In 2015, Aaron Issler accompanied me to Bolivia, where we led the first Teacher Training Workshop. I trained Aaron to equip new trainers with the CCI philosophy of the relational environment of discipleship and the BTCP curriculum. In 2018, Aaron was invited by Jeff, the director of a men’s ministry called Man Up and Go.
Aaron had discipled Jeff, who was working with orphans in Uganda. Aaron told Jeff that he wanted to go with him and train any pastors associated with his ministry. Aaron started two classes while he was there – in Jinja with Pastor Andrew Victor and in Pallisa with Bishop Abraham Koche. Fifty (50) pastors from these two classes were leading churches without formal training. A year later, Aaron invited Bob Loeffler to go with him to Uganda. They trained pastors together. Bob saw the effectiveness of the training, and as we say, he was hooked!
As the pandemic spread around the world in 2020, the classes were halted. A year later, in September 2021, Aaron passed away due to COVID complications. In 2022, Bob and I met and discussed the ministry that Aaron had started in Uganda. We decided that restarting the classes there was a worthwhile project. I challenged Bob to prayerfully consider assuming the role of Regional Director over not only Uganda but all of East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania). Read More.