Armstrong Oryen: Outstanding Leader and Graduate of New Life Bible College

God rescues the weak from the fields of travail and prepares them to rescue, lead, and cultivate his kingdom. Armstrong Oryen grew up in such a field, an area called Pabo, during Uganda’s twenty-two year war led by the LRA’s Joseph Kony. His family was forced into an internally displaced persons camp (IDP) where they lived under harsh and desperate conditions. During those years, he survived on very little food and water, witnessed horrific atrocities against his family and friends, and watched the fiber of his entire culture disintegrate.

In the midst of this tragedy, God rescued Armstrong and he has triumphed in God’s grace. Armstrong accepted Jesus into his life, and as a young adult became a believer. Not only did he become a believer, but he became a voice for Christ as he started and pastored a small church in his community. When Favor of God Ministries first met Armstrong, Favor’s staff recognized his love for Christ, his exceptional leadership abilities, and his passion to advance the kingdom. Armstrong envisioned having a powerful ministry where he could grow and shepherd his flock and transform entire communities. Because he lacked Biblical training, discipleship, and a Bible, Armstrong struggled to fulfill his God-given purpose.

This is a picture of a New Life Bible College class in session.

A beautiful relationship formed when Armstrong attended one of Favor of God’s first Portable Bile Schools (PBS) in Pabo’s IDP Camp in 2005. He received general education as well as study in leadership development. He also received field training where he learned to identify and develop leaders within the Pabo IDP camp. He graduated from the PBS stronger and more knowledgeable in his Christian faith. It was a natural progression for Armstrong to become a candidate for the New Life Bible College.

Armstrong’s story continues in triumph. He graduated as an exemplary student from the New Life Bible College. He now helps pastor and oversee ten healthy and steadily growing churches in Pabo. In addition, Pastor Armstrong supports and encourages over 100 other pastors and churches in the National Fellowship of Born-Again Churches (NFBAC). He also organizes pastor training seminars and workshops.

Rescued from the field of the enemy, Armstrong, with the help of God and the visionaries of Favor of God’s New Life Bible College, is now a harvester of God’s kingdom.

Getting to know you

At Favor of God our motto is “transforming a nation by transforming a heart”. This transformation requires prayer and assistance from a vast number of people, some we know and some we’ve yet to meet.

We want to get to know you. We want to communicate with you, pray with you, and do whatever we can to build a relationship with you.

We have created a questionnaire to help us get to know you better. Please take a moment to go to this form and let us know who you are and how we can communicate with you.

Thank you all for being a part of this transformation.

Click here to open the online questionnaire

Nancy Alimo's Story

Nancy was born in 1999 in the Anaka Hospital. Sadly, her mother died three days after giving birth to her. After three months in the hospital, Nancy was given to her maternal grandmother who cared for her until she was five. Her father disappeared one day while walking to town. It is assumed that he was abducted by the LRA. Nancy and her grandmother lived in the Alero IDP Camp. On two occasions their hut was burned down by the rebels and they were often left homeless having to hide in the bush until their huts were rebuilt. At 5 years old, Nancy was taken to town by her maternal uncle so that she could start going to school. However the care provided for her was minimal as her uncle was an unemployed alcoholic. Nancy came to House of Hope through a referral from the Church of Uganda.

Since coming to House of Hope, Nancy has become a happy young girl who loves Jesus and her House of Hope family. She is one of the hardest workers at the home and is always done with her tasks before she is asked to do them whether it be her homework or something as simple as brushing her teeth. Even though she has seen many of the darker aspects of the human character, Nancy has also felt the love of others and wants to become a nurse so that she can share this love. She enjoys playing jump rope and has a big beautiful smile.

 If you are interested in sponsoring Nancy for $50/month, please email sponsorship@favorofgod.org. Please remember to include Nancy’s name in your email.

Find out more about Favor of God Ministries at www.favorofgod.org

Faith Aliamoon's Story

Faith was born only days before her father died. Her mother followed her father in death when she was five years old. That left Faith and her two siblings in the care of their paternal grandmother in her seventies who was caring for 10 other children, a situation not uncommon in Africa.

Favor of God Ministries learned of Faith and her family situation through the director of Life Ministries Uganda (Campus Crusade for Christ). At the time, the elderly grandmother was only able to provide one meal per day for the children and this was done with great difficulty. However, because there was only one opening at House of Hope, we were able to take only Faith into the House of Hope family.

Faith came to us with a chronic cough and emotional symptoms resembling a mental disorder. She is in great need of prayer and healing, in the natural and in the spiritual world. We are thankful that she now has a loving family in the House of Hope. Though she continues to battle her chronic illness she is learning how to socialize in school and make friends among her fellow House of Hope children.

If you are interested in sponsoring Faith for $50/month, please email sponsorship@favorofgod.org. Please remember to include Faith’s name in your email.

"A Look at the Business Side of FOG in Gulu"

Gulu, Uganda is a post war environment, and there is very little in the way of, “business as usual” like we are accustomed to here in the west. Once one visits Gulu it becomes very apparent what we in America can and do take for granted. Let me give you an idea of business in Uganda.

