We have seen God working in the life of Andrew who is thirty-four and married to Amutuheire; they are residents of Ruteete. Andrew recently joined us at the church, but he comes from a family that worships spirits. He had been dedicated to demons by his family. Demons often attacked him and he became so desperate that he resorted to drinking to forget his troubles. Andrew said that he used to see dead people calling him to go be with them where they were. After three weeks of studying with us the Word of God, he believed in Jesus Christ. We prayed with him, and the Lord has set him free from demon possession. We prayed with him these weeks and he has gotten well and has accepted Jesus Christ. He has completely stopped drinking alcohol and now promises to remain in the church. The spirits are no longer attacking him.
Donantah is thirty-three and a mother with three children, Desire is ten, Francis is seven, and Promise is three years old. They live in a rented home with one room in Ndaramira cell. The family survives by selling labor to others, thus they are very challenged financially and Donantah is not able to have her children get an education because she cannot afford it. Her husband left home and abandoned the family due to many debts and they have not heard from him for two years now. Donantah is joyfully serving as one of the choir members and her children are in Sunday school. She is also an active participant in a home fellowship in Ruteete. We are encouraged by her willingness and uncomplaining services despite her life circumstances.
We have Young Ambassadors for the young people and Sunday school for the children that come to our practice every Saturday, led by Irene. We also have a choir for adults, and they do their practice every Saturday as well to prepare for Sunday service.
Adrine is nineteen, a daughter to Benson. She gave her life to Christ this month during home visits where we shared the Word with her family in Ruteete.
Agness is twenty-three and a resident of Katashorhora cell of Ruteete; she is drawing near to Christ. We visited her several times and shared the Word and prayed with her. Agness is very interested in hearing the Word of God more often and sometimes she comes to church with some of her friends from the Anglican religion. We pray that she will eventually get the boldness to accept Jesus into her life.
This month we reached out to the community through home visits and reached twenty homes. We met and shared with thirty-six males and fifty-six females. We thank God who has given us the opportunity to minister to His people.
Baptism:
Pastor Turinawe Jackson’s Story
I am the third born of twelve children from my mother. My father had six wives, and my mother was the youngest and last of all wives. Because of our huge family, there was a scarcity of necessities since we shared resources amongst 37 children total from my father’s wives. For this reason, our father was not able to take us to school because he could not afford school fees for all of us.
Some of my fathers’ wives left and went back to their homes with their children and others died from various causes. Of all thirty-seven children, only ten of us are still alive. My father got so frustrated by the death of many of his children and others being taken by his wives because he could not support them, that he sold a piece of land he had. By the time he died in 2009, we were left with two acres of land which was not enough to grow food and feed all of us.
My mother worked hard and sent me to school when I was 13 years old; I studied for three years reaching the third grade. Unfortunately, because of finances, I was not able to continue studying beyond that point and stopped going to school in 1997 when I was fifteen. When I left, I began working as a farm hand raising livestock.
I worked steadily, and when I was nineteen in 2001, I eloped with a young woman named Gloria who is now my wife. In 2009, we realized that our life was not making any progress because I was a womanizer (like my father) and would spend all my income on women and alcohol and was not helping my family in any way.
My wife suggested that we visit a church that she had heard about that had started in the neighboring community to which I agreed. Every time I attended that church, the pastor would preach as if someone had told him about me. I felt convicted by every message he shared at the pulpit, and as time went on, I decided to surrender my life to Christ and was baptized in July 2010.
Since I gave my life to Christ, I live a changed life. My wife and I encourage each other in our faith, and I’m grateful to her for taking me to the church where I first heard the Gospel. In my life, I decided to forsake the kind of friends I had before and make new ones in the faith so that I would not be peer pressured to return to my old way of living. My wife and I were young when we ran away together, and we were never married. Because of my faith in Jesus, I went back to her father and made things right by paying the bride price which is customary in our culture. Gloria and I were officially married in December 2013. I now live a rich life in Christ and am grateful to be His child.
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