Issue #50 June 2016

Today, even among Christians, there is a lot of focus on self gratification

rather than on self-sacrifice. This month Paul helps us appreciate selfsacrifice as a necessary discipline for any Christian.

Paul Kakooza
Paul is very passionate about
youth ministry and that is what
he is mainly involved in at
Kampala Baptist Church.
Paul found himself working with
young
people
and
identifying needs to be solved.
He felt that if he helped the
young people around him, this
could save tomorrows church.
1. If you were not involved in fulltime ministry, what would you be doing with
yourself today?
If I was not involved in fulltime ministry I would, hopefully, be working somewhere in
my profession as a Mechanical Engineer. All of us were created to worship Goda
profession is one way through which you can worship God, and ministry is another
way too. So, if God calls you to a certain position there is no way you can deny and
even if you deny the calling, at the end of the day it is God who is in charge of your
life. However, there are also times when I feel like I can do something on the side in
line with my profession: probably set up a workshop or help out other young people
who would love to achieve their dreams by speaking to them and encouraging them
accordingly. I really believe what I am doing is satisfying and equally important.
What drew me to fulltime Youth Ministry is the fact that I am my fathers only child
and I was always alone at home most of the time. Two of my cousin sisters came to
live with us and when the older cousin sister completed senior four, we agreed that
she would continue with her studies and join senior five. Unfortunately, I did not see
her for a period of two years, I had no idea where she was, only to receive a phone call
that she was dead. She was pregnant and probably had had a fight with her boyfriend
who kicked her in the process. During that period, I felt that there might have been
something I had not done right. Perhaps I should have talked to her about giving her
life to Christ, sexual purity, future plans etc. So, I feel there are many young people
today like her who need to hear and embrace these disciplines, values, build character
that would guide them so that they are able to make right decisions in life.

Sacrifice is a discipline
2. Did you find it hard to leave your dream for fulltime ministry or was it easy for
you?
Truth be told, I found it hard, really hard. I had a lot of time arguing with God asking
Him why I am here and the point of hustling all through school if I was to end up in
ministry work. But I realized that it was Gods plan for me, in line with prayer requests
I had made before. I went through a lot of challenges during my school days. In O
Level, I stayed home alone, having lost my mother in 2001 while in S.1. My father was
and still is a safari man (truck driver). He never cared much, so I had to find ways of
feeding, and getting everything else I needed. My greatest fear was failing to make it
in life so my prayer request always was, God, if you help me pass my O Level exams,
I will serve you. I did not know what that prayer meant then. After my O Level, I
stayed out of school for a year. When Aunt Robinah Semuju got to know about it, she
got me back into school for A Level. Even then, I said the same prayer, God, if I pass
and go to University, I will serve you. I now realize that indeed God was with me and
that I am in the right place. Indeed God hears and also answers our prayers. He is
always waiting to see us walk in faithfulness and in obedience to Him. So I am sure
what I am doing is part of Gods plan for me.
Drop us an email at kbcmediateam@gmail.com

3. Why do you think Christians today hardly sacrifice for ministry?

Maybe let us first understand the meaning of sacrifice. Sacrifice can be defined in
a number of ways. You can look at it as an act of worship, of which worship
originated from God Himself. In the Old Testament, prophets sacrificed animals
to God as a way of worship to Him. It was an act of making unclean man clean
before God. Do people really worship God in all they do? Not really, we normally
fall short in many ways, only by the grace given effort can we meet the required
standards otherwise, we are only but mortal men.
Sacrifice can also be looked at as an act of obedience. Hebrews 11:17 speaks
about Abraham who accepted to offer his own son as a sacrifice to God and this is
seen as an act of obedience. Abraham had one son and had prayed for so many
years before God gave him a son but later God asked him to give back that son
through sacrifice. It was Abrahams total obedience and surrender to the
Lordship of the Father.
Sacrifice can also be seen as an act of faith. It requires you to die to self and start
walking by faith. Sometimes you may have a thousand questions without a single
answer to any. You simply move by faith because everything is not about you and
it is only God who knows your destiny. Sometimes that is what sacrifice is all
about. Yet if you accept that thats what God is speaking to you, your life
becomes easier. But if you live in denial of your calling, you face a lot of struggles
in life. It is really good if you accept to walk a life of faith.
Sacrifice can also be seen as a discipline because not all people are willing to
sacrifice. It is really a big challenge for many of us to sacrifice on behalf of others
especially if it hasnt been a discipline in our lives. Cultivating discipline is
something you have to do deliberately through prayer. For example, if someone
has 24 hours and they are not deliberate about sacrificing an hour or thirty
minutes to speak life into one soul, then that can be a big challenge. Sacrifice is a
discipline we all need to take into consideration, think and pray about as we
traverse this narrow road.
4. As a church, in what areas of ministry do you think we need to be sacrificing
more?
As Kampala Baptist Church, I think we need to give a lot more time in prayer.
Prayer is one of the main factors that really drive our vigilance to worshiping,
serving, and being closer to God. As a Christian, if you take long without
engaging in prayer, there is an emptiness in you. If we can sacrifice more time for
prayer as a church, young people will be in position to learn the right way. They
will notice that the older people are devoting more time to prayer and they will
also treasure it and take it as important. Otherwise, we take a lot of time talking
about politics, football and so many other things.
Therefore as a church, we need to invest more time in prayer as we walk with the
young people in
the same. If this is
done, then i think
tomorrows church
will be filled with
prayer
warriors
other than merely
church goers. For
example since we
are located near
universities
and
many other tertiary
institutions,
students will come
to church and after
three or four years
Paul and the K.B.C. youth planting trees
of studying, they
will walk away with at least one other thing to remember about Kampala Baptist
Church on top of the Sunday bible study classes, small group sharings, retreats,
the Pastors sermons and powerful worship for every Sunday.
The KEY RING is a monthly publication by the Kampala Baptist Church Media
Team that seeks to provide an avenue where men and women can share
knowledge and understanding of the word of God, experiences and
encourage one another as the older perform the act of paralambano to the
younger.
Our prayer is that the Lord will speak to you through this publication.
Visit the church website at www.kbcuganda.org