A life of hope and challenge

God has granted me the privilege of getting to know many people in Uganda.  This is the life story of one young man attending Medical School in Gulu (Northern Uganda).  Life there is so different than we know it here in the US - it is hearing about young men like Patrick and young women like Faridah, now this story, that we can begin to understand and help as God leads us.  I came to know this young man (he will introduce himself) through a contact in ARM.  I have left this life story in his own words as I received them.

In one discussion I had with James via Facebook, I had asked him if he would be interested in sharing his life story.  His response was this:  "even if i wrote my life story, there was no one iknew that i would share it with.".  You are the ones to read the life story shared by a young man half a world away who previously had no one to share it with!!!

God has been challenging me in so many ways, I cannot even begin to tell you.  But this morning I read this -

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

1 John 3:16-19

My prayer is that each of us will continue to look outside of ourselves and search our hearts to find ways to help those who need and to love like Jesus loves.

Be blessed by this young man's life story . . .
                                                                                                                                                            

I was born on the 10th/ June/ 1990 to Mr. Ochidi Emmy, my dad and Mrs. Ongom Jane my mum. While my mum was 2 months old with my pregnancy, my dad got a mental sickness, this led to the separation of mum and dad. Mum went to their home with my pregnancy and afterwards; she successfully gave birth to me in a traditional kind of birth arrangement.

In 1993,dad got well and married another woman (my step mum). He picked me from mum and brought me to my step mum to take care of me. I do not exactly remember how life was in the hands of step mum because I was too young to understand situations.

In 1997 I started school in primary 1 (P1) in a village school called Pawor Primary School. We never paid any fees at primary school because we were studying under the government arrangement of universal Primary Education, UPE (UPE is an arrangement by the government of Uganda to give free access education to children of very poor citizens in the villages who cannot afford to go to good expensive schools).

In 1999, dad got a job in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda as a supermarket attendant, his salary was too small to take care of me and step mum, he lived alone in the city for two years. While I was with step mum in the village, I experienced many sorts of mistreatments including food denial (I occasionally went hungry for two days). My paternal grandmother, who lived with us in the same extended family sympathized with the mistreatment and got me away from step mum. Life with grand mum was surely so easy to me.

In 2001, dad visited us in the village and took my step mum along, leaving me in the hands of grand mum to continue with my primary education. In 2002, mum also got a job in the city as a sales officer of Leadership Magazine , a local magazine publisher. She occasionally sent me some help in the village. She was in a better position to help me than dad because she never had so many responsibilities as compared to my dad and she earned more than my dad from her job. In 2003, I completed primary education (P7) and emerged the best student in the school and the whole county (a county is an administrative division comprising of about 200 primary schools).

Being impressed with my performance and the fact that there was no free universal secondary education then, dad and mum took me to Maranatha High School in Kampala, a school affiliated to Ggaba community church, in 2004. Paying my fees (equivalent to about 70 US$) then was a shared responsibility between mum and dad.

In June 2004, mum also got a mental illness (which she has not recovered from up to now).

Paying my fees became a full responsibility of my dad. Dad picked me from school and I started living with step mum. Dad would spend all his time at work and only return home to sleep, so he never knew the mistreatment I was going through and besides I never wanted to tell him because I feared that he might misinterpret my words and become violent to step mum.

While for holidays, I would do all the house work which included among others fetching about 400 liters of water from about 300M away from home, mopping the house, cooking, going to the market to buy food, washing my siblings’ clothes and any other duties which might arise. These were my daily responsibilities in the absence of dad from home (dad always left home at 6am for work and returned home at 9pm).

He had a one day off work to rest weekly and on this day; my step mum gave it to me as my resting day too. This was a trick to hide dad from knowing the type of mistreatment I was going through while he was away.

My step mum’s mistreatment never annoyed me because I knew she was not my biological mother. I learned to accept that in Africa, when you live in the hands of someone who is not a biological mother, she will never treat you like her own child.

Life became so strange in September 2004 when step mum convinced dad to stop paying my fees. He had sent me to school without school fees in August after agreeing with the then Headmaster of the school, Mr. Katerega Emmanuel. After reporting to school, dad stopped paying my fees, visiting me, sending any scholastic material and any help which would arise at school. He could not pick the Headmaster’s call. At school, I lived in the students’ dormitory. Feeding was always provided to us.

