Patrick James Kabod and his wife, Pamela, serve the Lord in Uganda.

How a Uganda Graduate’s Leadership Training Impacted a Church at a Crossroads

My name is Patrick James Kabod (’20), and I earned a Master of Arts in Contextualized Pastoral Ministry degree through Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School and the Pastors Discipleship Network (PDN) in Kampala, Uganda. Joining LBC through PDN seemed like another attempt to acquire another academic paper, but I didn’t know that God was preparing me for what was to come and that the training would be a great blessing in my leadership career.

In 2017, I moved with my family from Kampala to Entebbe, 40 kilometers away. I needed to find a new church and settle in. I did and discovered that church was in a larger ministry, also with a clinic, primary school and 20-acre farm. It was founded by an American missionary family, and the first pastor handed the ministry over to a Ugandan pastor in 2015, around the time I learned about the church. This founding family, however, continued to support the church.

I became active in my new church and, a few years later, I was named the associate pastor and a member of the Board of Trustees. This position of leadership enabled me to interface closely with other leaders and the congregation.

It was soon evident there was a problem within the leadership. The pastor and a few individuals close to him had become corrupt. They misused church funds, which were mainly donations from abroad, and church staff were very poorly paid and fired at will. These leaders also mistreated the congregation, speaking harshly to them and denying financial donations sent to widows and orphans. Because of this, many people left the church, while others were asked to leave for addressing the problems. Some problematic leaders, however, remained—even to the point where the names of the founders of the ministry were changed illegally, all done without the knowledge of the original founders or board.

I turned to the Lord in prayer and felt God moving me to stand for what was right. I asked the pastor for a meeting so that I could bring the issues to his attention and find a solution. To my surprise, he told me that I could work with him or leave the church. I realized I couldn’t win him over. This was a big test to my leadership. I had to think about keeping faith, walking in leadership integrity and accountability, and upholding my testimony as a pastor. I thought about walking away, but what about the congregation and all the people suffering under poor leadership? What about those who are misled? Who was going to show them what is right?

After many complicated steps, and with the Lord’s guidance, the matter was eventually resolved. The corrupt pastor left the church, a new pastor was appointed, and a long process of forgiveness and healing began. During this time of leadership testing, I relied greatly on the training I received through Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School and the Pastors Discipleship Network. I was facing the challenges of pastoring in Africa, lack of servant leadership, lack of integrity and the negative impact of financial aid. It is clear to me from my training that we as the Church in Africa must learn to rise above these challenges and teach others to do the same.

I give glory to God for enabling me to stand for what is right.

To learn more about LBC | Capital’s partnership in Uganda through the Pastors Discipleship Network and how to sponsor a pastor for $250 a month for 24 months, visit lbc.edu/uganda or email Robert Blanks at rblanks@lbc.edu.