In this Muleefu and Friends series, I spoke to Prince Sabena, 32, he serves as an elder at Nansana Bible Church and runs a Travel Company Red Road tours. Alongside his wife Heidi, they are also involved in the day to day endeavors of Parenting, Marriage, and Counselling.

1. Good to talk Prince, briefly take us through what regularly occupies your typical week? 

First of all thanks for the opportunity to share, an opportunity of how God is using you in the media world especially this ever-growing virtual world, 50 percent of my time is occupied by study and in God’s word and business research. I have regular studies at church that require me to put in some time, try to get up by 5 am. I research for travel which I have been into for 10 years, how to empower, and serve clients better, recently I’ve also been involved in business incubation.  

The other is people engagement, what I mean by that, I spend a lot of time meeting people for counseling, married couples, singles, formally and informally, folks needing counsel for all sorts of things. There is also business counseling, not weekly, but maybe monthly. Bible studies, small groups, work, so that’s a really long answer to your question, if I am not studying and researching, I am engaging with people in vocation and ministry.

2. As a member of your church, Nansana Bible Church, what are you most thankful for about your church? 

Let me start by saying one of the best things that have happened to me in the last 18 months is being a member of NBC, I am glad for our leadership, especially in the current church climate.  I mean, we have a plurality of elders.

I am so glad we have four elders, four people responsible to shepherd the people of God, such privilege, for a small church we are! You have four people taking responsibility to lead at once, together. I am thankful for this because elsewhere, you always have one person that has a bunch of other people to assist, maybe Deacon, Associate Pastor, but the buck really stops with him, at the top, which I believe leaves lots of room to error, because we are human, with the lack of good strong churches around here, this model of everyone leading together is a blessing.

I am so thankful for all their ambition to shepherd Gods’ people, I see how it motivates them daily, not selfishly, leaders today want relevance especially with the democratization of media (e.g. social media) so every leader is tempted by relevance, we can go public, yes but we are focusing locally? Sometimes locally means Kampala, but a good village parish being our scope is something I am thankful for, that’s something I really appreciate about our church.

3. Are there ways of organizing church that affect a believer’s faith and growth?

Yes definitely, organizing church means organizing believers, I think a church will grow in faith and maturity depending on their priorities. How you use resources like time, money and relationships, for example, shapes how you grow, even as a church, for example, we have limited time, we meet corporately but we have wives and children, yet we also need to still meet corporately, how we use that limited time can affect us when a church recognizes spiritual growth is what we need, this is how it goes. Teaching takes priority in almost every meeting from Sunday morning to Bible study.

If teaching is a priority, you plan every time, I think 60 percent of our time should go into teaching, fellowship is another important way, being a brother’s keeper and an influence to one another call for fellowship, getting to know each other because of our commitments to everyone else provides a  platform for discipleship and accountability, only then can we can admonish, rebuke, and care for one another.

So for me, prayer, teaching, fellowship are good grounds for organizing Church. But at the same time, avoiding what I call the “church meeting syndrome”. When we feel the need to meet in the week, we shouldn’t also compromise family and work, God doesn’t want us to do something at the expense of family and work. Multiple Church meetings should factor in work, family, and beg the question, what time are we leaving them to build relationships, grow professionally, parent, etc. A men’s meeting, for example, can be once a month, we already have a Bible study and Sunday service, these things affect spiritual growth.

4. Scripture commends believers to adorn the gospel (Titus 2:10), to do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31), in what ways are born again employees prone to forget that in the workplace? 

I think the biggest disservice to the workplace in evangelical Christianity is that it’s been viewed as a place where we go to make ends meet, “it’s a way I can make some money” not because God wants me there, God’s standard has therefore been lowered in that mentality. By seeing the workplace as primarily of monetary value, sometimes we are guilty we go to work, we wish we can go to church more, a terrible message! Work is where God wants us to be. So earning is one motivation to work but changing our view of work to earning alone is one way to not forget God in our calling.

At work, we are either in places of influence or under, employers and employees, as an employer, depending on your position, if you use authority in your “boss” role, you need to ask how you serve the customers as a boss, in the business world that means seeking customer satisfaction, designing products to meet the needs of customers, in government? – citizens, nonprofit? – whichever audience. Every workplace has an audience, and when our ambition becomes to serve that audience, that’s how we glorify God.

For employees, does your boss know you have their interests at heart? What time do you show up, how do you use your time at work, Facebook, Whatsapp? You could be engaged in this form of corruption-mismanaging time, that’s another area to glorify God,

Two, how we relate to one another at work, Christian employees have an opportunity to build relationships. Sometimes telling Christians to go  speak the gospel at work can undermine everything, because we need to know people even for purposes of just plain relationships, your non-Christian friends at the Bank you work should cause you want to spend time with them, they need to know your values but they also need to know you care, faithful Christians embrace relationships at work rather than see them as an inconvenience. No Christian should feel guilty for connecting with non-Christian friends at work.  

5. Speaking of work, Unemployment rages in Uganda, how should young unemployed Christians still cultivate their calling? 

I think the problem starts with regarding ourselves as “victims” of this unemployment, we finish school and blame our unemployment, we blame external factors, like government commitment, but whatever variables are in the play, do not influence, where God wants me to go, rather than becoming victims, let’s, ask God if this is an environment he has placed us, with a government as it is, where tribalism, nepotism rule, and then ask, what would you have me do Lord?

Only then will we realize, God has provided ways, God’s word is instrumental, work is about providing value, there are always ways of adding value, how can I add value with what I know or have? is a good question to get you going without employment.  

I like to use Moses example In Exodus 4, rightly so, he felt incompetent against the Egyptians, but God asked him what do you have? And his only competence was a staff, which God used, we all have something God has given us, education, life experiences, relationships, the communities we are in, our networks, life experiences, our communities, finding ways to add value there is how we cultivate and understand this calling.

Second, we need to have a high view of God, which is a problem in churches today, but if we understand that God is in charge, life’s problems, the political climate, the statistics, dim.  But a small view of God cannot handle these things, unemployment may be a high mountain to climb but it’s not an impossible mountain to climb, with God.

I may not have a job or a business idea, but asking, how can serve an industry I am interested in? for example, the community I am in? that may mean volunteering, helping someone, internship, there are many ways to serve without employment. When you only put a monetary value on work, it hinders you from on serving, Matthew 6:33 requires we “seek first the kingdom of God”, which is about service, not just serving Christians but non-Christians too, those the Bible calls “our neighbors”. So seek first, monetary value may come later, but serve people, that’s the heart of the unemployed, or should be.

Muleefu and Friends is a conversation explorer series among my friends on areas our shared Christian faith has shaped, challenged, and affirmed in our churches, work, marriages, etc.  look them up here.