·        Public Evangelism. For the first time in the history of Makerere University the SDA church was permitted to conduct two three week crusades at the campus for two years in a row, both of which resulted in over 130 students being baptized.

·        Baptisms are also being registered through person to person witnessing and  weeks of prayer

·        Our church- run secondary schools and schools privately owned by SDA members are continually sending SDA students to Makerere.

This growth has created a number of challenges, not least of which is a place of worship. The students lack a decent place of worship. At the moment The Students worship in a basement, courtesy of St Augustine Student Center - a Catholic Establishment! The place is narrow and gets very stuffy due to poor ventilation and overcrowding. The normal seating capacity of the basement is 80. But we are now forced to cram in, on the average, over 130 worshipers on any given Sabbath. Given that MUSDAA is expected to evangelize to 35000 students, it is clear that our capacity to do this is greatly compromised by lack of space.  More over the basement is available for Sabbath worship in the morning hours only. The students have to conduct their afternoon programmes under tree shades or forfeit it altogether during unfavorable weather conditions. Given these despicable conditions we find many students attend church in far off places from the campus or others take the easy route to abandon church altogether- sadly resulting in many backslidings being witnessed.

The university authorities were approached with the request to allocate space for the construction of a church. We were informed that, as a matter of policy, the university, being a secular campus does not grant space for church construction. Nevertheless the University did build some three (two Christian and one Mosque) worship centers which were supposed to be shared by all faiths represented at the campus. However due to historical reasons these centers have tended to be dominated by Catholics, Protestants and Muslims and as such are no longer freely accessible to other interested parties. Even if they were, it would be nearly impossible to share them from a practical point of view.

Further more, there is a great need to establish a permanent congregation and a resident chaplain at the campus:  (1) to minister effectively to the students, and members of staff -both academic and non- academic. Students are facing a lot of challenges while at campus e.g. mandatory academic programmes on Sabbath; adolescence turbulence; academically actuated stresses and how to maintain Adventist principles in a secular campus. A resident pastor will give proper spiritual guidance and counseling services to students (2) The Adventist church needs to exert its influence on the student community. These are people who will go out to be the moral conscience of the Ugandan society. Right now the university is grappling with the problem of immorality, drug abuse and academically induced stresses. These are issues that the church needs to provide solutions to.  

Whilst it cannot offer us a site for constructing a church, the University has, however, indicated a willingness to provide space for constructing a facility that will be beneficial to the entire university community. A number of areas of concern to the University were cited. These include, inter alia, lecture theatres and recreational facilities.

The Makerere University Interest Group (MIG) comprising of SDA alumni and MUSDAA, having carefully considered the problems of our students in particular and that of Makerere University community in general, believes that a student center would be the answer to the problems of our students at the campus. It would influence decision in favor of our students who are often frustrated with the prospects of accumulating exam retake or dropping out due to examinations being set on Sabbath. Others are forced to compromise their faith for the sake of their degrees.  Moreover here is our opportunity to make an inroad to this magnificent center of learning.

The project cost is estimated at US $ 2 014 925. The business prospects as analyzed in the document look wonderful. The project will be self sustaining. The proceeds will be used to support chaplaincy at Makerere University and other tertiary institutions country wide.

We strongly believe that this is a project worth investing in. The University Council; the Government policy of liberalization and privatization and the willingness of the Uganda Union to lend its institutional weight to the project clearly affirm the establishment of a center of this nature.