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Cached Copy
Articles in Billy Graham's Decision Magazine
| Uganda Redeeming Africa's Lost Pearl by Tom Layton
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| Revival makes Uganda an unlikely leader in
evangelism despite a history that has included war, dictatorship,
persecution of Christians and the AIDS epidemic, Uganda has emerged
as a shining star: In this nation with the world's highest
percentage of evangelical believers, Christians are at the forefront
of AIDS ministry, and churches are growing rapidly. Now, Uganda's
Christians stand poised to take the Gospel to other nations in
Africa and around the world. When he grows up, Emmanuel Erubu wants to be an evangelist. Only 17, he is blessed with poise and charisma. He articulates his thoughts with memorized Bible passages. Scripture is not all he knows by heart. Emmanuel also knows grief and suffering, having watched his Parents waste away with AIDS, leaving him alone at age 8. He knows compassion and redemption, having found an earthly home and eternal salvation through the ministry of a Christian orphanage called the Good Shepherd's Fold, a ministry that has received support from Samaritan's Purse. Most of all, Emmanuel knows the power of the Holy Spirit and the urgency of the Great Commission. As part of a team of eight orphans who visit schools and villages to present the Gospel through preaching, drama, dance and music, Emmanuel has already seen hundreds of people accept Jesus Christ as Savior. And he believes all this is only the beginning. "There are so many people in the world who are very lost," Emmanuel said. "We Christians can't just sit around." Such passion is transforming Uganda, a small but strategic nation in the heart of Africa that, like Emmanuel, has been forced to grow up too fast. Internationally infamous for the purges of Idi Amin in the 1970s and the AIDS plague since the 1980s, Uganda is now experiencing God's blessings in unlikely but powerful ways. Persecution has spurred revival, much as it did for the early Church, as described in the Book of Acts. From the First Lady to the last orphan, the Gospel is being proclaimed. Many Ugandans have taken the Gospel to heart. According to the 2001 edition of "Operation World," an authoritative census of the global Church, no country in the world has a greater percentage of Evangelical Christians than Uganda. "God is making a new thing in this country," said the president's wife, Janet Museveni, an outspoken Christian who is affectionately called "Mama" by the citizenry. Christian leaders agree. "We are seeing God answering prayer," said Steven Mugabi, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Uganda. And observers from outside Uganda also have seen the effects of answered prayer. "There is a prairie fire of the Holy Spirit blowing across this part of Africa," said Steve Rutenbar, missions pastor at California's Saddleback Church, who led a team to Uganda to help distribute thousands of gift-filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Motherless Pearl Nearly 100 years ago, Winston Churchill christened Uganda as "The Pearl of Africa." The English statesman was fond of exotic wildlife, the lush countryside, the temperate weather, and the colonial possibilities. "The scenery is different, the vegetation is different, the climate is different, and most of all the people are different from anything elsewhere in the whole range of Africa," he wrote in "My African Journey." But the phrase applies even more today, 40 traumatic years after Uganda gained independence from Great Britain. A pearl is the product of flinching pain and years of patience. A beautiful jewel is formed as a tender oyster secretes mother-of-pearl to protect itself from an irritant inside its shell. In post-colonial Africa, few countries have suffered as much or as long as Uganda. The notorious dictatorships of Amin and his rival, Milton Obote, slaughtered hundreds of thousands in the 1970s and the 1980s. Just as Yoweri Museveni brought political stability, the country was overwhelmed by the AIDS epidemic, which has killed more than half a million Ugandans and has left 1.5 million more as orphans. Meanwhile, Uganda has been drawn into armed conflicts in neighboring Sudan, Rwanda, and Congo. Urbanization has challenged traditional cultures. Poverty has been inevitable. Yet Ugandans have clung to their faith, introduced by missionaries only 125 years ago. Churches, once a favorite target of Amin, are thriving. Christian leadership is widely credited in Uganda's unmatched progress against the AIDS epidemic. And youthful optimism prevails in a society where more than half the population is under age 20.
"I thank God because He has made us know Him," said Janet Museveni. "We have lived through a very difficult time as a country. It gives me a lot of pleasure to see that we now lift up God's name and thank Him for what is happening in this country. Because I so much relate our country and what we've been going through to the story of the children of Israel. I know that God says that if those who are called by His name truly humble themselves and pray, He will heal their land and bless them." Orphans Testify The evangelistic work of Emmanuel and the other AIDS orphans at Good Shepherd's Fold is exemplary, though not unique. The American missionaries there are determined not only to give orphans the best of care, but also to prepare them for evangelism and service. Last summer, when the teens first presented the Gospel in a remote mountaintop village, they were moved to tears when more than 100 people were saved and baptized. After fasting and prayer, they formed the Servants for Christ team to evangelize villages and schools throughout Uganda. At one school, more than 50 Muslim children became Christians. More recently, 30 people were saved in a camp of hard-drinking sugarcane workers. A few miles from Good Shepherd's Fold, Pastor Isaac Wagaba also cares for orphans. He encourages them to share the Gospel with friends in the village of Buziiki. As a result, hundreds of children flock to the orphanage each Saturday for fun-filled Bible study. Orphans as young as five have learned how to pray for their friends. Churches and Christian organizations have gained extraordinary influence through AIDS ministries that touch families who otherwise would be ignored or shunned. "We meet their needs, and that opens doors for us to share the Gospel," said Ronnie Nsubuga, a pastor who works with the AIDS Orphan Education Trust, which serves more than 1,100 orphans and 600 widows in the town of Jinja. Gateway to Africa Revival has also been seen in Uganda's largest denomination, the Anglican Church of Uganda, particularly in what is called "low church" Mega churches have been established in Kampala, the capital city. The Kampala Pentecostal Church holds four two-hour services each Sunday to accommodate thousands of worshippers. Tremendous church is not without its challenges. "This many conversions need to be matched with quality training and discipleship," said Mugabi, speaking for the evangelical alliance. "There's a need for more leadership." Still, the possibilities are encouraging. Some church leaders are reminded of the East Africa Revival, which rose out of Uganda and Rwanda in the 1930s but was interrupted by social upheaval associated with the end of colonization in the 1960s. "I can foresee an outflow of Ugandan missionaries into neighboring nations," Mugabi said. "We have refugees here from other countries who will be going home and taking the Gospel with them. We have other countries looking at Uganda and asking how we have done what we have with AIDS. I see Uganda as the focal point of the region The First Lady said that she also sees a role for Ugandans in bringing Africans into the Kingdom of God. "I hope we will feel humbled enough by what God is doing in our country to share it with other nations," Janet Museveni said. "We may not have material things to give away, but if we can share our spiritual experiences, then I believe His name will be praised." |
Tom Layton
Tom Layton is senior writer at Samaritan's
Purse, in Boone, N.C. He and his wife, Mary, are parents of three
children and live in Boone, where they attend Boone United Methodist
Church (The United Methodist Church).
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©2003 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association from the February 2003 issue of "Decision" magazine |
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