CRWM to Use Cows for Teaching Preachers

Christian Reformed World Missions plans to integrate dairy cows into seminary training for prospective pastors in East Africa.

The cows will be housed on a 10-acre farm near the theological college of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church in Uganda. The college is in Mbale, which is home to a large Islamic university and is located about 120 miles northeast of Kampala.

The cows will serve as part of the training for pastors who will need to make a living, possibly as farmers, once they start to open churches and worship centers in Uganda, which is a new mission field for CRWM.

"It will be a co-course at the seminary. We want to teach these pastors farming techniques," says Rev. Mwaya Wa Kitavi, CRWM regional leader for East and Southern Africa.

"Seminary training is not just about preaching and teaching the Gospel. We value self sustainability. We encourage interdependence. There is a worldview factor in all of this."

Wa Kitavi says that they have received three cows already from people in Uganda and need 17 more in order to start the dairy operation. He is asking farmers and others in the Christian Reformed Church in North America to donate a cow that can be sold here and the money sent to Uganda to purchase additional cows.

"Once this farm is working, it will serve a very large community," says Wa Kitavi, adding that individuals own cows but there are few dairy operations like the one they plan to create in the area.

Since 1982, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Uganda has been partnering with Christian Reformed World Relief Committee personnel in meeting needs in the country.

Both CRWRC and CRWM are currently working with a range of partners in the areas of food security, adult literacy, and other programs.

Recently, says Wa Kitavi, the denomination in Uganda made two requests for help: one, to have someone teach Reformed theology at the seminary, which currently has 80 students; the second, to start a small dairy farm that will help to support the students.

Wa Kitavi recently traveled to Uganda with Craig Pollington, a CRWM board member, to visit the school and the farm. Pollington, who has worked for many years as a dairy farmer, is serving as a consultant on the project.

This is a good example of churches coming together to work in partnership, said Wa Kitavi.

He said the Pentecostal denomination in Uganda is expanding quickly and has plans to open many churches in coming years.

To contact Mwaya Wa Kitavi, email him at [email protected] or call 1-616-224-0712