields. They also believe in the crucial role that Christian ethics and spirituality play in influencing culture. LIU's vision is to produce ethical, empowered, employable Christian leaders in every sector of African society. For more information go to: http://livingstone.ac.ug/


GNPI • Good News Productions International-Mbale

GNPI-Mbale provides effective media for sharing the Gospel in diverse cultures. GNPI built a regional media center in Mbale in 2007. This office partners with the local church to produce material that is culturally relevant for East Africa. GNPI-Mbale is in the process of recording core Bible courses in several languages for Messiah Theological Institute for use in extension centers. The Mbale center also provides hands on training for communications students at LIU. In addition to audio-visual recording, GNPI is pursuing the use of recording equipment to promote radio programming. Through GNPI-Mbale the church has the potential for reaching Christians in all of East Africa and the southern rim of Arabic speaking people groups of Africa.


Other Noteworthy Ministries
These do not occur on as regular a basis as the above, but are still significant to their overall efforts. 

-The Kitale Children's Home (in Kenya) is now under the daily oversight of Christians living in Kenya, but is still visited by the mission team on an informal basis to take care of administrative and maintenance needs.


-The team aassists in the AIDS Orphans' Program, in partnership with Christian Relief Fund of Amarillo, Texas. This program helps with education expenses for orphans whose lives have been devastated by AIDS. 

-In 2006, SEE Ministries/ For Sight established an office in Mbale on the compound of the Mbale Church of Christ to provide eyeglasses to needy individuals. To date, SEE Ministries has provided prescription eyeglasses to over 25,000 Ugandans.

- The SEW Ministry teaches skills to local women for making products that are useful in their homes as well as being marketable to provide needed income.


 The Mbale Mission Team (MMT)


Robinson Family
Dennis Okoth
The Allen Family










The Vigil Family
Henry Buregea
The Mbale Mission Team is made up of families with ministry and mission experience from different parts of the world that have come together for the purpose of serving Christ in Uganda. 

They are committed to the Lord and to one another through worship, prayer, fasting, and accountability. They seek to serve God long-term and to extend his kingdom by preaching and living the Gospel, by developing devoted followers of Jesus Christ, and establishing churches of faithful Christians. Their prayer is that through these efforts, the name of God will be glorified and the blessings of salvation will continue from one generation to the next until Christ comes again.


Enter the Bates...We deeply desire to join the Mbale team in January of 2014 in order to
Daryl and Laurie Bates
complement and expand their efforts. We believe the Lord has been preparing us for this ministry for years. 

We served as rural church planting missionaries in Kenya from 1987 to 1993. We then moved to Nairobi, Kenya where both of us were responsible for helping to set up and manage a missionary guest house in Nairobi for two years. For the next four years we helped plant a city church, and Daryl taught Bible at the Nairobi Great Commission School until our return to the U.S. in 1999. 

From 2002 until the present, Daryl has been the preaching minister at the Fredericksburg (Virginia) Church of Christ.

Laurie in village
Daryl praying with rural church leaders
Laurie teaching on Kindle by flashlight




The Lord has put a passion for East Africa in our hearts. We have been praying about the possibility of returning there for the past few years. During the summer of 2012, we traveled to Uganda to meet the Mbale team to see if this was where God was leading us. We were very excited as they shared their vision with us and were able to experience some of what God has been doing in Mbale and beyond.

Daryl talking with church planter in Bungoma, Kenya

The team has asked us to fill specific roles that are critical to their ministry. Laurie will serve as Mission Trip Coordinator for the many visitors and short and long term workers who will be coming and going to MTI and LIU.  Daryl will be focused mainly on assisting the leadership of the Mbale Church of Christ to develop sustainable structures of mentoring and discipleship. He will also be involved in training ministers and church leaders through Messiah Theological Institute. Daryl will be serve as Greek instructor for Bible majors at LIU.  We will both be available to fill other roles in the team as needed.

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Your faithful prayers and giving will enable us to touch lives  in Uganda, Kenya and other countries in East African.  Here are ways you can make an immediate impact: 
Prayer and Intercession: 
"Please help us by praying for us. Then many people  will 
give thanks for the blessings we receive in answer  to all 
these prayers." 2 Corinthians 1:11 CEV 

We know that it is a great privilege for us to have this opportunity to serve the Lord as a part of the Mbale Mission Team in Uganda.  It is also a great challenge that will be impossible without the power of God and the prayers and support of his people! We sincerely ask you to join us in prayer in the following ways:

1) Immediate prayer needs There are several things that we need in the near future as we prepare to relocate in January of 2014, and we don’t want to take a single step without the Lord’s blessing. Would you please intercede and lift these up in prayer with us?

• Spiritual wisdom as we make decisions in this time of family transition
• Preparation and selling of our house
• Finding the churches and individuals that the Lord is preparing to be our partners in ministry 
  
Please contact us at emails below to be added to our prayer list!
To contact Daryl, please email him at:  darylwbates@gmail.com  
To contact Laurie, please email her at:  lauriewbates@gmail.com

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Financial Support:
Well reads,"If anyone is thirsty let him come to me." Jn 7:37
"You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 
2 Corinthians 9:11

By the grace of God we plan to serve at least eight to ten years in Uganda.  In addition to the vital  need for your prayers, you can help us by giving  in the following ways: 

1) A one-time donation to help offset the shipping of our household goods to Mbale, for the purchase of a vehicle once we get there, and for the purchase of supplies we will need that are directly related to our ministry and/or items needed for living in Africa. We have a detailed list available for this.

2) Partner with us continuously through monthly support for our work and living expenses. We have detailed budget information that we would be happy to share with you. We will also provide regular newsletters to inform you of how your support is being used to bless people in East Africa.


Updated 10/9/2013:
We are currently at 45% monthly support
and at 42% of one time support! 
Can you help us get there by January 2014?

God has blessed us with an overseeing church. Your tax-deductible donations can be sent to:
Fredericksburg Church of Christ  /  PO Box 657  /  Fredericksburg, VA 22404

Daryl and Laurie Bates
On the memo line of your check, please write:
Uganda Mission Fund.
If this will be a monthly or yearly  gift, please 
write: Monthly Gift or Yearly Gift.
If this is a one-time gift, please write One Time.

Donations Needed: One-Time - $ 83,820    
Work Fund - $26,400 or $2,200 monthly 
Personal Salary$66,000 or $5,500 monthly  

If you would like a detailed budget, please contact us at the emails below and we will be happy to provide you with one.

Please email Daryl at:  darylwbates@gmail.com  
Please email Laurie at:  lauriewbates@gmail.com 

 
Thank you so much for your partnership!  We pledge ourselves  
to be faithful, accountable stewards of the funds that you give.        

7 comments:

  1. Super cite! "Lord, bless this family. Provide for them not only the call to mission but the resources for mission."

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  2. I saw the update yesterday but came back to see the partner pact. Very informative, inspiring, helpful. Thank you, and may the Lord indeed bless you!

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  3. Thank you, David. We also appreciate the partnership we have with you and Susan!

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  4. I'm looking forward to our visit in September. Love you all! Don Box

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  5. I'm looking forward to our visit in September. Love you all! Don Box

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  6. We are looking forward to it, too!

    It will be here before we know it.

    ReplyDelete