As I write, it’s harvest time here in Karamoja, a big event for everyone as it determines whether people will face hunger or have what they need for another year. With hearts and minds set on another type of harvest, Pastor Julius and the ministry team at Nakaale Presbyterian Church are developing new outreach initiatives. They help church members harvest their fields and then present the gospel to the church members’ friends and family who have also come to help harvest. Then they invite them to church. Soon, the ministry team hopes to use the church’s new garden plot, developed with the help of a local Ugandan agricultural expert, for similar purposes. Not only can church members learn better gardening practices, but they can invite the broader community to gardening workshops where the gospel is also taught. Throughout church history, Christians have rightly understood that each believer is a laborer in the Lord’s harvest (Matt. 9:37–38). The Reformed church understands that the Lord is especially pleased to use the preaching of the gospel as the primary means for the conversion and sanctification of souls. As with Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:1–4, the church is to be sending those with authority to preach the gospel and with gifts to evangelize to the nations. These men, and others assigned to assist them with their work, are to spread the seeds of the gospel and help build and strengthen the church. The OPC has a rich history in this endeavor. Think of the critical role foreign missions played in our formation and how the Lord has been pleased to continue to use our church on several mission fields over the last eighty-nine years.
