Echo Spring 2023 - 19

M
y name is Stephen Kalibbala, a
pastor at World Change Mission
Church, a schoolteacher by training and
currently working with Compassion
International Uganda as a Manager
of Partnership. I am married to Hilda with two
children, Noble and Neriah. I am pursuing a Master
of Arts in Contextualized Pastoral Ministry through
LBC | Capital's partnership with the Pastors
Discipleship Network (PDN).
Uganda's hope lies in education effectiveness. The
government of Uganda has put in place several
education initiatives, like universal primary and
secondary education, extension of government
scholarships to higher institutions of learning and
special education initiatives for vulnerable regions.
Jesus was not indifferent to this school of thought.
He commissioned His disciples to go and make
disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
Son and the Holy Spirit and to teach all that He
commanded.
Ugandans always search for the most qualified
physicians for medical support, celebrated
lawyers for legal counsel and genius engineers
for construction work. The motivation behind
this approach is that the outcomes of ignorance
are more costly than education. However,
this approach is not applied when it comes to
determining who presides over their spiritual
life. They think that anyone can be a spiritual
instructor if they can open the Bible. If someone
is a charismatic preacher, spiritually gifted with
the power to perform miracles, speaks in strange
tongues, gives prophetic utterances and has a
gigantic and elegant church building with an
angelic choir, then it is the right church. The
authenticity of what they preach is not a matter of
concern. This outlook has caused many religious
leaders in Uganda to fumble the infallible Word
of God, dragging God's people into a spiritual
dilemma.
I became a pastor in 2010, following the moral
failure of my senior pastor and his refusal to be
subjected to church discipline. Such behavior is
common in Uganda because several Christians
and church leaders are too proud to be subjected
to any form of church discipline. This behavior has
been cultivated by the self-proclamation
of several church leaders coupled with
the refusal to receive theological training
before taking on pastoral roles. Some
preachers have a negative attitude
toward theology, as they believe
that pastoral roles are premised on
being called by God and not formal
education.
My encounter with LBC | Capital
training in partnership with
PDN has been life-changing.
Specifically, my preaching and
teaching have improved drastically.
I have learned how to apply
hermeneutic skills to rightfully divide
the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).
My interaction with Theology I and II
has reoriented me regarding the nature
of the Church, especially the cardinal
marks of the Church of Jesus Christ
and the key differentiators of the true
Church from the false one.
I have become more accommodating
of other Christian denominations,
reducing the extremism and resentment
I felt toward them due to differences
in religious practices. These capacity
gaps had caused me to misinform
my congregation about several
biblical teachings, concepts, beliefs
and perspectives. I have become so
vulnerable to the congregation that I
have candidly gone back to them and
corrected my earlier misinformation
on the nature of the Church, the
doctrine of salvation and the
prosperity gospel. I owe my enhanced
clarity on these crucial issues to LBC |
Capital.
To learn more about LBC | Capital's partnership in
Uganda through the Pastors Discipleship Network,
visit lbc.edu/uganda.
ECHO 19
http://www.lbc.edu/uganda
Echo Spring 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Echo Spring 2023
