Sam Baguma is MAF’s Country Director in Uganda, making the numbers add up so that help can reach the people who need it most.
Story by Svend Løbner
Some people associate Christian mission work mainly with preaching or teaching the Bible. But for Sam Baguma, MAF’s Country Director in Uganda, mission is not only about communicating – it’s also about facilitating. And that, he believes, can be done with financial expertise.
A background as a chartered accountant
We meet Sam Baguma in a hotel lobby in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Despite the stifling heat, he has just made his way through the city’s chaotic traffic from MAF’s airbase in Kajjansi, just outside town.
Sam is a trained chartered accountant with experience in business leadership and has also run his own consultancy firm.
Today, he leads MAF in Uganda—an organisation with more than 76 staff, six aircraft and a seaplane. Together, they transport emergency aid, medicine, educational materials, healthcare workers, pastors and missionaries for more than 1,500 organisations across Uganda.
“I don’t want to work with finances just for the sake of money. Finance is my mission field,” he says with enthusiasm.
“If I can show that I can do this with integrity—and at the same time support work that advances God’s kingdom—what better way is there to use my abilities?”
Creating space for the Gospel
Sam Baguma was born and raised in Fort Portal in western Uganda. He is married to Abby from the UK, and together they have two daughters, aged 12 and 14. Together, they share a heart for mission.
“Even before I got married, my wife and I talked about being actively involved in mission work,” Sam says.
“But back then I didn’t realise that I didn’t necessarily have to be the one preaching the message. I can also facilitate it through everything I do.”
When Sam joined MAF, he was therefore looking for a place where he could use his financial skills in the service of mission.
“I believe that the skills God gives us—including our knowledge and education—are for His glory and to fulfil His purpose,” he reflects.
“But at first, I thought: ‘I don’t know anything about aviation. I’m not a pilot or an engineer. So, what can I contribute in an aviation organisation?’”
The man with the big-picture overview
It quickly became clear that Sam’s expertise in finance and leadership was exactly what was needed. MAF provides what is known as a subsidised service—meaning that flights are supported financially.
“Our flights are not as expensive as commercial airlines, because we receive funding from partners in Europe, America and local churches. That means our partners often don’t have to pay the full cost of what it takes us to fly,” the former accountant explains.
For Sam and MAF in Uganda, this means that more than one million dollars must be raised each year to sustain operations.
Reaching the isolated
MAF’s partners typically only pay for fuel and direct flight costs. This makes it possible for NGOs from around the world to reach some of the most isolated areas of Uganda at an affordable price.
This includes northern Uganda—still marked by the effects of civil war between government forces and the Lord’s Resistance Army in the 1980s—an area with limited roads and infrastructure.
It also includes around one hundred islands on Lake Victoria, where residents lack even the most basic healthcare and educational services. Their only connection to the outside world is small ferries and homemade boats with outboard motors. Each year, more than 5,000 people lose their lives attempting the dangerous journey.
But MAF’s seaplane—in the process of being registered to fly in Uganda—will bring massive change to these isolated communities.
Walking in the footsteps of Jesus
Sam returns to his reflections on mission:
“I see mission from different perspectives. You can evangelise—actually preach the Gospel. You can disciple—help others grow in their faith and calling,” he begins.
“But then there is compassion. God calls us to show compassion, and Jesus clearly demonstrated this in His life. You can help people in need and show God’s love in that way.
“And if they then ask, ‘Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me,’ that becomes an opportunity to share the Gospel: ‘We help because God loves you just as much as He loves us.’”
The interview over, Sam Baguma heads back through Kampala’s busy traffic—filled with boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis), worn-out cars, minibuses with slogans like “God is good!” and “Allahu Akbar!” and trucks pushing their way forward in the hope of gaining just a metre.
It’s traffic that demands focus, patience—and calm. Qualities it seems Sam Baguma is well equipped with, as he continues his work as a ‘number cruncher for God.’