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Hello, my name is Kiyaga Faridah – people call me Faridah – and this is my testimony.
I
want to thank God for what he did for me and how he has protected me
all my life. I am 27 years old and I attend Luzira Community Church.
By sharing my testimony, I want you know how mighty is our God and when
He has a reason for your life, He will not leave you to perish!
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| I look like my mother in this picture |
I
will start my story 21 years ago, when I was 6 years old. My mother
was married to a Muslim man who had more than 20 wives, so was not
legally married to my father. I never had a chance to live with my
father because he had so many wives. I am the first born to my mother
and of all my father’s children, I don't know exactly how many there
are, but we are about fifty-five children, though some have died.
Mother
took me to live with my grandmother in the village and she went back
into town to make money - because we were so poor, she had to work in
order to help the family survive. But after some time mother came back
and joined us in the village. About this age, I started asking my
mother about my father and she promised to take me to see him one day,
but before the agreed date mother received news from one of the village
members who had a radio that my father passed away about one month ago.
Because we were living deep in the village without a radio television
or telephone, we did not get the news in time. Since my father was a
rich man, his death was announced for along period of time. After
hearing the news, we prepared ourselves and went to my father's village.
When
we arrived, we found when almost all of the homes empty because in our
culture, when someone loses a relative people come and stay with that
family for a time to mourn. At home I saw my brothers and sisters for
the very first time. While there, I also saw good and new things. For
example I saw a television, radio and the house was well furnished –
really different from the one I lived in with my mother. I liked my
father’s place, but I soon had to leave and go back with my mother.
Though in my mother’s place we were so poor, we were a happy family!
Being an extended family, we enjoyed so many people and children of our
age coming to our home. We played together so home was enjoyable.
During
that time, at 8 years old, my uncle, who was a born-again Christian,
came at our home and he started teaching us Christian music and teaching
us the bible. He taught us how to pray and he indeed told us the
goodness of Jesus Christ. But what amazed everyone was the way I was
praying. Imagine at that age I knew how to cover myself in the blood of
Jesus, casting out demons and breaking the yoke and the bondage of the
enemy. My uncle was amazed and he said "you will become a great woman
of God". When I see myself today, two passages of scripture that come
to my mind are:
Isaiah 43:1-4
But
now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who
formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I
will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not
sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the
Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and
Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and
because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in
exchange for your life.
and
Jeremiah 1:5-7
“Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified
you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord
said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to
whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not
be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
Indeed GOD knew me.
When
I was 9 years old, I remember it was a period of one year my mother
became sick – alleged caused by witchcraft. This was very common in
our village. As a result my uncles from town came for her saying that
they cannot sit and watch their sister being killed. So she left us in
the village with our grandmother and life changed because she was the
only provider and the leader of our family. Before she went she gave
birth to my brother Lawrence – the one who follows me. As she was taken
by my uncles, she left him with me in the village. My mother could not
take us with her because at our uncle's place where she was taken he
was married and they could not allow her to bring her kids.
It
was one more year when my uncles came for my grandmother because we
were poor and mom who was looking after her was taken to town. Now life
changed completely because we were left all alone. Different people
came for us and we were taken and treated like slaves. We started
experiencing a hard life. At that young age we were subjected to heavy
work, fetching water from a long distance( like 2 miles – you know
villages), digging, washing (both dishes and clothes). Oh God, help us.
Life was really so…so hard. I tried escaping from home once, but the
distance from where we were to a place where I could board a taxi or
catch a ride in a vehicle was long. I could not run and reach there,
but failed.
Things
got so bad, I tried killing myself. But when I looked at my brother, I
could not leave him, so I persevered. We used not to eat two meals.
That is when you eat lunch, but no supper or supper but no lunch (never
breakfast). We always preferred supper because during the day we could
search jack-fruit and sugarcane and we eat that as our lunch. We used
to dig from morning to midday looking for food. If it was school time
we would go to school without anything and come back in the evening
hungry. When we got home, we immediately had to go fetch water – 2
miles away. We would make it back when it was already dark.
As
I am telling you now, the pain comes back to me again because life was
like hell. No one cared. We were helpless – just like slaves. There
was nothing we could do.
(TO BE CONTINUED . . . )
