The September 2013 Race routes are closing soon. So we thought we'd make sure you know just how special they are. Each of the three remaining routes feature countries where past World Racers have seen God do amazing things. They've left pieces of their hearts in these nations, and their prayer is always the same – for someone else to follow God's call to go continue the work where they left off.
Today's featured country is Uganda. When many people hear Uganda, they think of Joseph Kony, child soldiers, and years of brutal war. Uganda has a dark past with many gruesome atrocities committed against children, and Angela McKenzie, of the September 2012 L Squad, tells how there is still work to be done.
Child Sacrifice. It’s real, it’s happening today, and most of the world believes it is just a gruesome ritual of the past.
But it’s not, and you need to know what’s happening in your world. Without awareness there can be no change. But thanks to ministries like Kyampisi Childcare, partners like us, and other ministries, slowly but surely awareness is growing.
(Alan, age 10, has a scar where he was chopped with a machete when kidnappers attempted to behead him)
We are working with Kyampisi this month, and their main focus is ending child sacrifice. The ministry works with other ministries to go undercover to cults and witch doctors to find children and save them. In the home I live in this month we have three children who were rescued, and there are other children who have been returned to their parents.
I want to tell you every child’s story but I’ll choose just one.
Her name is Hope.
She was kidnapped when she was 18 months old. Her hands and feet were tied behind her back for almost two years. Part of her tongue was cut out. Her blood was drained repeatedly throughout the years, and her organs were most likely tampered with.
All this for witch craft and good luck. She is seven years old, but she doesn’t appear to be a day over three or four. She is severely traumatized and brain damaged. She was not born with brain damage, but due to what was done to her she appears at first glance to have cerebral palsy.
Here at Kyampisi she is loved, receives physical therapy, and is being rehabilitated. She has come a long way, and we praise God that she was saved.
However, there are still many other children being sacrificed and treated like animals. Other children have had their organs taken out, holes drilled through their brains, limbs cut off, genitals cut off, decapitated, and many other unimaginable atrocities.
Every child has a different story, but in the end they are all the same. They were kidnapped and taken to be used as a sacrifice. Those who sacrifice children believe children are pure, and sacrificing them will bring them prosperity and wealth.
Kyampisi has made a documentary where you can see the stories of other children I live with. The BBC also did a short video report on Child Sacrifice here in Kyampisi, Uganda. They are currently working on another video that they get to present to the United Nations this year. The prayer is that the UN will be moved to take action.
Angela and her team are helping raise money for Hope's recovery and for Alan to have a much needed brain surgery. In countries like Uganda, Racers sometimes come face to face with heartbreaking atrocities like child sacrifice and get opportunities to help through advocacy. They get to use their blogs to connect people back home to people around the world who need help.
And you could be next.
The September 2013 Route 4 is going to Uganda, and if you want to be on it all you have to do is apply here.