The headmaster called me to explain why my dad defaulted from paying my fees, something I could not explain to the headmaster. I was sent home to go and collect fees before I could continue attending lessons.

Reaching home, dad told me it was the highest level of education I would attain because he had no money for my fees. This was a naked lie because he was doing well financially by then. Something was simply making him ignore his responsibility over me. He became un usually aggressive to me, beating me over simple mistakes, withdrawing all forms of supports he ever gave me.

 

One Sunday when I went to Ggaba Community Church to pray, I sat next to the headmaster of my school by coincidence. After the service, I explained to him what I was going through, he sympathized with me and recalling that I was always the best in my class in every examination, he allowed me to study and finish the year without paying fees.

He later on arranged and forwarded my name to African Renewal Ministries ARM offices for any available sponsorship opportunity. (ARM is an organization affiliated to Ggaba Community Church which sponsors needy children).

In 2005, the headmaster told me that ARM had not yet got for me a sponsor and that I had to wait from home. He told me he would get back to me on phone if a sponsor was got.

In early February 2005, one evening step mum was putting some herbs in Dad’s food. This is the time I started to think and believe that what really spoilt the good relationship between me and dad was witchcraft. When dad got back home I told him what I saw and he never handled the issue maturely. She denied having done that and asked dad to chase me away from her home because I was destabilizing their marriage. I was immediately taken back to the village in the same week. Life in the village meant there was no going back to school.

In March 2005, my maternal uncle, Mr. Raphael Ongom who was heading a rural secondary school called Paidha Secondary School in the village asked me to join his school and continue with education. He told me I should not mind of the quality of the education I would get from the school. I was convinced that studying in that poor standard school was better than staying home. I immediately started school in that school uncle managed.

While with uncle, I made several calls to dad in attempts to reconcile with him and get some little support from him as I studied. I made these phone calls secretly without uncle’s knowledge because uncle had earlier on cautioned me to stay away from dad, cut any communications and forget about him completely. He warned me that he would kick me out of his home if he discovered I was communicating to dad. Nevertheless, I would call dad and try to reconcile. I tried involving other paternal relatives in the reconciliation process but all was in vain.

In 2006 as part of my usual trial of reconciling with dad, I called him and he told me “a man cannot take back his own vomit”. He immediately called uncle to warn him to stop pushing me to apologize to him, Uncle was surprised to hear that I was attempting to reconcile with dad without his knowledge, he sent me away from home. I pleaded to him and involved his friends in the plea, he allowed me back. I stayed away from communicating to dad because I realized it would end my future.

In 2007 I completed my ordinary level of secondary education by sitting for Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and in February 2008, UCE results were out and I emerged as the best student in the whole district ( a district is an administrative division which is almost five times bigger than a county)

Uncle never had money to take me for my Advanced level of secondary education and the school he managed never had advanced level. Due to lack of fees, I stayed home in the whole of 2008.

In 2009, I met a friend called Cwinyaai Pascal at Paidha Pentecostal church when I went to pray. This guy was studying in Makerere High School Migadde. I explained to him what I was going through including my performance in UCE. I expressed concern of going back to school to continue with my education. He got touched and told me that the school he was studying in was a Christian school which would get touched by my story and given the fact that I am intelligent in class. He promised to share my problem with the headmaster of Makerere when he returned to school.

I gave Pascal my neighbor’s telephone number so that he would call me and inform me of what the headmaster of Makerere had told him.

In April 2009, I received a call from the headmaster of Makerere expressing his concern to know me. I directed him to my village. Two days later, he reached our home and asked uncle to allow me start free education in his school. While at Makerere high school, uncle gave small assistance.

My performance always impressed all my teachers and I became very popular in the school. My fellow student respected me for my excellence in every class works, tests and examinations.

In December 2010, I completed my advanced level education by sitting for Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). In March 2011, UACE results were out and I emerged the best student at Makerere high school and one of the best science students in the whole country. My name together with other students who excelled in the country was published in the national newspaper.

In August 2011, I was admitted to Gulu University for a bachelor degree in human medicine and surgery. To reward me for my excellence performance in the UACE examination, the government of Uganda offered me a scholarship for this course. The scholarship pays all my tuition fees throughout the whole duration of the five year course. I am finishing this course in August 2016.

