This month, my team has been partnering with United in Mission, an incredible ministry in Rukungiri, Uganda that seeks to bring people to Christ through intentional relationship building and community empowerment. The organization, started in 2014, had its humble beginnings in a small town in California, when God called two young 20-somethings to move across the world to love a small community in Uganda. Collin Wenrich and Amanda Johnson have been serving the local people and greater Rukungiri community through various different projects in the past three years: They’ve created child sponsorships for twenty-one local school children, providing them with tutoring and discipleship to encourage the students to achieve their goals; they’ve helped build a new school in Garuka, a poor village outside of the city limits; they’ve build over ten rain water catch tanks in several different locations to help provide people with clean drinking water; and they’ve started a boda (or motorcycle) business, where men in the community hoping to become boda drivers meet together for fellowship and bible study while working to pay off and eventually own one of the organization’s purchased bodas. Currently, they’ve been using their nearby plot of land to construct a Training Center for local school kids to come for tutoring, fellowship, worship, skill enhancement, and sports.
God is doing incredible things in Rukungiri through Unified in Mission, and He’s just getting started! Read below to learn more about the two young founders and their incredible ministry in Uganda, and the wild story of how it got its start!
Jonathan: So, let’s start out with – tell me about the beginning of the ministry; how you felt called, what led you to Uganda and Rukungiri, the development of that.
Collin: Well, okay, so I started out with Adventures in Missions, four months in Uganda, and then, so about Month Three, that’s when I called my family and said “hey, I’m gonna be here a while, I think you guys should brace yourselves for it, but then also prepare, because I want you guys to come out and see what’s going on here.” So, after that, that was 2013, I came back by myself with four others, just to kind of get a feel for like, “what would it look like if I stepped away from an organization?”, and I led a team to minister to the people here, from the connections that I built.” So we did that for about a month. It was awesome – we saw freedom, we saw breakthrough, we saw a bunch of opportunities that were right in front of our face, so we said “okay”. A lot of them went back to their universities, to their schooling, but I still had a burning passion to start something – and I really didn’t know what, I just had this skill of aviation, you know, being able to fly and wanting to utilize that, and I wanted to be here and I wanted to minister to the people here. So then, I thought “okay, I did four months and I did a month, now let’s go bigger, let’s go eight or nine months.” So then I started talking around, asking people, asking some friends, and that’s when Amanda said “NO.”
Amanda: (laughs) I did.
C: She came out and said “No”. But then, her heart softened. (laughs)
A: (laughs) Yeah.
C: And then what happened?
A: I came. For a long time. It was kind of crazy to see how God worked through it all though, because I had just said “no” so much, and like at Family Camp, which is really pivotal for me, and for my family and everything was when God said I needed to go with him, and that’s when he had just gotten back (to Lynchburg, VA) from that 2014 trip. And I felt like God was just like “yeah” – the sermon was on Abraham and Isaac, and it was talking about what is the Isaac in your life that you need to sacrifice to do the thing that God’s called you to do, and I felt like God was saying “You need to sacrifice comfort and security”. And for me that meant dropping out of school and quitting my job and moving to Uganda with Collin, and I was like “no”. You know, because at that point, I had been in that master’s program (at Liberty University) for a year, so I had already moved to Virginia, and I only had a year and a half left, so I thought that would be silly to leave it all. But then a week before classes started, I dropped out of all my classes. So then it gave me three months in Bakersfield (California) with my family and close friends before we left for Uganda, and then I left with him.
C: And literally, the path was paved. We started out with “okay, we’re gonna go to Uganda for nine months – we’re just going to serve. That was just literally our mindset, we are going to serve.” … everything just happened so fast. Like, I don’t even remember the series of events really. All we did was sit at my dining room table –
A: We used to meet every Thursday at 10 am to plan.
C: Then it was one thing after another – the website, think of a name, a company name, now let’s file paperwork, let’s get incorporated, lets become a 501(c)3. Five weeks later, we’re an official non-profit in California, and we’re like “holy crap, we don’t have a bank account, we need a bank card!”
A: It was too fast for two people.
C: And from there, the path has been paved, and yeah there’s been some hiccups here and there, but the amazing thing is just how wide-open and how beautiful the path just fell into place just kind of assured us of where we were supposed to be.
J: So, what was it about when you were in Rukungiri, what kind of ministry were you doing that got you excited about coming back here?
