April 11, 2013

Dear Christian Friends,

For the past 37 years I have served as a pastor here in Hawaii.   God has been so good, and I have had a real sense of His presence and care in the ministry.   God has used us in some small part to help start Trinity Church Windward, Trinity Church Central Oahu, Trinity Christian School and Central Christian School.

In the past few years, in my mind there has developed an intolerable burden for the lost and particularly for orphans in Uganda.    I cannot shake this burden; and as I pray and study the Scriptures,  more and more I feel called to proceed in a somewhat new direction:   I believe that God is calling me to be a missionary to Uganda, and  it is there that I believe I can best serve the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus.

For the past 15 years,  Trinity Church in Mililani has sent me out during the summer to Uganda.   We have seen the establishment of 16 churches, a growing clinic and various mobile clinics, a couple of orphanages, a radio station, various schools, water projects, ministry to widows, printing Christian literature, outreaches through crusade evangelism, distribution of Bibles and Christian films and other ministries.  To Him be all the glory!

Part of what is going on in my life is this:  my life has become joyfully entangled with the people of Uganda.   I love them and many of them seem to love me.    To stop now in my thinking would be like deserting my own family.   In the East and North, we have seen more than 2000 people profess faith in Christ, but most have never been discipled.  In Acts 15:36, the Apostle Paul said to Barnabas,  “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”   That task is on my heart.

In addition,  I feel a particular closeness to my two adopted children there and the orphans we and others sponsor.  And there are more churches to plant.

It is because of the strong sense of God’s calling that the elders have agreed that I can step down as senior pastor of Trinity Church in Mililani effective August 1, 2014.  The plan is to commision me as a missionary sent out by Trinity Church, and to be designated as a missionary to East Africa and other areas where the Gospel is desperately needed.   So my status at Trinity Church will change from Senior Pastor to Assistant Pastor of Missions, accountable to the elders at Trinity.

What will my new job involve?

1.  Church planting:   In the next decade we hope to plant 8 more churches in Uganda and Southern Sudan. God has enabled us to help plant two new churches in Northern Uganda, and we have plans to help plant additional churches there and then press on into Southern Sudan.   In addition, we hope to assist our present churches in church planting.   The African Christian Training Institute already has some work in Southern Sudan and we want to partner with Dr. Jim Sutherland of Reconciliation Ministries and help with this work (see  http://www.rmni.org/about-us.html ).

Further, we want to become a missionary sending organization, focusing on sending out mature national workers who will plant networks of churches.   Recently Trinity Church has initiated a new church planting ministry in the Philippines through our Church Administrator and Ruling Elder, Pat Mamaclay.    Pat will lead this work in Hawaii and the Philippines and I will develop this ministry in Uganda and on the mainland.   This will involve helping churches develop a mission program and exposing members to world missions through the Kairos course.   If you are not familiar with this course, please check our website at: http://trinitycentraloahu.org/ministries/kairos/

2.  Orphan Ministries:  We plan to complete our orphanage in Gulu, Grace Children’s Center.    We will also assist Herbert, my adopted son, with the care of the children in Children of Grace, another orphanage we helped build.    We will continue to facilitate the sponsorship of additional orphans, especially orphans with medical needs.

3.  Medical Ministries:  Last year we saw hundreds of people at our clinic in Kaserem and 3400 people in our mobile clinics.  In the future we would like to bring medical supplies and mobile clinics to many established  congregations in Uganda.   Recently our clinic in Kaserem was fully licensed and upgraded in its status.  Through a cooperative agreement with the government of Uganda we will now receive additional medicine and assistance.   We will be the primary care providers for five villages. 

4.  Radio Ministry:  With the leadership of my brother, Pastor Sidney Anderson, we want to help build a series of radio stations so that the entire country of Uganda is able to hear the Gospel.   We hope to partner with Words of Hope, an established radio ministry in Uganda.   We do have governmental permission to open a second radio station in Western Uganda.

5.  Mobilization of a new generation of missionaries:  This will involve recruiting additional pastors, Christian workers, and young people for mission trips to Uganda.  Most of those who go to Uganda with me come from the mainland.  We will be training teams before they go to Uganda at a new Training Center in Dahlonega, GA, Trinity Center for World Mission.   Martha and I recently purchased a very unique home in Dahlonega.    On the same property we purchased a large barn  (it was being used as a showroom for muscle cars), yes, a very unusual barn, almost 3000 square feet that is air conditioned and heated.   With a few renovations, including the addition of restrooms and a kitchen, we hope to soon establish this new training center which will be the base of operations for this new ministry.   As we expose more and more people to world missions, we hope that God will use us to inspire others to give their lives for this work.

