Meet Jerry & Patrick, 2 PTC students graduating tomorrow

Tomorrow (Sept. 13), the Living Stones Pastor Training Center will have a ceremony for the 81 students graduating from the program. After this day of celebration, these students will be sent out, like Jesus sent out his disciples, to spread the good news of the gospel in different regions of Africa. Over the course of the three-year training program, these 81 students, from 18 tribes, and 3 countries, have been equipped to strengthen and establish churches. Our prayer is that this will result in an abiding network of gospel-centered, Bible saturated, African-led churches. Fungaro Charles Jerry and Obalim Patrick are just two of the students God is using to make this a reality.

Jerry, 26, is Kakwa by tribe from Koboko, Uganda. He is the sixth born of nine children. When Jerry was 10 years old, his father passed away, so he and his siblings were raised by a single mother. Jerry had to stop attending school after completing senior 3 (10th grade) because of the expensive fees. Now, he and his older siblings have all pitched in to help pay for their youngest brother to complete his schooling.

After dropping out of school, Jerry joined his family in farming. To feed themselves and to earn a living, they dig and plant crops like cassava, g-nuts, beans, and more.

In 2019, Jerry accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior after being invited to attend an evangelist school in Koboko run by missionaries from India. There, he learned about Jesus and was taught the gospel over a timespan of six months. Between 2020 and 2022, the country was under lockdown because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the Ugandan government enforced regulations that limited what Jerry could do during this time.

“We did some door-to-door ministries where we go and encourage the people at home because that was really very terrible situation. We could encourage people not to worry. Jesus is there, and it will come to pass,” Jerry said.

In his community, he is surrounded by Catholics and Muslims. During these door-to-door visits, he witnessed people from both faiths accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Many now attend the church he serves in. 

Three years ago, PTC lead trainer, Pastor Moses Maliamungu, recruited Jerry to apply for the PTC at Abaana’s Hope, and Jerry was excited to do so. The church Moses pastors neighbors Jerry’s church, and the two congregations have formed a friendship. Jerry was approved after the interview process and is graduating from the program on September 13.

“I decided to come to this program because, though I went to evangelical school, it was not as deep as this one. I needed to be equipped, and I needed to learn more about the Bible. Six months was not enough for me to study the Bible and even preach the correct message,” Jerry said.

Since the start of the three-year training program, Jerry has received the deeper knowledge of scripture that he sought. He’s learned how to understand the author’s meaning, how to apply it to himself and to the congregation, and how to prepare the message.

“It is one of the greatest experiences that I am getting,” Jerry said. “I learned how to get the main point of the passage, and I learned how to move within the text without taking it outside.”

Please pray for Jerry as he prepares to take the Biblical knowledge he’s learned and share it with others. Pray that the Lord will use Jerry to bring more people into His kingdom. Please also pray for the Lord to open an opportunity for Jerry to complete an education to become an electrical engineer. Pray for Jerry’s family – his wife, Tina Agnes, and their two children – that they will continue to follow Christ. Also pray for Jerry’s sister who lives in Juba, South Sudan, where there is political tension and violence. Pray for peace in South Sudan.

Obalim Patrick, 38, is Acholi by tribe from Kitgum, Uganda. He grew up in a family with four siblings. One died from sickness, and one was killed by robbers. In the year 2000, his father, who was a Ugandan soldier, was killed by LRA rebels led by Joseph Kony. Kony’s goal was to overthrow the Ugandan government, and along the way, he and his rebels committed war crimes, massacres, and abductions.

“It really left a big challenge. My father passed away when I was in primary 6. He’s the one who was paying my school fees, and he cared for us,” Patrick said.

After losing his father, Patrick also had to stop attending school. He searched for a job and found work in a bakery, making bread. This provided funds for him to return to school. While Patrick and his family continued to struggle, God provided a way for him to complete his primary schooling, three years of building school, and training as a mechanic and driver.

Patrick heard the gospel for the first time when he was a young boy and surrendered his life to Christ. Later, when he traveled to South Sudan to mold bricks, he used this opportunity to share the gospel with others. This led him to complete a three-day prayer fast, asking God to make his path clear. 

“I started feeling a burden inside me to preach the gospel,” Patrick said. “That’s how I started wanting to acquire more knowledge and growing closer to people who have gone deeper in the Word of God.”

Patrick received training from pastors about spreading the gospel by going door to door. Through this, he saw the Lord moving in people’s hearts and many repented of their sins to follow Jesus. Next, he joined a missionary school in Kampala, where he studied for a year and a half. After this, he was encouraged to take the gospel to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Sudan on mission trips. Later, he was ordained and joined a church in South Sudan called Redeem Christian Church of God.

In 2022, Patrick attended the first Living Stones Pastor Training Center graduation at Abaana’s Hope to support a friend who was graduating. This piqued his interest, and his friend encouraged him to apply. Patrick was accepted into the PTC, and over the past three years, he’s been equipped with Biblical knowledge and has formed friendships with fellow believers from different regions of Africa and the United States.

“They’re my friends. They’re my teachers. I love them, and they really love me. They are not just only a teacher, but we think of each other as brothers,” he said. 

After graduating, Patrick plans to go back to South Sudan where he says the people don’t know about the gospel. Please pray for Patrick as he ministers to the people there and for the Lord to open opportunities for him to reach more people. Please pray for Patrick’s church, that they will be able to finish constructing a building. Pray that the Lord will open doors for Patrick to pursue a degree in theology and for more South Sudanese to receive Biblical pastor training. 

“We are the students. Jesus is the teacher. The Bible says that in the book of Luke we will become more like Christ (when we’re fully trained, Luke 6:40). I want to be at the feet of Jesus and at the feet of those who are above me,” Patrick said. “I want to learn more at this age of mine, so that I can help the younger ones who are still coming behind me. Wherever I go, I don’t want to shame the gospel. I don’t want to do heresy. I want to correct it, and by the grace of God, correct the wrong doctrine that people are preaching in the Word and rebuke, correct, and encourage the brothers and sisters.”