Moments of Salvation

We drove down the red clay road no wider than the tires of local boda bodas (motorcycle taxi) in a fourteen passenger van. The rain clouds were rolling in faster than we made our way down the makeshift road. My mom, friend from the States named Lura, Ugandan friend Lisa, and I all prayed the rain would hold off long enough for God to do something in the hearts of Lisa's Muslim family. I once visited this family, and was able to share the scene of the Throne Room of God with them. Because of the rain, I needed to leave before I was stuck in the village. Lisa faithfully ministered to her family, and used her trials in life to teach them the hope of Christ. We did not want to be chased away by the rain again.

We pulled up to their twenty by thirty foot home, and as the children swarmed us with hugs and love, rain began to fall on our faces. We were already there, and could not leave the moment we arrived. So we crowded into the smallest sitting room imaginable. Ten women and countless number of children squeezed into a room about the size of a king sized bed. I had the pleasure of sharing with the women Romans 10, which talks about salvation coming from a belief in your heart. I shared how belief from the heart is a desire. I said, “we may know it is time for a meal, and we believe that we will only get that meal if we make it. But that does not mean we have a desire to cook the food. We may want to eat, but our heart is not in it. To receive salvation, we must have that desire in our hearts.” Not knowing how this was all being taken in, I opened our time up for questions.

In that moment, the rain fell so hard from the sky onto the tin roof above our heads, that we went from conversation to staring at each other. The rain fell and fell. The conversation never returned to the passage we read, and I was completely content with that turn of events. I know God uses His Holy Scripture to penetrate deep in the hearts of all people. Small talk and crying babies filled the small home for a couple hours with a few interruptions from more torrential down pours of rain. Soon, they fed us sweet potatoes and g-nut sauce, a delicious local dish!

As we finished our food, we knew we needed to try and leave. The makeshift road was a soggy mess after so much rain, and I was not confident enough in my abilities to make it out of the village. As they loaded us up with sugar cane, avocados, bananas, and pumpkins, Lisa's sister said she wanted to confess Jesus as her Savior! We prayed, cried tears of joy, hugged, and shouted! Only angels could be more excited than us. Once things calmed down a little, Lisa's mom came forward as well! Once again, tears, hugs, shouts! An instant change came upon that home. Every time I see Lisa's mom, she had a very reserved look on her life. I know her life is very difficult. I cannot imagine dealing with what she must on a daily basis. Once we finished praying, her face was full of joy! God came into that home on that rainy afternoon. Salvation found the lost hearts, and they will forever be changed for the better.

Soon we slipped and slid down the soggy clay roads, as we made the trek back to Jinja. The roads were dangerous, but not a single one of us regretted our decision to stay.