Electricity is not dependable and can be down for days on end. Forget calling the electric company because no one is there to answer the phone. Internet is not dependable, and it is very expensive to have it plumbed to your place of business. The most affordable option is to go into town and use a local internet café and pay by the hour. Computers are a great luxury and when available they are usually antiquated as are the computer programs. Computer literacy is not common and even hand held calculators are a luxury.

Imagine running your current business or household in these same conditions. Imagine your electricity and internet going down but there’s no one to call. All you can do is just grin and bare it.

Welcome to Gulu Uganda, and welcome to Favor of God’s world. FOG has about 60 staff. They are responsible for numerious evangelistic, medical, children, and leadership training ministries. Everyday there are numerous requests and pressures on the ministry, and everyday they operate using an antiquated system of hand written accounting and administration ledger system.

Recently they have been able to acquire computers thanks to our generous supporters, but now more hurdles arise. New software needs to be purchased and personnel needs to be trained. Additionally, transferring all the ministry’s handwritten data into the computer is a tedious and time consuming process. On going administration record keeping cannot be stopped while this data process is underway, so for a while at least they must live in both the hand written and electronic world simultaneously.

Supporting ministry infrastructure or administration technology is not as glamorous or as high profile as supporting our orphanage – we know. But it’s so vital and necessary when running a ministry in 2009. We hope this snapshot into the inner-workings of the ministry is helpful for you to get to know us a little bit better

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Judith – shown with a computer donated from Riverside, CA

How Will This War End?

One thing is indisputable: the war in northern Uganda is one of the
most tragic and horrific events in the world’s history. The LRA is not
currently located in Uganda, but they are very active in the
neighboring countries of D.R. Congo and southern Sudan. The LRA must
be stopped.

But, what will be the final solution? Should the governments of the
world intervene? Should Uganda, Congo, and Sudan bring down the
hammer? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. While the LRA is a
very evil entity, it is also comprised of thousands of involuntary
soldiers – many of them women and children.

The war of the LRA is a demonic one. Joseph Kony admits to receiving
his orders and power from evil spirits. It has been rumored that LRA
soldiers have suddenly disappeared as UPDF soldiers go in to attack.
When my husband visited Uganda last August, he asked a lady on the bus
about Joseph Kony. Her response was that the evil spirits have left
him, so he no longer has power. Whether or not that is true, in Uganda
it is common knowledge that this is a spiritual war.

When Favor of God began, the war was in full force in northern Uganda.
Favor of God started in order to bring hope and stop the evil. God’s
initial command to us was to “Turn the light on.” As we have been
obedient, we have witnessed northern Uganda change before our eyes.
There is still much to be done, but the region is changing
dramatically as the gospel goes out.

Favor of God is active in fighting this war. Sometimes our battles are
direct as we go into villages overrun by demons, pray for deliverance,
and lead people to Jesus. Sometimes it is indirect as we simply spread
the gospel, discipleship, and Biblical training in as many places as
possible. Sometimes it is focused on hope as we provide education,
business training, and a family for orphans. We believe this is how
the war will end. We will drive out the darkness with the strength of
the Light! And, take heart, for it is already working!

Beneath the Surface

This was borrowed from Jeremy and Cori’s blog. They are from the U.S.
and came to Gulu to work with Favor of God for one year. They have
been an incredible blessing. Here is a glimpse into northern Uganda
through their eyes.

“Most of the time, you would never know there was a horrible 20-year
war fought in this area… A war with hundreds of thousands of
abducted child-soldiers and sex slaves. A war where your neighbors’
children were somehow the enemy. A war that attacked innocent people
indiscriminately. A war that your own government was not fighting to
stop. Most of the time you’d never know…

Recently I’ve had the privilege of working with both children
and adults who are still silently suffering from this war. Largely
their fear has turned into emotional pain manifested in nightmares,
bed-wetting, headaches, etc. Children lack focus in school to the
point where one district had only one child out of a thousand pass the
national exam.

And yet through all of this trauma and destruction there is an amazing
amount of hope! People are incredibly welcoming and friendly. They
pray with a passion and expectancy I covet! They rejoice in all of the
small things I so often overlook.

Cori and I got to go on a Safari over the Christmas break which was
simply amazing. I noticed on the drive that one side of the road had
dry dead grass while the other had lush green grass growing. When I
asked our guide why he said it was because they had burned the green
section not long ago which encourages new grass to grow. I think this
is just what’s happening in Gulu and Northern Uganda. Through
all the pain and suffering God has produced incredibly fertile soil.
There is an unexplainable amount of hope I see around me and I’m
learning what it means when it says `And we know that in all things,
God works for the good of those who love Him.’ Romans 8:28.
You’d never know there was recently a fire in that section of
lush grass; you’d never know it…”

Here’s a link to the original post HEALING AND HOPE

Off Hiatus

Hey there, everyone!  Favor of God is glad to finally announce the end of our blogging hiatus and our return to the lonely FOG blog! You can expect to see much more communication from us including a more active blog and more information on FOG’s different ministries in the form of newsletters and other literature – all within the near future! We are working hard to give FOG a voice so that we can tell you all more about what God is doing for His people in northern Uganda.