However there are many expenses the scholarship does not meet like feeding, accommodation, transport for lectures and scholastic materials like laptop, text book, hand outs from lecturers etc.

Gulu University is about 200KM away from my village and I have to rent a house near the University for my Accommodation. Unfortunately my uncle cannot afford these extra expenses; I always beg this money from sympathizers. I have not got a sponsor and a secure source of finance for stable funding of my education requirements.

My plan in life is to become a heart Surgeon but I am getting a lot of challenges trying to achieve this goal not because I do not have the potential, but because my ambitions are limited by lack of resources.

My mum has other three children; a boy who is my follower and has dropped out of school because of lack of school fees. He is not as intelligent in class as I am, so he cannot secure such amazing opportunities that came across my way, and other two girls who are still in their primary level of education in a UPE setting.

Meanwhile my dad has with my step mum; a girl and three other boys who are in school and their needs are being met well by dad.

My mum is still mentally sick and my uncle who is a low income earner is overwhelmed with the responsibilities of taking care of his children and my other maternal siblings who cannot be taken care of by my sick mum. Uncle Raphael also takes care of so many children who have been orphaned by his deceased brothers. This makes it hard to provide for my needs.

When I look back where I came from, I see that God has really helped me and has a strong purpose for my existence on this earth. For more information about me, you can use the following references below.  [NOTE from Dave:  Please contact me if you want this information.]

Praise is to the Almighty God who opens new doors of opportunity when one closes.

Thanks, this is the summary of my life story.

I am

OBURA JAMES OCHIDI

Answering the call

Mukama Awebwe Ekitibwa (To God be the Glory)

In Henry Blackabee's classic study "Experiencing God", one of the points along the process of following God is the "Crisis of Belief" - that is the point where each of us, when faced with God's invitation to join Him in His work, must make a decision.  Do we truly believe that God is able to do what He has called us to do, or not.  Do have the faith in God to do what He is asking, or not.  Can we leave behind what we have to join God in His work, or are we unable to?

Such was the dilemma of a rich young ruler.  This was a story that has been always in my mind since even before going to Uganda back in February of this year (is it still 2012???).  God has changed my heart as a result of my time there and called me now to help those in need.  Part of the challenge for Debbie & I has been that we are not sure quite what that looks like yet, but I know in my spirit, that I cannot rest until I help.  There is so much need, I have so much and most of all, I want to truly experience God's awesome love and power.

I was so excited to reach Kacungwa and meet "my" children!  I can't truly remember many times being happier and more fulfilled in my life.  I had no idea what to expect and traveling to Africa is not something I'd ever imagined doing.

As you read from our time there, our arrival in Kacungwa was something none of us were prepared for, nor will ever forget.  The outpouring of love by the people there was indescribable.

We saw many very difficult things there as well.  One that will forever remain in my memory was the young girl who died of Malaria the day of the medical clinic.  We hear the statistics, see the commercials, but this was right there.  Nor will I forget the image of her father, torn with grief, leaning against the wall.  He had watched his daughter get progressively sicker over weeks with no way to get help.  By the time he could get to the clinic, it was too late.  The grief of a father losing a child is something I pray I will never experience.

One tragedy in this is that it is preventable and treatable.  Like most other needs there, it only takes resources and God's people doing as they're called to make a difference.

It made our "mission" to distribute the mosquito nets our church purchased so vitally important and the purpose so clear.  God used that tragedy in many ways for good, but it instilled in my heart a certain "realness" to what we've just seen on commercials.  I've often tried to imagine the father later being handed the body of his dead daughter and what it must have been like to hold her lifeless body and agonize over the question of "why" and what could I have done to prevent it.  Where was God when this was happening?

The rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to follow Him.  Jesus told the young man and he had a choice to make.  He could sell all of his possessions and follow Jesus or he could walk away.  He chose to walk away - and it says that he walked away sad because he had great possessions.  I have thought what it must have been like to stand face to face with the Savior of the world, the One who, through all things were created, and ask a question.  Then when He answered, to say "sorry, I just can't do that".  What else could he do, but turn around with my head down and walk away from Jesus. 