C: To be honest, the ministry we were doing wasn’t really the exciting part – it was very structured, very organized, very by the books, and it just seemed more like a daily chore or task than letting the Spirit lead, “what’s the Lord doing here”? We did the same things every day. But we built relationships with the people, a lot of those kids I still see. It was good, we grew with those boys (in the ministry), but there was a lot of down time to adventure and meet people and learn about the culture, learn about their needs, because you know I had all these assumptions and expectations about Africa – about the people, and the culture, what they need – everything was revolutionized by the culture once I realized where they were and what they really needed. So, gaining that knowledge and perspective and meeting these different types of people, spending so much time with them, sitting down and actually eating with them just opened up my eyes to a whole different realm of Africa that I had never even seen before.
J: So once you got to Uganda, what was that like getting the ball rolling and trying to figure out what your mission was gonna be?
C: That was crazy in itself too, because we didn’t have a huge game plan. We had partnerships, so we had LADA (Literacy Action Development Agency – a local Ugandan run-organization in town), and they do a lot of rain water catch tanks, so what we do now is what they had built before in the past, so we went out with them. We worked with Avis (the head of a special needs home called Chilli Children’s Home), and a lot of it was “where’s our path, what are we doing here?”
A: It wasn’t really that thought out.
C: It was going to different schools, meeting a bunch of children, getting ideas for activities.
A: I think something that was really important was coming in with that kind of flexibility was that you could come in and find out what the people’s needs actually are. Because I think that a lot of people will come in and implement something, but then it’s not something that people group really needs – they need something else – so we just hung out with people more, learned more about them and you know, what they needed, what the people actually care about.
A: And we hosted two teams the first year that we were here. Two regular teams, and a World Race team.
C: So it was definitely a lot of growth – we had to learn as we went, we didn’t have any formal training, we didn’t read any books that said, you know, “this is how you do it”. We were just going for it. And that’s good too because honestly, through these years, we spent learning as well, and getting rooted in what it means to be a missionary, dealing with people from different cultures. Personally, there’s still a lot of growth in terms of reaching these people, setting those cultural boundaries, and integrating fully. Yeah, we learned while flying by the seat of our pants. But there was beauty in that because every day, every moment was totally different, and we grew really fast because of that too. We were like “Alright God, what do we do? Alright Father, what’s next?” And then, before we knew it, we had a car, and we bought our first bike (motorcycle, or “boda”), and that’s what we used to get around.
J: That’s cool. I like that – it’s very different to see a couple of people come out to another country to do missions, and not really have a “mission”, except that they just love the people. I feel like that’s definitely the Lord – you’re going for the heart, not just for the project. Because then you look at the people and can say “I’m here for you”, not just for the project, that’s really cool.
A: Well, I think, I don’t know, Collin might agree with this, but for me personally, the kind of model I like to see is – Jesus was very relational. When he met people, he was very intentional with them, he sat down and had a conversation with them, he knew them. And I think we both like trying to do that for Unified, in a sense, because even Henry at Senna (the owner of a local supermarket) would say “Collin and Amanda are different. I don’t know what it is, but they’re different.” And I think it’s because I would walk to Senna sometimes and just have tea with Henry, and I’d sit with him for like an hour and a half and just have a conversation. And I know Collin with all those guys at the washing bay – we just laugh with them and have fun with them, so I think that’s fun. I try to model it like that. I talked to my pastor, he was like “That’s how Jesus was, that’s where his heart was at. To meet his people and love them.”
C: It’s been cool too – we’re two years in – but even in the second, third month, to see a vision come forth, to see a vision birth, to see what the Lord’s doing here has transformed so much in two years. We did not come in with the idea of like building small businesses to create jobs, that wasn’t in the plan. We were just thinking, you know play with kids, save lives, go for souls… it’s still the mission but now it’s a relational focus. We’re helping create jobs, you know, something that they long for, and we can provide that. And to see growth in the child sponsorship program, it’s growing progressively, and seeing the investment in each child through Michael and Seth going to visit them each week, pouring into them, tutoring them on weekends, we never saw that coming either! A training center? We had ideas for a community building, but never did we think year two anything of that realm being built, it’s crazy. It’s been quite the ride.
J: So, now that you’ve settled into your ministry here in Rukungiri, can you give a quick summary of what your mission is now with Unified in Mission?
