Determined to Be a Better Leader

When Wabwire Dennis, senior pastor of Assemblies of God Buhauli church in Uganda, was invited to attend Timothy Leadership Training (TLT), he decided to skip the first day. In the end, though, the lesson he learned because of that helped bring 13 new believers to his church.

Skeptical of Ministry Trainings

Dennis wanted to be a better leader, but he was fed up with disorganized ministry trainings that promised change but did not deliver. When his friend invited him to attend TLT, a program of Raise Up Global Ministries that is facilitated by Resonate Global Mission staff, he was skeptical.

Dennis had participated in ministry trainings in the past and had not been impressed. Growing to expect slow starts to ministry trainings, he agreed to attend the training but decided to skip the first day. He figured that he could catch up on the lessons on day two and put his time to better use on that first day.

That evening, however, Dennis received a call.

“Why didn’t you come to the training today?” asked one of Dennis’s fellow church leaders. That leader had attended the first day and shared what he had learned about caring for God’s people.

Dennis was surprised by his colleague’s insight. He resolved to leave his home early the next morning so that he wouldn’t miss a minute of the second day.

Caring for God's People

When Dennis arrived on the second day of training, he saw how disciplined TLT was. Determined to be a better leader, he worked hard to learn as much as possible and promised to study the lesson he missed the first day.

That first lesson, “Caring for God’s People,” explained how God visits his people. Dennis was so affected by learning about God’s desire to be in relationship with his people, that he decided he should model this in his own life. In order to become a better pastor, Dennis committed to getting to know his church members better.

This was easier said than done. Dennis’s Assemblies of God church has many members and he cannot regularly visit all of them. Just like attending TLT, Dennis knew, visiting members would require discipline.

He made an action plan to personally visit the homes of 70 of his church members. He also committed to train 30 leaders to visit members of the community twice a week—especially in times of crisis.

Bringing More People to Christ

Dennis and his church leaders followed through on their action plans. They visited with members of their congregation and their community. As a result, they were able to reconcile conflict, support small group Bible studies, and welcome 13 new believers into their church. Praise God!

“Little did I know that there was a great need in my area, and so many people needed to be visited,” Dennis said. “I thank God for this chance because I would have not gotten what I received through TLT anywhere else.”