NAMUTAMBA ARCHDEACONRY

NAMUTAMBA, THE “ISRAEL OF GREATER MUBENDE”

When God sows seed, it surely flourishes. His love endures forever. Such is the blessing that came to the area of Namutamba in the 1940s and continues to overflow beyond initial imagination.

The story of the Anglican Church of Uganda has been an experience of manoeuvre and incessant focus on the cross. Aside from the 1888 religio-political wars that were intricate in the social and political life of Buganda and present-day Uganda at large, a key twist of events was the development of the East African Revival which became known as the Balokole movement, referring to “the saved [people]”.  We have a history intricated with the Ruanda Mission, then headquartered in Gahini with strongholds in Kabale in Kigezi, Kanoni in Ankore and Mengo in Buganda.

The trajectory of Christianity in Namutamba is an even more mysterious testimony to the glory of God. It is quite unimaginable that the work of a tea plantation owner, Mr Leslie Lea-Wilson, would meet with the unwavering ‘self-assigned’ evangelical work of an expellee from the Bishop Tucker Theological College in Mukono, William Nagenda, to bring forth and nurture seed from which we who are living today reap the fruit of faith and salvation of Jesus Christ. It is only today that we come to realise how a 1941 expulsion of 26 students, many of them of Rwandan decent, was God’s plan to bring a labour force to Mr Lea-Wilson’s tea plantation that would turn out to be the springboard of a strong Christian community in the area and the rest of Uganda. The trek of expellees is possibly what birthed the nickname of the Namutamba, the “Israel of Mubende”(as the administrative region was still called then, hence my addition of the modifier “greater” in the title of this article to sustain tribute while respecting the evolution of the jurisdiction). We, in Namutamba, are proud to associated ourselves in history with foundational evangelists such as Joe and Decie Church, William and Sala Nagenda, Lawrence and Julia Barham, Yosiya and Dorokasi Kinuka and Erica and Geraldine Sabiti who shared the pulpit at Namutamba and whose spiritual seeds and are still visible. They lived simple and exemplary lives by preaching the cross, repentance, forgiveness, walking in the light, and in communion with humanity for the glory of God.

Today, the Namutamba Archdeaconry is a proud caretaker of highly moral souls facing the cross, having turned their backs on rather un-Christian pasts. The traditions of the East African Revival Movement, many of which are prevalent to date, made a significant moral influence in the Namutamba community, both within the privacy of families and in the public sphere, manifest in actions such as the destruction of polytheistic shrines, the penitent return of stolen belongings, and the public confession of sin. Ours is a caring community armoured to fight spiritual, physical, emotional and mental illnesses; and this has created a space for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the physically challenged, widows, widowers, orphans and the marginalized to the glory of God. We prayerfully aspire to live the message in James 1:26-27. The Archdeaconry is also a grateful custodian of great church wealth, including land and buildings, tea plantations, dairy farms, and educational institutions such as the Namutamba Primary Teachers’ College (P. T. C.) and the Namutamba Demonstration School.

The Namutamba balokole people drew their strategic mandate from scripture of Matthew 28:16-20 to justify their existence as a Church, in the entirety of their membership. Preaching the gospel to bring all souls to Jesus Christ formed the core of all their programmes and institutions, encouraged by Matthew 11:27-30and Jeremiah 31:25. They   highly encourage the spiritual discipline of prayer, intercession and fasting as pillars of a Christian lifestyle, emphasising the role of the peacefully united family as the bedrock on which a Christian lifestyle stands.  The Luganda hymn Tukutendereza Yesu (We praise you Jesus) was a theme song of all families in Namutamba and part of greeting in every home! These virtues of honesty and integrity made people of Namutamba famous and respected across Uganda and the entire world!

We are very grateful to God for His enduring mercy to our pioneers who saw the light and showed it to us, that we may tread in their footsteps and reach the merciful seat of Jesus Christ who made Namutamba the most glorious and spiritual place in the greater Mubende.  In God’s hands we commit Namutamba and all her future plans.  Amen.