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Uganda Mission Of Hope
How it all began.
Jim Patterson came to faith in Christ on Friday 10th April 1959, and in his
prayer he prayed - "Oh God if you can heal my broken heart, dry my tears and
give me hope, I will go to the Nations of the world to tell them of the hope
that You gave me".
God answered that prayer, and after Jim's release from the Army, he
began serving the Lord as an Evangelist. In 1963 he was given the
opportunity of serving the Lord as a Pastor by Rev Jimmy Morgan - Field
Superintendent of the Elim Pentecostal
Churches.
In September 1989, whilst Jim was leading a series of three Gospel Tent
Missions under the title "Mission of Hope", Pastor Girado Olukol and two
other men from Uganda visited the Mission in Ash Vale, near Aldershot in
Hampshire.
The next morning was a Sunday and during the service, Pastor Girado (Middle
man in the photo) was invited to speak. He looked at Jim and said, "Pastor
Jimmy, come to Uganda and help us, we need you, please come, you will be
most welcome".
Immediately into Jim's mind flashed scenes of the night he was born again
and the Lord seemed to be reminding him of the promise he had made in his
prayer on Friday 10th April 1959, when he told the Lord that he would go to
the nations of the world to tell them of the hope that God had given him.
Jim responded to the Pastor's invitation by forming a Team of five people,
which included Jim's wife and daughter, they spent five weeks in Uganda,
leading various outreach meetings, missions and speaking at Pastor's
Seminars under the team name of "Mission of Hope".
Eventually in 1990, Jim and his wife Ruth responded to the clear call of
God and sold most of their possessions in order to raise enough money to be
able to return to Uganda for an indefinite period.
After about six month's the "Bigger Picture", began to emerge, and after
much prayer it was made very clear by the Lord, that Jim & Ruth should
pioneer a New Ministry and this was to be called "Uganda Mission of
Hope".
The name was inspired not only as a result of Jim's prayer back in 1959, but
by two verses of Scripture, namely Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 11 and
Colossians chapter 1 and verse 27.
The new Mission was registered with the Uganda Government, and God
enabled Jim & Ruth to see the work grow to over 100 Churches. God also
enabled them to pioneer
"SOMAT", which means - School Of Ministry And
Theology, this enabled many Pastors to be trained for the work of Church
Ministry.
With the help of volunteers Gerry and Yula Matthews from Tasmania, a
Health Clinic was built and launched in a remote village in Soroti.
Sponsors and Donors helped Jim & Ruth to supply many new bicycles and
Bibles to Pastors, also building materials and help with buying plots of
land to erect new Church buildings.
In 1995, it was decided to affiliate a major part of the Mission Operations,
to the
Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance in the UK.
A
Ugandan National Chairman was appointed and Jim's responsibilities as
Mission Director and Training Centre Principal were transferred to the
National Executive Council in March 1996, when Jim & Ruth returned to the
UK.
In August 1996, Jim was appointed as the Pastor of the Elim Pentecostal
Church in East Finchley, North London and served there for 11 years until
October 2007, when it was decided by both the National and the Local
Leadership Team of Elim, that the Church needed a younger Minister
to take it on to the next stage.Since returning to the UK, Jim & Ruth have
revisited Uganda for two to three weeks on a number of occasions and during
their visits, they speak at both National and Regional Conferences.
Jim continues to serve the Lord all over the UK, as he travels
widely as a Gospel Singer and also presents "Music With A Message" a 30
minute programme which is transmitted all across Ireland every Tuesday at
5:30pm on Radio Star. The Station is located at 981 metres on the Medium
Wave.
Jim & Ruth in Uganda 2002
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