According to the full gospel

Using the case of the missionary founder of Full Gospel Church, Dennis D. Muhumuza illustrates how Christians can devote their lives to living by Christ’s example.

In 1960, Pr Hugh Layzell and his wife Audrey left the comfort of their home in Vancouver, Canada, to bring the gospel to Uganda. They held their first crusade under a mango tree in Nakawa, and the open-air meetings spread to other Kampala suburbs and many people got saved. One of those who got born-again was Princess Muggale, the sister to Kabaka Muteesa I. In 1962, she represented the Kabaka at the official opening of the first Pentecostal Church in Uganda—Makerere Full Gospel Church which the Layzell’s planted on Makerere Hill.

A moment of prayer at Makerere Full Gospel Chruch

Over 50 years later, not only has the church immensely grown, its founder is one of the Christians running their race to win. Pr Layzell, now in his 80s, is still strong and preaching the gospel fervently. Following Layzell’s example, Pr Fred Wantaate says believers must continuously examine their lives and be careful how they live because the times are evil, and the temptations to stray are many. Those who fall during the race should pick themselves up and resume the race instead of giving up.

“When things don’t go according to your expectation as they are bound to sometimes because of the different terrains we run over, stay in the race; run with the patience of a farmer who stays in the field working even when the rain is pouring down because he has work to finish. The rain should not stop you either. Know that you are in this for a long haul and determine to complete the race.”

Wantaate adds that some Christians miss the mark when they start comparing themselves to those who are seemingly doing well. “No need to get discouraged because someone is succeeding ahead of you. God has gifted us differently and the grace He has granted you to run your race is enough to bring you victory if you stay focused and don’t get disqualified for straying into another’s lane hoping it’s easier there.”

The overall secret to winning the Christian race is to keep our eyes on Jesus. Paul the apostle compares the Christian life to a race that we should run and never quit (Hebrews 12:1). Those who know the rigours of training for a race later alone running it understand that Paul is not talking about a walk in the park. Only those who finish the race will win what the Bible calls the “unfading crown”.

So what can I do to complete the race? Lay aside the barriers to progress. Remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall,” says Paul.

Most of these obstacles may seem harmless yet they choke the fire in our lives from blazing. It could be a job that keeps you too busy to pray or read the Bible, it could be the weekend movie that keeps replaying images of carnality in your mind, it could be a relationship that makes you compromise your standards of chastity or fidelity is a weight designed by the devil to slacken your progress on the race.

“The devil is very smart,” says Pr Wantaate. “He may not stop you from being a Christian but he may make you miss the best God has for you. If the devil weighs you down enough to finish last or second last instead of first, he has won at least a partial victory.”

When we turn to God repeatedly in prayer, and for wisdom, the tempting things of this world lose their appeal as he helps us to run and finish this race for God’s glory and honour.

--Sunday Monitor, December 7, 2014

Dancing, rejoicing and worshipping

As the world waits for the midnight hour that will usher in 2014, millions of believers will be reaching out to God, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

On the night of December 31, Makerere Full Gospel Church, the first Pentecostal church in Uganda and its sister churches in the city, will gather at Makerere University main sports ground for an overnight service and celebration of the end of the year. The story will be the same in many other venues around the country as churches have made it a custom to end the year with an all-night spiritual jamboree characterised with hyperactive performances from the best gospel musicians, dancers, actors and comedians, complete with plangent fireworks.

Pr. Fred Wantaate at the pulpit with a mic leads church members in prayer

Long gone are the days when such events were left to the secular world with multitudes cramming sports venues like Namboole and Nakivubo stadiums to be entertained by musicians. Others would gather in strategic spots with a panoramic view of the city, to watch the fireworks. According to Ivan Wobusobozi of Redemption City Church, evangelical and Pentecostal leaders of more than 1,500 churches in Uganda, have adopted popular ways of ushering in the New Year, but retained the spiritual and transformational angles without taking away the fun and excitement.

But how important are such overnights? According to Pastor Fred Wantaate, the senior pastor of Makerere Full Gospel Church, the last day of the last month in a year is special in the lives of many people for it signals an end to a season and announces the beginning of a new season.

“For many Ugandans it is time to congratulate themselves for having “survived” another year. It is therefore in order for them to celebrate and thank God for enabling them to go through another year,” says Pr. Wantaate. “It is also time to rededicate oneself for next season in prayer, set goals and make resolutions. It is a time to be spiritually recharged and rebooted for the next journey of 12 months. Ugandans repent and pray for their leaders and families.”

Unlike last year’s overnight which focused on prayer, this year’s event has been dubbed a family affair where parents and children will feast on food, tea and cake, with fireworks display to last at least five minutes. There will be no long brimstone sermons admonishing congregants to live pure lives in the next year lest they perish. Rather ordinary Christians will testify of the goodness of the Lord, according to the cleric.

And in line with the night’s theme, “Praise Precedes Victory”, emphasis will be on celebration and thanksgiving with lots of music and dance. The theme is drawn from 2 Chronicles 20 in which King Jehoshaphat is led by God to respond to the fear of imminent destruction with praise and worship. He received a revelation that spiritual worship is the ultimate ambush against Satan and all his designs. And when the king and his men marched to war singing and praising God, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were so defeated that it took three days for Jehoshaphat and his people to carry away the spoil from the battlefield which they baptised the Valley of Blessings.

“Many Ugandans are facing the unknown; the future is littered with serious physical, financial, marital, economic and career challenges. But just like Israel, we must turn our fears and doubts into spiritual praise and overcome our challenges even before we enter the New Year,” Pr. Wantaate says.

May God bless you in the New Year.

