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When I read Fan that Flame, I was reminded of the boyhood experience of lighting a charcoal stove. After adding the charcoal and a few hot coals, we would point the stove’s mouth in the direction of the wind and let the wind do the fanning till all the charcoal were glowing hot.
The title is a symbolic call to heed Jesus Christ’s challenge to all men to go to all nations making disciples of all people (Matthew 28). While many look at it as the church’s mandate, you and I must as well get involved to bring the Kingdom of God here on earth portrayed in the Lord’s Prayer.
The author is involved already, considering that on top of being a medical doctor at Kabale Hospital, he’s also a minister of the gospel at Lift Up Jesus Church, where he heads the departments of Radio Evangelism and Discipleship. He is also a conference speaker based in Kabale district from whence he hails, and a husband to one wife, Rachel Luwaga Nduhukire and the father of one son, Joshua Musinguzi, who he is raising to become a responsible citizen.
In the preface, Dr Nduhukire employs the analogy of an army of believers on the battle front, each “fighting as if the outcome of the battle entirely depends on him. This army is such a great force, no longer having enough time to be divided along denominational, cultural or racial lines. They have one message and it is urgent: ‘Jesus saves.’”
In the battle of winning souls; the battle of advancing the Kingdom of God on earth, he argues the point that passion must override everything if we are to win the war against the ills that make this world a dreaded place to live in. Let the combatants infiltrate schools, hospitals, political corridors, factories, banks and homes in every area code winning souls that will help transform a world that is in desperate need of redemption.
Published by Worldwide Harvesters’ Network last year, the 165-page book is broken down in 18 chapters that if summed up come to this: that each one of us has a heritage in God, and indescribable privileges if we quit getting distracted by carnal delights and focus on the things that matter; the things of God, through a daily walk with Jesus Christ as our personal saviour.
He asserts that focusing on God, who is mightier than human limitations is the only way the rootless children of this world; the orphans, the abandoned, the poor, the diseased, the lonely, the unsuccessful, the addicted, the imprisoned, and the guilty will find meaning in life and have some unfailing hope to cling to in spite of their daily tribulations.
Recognising that you’re a child of God, with the DNA of God, the author writes, helps one begin to understand that we have everything we need to do “wonderful deeds and display perfection of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
As far as books on evangelism get, Fan that Flame is up among the very best in Uganda on account of the author’s entertaining but deeply stirring style. Rebecca Manley Pippert, author of the popular book, Out of the Saltshaker, puts it aptly when she calls Dr Nduhukire’s book “passionate, provocative and prophetic."
--Saturday Monitor, April 07, 2012
