Uganda and Answers to Prayer
By Rev. Steve Monahan
Ponchatoula, Louisiana, USA
About eighteen months ago I was watching a video on the terrible plight of Christian believers in the nation of Sudan, Africa. I was reminded of the words of Hosea 4:6a: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” I knew that all western missionaries had been expelled from Sudan years ago, that very few Christians in the southern Sudan owned Bibles, and that they all were living in conditions of extreme poverty. Furthermore, I was painfully aware of multitudes killed or maimed for refusing to renounce Jesus Christ.
I know that those who suffer and die for their faith are the greatest of overcomers. Nevertheless, I asked the Lord if it would not also be a great witness to the oppressors if wounded saints were healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. I implored God to send teachers to East Africa to give His people clear instruction on the gifts of the Spirit. With that knowledge, they could demonstrate to the worshipers of other gods that Jehovah dwells in power in the midst of His church.
I should mention that as I prayed about this matter, I was certainly not thinking “Here am I; send me.” Even the thought of going to Africa violated my “comfort zone” in a big way. It’s so easy to ask the Father to put someone else to work! But what do you do when He swings the door to ministry wide open and says, “All right, GO!”?
The answer is pretty easy to figure out. You go. Even if you feel nervous and unqualified, and you realize your contribution will be that of an assistant and trainee, you go. And that is what was in my heart last year when Tim invited me to accompany him to Tanzania, East Africa where he was to teach the Weapons of Our Warfare. I didn’t feel there was any other choice than to go.
One of the highlights of our trip to Tanzania was our providential meeting with a remarkable Ugandan missionary named Henry Musana. After hearing a portion of the class, Henry told us that this kind of teaching would bring tremendous benefit to the very evangelically-minded church in his homeland. It wasn’t long after our return home that Tim received the invitation to minister there.
A key factor in the success of a Bible teaching mission is a group of ready, willing students; people not hardened by religious tradition and able to receive a greater, deeper truth than they already knew. With regard to the things that I had been praying for, it seemed that it would be necessary to meet men and women who were willing to be inconvenienced and even endangered for the sake of the gospel. Such were some of the Christians that we met and ministered to during our visit in Uganda.
Over the last eighteen years, Uganda has been transformed from a place of ruin and despair to a free country in which many are experiencing a measure of prosperity. It is a nation reborn. The Church, which suffered greatly in the past and especially during the murderous 8 ½ year reign of Idi Amin, is a vibrant body seemingly bursting with men and women who are using their freedom along with such resources as they have for the furtherance of the Gospel. Are they some kind of super-Christians, whose every move and motive is perfectly upright all the time?
Of course not – they are human beings, fighting the battle against iniquity just like the rest of us. Nevertheless, it was among them that we found earnest young ministers who wanted nothing more from us than the Word that we brought, and who were thankful to be taught simple and plain truth concerning spiritual gifts. There were men who had ministered in neighboring countries and had preached the gospel in cities, towns, and remote villages. They wanted to be equipped to serve more effectively.
We were prompted by the Spirit to warn our Ugandan brethren about the pitfalls associated with prosperity, that they should not be trapped by it. After all, look what material prosperity has done to the American Church at large. At the conclusion of the class in Mbale, a brother expressed his appreciation for the ministry of Workers Together With Him. He glorified God, saying, “Others have come from the West to teach about the delight of the Gospel, but you are the first to teach about the demand of the Gospel.” A pastor told us, “There are so many preachers in Africa and so few teachers,” and he praised God for bringing us to his country.
In both of the classes on The Weapons of Our Warfare, one in the capital city of Kampala and one in Mbale, many, many students were easily helped to begin speaking in tongues. I believe that was due in large part to the fact that so many of them were relatively young in the faith and free from religious oppression. Please pray for the Ugandan Church that they won’t develop too many traditions or become systematized.
There appears to be a door open in Uganda and perhaps in neighboring countries, for effectual ministry. The possibility of conferences which would consist of a week of focused instruction and “hands on” training is very real. This would be a very specific answer to prayer. Again I ask you to pray the Father that He would pave the way for these things to happen and provide protection against any interference or corruption.
As I close this excited little report, allow me to temper it with a bit of hard reality. Our trip to Uganda, although filled with joy and blessings and sweet fellowship, was also filled with object lessons in the necessity of being “wise as serpents, harmless as doves.” The enemies of righteousness are everywhere. Satan never rests. This is war and you can never be both a tourist and a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The focus of these African adventures certainly isn’t fun although there is fun to be had. It isn’t fellowship either though fellowship with the brethren is precious, indispensable. The focus is truth and the power and wisdom of God through Jesus Christ, without whom we can do nothing. We have no reason to have faith in ourselves or anyone else. It’s God alone who can be trusted. If we forget this, all our efforts are failed before we begin.
From the April 2004 edition of the Vine & Branches
© Workers Together With Him, Inc.