I wanted to write a short article in honor of my friend, Pastor of Kampala Church and Director of Toggo International Children’s Center, Toggo High School & Yaaka Afrika, Steven Trint. Since this is the 6th of a series of articles about my trip to Uganda, Africa and I have sprinkled in Pastor Steve’s stories and praises along the way, I don’t have too much more to say. But a good man needs to be honored.
Specifically I want to honor him for 3 things:
Implementation of a Grand Vision
I will allow Pastor Steve to tell his own testimony as he comes to America relatively frequently (once or twice a year) and is accessible. I haven’t interviewed him since early on in our relationship, so I don’t have a lot of new information and it’s hard to remember the details, now 11 years later. So I will only recap the highlights (you can read more at YaakaAfrika.org).
Growing up, Steven Trint’s life was difficult. Struggling to survive as the youngest of eleven siblings, during an era of military and political strife in Uganda, East Africa, Steven did everything in his power to get educated which avoiding recruitment into rebel groups. Even as a little boy, he would work for hours in the morning and long into the evening just to pay for schooling when it was available (he was forced to drop out of school from age 7-12). He was practically on his own and yet fought to make a living and grow educationally. Almost starting over at 12 years old in school, thanks to his aunt, he began to flourish again. At 14 he moved to Kampala with one of his sisters. In a short amount of time, as a young man his sister died of AIDS and he and another sibling were left caring for her 6 orphaned children. Again, fighting against the odds Steve continued his education, eventually graduating from Uganda Technical College for construction skills (in Lira). Having been rescued by Christ in 1988, Pastor Steve soon found the Lord calling him into full time ministry and he moved back to Kampala.
Steve married a sweet and smart woman named Rosette and they instantly had many to care for together. Eking out a living, feeling the call to ministry, Kampala was difficult for Steven and Rosette Trint Kkubolyabalamu. It was expensive and crowded. This challenge created the impetus for Christ to breathe a fresh vision into Steve’s heart and mind: move to a village and start a ministry to educate children in life and the Gospel. So he and Rosette moved to Toggo Village with practically nothing, living in 2003-2005 in a tiny, 8 X 8 dark clay, mud hut with no windows. It wasn’t much but they had a roof over their head.
You will have to ask Pastor Steve the details when you see him, about how we got from there to here, but needless to say, this young man with a vision fought and fought to see it come to reality. I remember meeting Steve at a regional pastor’s prayer gathering at William Jessup University. I was immediately drawn to pray with him by the color of his skin and his thick Ugandan accent (his prayers just sounded better than mine). I knew from that moment that he was a man of vision and had the determination to make it happen.
Little by little Bridgeway partnered with him to build one piece at a time. First there was a vision for a school, then a vision for sponsoring children to be there, then a water pump for the village, then more classrooms and dorms, and the rest is history. Today is a flourishing series of schools built from the ground up where 1600 children find Jesus and education to better their lives. Most of us will never feel a call upon our lives with such great obstacles and opposition that Pastor Steve faced to make it happen so it seems appropriate to give credit where credit is due. It’s one thing to dream it, it’s another to see it to fruition.
Being a Man of Character, Integrity and Honesty
It’s said that you can tell the quality of a diamond by the background that it is on. Pastor Steve is in a nation full of leadership corruption so he shines like the noonday sun. I drove down potholed road after potholed road that the government has recorded as being ‘taken care of’ and smoothed out on record but the official just pocketed the money. I saw a nation of poor people living in a resource-rich environment (their soil can grow anything), because the government takes all the money away and refuses to build into the infrastructure to support their people. I saw hundreds and hundreds of people lined up in Kampala on a Sunday morning with buckets and cans waiting to get some of the blessed holy water from a local mega-church where the pastor promises supernatural blessing if they buy his holy water or anointed rice. And it all turned my stomach.
When our special guest of the Grand Opening of TICC, the Speaker of Parliament, seemingly a good woman of character (shockingly) spoke to the thousand or so adults that day, she praised Steve for doing what he said he would do and for actually using the money he was given for what it was intended for. She knows the level of corruption better than any of us. She could do the math that I presented by saying that Bridgeway has put hundreds of thousands of dollars into those children and that schooling ministry, and look around to see that all of it was put to good use. As a matter of fact, as I walked through all that God allowed Pastor Steve to build in the last decade, I marveled at how much get accomplished with so little money. He seems to be operating off God’s economy, where a few loaves and fish go a long way.
He has had every opportunity to defraud people. Yet, every step of the way he invites people in close to see how the money is spent. He has had ever temptation of his culture to get mad at the rich Americans and just take from them, but each team that goes receives a warm welcome and are cared for as his own. He has made mistakes along the way and could have let his pride hide them all, but they were willingly opened up to His American team to help him fix it and make it right. In a world of corruption, Pastor Steve is one of the good guys.
Caring Enough to Sacrifice
I don’t know how many children Pastor Steve and “Mama Rosette” have, and neither do they. Just ask them. They lose count. How is that possible? Because their hearts are open, their situation is fluid and they are surrounded by need. They could have turned all of the children away and kept the focus on themselves. They could have denied the call to ministry until they felt everything was going right for them. They could have refused to come to Toggo and live in a tiny, dark place for years until God breathed life into their finances. But they didn’t. They said yes to God and no to comfort. Many forget that as they visit today. They drive into the compound and see a nicer house than any in the village and wonder. But they aren’t listening closely, doing the math and seeing the history of how we got here. Nor are they looking deeply enough into the heart of these people and see the everyday sacrifices and love.
I remember the day that one of our mission leaders contacted me from Uganda and told me that some of our team members had found two small abandoned siblings, left to die and given over to demons. They were found lying there malnourished and diseased. Our team brought them to Pastor Steve and Rosette. Many years later, upon my arrival at their home, I waved every morning to a sweet, smiling, healthy (albeit mentally damaged) Sarah and looked into the eyes of the thriving, mischievous, smiling Enoch and I know the power of transformation through love and sacrifice.
Steve and Rosette are not the sort of people who help from a distance, high in an ivory tower. They are those who are down in the dirt with the people, cleansing the wounds, crying the tears and fretting over the pain. Has God provided for them magnificently over the years? Yes. Are they better off now than ever, being in a ministry that is thriving (but precarious) and providing them a decent living? Yes. Has God provided for their children’s needs even to the degree of some of them going into higher education college and pursuing a pilot’s license and a law degree? Yes. Thank the Lord that He’s doing that.
God saw Steve’s sacrifice and dared him to out give Him. So far, God’s winning in my opinion.
What are we willing to sacrifice and yes to God about?
