Robert’s Testimony
Before Robert knew Christ, ministers came to visit him. These ministers would visit and talk to Ugandans living in rural areas about sin, faith, and redemption. After reading John Chapter 1, Robert realized that he could have redemption Christ. God would call him His own; he understood he was a sinner and needed atonement. This awareness was the motivation that led him to start attending church.
While attending church, Robert learned about God’s holiness, living in obedience, and praying. Unfortunately, he had stomach ulcers that ailed him, and he began to ask the Lord to remove his condition. The Lord answered his prayers, and Robert lived a happier and more productive in the work of the Lord thanks to God’s generosity.
Because of this experience, Robert desired to learn more about scripture and become involved in ministry. He studies the Bible daily and lives a more obedient, holy life. He is the Pastor of the Church in Katonya and is sharing his testimony with those in his church, spurring them toward a closer relationship with God.
Recent Ministry:
We see God at work in our church by increasing numbers joining us. The church now has an attendance of 66 members. We bless the name of the Lord for this and pray for more to come as we reach them with the love of God.
Pray for our day home fellowships and rotational night home prayer meetings. The three home fellowships in different villages on different days have an average of fifteen members. The rotational night prayer moves to the home that requests the meeting, and the family is free to invite whoever wants to attend. This allows hearing the gospel to those who find it hard to come during the day due to their traditional religion.
We have also seen God transform the life of Jane from drunkardness to sobriety. Before Jane came to the Lord, she had a disease in her leg that caused her to be paralyzed on the right side of her body, her neighbors advised her to go consult a witch doctor, and she did. Her children are grown with their own families and no longer live with her. She felt lonely and neglected and resorted to drinking alcohol to the extent of spending nights in bars drinking and spending all she had. When she came to the Lord and as we prayed with her, the Lord healed her body from sickness, but because she was addicted to alcohol, she felt hesitant to let it go. We constantly visited and shared the Word of God, and soon she could walk. She attended church and became interested in learning more about the Word of God. She eventually was able to stop drinking alcohol completely, and people in the village wondered how it was possible that Jane would no longer drink alcohol. Some have tested her by bringing alcohol to her, especially those who used to booze with her, but she rejected their offers. She is now working hard again in her gardens and saving money to restock her piggery. We bless the Lord that she is standing firm in faith.
Jane Kimuuri at her home.
We give God all the glory for transforming her in ways that our community can witness.
Jorum and Agatha gave their lives to Christ during a home visit. They shared that they were hopeless and had been involved in alcohol, but after their acceptance of salvation, they started selling hard labor to work in people’s gardens and saving their money. They have now purchased a piece of land and built a house where they live as a familywith their three children between six and fifteen years. We are blessed by their commitment to ministry in the church. We pray the Lord may continue to give them strength to keep working and be able to support their children in school.
Konsilla Baamwe, 60 years old, gave her life to Christ this month. She is married to James, 89 years old, who were both originally of the Catholic religion. We shared the good news with her while we were doing home visits, and she accepted Christ in her life. We pray that she will grow in her faith
The women’s group of thirty ladies meets every Sunday after the service. They save money and buy things for their homes. This association has helped keep women together and also attracted more women to church. Through this ministry, the women share the gospel with those who are yet in the Lord.
We praise God for the sound speaker for playing music that the church bought to help the youth practice. The youth have a program that is intentional in their lives and also challenges them to minister to others. Their ministering group is Kingdom Steppers, and they meet every Saturday to learn the Word of God, sing, and dance to prepare to minister on Sunday in the services.
On-going Ministry:
We see God at work in the life of Judith. Judith is married, but after becoming drunk with alcohol, she would sleep with other men. Through the Word of God, she was touched and accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. Her behavior and character changed and now the family is at peace. We pray that God strengthens her faith and increases her understanding through the word of God as she keeps on praying and attending church.
We met Benson, 15 years old, when he was demonically possessed, which had made his legs to be crippled, and he was not able to walk. They had to carry him outside to sunbathe and to the pit latrine. His father tried to seek medicine from different hospitals and health centers, but Ben was not healed. The father spent a lot of money on witch doctors, which also failed to do anything. We shared the Word of God and encouraged his parents to trust God who heals that God could heal their son. We prayed for him, and God heard our prayer, and Benson was delivered from the spirits and healed. We pray that he and his family may remain encouraged to trust in God as they continue to pray and find refuge in Jesus Christ.
Allen accepted Jesus Christ and is now a member of the church and on the praise and worship team. We met Allen, 16 years old through our home visits. She had been suffering from severe headaches for more than three years, and due to this suffering, she had dropped out of school. Her father had tried to seek medicine from witch doctors and hospitals, but she had failed to be healed. Through the word of God, we shared with her and prayed for her, and by grace, God heard our prayers, and she was healed.
Barbra came to know God after we visited her home several times sharing the Word of God. Barbra was a drunkard, but after hearing the Word, she confessed and gave her life to Christ. Barbra is married to Bosco, and they have three children. We pray that God may help this family to remain in fellowship and prayers as in faith.
We see God at work in the life of Ahumuza, age 18 years old. He had dropped out of school in primary seven and was selling hard labor to the neighbors. He had already become a drunkard and a womanizer, sleeping in nightclubs and disco halls. We shared with him the Word of God and he believed and accepted the idea of giving his life to Jesus Christ. Since the day he was saved, he has not returned to bars but has been coming to church. He works hard riding a Boda Boda to earn an income and has been saving some money that has helped him to buy three goats. Through Ahumuza’s life; people witness God’s transforming power and grace.
