My ministry this month in Uganda are packed with door-to-door evangelism and open air Gospel crusades. My team, Aletheia has been working alone with a local pastor in Bugiri, Pastor George, who is passionate to share the Gospel with earnest to all those who don’t know Jesus.
No more “lazy” Sundays … My Sundays don’t look the same they did back in the States. We start every Sunday with a four hour church service. Yep. 4 hours. This is how it is in Africa. It’s mostly singing and worship in Losoga, the local dialect. And because we’re visitors, they invite us to preach in their churches. So the four hours are filled with songs, someone from my team teaching a Bible lesson, more songs and prayer and more songs, then one of us preaching for an hour, but always with a translator which turns into an hour sermon, then one of the many pastors we know summarizes what we’ve preached and they preach it for a while. At 1pm, we head back to our place for lunch and then off to the prison to preach and share more from our hearts with the prisoners, then off to the hospital for a few hours where we pray over all the sick. We get back for supper, which we learned is “evening tea” and bread and butter, then dinner at 9:00pm.
During the week, we’ve been going from village to village and door-to-door – or really hut-to-hut because there are usually no doors on the huts but long fabrics hanging in the doorway.
We walk along long dirt roads under the bright hot African sun and say “Cody” before approaching each hut. Cody means “excuse me”. Then we greet them with Abary (how are you?) and they reply Missouri (I’m fine). I was taken aback when all the young girls I would meet would kneel before me on the ground extending their hand to greet me. Then I learned its cultural. Of course, you don’t see boys doing this. Only girls.
I love meeting people and getting to talk with them in their homes. It’s typical for the mother or the kids to drag out all of their some chairs for us to sit in as they sit on the ground or on a potato sack or grass mat. I’m not a preacher in my normal life, so striking up conversations with those I meet (with my translator Mary – who’s also the worship leader at Pastor Georges church) can be a bit of a stretch., especially for introverts. But ya know, God always gives me some story or word that I end up sharing from the heart. Because the families are so open and welcoming to us to come and visit with them, they are usually grateful with anything we come to say to them. So this makes it easier to just sit and have deep conversations about life and God with the Ugandans I meet.
I don’t usually do this in the States, but then again, most Americans are so used to salesmen coming to their doors for something that many don’t even open their doors to strangers, let alone invite them inside, give them the best seats in the house, or talk about deep spiritual things. But Africa is different.
After a week of doing door-to-door evangelism, leading 50 + kids at a time with action songs, and having everyone bring their sick to us to pray for and not seeing immediate results, I started to get a little fried – outside by the sun and inside. The door-to-door evangelism starting to feel like, as my team mate Angi put it, Speed Salvation. Kinda like speed dating, but this is speed salvation. I’ve been believing God and trusting him for more than I have before. Confident that he can do what he says he can do in the Bible. So I’ve been believing him that he can heal and make the lame walk and bring life to those without it. I know and I’m confident he can do it. But after not seeing as much fruit as I thought I’d be with all this extra faith I have now, I begin to wonder if God really heals instantly or if it’s more of a gradual thing, or if he simply wants me to be faithful in asking him for healing regardless of the results.
I woke up one day not really wanting to go door to door again, but I went anyway and was encouraged
with some great hut visits. Then I met Gertrude. I got to share with Gertrude about God’s immense love by what He did on the cross for her. I shared stories from my life and what God had done to redeem me. At the end of our conversation, Gertrude asked how she can receive Christ in her life again, along with her 4 grandchildren. See, Gertrude had been a follower of Christ before, but had let go of her faith and walked away from God. She was deathly sick the day before I met her, but told me that Jeff and Angi came to visit her and prayed healing over her and left. What they didn’t know and what she told me was she got healed instantly. Her healing and seeing God manifest in someone else is what led her back to the one that loves her more than anyone in the world.
Two people who prayed for someone else, faithful to believe God could do and left the results to God.
One person who visited her in her home and talked about love, hope, forgiveness, and life.
The result?
One person who saw God in other people, healed from sickness, and soul awakened to life again.
I saw Gertrude later that day and every day since with the biggest smile and warm presence.
Does God still heal? Yes. Does God still save and restore lives? Yep.
