Closed for Business but Open for the Gospel

By James Byakika

In Uganda, we had floods, mudslides, and then locust swarms which came and destroyed all the crops in northern Uganda. The resulting homelessness, lack of food, and no money led to starvation for many even before the Coronavirus came here. Because of the severity of the virus, we were all put on lockdown. Unprepared, we had to stay at home with no food, no water, and no power.

People are very open to talk about the Lord with me and many of them have given their lives to the Lord. When I was invited to speak to prisoners, 37 out of 87 of them gave their life to Jesus. I believe God has put fear into the people because of the virus. I was able to share the Word of God over the radio and many called me afterward to lead them to the Savior in confession and prayer. People’s hearts have been softened and they are literally asking me how they can be saved.

It has been a blessing to me to see the people working alongside me serving together in unity. We thank God for our volunteers who use their motorcycles to collect and deliver the lessons to our students. Their parents now have time during this lockdown to begin reading the lessons with their children, and we thank God that three of the parents were saved after reading the lessons. These volunteers who take the lessons are not being paid by the government during this time because they are not teaching. They are sacrificially giving during this very difficult time, and some at the expense of feeding their families. Please continue to pray for us!