Serving Through Word and Seed in Uganda

April 23, 2015 -- Even before World Renew volunteers Sara and Anthony Sytsma met each other in college, they both already felt God’s call to ministry.

In fact, both of them even pinpoint the same grade as the time when this calling became clear—Grade 10.

While attending Calvin College, Sara studied environmental science out of a love for God's creation and Anthony studied theology in preparation for seminary.

They were married in 2005 and then both attended Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The years after this couple’s graduation were filled with many formative opportunities that affirmed Anthony’s desire to teach and disciple pastors and Sara’s desire to work alongside people to improve agriculture and care for God's creation.

These opportunities included a year of volunteering with Christian Reformed World Missions as teachers at the Pentecostal Theological College in Uganda. The couple also spent time in Renville, Minn., where Anthony was the pastor of Emden Christian Reformed Church and Sara taught high school science.

And later, the couple received hands-on agricultural development training in Waco, Texas at World Hunger Relief, Inc.

Today, the Sytsmas are serving as World Renew volunteers in Soroti, Uganda.

In Uganda, World Renew works alongside two church denominations to meet the needs of those in poverty and build up communities. These partners are the Pentecostal Assemblies of God and the Church of Uganda.

Sara helps these partners develop and carry out programs, especially in the area of food security.

This often involves traveling to communities with partner staff from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God’s Katakwi Integrated Development Organization to provide training on topics such as growing and transplanting vegetable seedlings. When the vegetables grow large enough, farmers can sell them to help support their families.

“We are learning so much from the Ugandans with whom we work,” said Sara,

Anthony works with churches as they try to integrate community development into their vision for ministry in their communities. He mentors and trains pastors and church leaders using materials from the Timothy Leadership Training (TLT).

TLT is especially helpful for those leaders who have not been able to attend Bible college. Among other things, it teaches leaders to avoid mistakes that harm the poor and equips pastors and church leaders to apply God's word to their ministries in practical ways.

Anthony has been focusing on the training he created from the book, When Helping Hurts, by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett.

Anthony says Baker—one of the TLT graduates -- is one leader who is changing lives for the better by putting his training into action in a practical yet powerful way.

Baker realized that it is common for girls in Uganda to drop out of school when they start menstruating. Why? Because most girls cannot afford to buy feminine hygiene supplies.

Some girls use old rags or banana fibers, but find that they cannot get to the latrine frequently enough to keep from getting blood on their clothes.

To avoid being embarrassed or teased by other children, girls drop out of school—a move that has a significant impact on their future.

“Baker noticed this problem and wanted to do something about it,” explained Anthony. “As one of his TLT action plans, he decided to come up with a way to make reusable menstrual pads out of cloth so more girls would stay in school.”

Baker came up with the idea to trace a store-bought menstrual pad on fabric and then sew a whole new product by hand. He used cotton fabric for the outer lining and made an insert out of cotton gauze and surgical paper.

Since there is no adhesive on these pads and Velcro would make it cost more, he designed the pad with two straps that can be tied together.

Both Anthony and Sara were deeply impressed by Baker’s example of identifying a need, responding to that need, and then working hard to pass his learning on to others in the community.

“Baker is very comfortable sharing about reproductive health to both men and women and is making a big difference in the lives of people he meets,” said Sara.

Sara also says that she and Anthony are grateful for the opportunity to have been involved in ministry -- a calling that came to both of them in the 10th grade -- with whomever they have worked and where ever they have been.

“Our life has joy and meaning because of our relationship with God through Jesus, our Lord and Savior,” said Sara. “And we try to give him glory in everything we do.”