First,
during our dinner meeting with former Vice Chancellor Stephen Noll we discussed
the idea of a gathering place within walking distance to campus. It would serve students, staff, NGOs and
pastors as a place to gather, use the Internet, have a cup of tea, study, have
fellowship and also provide a guest house for visiting teachers or a respite
for pastors and their spouses. Dr. Noll
embraced the idea and suggested we talk to Archbishop Livingston Nykyoyo who
was the visionary for starting UCU and Mrs. Ankra who also owned land with her
husband nearby. Mrs. Ankra didn’t have
land for sale but encouraged us and said she would love to have us as
neighbors. Dr. Noll also suggested we
discuss the plans with architect Mike Reid who is a UCU staff member and
missionary. (He designed the UCU library on campus and worked in the past for
an Atlanta architectural firm.)
Archbishop
Nykyoyo owns much of the land near the university and prayer mountain. Upon meeting Archbishop Livingston as Dr.
Noll suggested, he agreed with the vision and spent the afternoon showing us
possible plots of land. Margaret mentioned
the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall and the steps he took of praying,
asking and then implementing. If the
Lord wants us to build this place we want it to honor His standards and be a
shining light on the hill of what the Lord can do.
As we
inquire of the Lord about each step, we talked to other leaders in the UCU
administration. One morning we had
breakfast with the current Vice Chancellor Rev. Canon John Senyonyi. During our discussion he shared his vision
that our faith would become a part of every aspect of the faculty and student
life on campus. He was actually doing
training with the faculty pertaining to it and we offered the Restored e-books
to him which he said were endorsed by a former lecturer of his in seminary.
Following
the discussion with VC Senyonyi we met for lunch with Rebecca Nyegenye the UCU
Chaplain we have known for many years.
She shared the need for a place to meet with students and staff in
private to disciple and counsel. Often
people gather on the UCU lawn; which doesn’t provide a private venue for conversations. Also Rebecca mentioned a need for a meeting
place for retired female clergy who like to gather to encourage one another
from the Kampala area. She said there are
about 20 of these ladies who are single and don’t feel they have a fellowship
place to meet.
These
comments acted as a reinforcement of the vision for the Kingdom View and
Director of Student Affairs, Rev. Milton Tweheyo and his wife Anne added their
encouragement as well. Milton stated a
need for the students to have one on one mentoring in the practical application
of what they are learning both academically and spiritually. Anne mentioned the importance of exposure to
things in the real world and developing a love for reading which could be
fostered in the fellowships.
God is
laying a foundation as we pray and meet with people and we look back on the
formation of the Uganda organization The Rock Kingdom LTD a year ago. The Rock Outreach board voted to form the
corporation limited by guarantee which is like an NGO. The organization would provide legal rights
to purchase and own property in Uganda without any directors or shareholders
benefiting from the organization. The
organization if it liquidated its assets in Uganda would be required by law to
sell to or give the assets for the benefit of another ministry. During the April trip the board of The Rock
Outreach, Inc. U.S. voted to add two members to the board of directors of The
Rock Kingdom LTD. One new member is John
Ggayi a Ugandan business man known by the board members since 2005 to be a man
of outstanding integrity and Earl Fain an American business man also known by
the Rock Board members for many years. Earl contacted the Noblins about going to
Uganda after feeling the Lord was urging him to get more involved in The
Rock. He felt the Lord wanted to use him
to share the vision and get more people involved in discipleship to the young
people and ministries we serve in Uganda.
John Ggayi
was tasked by the board to represent The Rock Kingdom LTD to find land near the
university to purchase for the Kingdom View gathering place.
If you are
interested in more information please email margaretnoblin@rockoutreach.org
or marknoblin@rockoutreach.org
.
