Today was our first day doing school ministry in Uganda…
After we arrived at our first school, we all piled out of the hot van, each gasping for a cool breath of fresh air, and began making our way to the school’s auditorium. Their auditorium wasn’t quite like the ones we are used to back in the states – it was a long, free-standing building, with windows that lined two sides. Inside it was empty, with the exception of a small table toward the front of the room. As we walked in, we were met with a wave of heat similar to that of a sauna. It was obvious that no one had been in that building for a while or at least for that day. As we slowly fought through the heat wave and walked in, we quickly made our way to each window and began pushing every window open to allow some sort of ventilation.
Not too long after we walked in, students began to file into the auditorium. Some students were carrying chairs to sit on while most were just walking through with the intention of standing through our presentation. The process of students filing into the auditorium seemed to take quite a while – at which point I asked one of them, how many students attended school here? The young girl that I asked, said she didn’t know, but told me just several hundred. As I batted my eyes with disbelief as to the number of students I would be speaking to, I took one last opportunity to step away and ask God for the clarity and the words to say that would make the most impact on the lives of the students.
I quickly returned to the building and continued waiting for the remaining number of students to file in. As we were waiting we began to notice that the students weren’t just coming in to the building and finding a place to sit or stand but instead they were lining the front – almost to the point of standing on one other. I suppose you could equate this to people at a concert. Typically, and depending on where the concert is being held, everyone seems to push themselves toward the front and pack their bodies in with everyone else’s to the point of no personal space and no breathing room. It was actually quite flattering and funny to watch.
As we began our presentation, one of the school leaders and a couple of the church leaders began to talk to the rowdy crowd. Basically, just thanking us for being there and letting the students know why we were there. Next, each of us – my teammates and I – went down the line introducing ourselves to the crowd and thanking them for allowing us to be there.
We opened up with a song I used to do back in Vacation Bible School, and to be honest I haven’t heard it since, called the Hallelujah Song, to get the students attention and to get them involved and excited. We followed up with a few more songs, one of which we learned here in Uganda, called Katunda Murunjie. After the final song, it seemed apparent that we had captured everyone’s attention, their enthusiasm was high, and they were ready for more something.
Finally, it was my turn to step up to the stage and share what God laid on my heart. Prior to this moment, I had an idea as to what I was going to do – but couldn’t quite figure out how it was going to flow. I grabbed a few verses and held on to them tightly in my mind with the hopes of retrieving them when the right time came. I used this opportunity to share a little about my life as I figured of all the things I could say, they might be able to relate to my testimony the best. I started from the beginning and worked my way to the present making sure to hit all the highlights and to use those verses I referenced earlier. I then I closed with one last verse, Ecclesiastes 12:1 – Remember your creator in the days of your youth. I wanted to hit home the point that they, as young people, always need to keep God/Jesus in the forefront of their minds in everything they do. That life and trials are going to come and decisions are going to need to be made. And the decisions they make will ultimately determine the direction their life goes. So it is imperative that they keep God/Jesus in the forefront of their minds and make their decisions based on what the Bible says and what Jesus would do. By doing this, they will remain in God’s will and avoid the heartache and the trouble the world has to offer.
Once I finished my message, our interpreter and friend Michael, gave an invitation for anyone who wanted to receive Christ as their Savior and desired to be born again. He asked them to come forward and to make their way to the front so that we recognize them and pray with them. At first it seemed as though no one was going to come forward, and we were just going to wrap things up, pray, and dismiss everyone back to their classes. However, not soon after that thought ran through my mind, one of the high school girls stepped out of the crowd and came forward. She made her way to the front and when she reached us, she said something that I will never forget, she said, “I don’t want to go through what he went through in my life”. She said that she wanted to receive Christ so that she would be delivered/spared from such a mess. I didn’t really think about her response at first, but instead, I was more interested in her decision for Christ. As we pulled her to the side and began to explain the salvation prayer to her, two more girls stepped out from the crowd and made their way to the front – each confessing their desire to receive Christ and make Him the Lord of their life. We then explained to the three of them the salvation prayer and what is necessary in order to receive Christ as their Savior. We prayed with them, introduced them to the crowd of their peers and encouraged them in their decision.
After the final word had been spoken and all of the students were dismissed from the auditorium, I began to think about what the first girl who came forward had said. She said, “I don’t want to go through what he went through in my life”. Basically, my story scared her to the point where she wanted to surrender her life to something/Someone bigger and better. It scared her straight…. to Jesus.
I had never thought about it that way before. I had never thought about our testimonies being something that would scare someone into the realization of what might happen without Christ in your life. I had always just thought of it as a way to show people how Christ’s love delivered us from whatever pit we had fallen into and how we had been redeemed through his blood. Either way though, that’s ultimately what it’s all about – using our life stories of struggle, pain, heartache, etc to show how Christ’s love redeemed us and lifted us from the pit we’ve fallen into – to reach more people for Christ and to further the Kingdom. And no matter how the listener receives it or how it opens their eyes to reality, as long as it brings the Lord glory – it’s all good.