How many times have I already done that in my life - with big things and small? Too many.  And I don't want to keep doing it, because I have seen what God will do with a heart that is willing!!!

The story could have had a totally different ending if the rich young ruler would have run, sold all that he had, given to the poor and run back to Jesus in great joy and followed his Lord in love with the purpose he was called to.

When it became clear that God was calling me to a new work, it was also clear that it would involve giving up many things we hold dear.  Debbie and I have sold our house of 16 years, both resigned our positions at work, given away our dog and 2 cats, sold a car, and are in the heart-wrenching process of saying goodbye to family, friends and our church family.  We are not yet sure how we are going to pay the rent, what kind of work God has in store for us or what lies ahead in the path that Jesus is laying for us.  It is the biggest step in faith that we have ever taken!

I would be less than honest if I said it was easy - quite the contrary, it is very painful.  But I don't want to walk away from my Lord sad.  I want to follow Him, love like He does and experience the joy of being His hands and feet in the world. 

In the name of Jesus, we pray, we believe and we love!

Dave

Faridah's testimony - conclusion

Sorry for the delay in getting the last part of Faridah's testimony posted, but have been out of town for a while. If you haven't read the first part of Faridah's testimony, you need to read it before reading this.

Here is the rest, or at least the next part, of her amazing story...
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Five years after she left us, mom came back for me. My brother was taken to his grandmother from his father’s side . I started living with my mother again and my life returned to normal. Life became sweet. Mom loved me and she used to tell her friends how I resembled her. Mother's love was sweet.

But mom took me to my father's place to see family after finishing my primary-7 exams. When we reached there, my stepmother pretended to have loved me so much and asked mom to let me stay behind so that I could get to know my brothers and sisters and get to know my Islamic religion – because my father was a staunch Muslim. My mother agreed and I was somehow happy with the thought, not knowing that I was going to suffer again.

After mom had gone, the woman started mistreating me so much. At home they taught me the Islamic religion. I used to pray 5 times a day and fast the holy month of Ramadan. After completing my senior-four school year, I came to see my mother and I told her about the way I was mistreated at my stepmother's place. But mom always said that she is a good woman.

I could not stand the mistreatment so I decided to go back to my mother, but after a short while, demons started attacking me and I nearly went crazy. My mother tried everything she could to save me. I am sorry to say this, but she even took me to a native witch doctor. Finally, mom started to believe all that I used to tell her about my stepmother. After all this, I went back to school for my advanced level [senior-6] and because this was a Muslim school I continued to live in the Muslim culture.

After my senior-6 test results came back, I had performed very well. The best students get 25 points and I got 21! I was so excited, but my mother had no money to send me to the university. It was hard since my friends used to come home and tell me all about campus life. It hurt me so much to know that I couldn’t attend with them. I tried to look for jobs, but I failed because most of the jobs required bribes to be favored and given a job.

One day my uncle had a friend who knew a manager of the Grand Imperial Hotel. He told my mother that I would be given a job, but when I went there and I talked to that man, he told me that to come back tomorrow and I could begin to work. I was so happy and I said to myself that at last I have got a job! The next day, I went to the hotel and the man I found there told me that the other man was not the manager and so I was not given a job. I was so terrified because the man told me that I was to work for 3 months without pay. I agreed because I was so desperate, but see now that there never was a job for me there. It hurt me so much that I decided to move all the way from town to our home in the Kibuye community in Kampala.

As I was moving, I felt many things lingering in my mind: the suffering I have gone through all my life from my mother's place and with my stepmother; how I studied so hard to make good grades and I did not make it to the university because we had no money; even the life at school was hard because mom could never afford all I needed at school because she was poor.

I cried deep inside me. I thought about what to do to help my mother and my brothers because even the father of my second brother was dead due to vehicle accident. I thought of how I used to pray 5 times a day and fasted the month of Ramadan.

I started to ask myself why – why has God abandoned me at this time?  Does He really exist? I had many more questions, but I had no answers. As I was moving back home, I thought of men like Pastor Kayanja Robert and other born-again Christians. I saw how joyful they are and I remembered how my Christian uncle taught me to pray when I was still young. I committed to myself that from that day forward - I am going to become a born-again Christian! I accepted Jesus Christ deep inside me right then!

