Every day, due to a horrific war in northern Uganda, thousands of children and young adults are left orphaned and will face another day without the love and protection from parents, family, or community. They don’t even know the love of Jesus. In that same day, there are adults who have lived most of their lives in brutal war, where their main objective was to survive. They have no love to give because they have never known love. Please take 4 minutes out your day to watch this video and hear how you can be a part of Favor of God’s mission to stop this terrible cycle, and bring the revival of light and transformation, that we believe God has planned for this special nation.
The Favor of God Medical Clinic is off and running. We have already been able to treat many staff, House of Hope children and people from the Community.
You can read a previous blog post about the clinic here.
Posted: March 10th, 2010 | Author:admin | Filed under:Business
Many months ago teams visiting Favor of God and other supporters from the U.S. donated wedding dresses for the ministry to rent out and financially support some of the ministry we do. After storing them for so long, we are finally hanging them in the upstairs room of the mission house. This is a small business to the community of Gulu, and it’s the first of its kind in the north since most people have to travel to Kampala to rent a dress. We hope this will help generate a little income for some of the prison projects we have on our hearts.
Gulu Community: On February 16 we finally moved our Favor of God clinic into town. We have looked for over a year for a centrally located building to hold the clinic and finally found one with reasonable rent. The landlord is a doctor who works in Kampala, and he agreed to fix up the three-bedroom house for us. There is enough room for a treatment room, office/counseling room, storage room, small laboratory, sick room, and a reception/waiting area. What an answer to prayer!
The community needs to see loving treatment, value and respect for life, high quality of care, and the ministry of prayer and the Word along with medicine. These are nowhere combined in any medical facility in Gulu. We feel it is one more open door to be the light of the world right where God has placed us.
This clinic will be the hub for mobile medical clinics combined with evangelistic outreach and community health programs focused on prevention.
Mobile Outreach: Recently our medical team and a volunteer from Canada headed out into the bush to partner with another ministry in a medical outreach. Our team gave the services, and the other ministry provided the medicines and transportation. They saw over 600 people in 2 days, came back exhausted, but felt very enlarged again with the compassionate loving heart of our gracious Heavenly Daddy for all people!
At our House of Hope Children’s Home, one of our goals is to raise the children in the ways of the Lord. Every evening they sing and dance together in worship. They pray fervently for each other, their communities, their country, and the world. Another way we seek to nurture them in the love of God is through community outreach. They treasure this time spent ministering in the marketplace and to neighbors.
Recently we learned of a desperate family situation. A mother in the community abandoned her four small children and left them with a crippled and disabled father who makes only a few shillings repairing shoes. Hope, the House of Hope director, went to see the situation and found these four little ones from three to eight years old in a filthy environment, hungry, and unkept. We prayed how we were to be involved.
God led us to a nanny who could come in and care for them, and we hired her services. She has already transformed the simple dwelling into a clean and humble home. The children now have food, the nanny will come daily for their care, and the father is encouraged.
We wish there was room in our home for all these little children, but the house is full! The village will be built this year as the first team arrives from Australia in September! But even though our rooms are full, there is still room in our hearts for all these precious little ones. As the Father has loved us, so we love them. The bread and fish are broken again, to be divided with yet a few more! Lord, keep it multiplying, for there are so many still hungry!
Please pray with these children for individuals and families in northern Uganda. We would love to hear your stories if you would like to leave a comment.
Favor of God Ministries and our New Life Bible College is centered around the Great Commission. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20). We are passionate about the lost meeting Jesus.
One of our goals is that the New Life Bible College would be training church and community leaders who will spread the gospel and make disciples throughout Uganda. But ultimately, we don’t want it to stop there. As we teach about the Great Commission, our students are very excited to be the vessels that go into the ends of the earth.
