Because of ignorance to the principles of God’s Word, the Church on the islands of Lake Victoria has largely lived out a double standard, preaching salvation and coming to church meetings on multiple days of the week, but not showing true transformation in their day to day actions. This has caused most community members to shy away from
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| A young lady from the village submits her life to Jesus! |
submitting themselves to Jesus and receiving salvation in His name. I (Brent) spoke with one man on the street who sincerely wanted to live for God, but the very witness of the people of God kept him from committing his life.
But all that is changing because of the teaching of God’s Word and the movement of the Holy Spirit. In the small fishing village of Ssenyondo on Bunjako Island, thirty students have been digesting and practicing God’s living truths for the last three months, and the community itself is attesting to the drastic changes in the students. Pastor Mujabi testified that in his church at least one person is coming to be saved every Sunday morning since the school began. And nearly every week that classes are in session, a community member will wander into the church building where we are teaching, kneel down, and devote their lives to the Savior!
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| Newly saved Joseph with his “Mulokole” name tag. |
A couple weeks ago as I taught a class on Bible Survey, an inebriated drunkard named Joseph came to the door of the church just a few feet to my left and started shouting something in the Luganda language while waving a large tattered Bible over his head. Peter, our interpreter, motioned him to the back of the room, told him to keep quiet and that we would pray for him after the class. He quickly informed me what the man was shouting in his drunken state: “Long ago the bazungu (white people) came and preached here. They gave us Bibles, but most people sold them for money. I still have mine—here it is!” He had indicated that he wanted to give his life to Christ, so after thirty minutes of trying unsuccessfully to follow us quietly, we called him forward to pray for him.
Joseph looked at us somberly and with a slight slur declared that beer is wicked and that he was sick and tired of it ruining his life. He told us that all his money was thrown away on alcohol and that his life had fallen apart after backsliding into drunkenness years before. He knelt on a papyrus mat and lifted up his hands and we instructed him to pray a prayer of repentance. With large tears rolling down his face, he asked Jesus to forgive his every sin and to save his soul, and as I placed my hands on his head and chest, he looked into my eyes through his tears, a broken man.
With conviction heavy on his heart, he requested one of our school name tags that he could see on each of our shirts, explaining that after leaving the building, he wanted to be sure to declare to all he would meet that he really was a different person. We gladly obliged and promptly wrote on a new tag: “Mulokole,” (a Luganda word that indicates a person who has been born again) followed by his full name.
Joseph has re-joined the church after so many years of living for himself. He runs a small shop in town, and each week we stop by, greet him, pray with him, and encourage him in the Lord. A great transformation is coming to this small community as God’s people raise up a standard of righteousness and live for Him.