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.
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