C: First and foremost, we’re here for the Lord, it’s for the relationship aspect, it’s building these relationships with these people and then giving them a sense of comfort in that relationship as well so that we can pour into them, so that our words have a little bit more wait so we can share with them the Lord’s word or His goodness. Or just in our actions in our fellowships that we’re able to reflect and show that and people can experience His goodness and His grace through the lifestyles that we live. I think it’s cool too to see Ugandans recognize that, because they’re thankful that we’re here because of the Lord, we’re here to pour into them, doing live together on mission.
A: We really want to see things become Ugandan run, and we just fundraise and do all the behind the scenes work. Seth with the sponsored kids was like “you need to come so they know who is sponsoring them”. But we want them to be able to see Seth and Michael and know that those are the Ugandans that will help me. Because we’re trying to change the mindset of us being like this higher muzungu (or “white person”), we want to be like “we’re all equal – our skin might be different, but we have a lot of the same problems and issues”, but it’s hard with Ugandans because they see a muzungu and they think “oh, they have money, help me”. And I would love for them to be more dependent on their own people, so like when they see Seth and Michael, they know that Seth and Michael are the ones who will take care of them. And like, we will too, but I think it’s really important to have that strong Ugandan figure in their lives.
C: And I think we built a pretty good foundation too on an empowerment method, of a – we’re not just a handout organization. We help the people and in dire situations we will give all that we have, but we want to challenge them. We want to empower them. We want to give them opportunities to better not only their life but also their families, their children, and build a standard for the next generation. That’s why the Boda business has been so good too, because these guys are not just making money, but they’re in a family with other guys doing the same thing, growing and challenging and coming together, learning about the Lord together, and how they can even implement that into driving a motorcycle. So, just always thinking of new ways to reach the people and empower them.
J: So, I know that most of the people are Christian – what have you seen in your ministry in terms of encouraging believers to go further than that in their faith?
A: Well, what I’ve noticed with Ugandans especially is that the religion side of Christianity they know very well. They know the Bible, they know these rules, they know what to do and not to do, they pray and are very good with that kind of stuff, but I think when it comes to the personal relationship with Christ they don’t experience it the same way we do. Because in the Western culture, we are very comfortable and intentional with Jesus. And with Ugandans, they don’t do that as much. So that’s why we like to come at them relationally – meeting them where they’re at, talking with them and encouraging them. Because what I’ve experienced here is that they don’t encourage very well. One of our sponsored kids, her teachers didn’t speak any truth or life into her, they just told her to get a different dream. And so I think if we can encourage them and love them and show them what Christ is like, then the fruit of that would be cool to see.
J: One more questions – for those that are reading this, how can they be supporting you, financially or in prayer?
A: Well, I know for us, we do have a more long-term goal of being here, so monthly sponsorships really help with that a lot. And… it really doesn’t have to be that much – even $20 a month means so much because it goes a long way here (the total estimated budget for building the Training Center is around $12,000). And I think with the training center too, if we had a steady budget for that too. We love having teams out here, not just because we benefit from it financially, because we really don’t, but because we want people to be just as excited about this place as we are.
C: With the teams too, you see awareness. You get to experience the culture, you get to meet the people… that’s it too. Our hearts are just that people come and experience why were here. A lot of people don’t understand why I want to move to the middle of Africa and live where I can live off of very little every day. We just want people to experience why we love this place.
A: Oh, pray for the vehicles. WE haven’t made them a week without them breaking down (laughs). But more seriously, and I think Collin has experienced this too, but I think that the spiritual warfare out here is very real – there’s a lot of demonic activity, so just putting up safeguards with that and prayers of support with that. I pretty frequently have pretty graphic and demonic dreams – I know that for me, it wears on me the whole next day, it just wears on me because I’m thinking about it the whole time, so it’s really distracting and really defeating. So with that, just prayer against that kind of attack, because it’s very real.
C: A lot of intercessory prayer against spiritual attack. And just more breakthrough.
A: Yeah, and even for us, to have courage and boldness to approach people and pray for them ourselves.
C: And I think too that especially a lot of the people we interact with on a daily basis and a lot of the kids in our program face a lot of issues, so I think that there’s a couple of strongholds here and there, but it’s hard to get to the roots of those things too, because of the cultural and communication boundaries.
A: And pray that we miraculously learn Riancole (the local language).
C: (laughs) Yeah, pray for some downloads. That would be really nice.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14
If you wish to make a donation to Unified in Missions, or would like to follow their ministry through their blogs or monthly newsletters, visit their website at www.unifiedinmission.org.