When I reached home I told my mother that I was now a born-again Christian. I was SO excited to share this news with her, but when she heard it she told me not to kill her. At home, my father's place, they could accept me as a Christian because they were Muslim. I told my mother not to worry and the next day I went to Miracle Centre Cathedral of pastor Robert Kayanja and when they called those who want to take Jesus as their personal savior, I was the first one to respond. From that day on, I am a born-again Christian. After going to church I felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off my head.

One year later, when I was 21 years old, my dear mother passed away after being sick for a long time. It was too much – God it was too much. The pain and the agony I felt in my soul for my mother who loved me.

Mom I miss you so much.

Together with your sons, we miss you so much, but we believe that God took you to rest and I believe that you are in peace my mother. When we think of you, tears roll in our eyes. Rest in eternal peace mummy.

Our mother was everything to us – a provider protector and everything. After her burial the person she left us with started behaving bad towards us. My brother and I were chased from home. Only our youngest brother was left at home, but with a lot of mistreatment. Me, I met a man who took me as a wife, but I went there only because I needed someplace to sleep and someone to buy me something to eat. But he was so poor that he could not afford to take care of my brothers and me.

My second brother got involved in a gang. He so badly needed to forget his problems, he started smoking cocaine and opium and the last born had to search garbage cans in order to feed himself.

Jovan - my pride & joy!!!

After two years I left this fake marriage and I started working for my brothers and the son I had while there. Since then, GOD has been our GOD! HE HAS SEEN US THROUGH. In the book of Psalms 33:3 God said “Call unto Me and I will answer you and I show you great and mighty things you never knew”. He has really done that!

While working, I managed to look after my brothers and the last born is now in grade form-three. I would like to thank our uncle Michael who has been there to help. Lawrence is a clever boy and Lord fearing but the one who follows me, while he never went to school again, his behavior is changing in a positive direction.

A couple of years ago I got a job at a supermarket, but I did not understand that GOD took me there for a reason. While working there God connected me to someone: a parent. Indeed he took me back to the university. He feeds me, pays me rent, clothes me and everything. God said in Psalm 27:10 “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.”

I love Jesus with a joyful song I praise Him!

Indeed He has not left us orphans. He has taken good care of us. The father for our last born had abandoned him before but he came back for him and started paying fees for him. Indeed GOD, you have done us good. First You took our pain away, and though we are not so rich and have little for possessions, we believe that the God who did the first is MIGHTY AND ABLE TO SAVE US.

I joined Luzira community church when I went at the university in Ggaba and I went to fellowship with Ggaba Community Church. One Sunday, pastor Alex and Faith came and they talked about how God has help them to serve Him. They said that they want to serve God from Uganda and they needed people to help them in the ministry. I felt touched, and so I joined them with the children ministry.

I feel that God is also leading me to eventually start a ministry for single mothers - women who are in the places that I have been and need the love of Jesus in their lives and support from other women.  I am so anxious for God to allow me to do this ministry, but now am so happy to help the little ones, it is the most important ministry. 

In the name of Jesus Christ I pray that God is glorified,

Faridah

Kiyaga Faridah - Testimony

While our team was in Uganda, we had the opportunity to visit Pastor Alex's church, Luzira Community Church, and met many wonderful people.  I have been fortunate to keep in touch with many of them and learn more about them over the past few months.  One young woman, Faridah, has shared her testimony with me and it is an amazing story of God's grace.  Without anything further from me, here is the start of Faridah's story (stay tuned for the second half of this incredible testimony):
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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!

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 . . . )

The Joy of Working and Serving with children in Kacungwa

[Dave's note:  Rose Mbabazi is the children's social worker in the village of Kachungwa.  I had asked Rose to write something for our blog and received this from her today and wanted to share as soon as I could.  Please keep Rose in your prayers as she continues her work with the children in Kachungwa...]

In 2007, a year after graduating with a Bachelor degree in Vocational Business Studies, I started looking for jobs – a search that was so difficult.  In Uganda, the unemployment levels are so high, it is always difficult to get a job; you need to be connected to a powerful politician to get a job easily.

A friend of mine gave me several options – so futile, horrible and unacceptable that I cannot mention them here.  I resisted them but often she would call to get an update of what was going on into my life.  She had enough money on her; she often blamed me for not following her advice and often cautioned me that I would die in poverty.



