Ed Purgason said “yes” and was part of God’s movement in Africa.
Every movement begins the same way — with a seed buried where no one sees it.
For Ed Purgason, one seed was his phone ringing in 1983: “Ed, this is Lou Mattia from The Church of the Apostles in Fairfax, Virginia. I’m calling to see if you would be willing to serve on a mission trip to Uganda.” In Ed’s words, “My heart began to race with excitement … Sign me up, Lou! I’ve been waiting to do this for over a year. It appears God has granted me the desires of my heart.”
You see, a year ago Ed had read A Distant Grief: The Real Story Behind the Martyrdom of Christians in Uganda. He was intrigued by what God might be doing in central Africa.
Ed had been on Young Life staff for eight years. In his book, Lo, I Am With You Always, Ed wrote, “Around the same time, Young Life International was offering its experienced staff a variety of short-term mission opportunities in the developing world. Since my three-month sabbatical was coming up, I decided to explore the possibilities. My search stopped as soon as I saw the Uganda listing. It read:
John Obokech, Tororo, Uganda, a dynamic Church of Uganda youth minister, needs follow-up assistance with hundreds of young people who have become Christians in the last year. John is seeking to train local priests and youth workers in a renewal ministry focusing on worship, evangelism, and discipleship.
Seeds are unimpressive at first. Hidden. Easy to overlook. But given the right soil, sunlight, and time, they become forests.
“Digging In” – Getting to Know the Soil of Uganda
On loan to the Church of Uganda (Anglican), Ed arrived to a war-torn country that had been steeped in the years-long terror of Idi Amin. In fact, some have estimated that from 1971 to 1985, Ugandan leaders killed more than 800,000 people. According to Forbes Magazine, during this time Uganda was one of the most dangerous places in the world, and Ed was going to help plant seeds in that neglected, yet fertile soil.
Though Ed was new to Uganda and had much to learn about the culture and context he was entering, he was bringing many years of relational Young Life ministry experience; concepts that would serve as fertilizer to these ministry seeds. These concepts included:
- Contact work: going to where kids are and building bridges of genuine friendship
- Counselor-centered camping: adult friends sharing the camping experience, facilitating conversations about the speaker’s message, and following up relationally in the days and weeks following camp
- An emphasis on the person of Jesus Christ in the gospel presentation
Sowing Seeds in Community
Fortunately for Ed, he was not alone upon landing in-country.
He had Terry Kelshaw, a professor at Trinity Episcopal Seminary, who would be sharing teaching duties with Ed.
There was John Obokech, the man whose call for help had captured Purgason’s interest in the first place.
Finally, Ed had the “providential meeting of Yona Okoth, bishop of Bukedi diocese, that would significantly change the course of my life.” Yona became a great friend of Ed’s and a great advocate, opening doors as a bishop and, eventually, the Archbishop of the 6,500,000-member Church of Uganda (Anglican)!
When God plants seeds, he surrounds them with what they need to grow.
With these relationships established, Ed set out on the work for which he’d come: training those who would raise their hands as future leaders, as well as modeling solid relational ministry himself. A seed-planting that would be riddled with setbacks, learning opportunities, God’s divine appointments, and eventual growth and harvest. Among the seeds that took root were:
- A Bible and Technical Institute providing scriptural and vocational training
- The creation of “The Relevant Youth Ministry Course” offered at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya
- The establishment of soccer teams and tournaments as a way to connect with local youths
- A foundation of leaders and staff that would ensure future growth and future harvest
A Mission and a Marriage!
Arriving in Uganda in 1983, Ed returned to the U.S. each of the next five years to visit family and engage in speaking tours to raise money for the Ugandan ministries. In the winter of 1986, while on the East Coast, Ed met Susan, an actress who’d worked in New York and recently returned to Greenville, South Carolina. Ed and Susan had one date, “January 11, 1986,” then Ed headed back to Uganda. But that one date was enough for Ed to know he wanted to know Susan better. The two were able to knit together an opportunity to spend six days together in London two months later, and wed in June 1986!
As Ed reflects on Susan’s decision to marry him and move to Uganda, he’s still in awe. “For Susan to come over there … I marvel at her courage and am so grateful.” This move to a developing country, with constant power outages, the risk of diseases like malaria, and very “simple” living arrangements, stretched the couple. When asked if he would do it over again today, knowing what he does now, Ed responded, “In a heartbeat! If not for the choice to go, so much would not have been accomplished, and I would not have met Susan. I would be a different person.”
A Garden Continues to Grow
In 1987, Ed and Susan moved back to the U.S., to reengage in his Young Life area director role in Tennessee. Two years later, Gene Wright moved to Uganda to continue the work.
Today, over 40 years after Ed arrived in Uganda, the seeds planted have grown to a vibrant and fruitful garden extending across the country of Uganda. Established officially in 2005, Young Life in Uganda now has:
- 28 staff and 6,000 volunteer leaders involved in 719 ministries;
- nearly 98,000 kids attending outreach clubs;
- over 41,000 attending Campaigners;
- 23,472 young people who went to camp in 2025;
- 565,000 kids known by name — each with a name, a story, and a future.
Ed and Susan Purgason continue to be involved with Uganda, raising support for staff needs and praying for the ongoing growth and health of the mission. When Ed stepped onto Uganda soil in 1983, he could not have imagined 98,000 kids in club, or 23,000 at camp.
He simply went where he was invited.
The garden continues to grow.
The question for us is simple: What seed are we being asked to plant?
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