Our history
The work of Cultivate Discipleship began well before there were acres of land or buildings set in place. Before a compound would emerge from the wild bush, or find itself located in within the town of Koch Goma. The ministry of Cultivate Discipleship began in 2017, six months after Tim and Janessa Cypher (along with their son) moved to Gulu, a town located in Northern Uganda. The Cyphers were connected to Pastor Thomas, through their dear friend they had known since 2010. Tim and Pastor Thomas began reaching out to various churches and their leaders, and were welcomed to hold conferences that focused on discipling church leaders and training them in how to disciple others. The heart of Cultivate Discipleship is centered around 2 Timothy 2:2, which states,
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses,
entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
Pastor Alex (also a mason & building project manager ) joined our small team later that year. the team was soon having difficulties maintaining deep relationships with those who participated in the conferences proved to be challenging. With the comings and goings every few months, our small team felt led to create a central area and ministry site to bring others to. This begin the search for land. For many months and after a variety of surrounding areas visited, we were delighted to finally find an area that we could see the potential for a discipleship center to be built on.
On April 1, 2018 (Easter), we met with local leaders, the family members selling, neighbors, lawyers, and our team. Sitting outside on mats and chairs, we discuss the boundaries and proceeded to walk the perimeter of 16 acres of bush land. There was no road, manicured compound, or a building in view. Only acres and acres of vibrant green wild grass, so thick a machete was used to cut a path as we walked the boundaries of the land on that hot day.
The evening before construction began on our first building, we gathered as a team on the land and prayed, committing this space of Koch Goma to be used mightily for the Lord. We were excited to break ground for our first official building (a 4-room dormitory) and latrine. A simple tin structure had been put up prior to that to act as a storage space, sleeping area for construction workers and shelter from the rain and wildlife that also called our new ministry site its home.
During the construction of the dorms, two small black mambas were found within our so called “safe” shelter and definitely reminded us to be aware of the critters that had been making a home within the towering grass and bush as we begin to clear it away little by little. In February 2019, construction of a combined office and classroom began and was finished by the end of March. Shortly following, a small ministry kitchen was constructed in May, right before we celebrated and hosted our One Year Anniversary (of having a ministry site) on April 6, 2019 with a full classroom, worship and cake! We also welcomed Betty as the administrator to our growing Cultivate Discipleship team in April 2019, and just in time as we began to prepare for our first group students to join us at the ministry site.
All of May and the beginning of June, we were busy with curriculum writing, and final preparations needed for the first week of classes, including transporting 10 sets of bunk beds, mattresses, bed sheets, dishes and other kitchen items, as well as food for the week. We officially opened our doors and welcomed our very first group of students to stay with us for our first week of classes on June 9, 2019 (however, due to Covid-19 restrictions and months of nation-wide lockdowns, they finished up their year of classes in November 2020).
Since the completion of the first few buildings, more additions and changes to the compound and ministry site have slowly been added over the years.
February 2020 - Construction of the directors house
June 2020 - construction on a new well and solar water system began
January 2021 - Construction of the storage building began
January 2021 - Construction of the farm managers house began
October 2022 - Construction of the drying house began
April 2022 - Construction of the goat house
February 2023 - Directors house is thatched
May 2023 - Classroom & Office building is thatched
June 2023 - A guest room is added onto the Directors house
February 2024 - The construction of two huts & the missions intern house began
Alongside every new building project, we’ve continued to bring groups of church leaders and village pastors to our site for monthly discipleship training, travel to villages and churches connected to our students (former and current), and take part in community outreach within our own village of Koch Goma. Our hope has been to create a place conducive to the ministry of relationship building through discipleship and teaching sustainable farming practices.
At the beginning of 2020, we had welcomed another group of students (who met for three months and then didn’t meet again until beginning of 2021). Yet, March 2020 only proved to be the start of what would lead to nation-wide lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions on social gatherings, church meetings, transportation, and curfews. This essentially put our monthly discipleship classes, village conferences and discipleship groups on hold for months at a time. However, we still had gardens growing well and with an abundance of maize and beans through using Farming God’s Way methods - we created a food distribution outreach for those in need during that difficult time.
In October 2020, we also began to fundraise for thermometers, which was a necessary tool for churches and groups to use as some restrictions lightened in regards to group gatherings.
Slowly, we were able to reconnect in person and in 2021, we added yet another group of students, while continuing on with the previous years weekly classes. We also welcomed a new staff member to our teaching staff, Raymond. These two groups attended their last week 0f classes at the end of November 2021 and on February 12, 2022 we celebrated our three groups of students (2019-2021) by hosting a graduation on site! It was such a long awaited day for so many of our students who persevered to finish our program despite all the delays and struggles.
Ready to get back to a normal rhythm, we were overjoyed to welcome two new groups of students in 2022 and held two weeks of classes each month. Having a ministry site on acres of wild grass and bush proved to be the most challenging during 2022’s dry season. Traditionally, local farmers will burn the bush to clear their land in preparation for planting season. Using the Farming God’s Way method, we intentionally don’t burn. We struggled constantly with bush fires being set on the land by two teenage boys. One fire was so devastating and resulted in at least 8 acres being burnt, including part of our vegetable gardens, prayer gardens, yards of shade cloth, and rows of Christmas trees.
Thankfully, the rains returned within weeks and the green returned. Our staff even had the opportunity to lead one of the arsonists to the Lord and begin to disciple him. Our two 2022 groups finished up their year without any lockdowns and graduated in January 2023. We’ve continued to bring in a group of students each year, who join us at our center for one week every month. As of the end of 2024, we’ve had exactly 100 students graduate and so many of them have continued to make disciples who are making disciples!
In 2024, we were overjoyed to develop a 6-month training course for missionaries. We had four former students feel led to join our missions internship course and live on site during that time. Two huts and one mission intern house were constructed and finished just as our interns moved to our site in June. Since then, they have traveled multiple times with our Cultivate Discipleship team to both Abim and Yumbe on vision trips and seeking what the Lord’s next steps for us would be. In January 2025, we helped move our four interns and their families to their new home for the year. We will continue to walk alongside them as they reach out to two different people groups through teaching discipleship and FGW (Abim) and discipleship through providing an ice cream shop and place to hang out (Yumbe) in order to connect with the Muslims community.
As we look back and see how far the Lord has brought us, we know it has been hugely in partnership with those who have given generously, support us financially, and faithfully pray for this ministry and those who we are connected to. We are overwhelmed with joy, when we remember a land with nothing but wild bush, and then look around at this beautiful area of Uganda that we have been blessed to steward and care for.
What a legacy to be a part of - one student, one person, one church at a time.
Thank you for being a part of this mission:
to make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples!