Shaarda's Story - It's God's Story!: March 2024

After 23 years of partnering together, Vogel Center Church sent a team to be a part of our lives and ministry! I will let you read what they had to say about their time. I'll say a little with the pictures below. I will tell God answered prayers with this visit and He did great things!

Pastor Adam: A group of three of us from the Vogel Center Christian Reformed Church in McBain had the opportunity to visit Josh and Mandy and their family in Uganda and see the work they are doing first hand. It was a powerful experience!

The team consisted of myself (Pastor Adam), an elder (Loren Quist) and his wife (Sandy). We were with them for a little over a week, staying in their home in Obulle most of the time. We met and prayed with their team with Freedom in Christ, we worshipped with them in their church, participated in Bible studies and outreaches in two different prisons and learned about a variety of other projects and ministries in their area, including the local Christian School.

Some of my moat powerful experiences were: praying with and being prayed for by the Freedom in Christ team; worshipping with Christians in church and prisons in an all-in, full-bodied way; witnessing dozens of people respond to the invitation to surrender their lives to Jesus; and appreciating in a fresh way the simplicity and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was inspired by the sincerity and sacrifice of the Christian leaders of Uganda Christian Fellowship in Obulle. Their prayerful work of planting churches, growing a Christian school, and discipling new leaders was transforming their community and country in clear ways. It put a smile on my face to see God using present and former prison inmates to take the lead in witnessing and discipling others for Christ. Isn’t like God to revolutionize the lives of prisaoners into Christian leaders? While the lack of material resources and the presence of spiritual darkness is very apparent in Uganda, it is beautifully clear that God is on the move advancing his Kingdom there!

Quietly and humbly serving and supporting this work of God are Josh and Mandy and their family. They not only teach and witness for Christ, they incarnate his presence through their lives and their family. They are surrounded by so many needs and opportunities, both spiritually and materially, and in that context they are both teaching and learning from their Ugandan partners and friends in ministry. The results are remarkable.

It is a privilege for Vogel Center Church to partner with them as they partner with others to see God’s Kingdom come in Uganda.

From Loren: I had no idea what to expect when we arrived to Uganda/Soroti. That being said, I was surprised by the population of people. It was amazing how many people live in such a close area. Even in the “country” by your place there are multiple houses seen from your home.

I learned a new definition of poverty. I have never experienced people living meal to meal. However, these same people blessed me by their strong faith, and by giving God the praise for everything they had. They did not focus on what they didn’t have, but rather, talked about the good God was doing and had done in their lives.

I see God’s kingdom growing very fast in your community (the areas you work) which is sort of the opposite of here. We have truly been blessed in Vogel Center the past few years with growth, but I believe the overall Christian family in Missaukee County is waning. My prayer request would be that the churches in our community could all grow by adding new members, not by getting members from other churches. I would also request prayers that each of us focus on ourselves and what God is asking of us and how God is blessing us. Rather than focusing on what others need to do or what others have.

By witnessing the people you work with, God showed me how to be joyful in all things. I also learned to focus more on the blessings. It was very moving for me when talking with the pastor in prison who was there on false accusations and he said, “God must have wanted me to minister to these men, so that is what I am doing here.”

There is much more to be processed and I am sure there will be more to share in the future.

From Sandy

How to put into a paragraph 10 days of Amazing, Emotional, Beautiful, Exhausting, Wonderful experience. Our main mission was to get to know Josh and Mandy and their family and to walk with them in their mission field, ans learn how we can support and care for them, I believe we accomplished this. I have developed friendships that I believe will last a lifetime. I have also come to realize that the Shaarda’s are involved in many fields and programs. They are whole heartedly involved in their community, their local church, Freedom in Christ Ministries, the jail ministries, the local Christian school, and the Freedom Boys program. Not only are Josh and Mandy involved in these programs but their kids are all in too. I have seen the joy and peace on Josh and Mandy’s faces after a long exhausting day of being on the mission field. God has put them where he wants them to be. I am amazed in this day and age that people are still living in clay/brick huts with grass roofs, they are happy just to have a roof over their heads. That they use a communal well and water in jugs is sometimes hauled miles just so they have water. People need to realize how well we have it. My favorite part was watching and joining in, in their worship. They do it whole heaertedly with such joy it is contagious. The trip was so much more than what I can put into words, I am grateful to Josh, Mandy and the kids for welcoming us and letting us share in their lives. To God Be The Glory

FIC day of prayer together

Prayer is the foundation of FIC and it's powerful!

The team brought more study Bibles! What a blessing!

They also brought reading glasses which everyone appreciates!

I have always thought these two pastors could be brothers. Similar personalities and even looks a bit. Bothers in Christ anyways!

Grace and I took the group on a tour of Obule center.

While seeing the clinic a baby was being born so Grace and I were able to in the room!
New life is so amazing and precious!!!

We went back the next morning to see the mother, baby and thank the staff.
These are Grace's new friends - the midwife and nurse.

Morning in Soroti town/market.

Pastor Adam (PA as Luka calls him) taught on the radio for FIC.

The group went to Namalu prison for a crusade. It was a powerful day where 43 prisoners came to Christ! A long day too from 7am to 8pm. On their drive Grace's dream came true and they saw ostriches in the wild! And several different kind of antelope.

Preaching Sunday

Grace teaching children's church

We had lunch after church with the church leaders and it turned into a very special time together as the leaders shared their stories and the history of the church and hardships and war here. We also shared ways our church could pray for VC and how VC can pray for our church here. There were tears and a connection made as the leaders shared from the heart.