Built Together...in Him

Most of the members of the SHIM family during our annual staff  retreat in February.

A nurse, wife, mother.

A part-time builder, full-time pastor, father.

An economics major.

An accountant.

An IT grad.

A former teacher-turned seminarian.

A scout and respected teacher, now an innovative farmer.

A one-time journalist presently a secondary instructor.

Holders of certificates, diplomas, and degrees.

The students, the teachers.

Single, newly-united, and veterans of marriage.

Parents of 6 and grandparents of 9.

Parents of young and parents of old.

One whose heart is burdened for the young children...

...one who hurts for the youth...

....one who intercedes for the widows...

...one who advocates for the orphans...

...one who instructs the illiterate...

...ones who cries to God for deliverance of the poor, the sick, the demonically-tormented...

...those who call out, equip and build spiritual leaders, from among the despised and rejected.

They come from the north, the east, the west, and from the far west.

Some call Uganda their homeland, while others know it as a "second home."

Different nationalities, different clans, different tribes, different skin colors, different languages...

Distinct pasts, but an exclusive, hope-filled future.

United under one banner, bound by a singular mission, following a solitary Leader.

The myriad of diversities fade and are superseded by One. One who in Himself is the reconciliation, the restorer, the uniting peace for those once divided.

The Author of uniqueness and Designer of one-of-a-kind creations calls for a merging and an intertwining so the many are inextricably joined in Him.

Bringing their pasts, their weaknesses, their strengths, their gifts, and their callings in submission to His ultimate and divine purpose - for a work beyond description and above imagination.

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. 

"In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."
- Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV

"In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us." 
- Colossians 3:11 NLT

(This post was born out of a realization that the SHIM ministry family is a representation of the universal Body of Christ. How is your team, your family, your community, your church being "built together" for God's purposes?)