6.  Training Pastors and Church Leaders:   Church planting is impossible without well trained pastors.   I have taught previously on a college and seminary level.   In Uganda I hope to teach the following courses:   Biblical Counseling, Church Planting, Ethics, Soteriology, Pastoral Theology,  and Discipleship.    We will continue our mobile schools of theology in Eastern and Northern Uganda and also our sponsorship program for seminary students.

7.  Christian Education:   In addition, three of our present church plants need elementary schools for their own children and many orphans. For example in this photo, you can see some of the more than 200 students in one of our new schools, located at Branch Presbyterian Church in the mountains of Eastern Uganda.   We also plan to help provide Sunday School literature to many churches scattered throughout Uganda.   Following the 2 Timothy 2: 2 pattern we want to train leaders in our church plants who will be able to disciple those in their congregations.

What is Trinity Center for World Mission?
This is a training center to continue and expand the work you have helped start in Uganda and around the world.   Moving to  Dahlonega, GA will accomplish several important tasks:   1.   We will shorten the travel time to Uganda by one half and cut our transportation costs.   2.   We will have a place to assemble and train teams before they go to Uganda.   3.   We will have office space for this expanded ministry and storage facilities for items donated for use in Uganda.   And 4., we will be closer to our families and especially our grandchildren.

Pastor Pete and Martha

What does Martha think of all this?
Martha has been a great encouragement in this move.   We have very strong ties to Hawaii and we have both felt loved by those who have attended Trinity over the years.    Martha will be heading our prayer ministry.   Her initial goal is to find 200 prayer warriors for this ministry; each month she will email prayer requests and praises regarding this work.   Our new email address is trinitycwm@gmail.com.  Martha will come with me on trips to Uganda when she is needed.  Some places I go, it is a little rough.   On these trips, she will stay in Dahlonega; her sister is moving nearby and she looks forward to spending more time with the grandchildren.   For me, one of the pressing issues is that many of my relatives are lost and I ask that you will pray as I visit them and challenge them with the Gospel.   I have been away from many of them for four decades.

Who will sponsor and oversee this ministry?
I will be working for several different groups.   Trinity Church will commission me and this work will be under the elders of Trinity Church.  The Presbyterian Church in Uganda has invited me to come and I will work under their board of directors.  I think that my presbytery, which is part of the Presbyterian Church in America, will approve my call to missionary service, and I will continue to be a member of the presbytery that oversees Hawaii.  I will also continue to work with the African Christian Training Institute.   ACTI is a Word and deed ministry that has worked in Uganda since 1983; it was founded by Dr. Henry Krabbendam, professor emeritus at Covenant College.

Who will be your treasurer?
Contributions to this ministry will be handled by Trinity Church.   Once each year, Robin Thomas, CPA, will audit our books;  Robin is a former member of Trinity and has been going with our teams to Uganda for several years. 

How can you help?
Every year for 15 years we have started with almost no financial resources for church planting and other ministries in Africa.   God has always provided, often through the gifts of dear friends like you.    We believe that God has done great things.   Thousands have heard the Gospel and numerous structures have been constructed.

The new training center is already paid for.  Our policy is that we will not incur any indebtedness in this ministry.    Like most missionaries in the PCA, we will ask God to help us raise our salary and ministry support.   If you or your church are led to help, we are committed to being good stewards.   Please pray for us.

As we move to a new location, our needs include the following:  moving expenses, 150 chairs, desk, copier, sound system, office supplies, books for initial Kairos classes, projector and screen, bibles, keyboard, kitchen appliances (for our new facility) and supplies.

If you can help with this new ministry beyond your regular tithes and offerings to your local church, we encourage you to do that.   This is a faith ministry and Trinity Church is not responsible for raising the funds for my salary or for ministry needs.   In this way the work of Trinity Church will not be hindered in its continued ministries in Hawaii and other places around the world.

What are the needs in Uganda this year?
We will leave on June 10 and the first week we will be putting up the new radio station in Western Uganda, Redeemer Radio.   The second week we will hold discipleship conferences, medical clinics, and workshops in Kapchorwa and Gulu.   This year is a startup year with extra expenses to establish a base in Georgia and Uganda.   In addition, we need funding for eight new church sites in Northern Uganda and funding for pastor training, elementary schools, medicines, additional nurses and orphan support.  Our budget for this year includes: