Prospective Students witness something truly special at the Institute for G.O.D. EA
Students got hands-on experience with the practical side of the Institute, with agriculture being one of the focuses they can take at the Institute.
The Institute for G.O.D. East Africa just finished hosting a four day Preview where prospective students learned and experienced life at the Institute! It was a wonderful time of sharing what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, emphasizing the importance of learning God's Word and implementing it (James 1). The youth who attended were from just a few miles down the road to different parts of Kampala. They learned about the Institute through friends attending the school, living in proximity to our campus, or teaching alongside our primary school educators.
Professor Kimbugwe teaches Torah Overview.
The event started on Thursday evening with introductions and fellowship over a meal. Overall, they were able to hear from the teachers at the Institute about the three aspects that make up G.O.D. Int’l: Educational Institution, Development Agency, and Community Service Organization. Prospective students were then given the opportunity to experience each of these aspects over the course of their time.
First, they sat in on classes at the Institute, with the current course being Torah Overview, taught by Peter Kimbugwe. In regards to development, they were able to work alongside the current students largely in our agricultural programs to see the sustainable and duplicable models we implement. Others witnessed our work at St. John’s with the educational curriculum and administrative help G.O.D. has introduced.
Lastly, students got involved in service to those in need in their proximity. Alongside current students, they rebuilt a kitchen for a widow whose structure had been destroyed by a recent storm and created a two-burner rocket stove for her. It was during this service to the widow that one of the students, Enoch, was most profoundly impacted by what he could get involved in. While there, he witnessed a child asking for food, and the child's grandmother only able to give the child water. He sat beneath the roof with holes in it, while rain leaked straight into the home. Through tears, he noted how he would earn more than a degree at the Institute, he would become someone who did what God's Word says. He watched as our Institute staff responded by sending her nearly 50 pounds of sweet potatoes, beans and onions that they harvested from our garden, and that they continued to pray for her, asking God to help her and others like her in the area.
Institute students and prospective students build a rocket stove for a widow in need.
In the end, the weekend was full of learning God's Word and seeing individuals committed to living it out as a community, experiences that they will take back with them as they contemplate further involvement. It was a unique time for our community in East Africa to "show off" what God has done, confident that through their faithfulness and prayer, God will bring more laborers for a ready harvest.
“ The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ”
— Matthew 9:37-38
Written by Josh Barnett
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