It was December 2017. An idea was mooted to hold a FOCUS associates breakfast. Earlier in March that year former Gideon Paramallam, the regional secretary of IFES-EPSA (The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, English Speaking Africa region) visited Uganda.  Over a cup of tea with the associates who met him we decided to start an associates Whatsapp group. Once the group got started the idea of a breakfast came up.

Flashback to the 1980s. Kampala FOCUS associates used to discuss all sorts of contemporary topics, the environment, education, political activism etc. The first breakfast happened December 2017 at Global Hotel in Kampala. The is to touch all manner of subjects in the public arena from a Christian perspective. The goal ultimately is to influence public policy on these vital topics. No mean task but the vision is clear.

Sometimes upto 50 associates and students attend these associates’ breakfasts. The students from Kampala tertiary institutions such as Makerere Univ, Kyambogo University, and Ndegye Universities. The idea is to engage the students and assoicates in discussion over contemporary topics from a Christian understanding. Now it relatively new territory. Topics involving political, economic and social issues can be controversial. You have people on both sides of the issues. I recall a time in 2018 when we invited an official from the Ministry of Education and the discussion was heated.  Ours is a non denominational fellowship so consensus on sociopolitical issues is an uphill task. But FOCUS Associates have a long history dating back to the 1960s and 1970s when graduates of tertiary insitutions formed the fellowship as an indigenous fellowship for Christian witness on the campuses of the country. It has always been a mixture of students and graduates. That is how the torch has always been passed on, in fellowship in a non threatening environment, where cogent discussion takes place with biblical values undergirding it. Many associates yearn to see action. They want to go beyond being a talking shop. The planning team led by Dr. Andrew Mujugira an associate of the 1980s is working to meet this need.

In future some of the discussions will happen at the various campuses. Some will happen at the FOCUS Centre in Old Mulago.