Rose Mbabazi



As a fresh graduate, there is pressure that comes from both within and out to get a job to help your siblings.  It almost took the whole village’s support to see me go to school and go to university and there was always anticipation that I will reciprocate the support after getting a good job.  This was not coming to pass.  I remember my half-brother James lamenting why he had to sell of his only possession – the cow – to pay my tuition at university, yet my education had not changed our family.

One thing that kept me going was the hope that I had in Jesus Christ!  I started serving Him in the choir at Gaba community Church.  I remember a day when I totally had nothing to eat at home.  I decided to go for choir practice at church and guess what?  We were served with a meal!  This was a great miracle to me.

Little did I know that God was preparing me to serve Him with children.  A ministry opening for a social worker position in Kacungwa was advertised.  With stiff competition, I wrote my application.  I resorted to prayer and fasting for a breakthrough and indeed God answered my prayers – I was offered the opportunity.

I travelled to Kacungwa for the first time in April, 2007.  Travelling from Kampala to Mubende was very difficult.  In the taxi I would often talk to myself why God had chosen to take me this far – from the city to one of the remotest villages in Uganda.  When I reached Kacungwa I met the children.  Their needs were overwhelming!  Then I realized that though I was struggling in life, they were people who needed my help.  I have never looked back.

My friend called and she asked me why I did not take her advice.  She wondered why I would not stay in the city and instead, decided to care for children in a remote village.  She viewed it as a waste.  I told her I could not be in the city, not because I had no job, but because I had found my ministry!  More importantly was that I did NOT see it as a waste at all, but an avenue to serve God.  God values life and He loves children – this was my new motivation.

I received such questions even from my other peers.  I was shocked that people were asking me these questions.  I thought everyone, especially the elites (university friends), had been drawn away from the African traditional norms that view children as not important. 

I was wrong.

I continued praying to God.  This kind of interaction made me eager to see God prove Himself to me in this new ministry – in the new village with compassionate friends.

The years that I have spent in Kacungwa have been fruitful.  I have been drawn closer to God, increased my affections for the gospel, and made me desperate for His Word as I learn to care for children on a daily basis.

I stay with 4 girls in my house:  Amelia, Hajjarah (now Elizabeth), Scovia and Claire.

Renee, Amelia & Rose



One day Amelia asked, ‘‘who is God and why do we have to pray, yet He knows everything – He is a big boss?’’ I knew she was longing to know God.  

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit." (Psalms 147:5)

This has remained one of her favorite verses.  These and other several questions are the ones that I receive every day.  They help me re-focus to God.

I love working with children in Kacungwa – caring for them, spending my precious days together, and filling their minds with truths about the gospel.  I love laughing with them, making dolls with them, correcting them, and memorizing verses with them.  I love teaching them school and chores, reading them Bible stories, helping them write letters to their sponsors and answering their questions about heaven.

When I sit in my small office, or move around the compound I see little ones give their lives to Christ!  Seeing them grow into teenagers knowing Christ, I thank God and the ministry He has given me.  It is not a waste!

One time last year my old friend asked me whether I will ever get a responsible man to marry in the remote area where I work.  I laughed …..the question was timely because someone important had proposed.  Our wedding is due in November 2012!!!

Indeed God’s appointment is enough.  I have realized the joy He brings us when you serve Him. This has been the happiest time of my life so far.  No amount of money, education, job in the workforce, or “social standing” can bring me any more joy than God has let me find here.

Since God has reconciled me to Himself through Jesus Christ, He is my satisfaction. And He has given me His joy in these children.



Rose's children of Kacungwa



Whether you work with young children or have children of your own, it’s always a joyful experience to share time with them. Their smiles and laughter are a rich reward.  You don’t have to be multi lingua to be resourceful to them.  Their smiles and joy is the universal mode of communication.  With them hopes never dries and it keeps me moving.

Rose

What changed? - by Dave Howard

Many times throughout my experience in Uganda, I thought and talked about being "changed" or that this was a "life-changing" experience.  But what does that really mean?  What changed?  After almost 3 months since we returned from Uganda, I think I have finally been able to try and put it into words.  So, here is my attempt to described "What changed?" in and for me . . .

