Looking back on Uganda

We are in Ukraine now! What an answer to prayer as the Lord continues to go before us and prove Himself faithful. He has worked out so many details and logistics to get us back here, we can't help but see His hand in it all. 

Before we write more about Ukraine, I wanted to write one last blog post about Uganda. I wanted to write about a young man named Jamal. The Lord really has impressed on my heart to share some of Jamal's story and how the Lord connected us in Uganda.

Looking back and reflecting on our time in Uganda, I see many reasons why God took us down there for six and half months. Many lessons the Lord taught me. Lots of growing in my faith and growing closer to Him during that time. I know that God brought us there to be used as well. We had some awesome opportunities to share Christ's love and teach His Word with people there. Even with all of this that happened, I believe that one of the main reasons God took me to Uganda for that season was to meet Jamal. 

I met Jamal the first day we arrived in Entebbe because he was the day guard for the compound we were to live in. I remember meeting him and greeting him, at that time not knowing he was going to become a close friend of mine. 

Jamal worked in our compound six days a week, twelve hours a day. Needless to say, we saw him a lot and got to know him fairly quickly. As I began to get to know him, I started to hear about his past and his testimony. 

Jamal grew up in Northern Uganda, the oldest boy of a large family. He grew up in a Muslim home. However, when he was in school his father passed away. This effected Jamal in many ways as he now had to become the provider for his household. Without going into detail, Jamal ended up in a very rough area of life. He was living on the streets of Uganda's capital, Kampala, far from home, with no money, job, or food. And he had dropped out of secondary school.  

Soon realizing that there was no life for him in Kampala, he set out on foot towards Entebbe. As he was telling me this story, he told me that he began to question his own life. Was life really worth living? Wouldn't it be better if he was just dead? However, somehow, he kept moving towards Entebbe. 

Entebbe wasn't much better than Kampala. He was still in the same situation. Homeless, without work, money, and food. He began to wonder what was the point of his Islamic faith. He also began to look back on his experiences on the streets and he started to realize there was a true and living God that was somehow taking care of him and giving him the strength to move forward. 

As he was in Entebbe, sitting next to Lake Victoria, a group of believers from Calvary Chapel Entebbe were playing soccer. They invited him to play and before he knew it, they were talking to him the about Jesus. He told me at that point he knew he needed to be saved and that God had already been at work in his life during these hardships. He accepted Jesus that day as his savior! 

This happened in December of 2013 - so when I met Jamal, he was still a fairly new believer, but excited to learn more from the Lord. 

So, I began to pray about what the Lord wanted me to do. Here was a young believer, who worked where I lived, twelve hours a day, six days a week - what an awesome opportunity to build a relationship based on God's Word and prayer! I asked Jamal if he would be interested in meeting on a regularly basis to read the Word and pray together. He said yes. So I asked him how often, and he replied "how about everyday?" Done! 

During our time in Uganda, we went through a large portion of the New Testament together. Just reading, discussing, and reflecting on the Word. It was so cool to see God continuing to grow him and to see his excitement for the Lord. Jamal played a huge role in my life as well. This whole past year was a difficult year for us and it was so encouraging for me to just be in the Word and prayer with Jamal on a daily basis through that season. God gave to us a friendship that really built us up, that was based on Him.

Please be praying for Jamal as he is going into a new season of life as well. Pray for him as he is back in secondary school. He is hoping to graduate by the end of this year. Pray for the financial needs that he has. Life is still tough for him. However, my biggest prayer for Jamal is his heart for ministry. He has a heart to go back to northern Uganda, the Muslim area where he grew up, and share Jesus with the people there. Pray that the Lord continues to equip him for this huge vision! 

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" Ephesians 2:10

Blessings!

Byron 

Emily and I with Jamal