We see God changing the life of Opona at age 30. He was a drunkard who would sometimes fail to walk home from bars and would end up sleeping by the roadsides. Once, we found him by the roadside and carried him to his home. We helped him recover from the effects of alcohol, and when he sobered up, we shared with him the Word of God. He accepted Jesus in his life and is now fellowshipping with us. We have been visiting him to encourage him in the Lord and to be available so that he knows he has found a new family of brothers, sisters, and friends and to follow up on him. We thank God that he stopped drinking alcohol, and the community is seeing him change. We thank God for what Opona is becoming and are excited to see what God is doing in his life.
We have a women’s group that, in addition to meeting and saving some money, has started visiting each other to encourage each other to maintain good hygiene in their homes, store food, and be secure after the crop harvest.
The youth have a choir called Kingdom Steppers, and they are mobilizing themselves to have drama competitions with other churches, so they plan to buy uniforms.
We thank God for White Field Ministries, which bought us a property and put up a strong church shade where we have fellowshipped for church services. Over the years, we have been contributing money to build the walls, and we thank God that we are now finalizing the walls of our church structure and finishing the brickwork. We are planning to start buying metallic doors and windows for the church. We pray that He may open doors for us as we buy chairs for the church. We believe God will enable us to enclose our church structure. Please keep us in your prayers.
We have seen God at work in the life of Tusiime Annah, age 30, a resident of Katoonya, with one child, Annet Ayebare, age six, who had an allergy to the eyes that was so bad that every time it would come, she would feel a painful blanket on her eyes. Still, she did not know the cause of it. Her family told her to seek help from witch doctors since they had made her believe that she was bewitched. But she refused their counsel and believed Jesus would heal her baby, and as a Christian, she cannot consult spirits and visit witch doctors. When we visited her at her home, we recommended that she stand tall for Jesus despite the opposition; we prayed with her and encouraged her to seek medical help from the eye clinic in Rukungiri town. She did, and she got some eye drops and tablets, which she gave her daughter, who took them and became well. The Lord helped her escape the evil grip that her family was persuading her to get into.
We have seen God working in the life of Paulson, aged twenty years old. He is a resident of Katoonya, single, and had dropped out of school. Focicah Ayikoru, age 24, from South Sudan and now residing in Katoonya, was a drunkard and stressed; she came to Katoonya after she escaped from Sudan due to wars. She lives alone in Katoonya and has no relatives with her. One day, she visited us at church on Sunday and heard the Gospel; she gave her life to Christ. We later visited her at her home and encouraged her in the Lord. She is grateful to the Lord for helping her find the right church where she feels happy and enjoys the saints’ fellowship. She is also thankful to know the truth that God loves her the way she is. She is settling in and has started selling cassava to earn an income.
We have also seen God at work through Ariho James, age 22, married to Shallon Arinaitwe, age 20. They are both residents of Katoonya. James started working in people’s homes as a house help boy and later a compound boy, where he managed to save some money that helped him begin selling second-hand clothes. God is blessing what he is doing, and he has bought a boda boda motorcycle; he says he will join the boda boda transport business soon. Before we met and introduced him to the Gospel, he was a drunkard and a drug user. But when he accepted Christ in his life, he changed; he does not drink alcohol anymore, and neither does he use drugs. We bless the name of the Lord for His transforming grace.
Busingye Vaster, age 58, a resident of Katungu married to Kweyamba John, age 60, gave her life to Christ. We visited her and shared the Gospel with her. When we implored her to accept Christ, she said she had already accepted Christ while listening to Pastor Onesimus teach the Word on the radio. She says she had not yet come to join us because she was still figuring out how to come, but since we visited her, she has decided to be a part of us. We pray that she will come to grow and keep the faith.
Deliverance from Torment
He was a worshipper of spirits. During our home visits, we met him when he was discouraged and in despair since he had lost it all. He had dropped out of school because of attacks from the spirits. Something had gone wrong in the worship, and it was punishment time with torment by the spirits in nightmares. We shared the Word of God with him and promised rest from Jesus for He says that to all those who are heavy laden, He would give them rest. Paulson accepted Jesus. We prayed with him and asked for God to open the doors for education again. God heard our prayers and helped him return to school. He has completed his technical education and is now getting a driving permit. Paulson testifies about how God is gracious and what God has done for him. The spirits are no longer attacking him, and he has found rest and peace in God. We praise God for delivering him from the powers of darkness.
We praise God for the life of Alice, aged seventy-five. She has been staying with her son called Julius who is thirty-six but has been mad for eight years. Through the Word of God and prayers, he is improving slowly, but there is a difference.
We have a women’s association at church, and it has helped mobilize many ladies in the church and even the men have joined them to keep busy at church. They meet every Sunday after service, and so far in the association there are twenty-seven people. Each one puts in five-thousand shillings that have been saved and they help one of the members who is in need.
We have the Kingdom Steppers where the youth meet to practice new dancing skills and learn new songs, in this team we have ten members, and they do home visits to find and invite other youth to join them.
The children join Young Ambassadors in the Sunday school choir, and we have twenty children in this program. They train and do member verses and storytelling from the Bible.
Medard is aged forty-nine and gave his life to Christ. He stays alone in his house in Katoonya. After his wife died, he got another wife, but she left him so as a result he started to drink. We visited him, shared the Word of God, and prayed for him. He promised to stop drinking, and later, he came to the church and gave his life to Christ. We give all the glory to God.
The church is reaching out to the community through home visits, participating in the home fellowship, and following up with fellow Christians. This month we visited twenty homes and spoke with twenty-nine males and fifty-five females.