I need to start by going back about 15 years, just a short time after I became a Christian.  One night, I had a dream:

I was standing in a window looking out onto a street.  It was a dirt street, dusty and filled with many sick, hungry and needy people.  As I looked out onto the street, I saw a man going from one person to the next and helping them.  He was not just helping, but he was helping AND loving them.  He would give them food, wrap wounds or just hold the person.  As I watched this scene unfold, I was struck by a couple of things in my dream:  this man loved the people deeply and it was evident in the way he cared for them; second, I wanted to love people like this man did.  As I stood in the window and watched, I realized that this man was Jesus - it was very clear at that moment - and His love was what I wanted to love people with.  But, I couldn't move.  I was stuck, motionless, standing in the window - just watching.

To this day, I can remember this dream as if it were just last night.  I remember the deep desire to love like Jesus, and the sickening feeling that my feet were stuck in place and all I did was watch.

In going to Uganda, I got my feet unstuck!!!  I realized this in the moments like praying for the sick baby in front of the mud hut, taking food to the hungry in the slums of Kampala, sitting in the home of my sponsored daughter as she cried next to me that "I have no father, you are my father", praying with a mother with 4 children and virtually nothing except the clothes on her back . . . there are so many. 

God showed me true sacrificial giving by people who had nothing to give, deep faith from people who rely on God for their daily existence, the evidence of the hope that Jesus gives, the change that God brings in an alcoholic man accepting Christ & throwing away his bottle.  I saw the Holy Spirit move in the hearts of 153 students and felt His leadership in everything we did there.

I feel like I was able to love the sick, hungry and needy the way that Jesus calls me to.  I mean LOVE them, not just show up and do something to help them.  I experienced God's working to help His people in need (yes, me included).

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  (John 7:37-38)

This has always been one of my favorite verses - I've always tried to imagine those "rivers of living water" flowing out of my heart.  Well, I finally got to experience this and God has changed me as a result of loving with His love.  What an amazing, incredible, awesome, fantastic, life-changing experience!    

If you're following Ken's sermons, I would have to say that  I am becoming "weird" . . . but it's a place I've wanted to be for a long time now.
What changed?  I loved like I have always dreamed of loving - with the heart of Jesus.

Mukama Yebazibwe!!!   (Praise God)

Amina    (Amen)

Dave

God's healing in Kachungwa

It has been a little while since anything has been posted to our blog, but I was just informed of some news that I just needed to share with you and Praise God for His awesome love for His children.
You may recall from the post "Our God is an Awesome God" that we had gone into the village of Kachungwa distributing mosquito nets.  One of the moments for me personally that touched me the deepest of our entire time in Uganda was when we visited a family, gave them a mosquito net, talked and prayed with them.  As we were leaving, a woman with a baby strapped to her back called us back (see the picture), unstrapped her baby, held her up and said (through my translator) that her baby was very sick and needed special prayer.

I can remember just as if it were yesterday, standing in front of the mud hut in the middle of banana trees in Uganda - holding that precious little baby's face in my hands and feeling completely awestruck at the fact that God would put me in such a place.  I didn't even know how to pray, so I prayed that God wouldn't let me keep Him from doing what He needed to with this young child.  And then the Spirit gave me words for a prayer for the child - it was so beautiful to pray "in the Spirit". 

The picture is one I keep on the wallpaper of my computer at work so I can pray for the woman and her baby continually.  The other day, I sent Rose, the amazing social worker with the children in Kachungwa, a copy of this picture and asked her if she would mind talking with this woman and asking about the baby.  Here is Rose's response (just this morning):

You asked me about the lady with a baby i am glad to inform you that God answered your prayers, the baby is well, i informed the mother about your prayers, she was really amazed, that is how different God works in us.

I sat at my computer with tears running down my face as I laughed with joy at what God has done. 

Praise God for the healing work that He is doing in Kachungwa and answering the prayers of one unworthy man. 

Rose also reports:

"We have seen the working hand of God, he has healed so many children"

Please keep up your prayers for our brothers and sisters in Kachungwa.  Keep loving and sponsoring the children because you are making a difference there and I can only imagine that God is pleased with the "Weird" way that we are loving people on the other side of the world.

In the healing name of Jesus we pray and believe,

Dave