Hair Clippers and a Refugee

Elias Sandiga felt God calling him to become a missionary. He had been an Anglican priest for a number of years, but was dissatisfied with his evangelistic efforts. God called him out and to Kagwada (Kah-gwa-duh) as a missionary. During his time as a refugee, he got to know folks from Kagwada and developed a heart for them. He led the way in Kagwada, by himself.

Early on, Kagwada had problems with discipleship and church planting. Candidly, Elias struggled with how to be a church planter/missionary. He found Kagwada very difficult. The people were hard, deep into traditional beliefs, and consumed with alcoholism.

In mid-2009, we sent David Sanya to join Elias. We realized it was a crucial mistake to send Elias alone. David and Elias encouraged one another and worked well together, but they still struggled to plant a church. After a few months, David fell ill with severe ulcers. It got so bad, we pulled him off the field, hospitalized him, and sent him home to rest.

In David’s place, we sent Jackson Mogga, and everything changed. But first, a quick story about a young disciple who’s father tried to kill him for turning to Christ. So I don’t retype it, you can read that one here.

Back to Jackson. He brought hand-powered hair clippers with him. He began to give the children free haircuts. While cutting hair, he told them bible stories and about Jesus. Then he began to teach them reading, English, and math as well. The chiefs found out and blessed Jackson. They told the community they wanted every child at the church plant every Sunday. The community loves them now. They’re begging them for more.

This week, to meet this outcry, we’re loading the 7-ton lorry with over 50 people from Kajo Keji. All the Bible school students and many more. They’ll evangelize, disciple, preach, teach. Everything. Lay the groundwork for future trips with teams from California and Coppell, Texas.

The Refugee
Last week David called me with a story. In Northern Uganda, they encountered a man who had converted to Islam a few years ago. The Muslims in the area were so excited about his conversion, they immediately sent him away to a Madrassa. He was given an Islamic education and trained to evangelize for Islam. When he returned to Uganda, he was showered with more gifts including a home, a vehicle and wives. All of this in exchange for his evangelistic efforts for Islam.

Then he met Jesus. He immediately believed in Christ and wanted to turn everything over to Him. He realized that because of his betrayal of Islam and the investment made in him, he would be put to death if found out. So pray for this man. We’ve taken him and his children into hiding into our network. We gave his children some medical attention and we are discipling him how to follow Christ now.

Posted by on 01/28 at 07:42 AM

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