Jesus’ second coming won’t become a reality until every tribe and tongue have had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Favor of God and the New Life Bible College are encouraging and training Ugandans to be a part of that exciting present and future. Many countries in the yet unreached 10/40 window are African countries. Ugandan Christians are very well-equipped and suited for outreach to their African neighbors. The New Life Bible College is encouraging Ugandan leaders to seek God to see if they are called to Uganda, neighboring African countries, or beyond. We are confident that God wants to use the people of Uganda for his kingdom in new and surprising ways.
Favor of God’s New Life Bible College began with the strong conviction that God wants to raise up leaders in every country and community. Many people in northern Uganda have never heard of the name of Jesus and still do not know His saving power. They don’t know hope, and they are in bondage to what their surroundings offer them – despair, witch doctors, fear, anger, and poverty.
Who should reach out to these people? Who is the most powerful witness when preaching to a people who have suffered so greatly? Obviously, God can use anyone and anything. He can use someone from 5,000 miles away or he can use a tree or rock to declare his message. But, we also believe that God wants to use the Ugandan people to reach their own people.
They speak the same language, for the most part. The people being reached have no prejudice, good or bad, because of a different country origin or a different color of skin. They share the same history. They have a collective understanding of fears, anger, and hindrances to forgiveness. Ugandan Christians have personal stories of deliverance and present hope and joy that are powerful among their people!
New Life Bible College began in 2005 and since has sent out hundreds of leaders believing that northern Uganda can be changed by the power of the gospel. And we continue on as we have seen that transformation occurring and have a steadfast hope for more.
Favor of God’s New Life Bible College has the vision and desire to train Ugandans to minister to and lead their own people and also to train Ugandans who are called to go into unreached areas. It is the only Bible and Christian Leadership College in northern Uganda. Currently, in order for northern Ugandan students to get an equal education, they have to travel six hours by bus to colleges in the South.
NLBC offers a one-year certificate and a two-year diploma school for pastors, church leaders, and laymen. It focuses on the following Biblical training: doctrine, homiletics, worship, family living, evangelism, pastoral care, church growth, prayer, Christian leadership, practical application of the Word, and vocational skills for bi-vocational ministry. The main New Life Bible College is located in Gulu with two other satellite campuses throughout northern Uganda.
The recent violence and war in northern Uganda has had a devastating effect on education in that region. Beginning in 1986, the LRA brutalized villages for twenty-two years. Many children who reached school age and hoped to begin their education were instead forced into the protection of IDP camps. Camp conditions were horrible and provided no opportunity for education. The ravages of the war forced many other children to abandon their education and when the war was finally over, a whole generation of young adults lacked very basic academic skills. These statistics illustrate the scale of the problem: in 1998, Gulu district enrolled 93,679 pupils in Universal Primary Education, but only 38,762 students remained in school.
Poverty has also had a devastating effect on education. Few people have a primary education and still fewer have advanced to secondary levels. Out of the 91.6% of the people who live in rural areas, only 29.6% of the female population is literate, and almost 40% of the total population has never been to school.
This lack of education has immensely affected the churches in the north. Most leaders and pastors have had no formal academic or spiritual training. Many gave their lives to Jesus and soon were leading churches but had very little knowledge of the Bible. The New Life Bible College has provided many of these pastors with the educational and spiritual training they lacked. Read these testimonies from New Life Bible College students:
“I was not really saved until I joined the college. Finally my eyes could really see the truth. My heart hurts to see that a lot of leaders are not leading but destroying lives of God’s children.”
“I experienced a great change in my life when I went back after the first training session. My congregation asked me what had happened to me because the way I spoke was totally different. Before my relationship with my wife was bad, but I was able to confess to my wife that I was wrong and ask for forgiveness.”
“I thought I was saved until the pastoral theology was taught about character and integrity. I had my pastor books since 2002 that I did not return, but I was able to return all the books and even paid debts that I’ve never been able to pay and asked for forgiveness. Before I never gave my time to my wife or my children. I could not enjoy my home. But now, after just the first training, my family enjoys my fatherhood. I am excited to complete all of the courses.”
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.