--Sunday Monitor, December 29, 2013

The man with a lion's heart

At a time when his faith was banned, Pastor Jotham Mutebi stood his ground and believed that his prayer would save him. Dennis D. Muhumuza writes that his courage has enabled him to touch many lives over the years.
In April 1978, Pastor Jotham Mutebi was leading prayers at Makerere Full Gospel Church when Idi Amin’s soldiers invaded the church and started shooting at the pulpit manically. The preacher knelt down, raised his hands and started praying in tongues. His congregants did the same. The soldier
s suddenly ceased fire and drew nearer to hear the strange language. Just then, the pastor heard the voice of God telling him: “You are not going to die now because there is work that you have not yet done.”


Pr Mutebi and I



The soldiers whipped the believers and drove them to Nakasero State Research Bureau, a place so dreaded because whoever went there rarely returned alive. There, Ps Mutebi was charged with treason for defying the president who had banned Pentecostalism. He either had to deny his God or face death by firing squad.

Pastor Obed Rubaiza, who was among the 200 believers arrested then, describes Pr Mutebi as a man with “a heart of lion” because he refused to denounce God with the jaws of death around his neck. He recalls a vicious soldier threatening to douse them with petrol and set them ablaze to see if God would save them like He had saved Daniel, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace.

But Ps Mutebi kept his trust in God and his faith was rewarded when Mustafa Adris, the then Internal Affairs Minister, who was supposed to sign their death warrant got an accident. That day, Amin demoted him on grounds that he had been plotting to overthrow his government. The death warrant was never signed and the prisoners were released with a warning never to preach the gospel again.

“When the church reopened after the fall of Amin, church leaders in exile and former missionaries were all coming back, wanting to take their former leadership positions in the church and Pr Mutebi who had endured the worst of times stepped in and ably steered the church to safety,” says Ps Rubaiza.

His stellar performance inspired by loyalty to the truth of the gospel got him elevated to the top leadership as General Overseer of Full Gospel Churches of Uganda. He held the title for more than 10 years, earning the revered title of “Bishop.”

Ps Jothan Basil Mutebi was born the eighth of 10 children in 1944 to an Orthodox father, Erika Mukasa, and a Catholic mother, Malita Namusoke. In 1964 he attended a Morris Cerullo crusade at Nakivubo Stadium and saw the blind see and the lame walk. He remembers that although the clouds were pregnant with rain, when the preacher prayed for the clouds to hold back that rain until all the people who were attending the crusade had reached home, it happened. “The preacher also preached from the Old Testament whereas the Orthodox priests, whom I was accustomed to, preached only from the New Testament.

The fact that it did not rain and the miracles that I had witnessed at the crusade all seemed new, and touched my life deeply,” he writes in his autobiography, Life Through the House of Death. “This marked the greatest turning point of my life and an entire new beginning. I pledged my allegiance to Jesus Christ and started to follow Him from that moment to this day.”

After completing his Cambridge examinations (the equivalent of O- level) at Chwa II Memorial School, he attended Bible school and preached a lot over the weekend in Kivulu, Nakawa, Kibuli, Kisenyi and Nakulabye. This is when he met Lovincer, his wife of 43 years and mother of their four children.

He got his first pastoral job in Entebbe, and part-timed as a clerk at the Kampala headquarters church. “There’s no joy in all the earth greater than that of winning a soul for Jesus Christ,” he justifies, regarding all the open meetings he held in Entebbe converting many for Christ. After planting a Full Gospel Church there, he was wooed back to Kampala in 1972 and made Principal of a Bible College and Treasurer of the Full Gospel Churches of Uganda.

He would occasionally interpret for the missionaries preaching the gospel in Kampala. When the missionaries were dismissed by Idi Amin in 1973, Ps Mutebi took on the responsibility of the gospel work as the secretary and one of the directors of the Gospel Mission in Uganda. In addition to all these responsibilities, he became associate pastor at Makerere Full Gospel until 1980.

In 1979, Pr Mutebi went to Glad Tidings Church in Canada for a Diploma in Ministerial Studies. Upon his return, he pastored Masaka Full Gospel Church for eight (years/months) before returning to Makerere Full Gospel Church as senior pastor. In 1989, he was appointed the General Overseer of Full Gospel Churches in Uganda and president of the Gospel Mission to Uganda up to 2011.

It is in recognition of his selfless contribution to Pentecostalism in Uganda that last Sunday (March 3rd), pastors around the country gathered at Makerere Full Gospel to celebrate the man they described as a model of service above self and an exemplary warrior of Christ.

“This special Sunday we have come to thank God for His faithfulness and grace in using Pr Mutebi for a long time; it’s good for the church to honour him, bless him, encourage him and reward him,” said Pr Fred Wantaate of Makerere Full Gospel Church. “Mutebi is still an elder and counsellor and we are praying for him to stay with us and continue to serve the Lord.”

Among other distinguished guests was Gen David Sejusa, who gave Pr Mutebi two cows for taking care of his grandmother and preaching the gospel with her for m

any years, and Princess Muggale, sister to Sir Edward Mutesa II, who too got saved in the 1960s and got baptised by immersion in the Kabaka’s Lake in Mengo along with Pr Mutebi.

So much was said about the transparency and exemplariness of Pr Mutebi as a pastor, leader, mediator, mentor, educator, supervisor, counsellor, husband and father that if all the great things said about him were gold medals, they would have filled the huge church auditorium. His autobiography Life Through the House of Death was launched, and a cake in the design of an open Bible was cut and shared. The sage was given a cheque of 50million shillings as a token of appreciation.

--Sunday Monitor, March 17, 2013

Reflecting on the life of TL Osborn

LEGACY: Renowned evangelist TL Osborn died on February 14 this year. Dennis D. Muhumuza writes that many Ugandans remember him for his powerful crusades held three times in Uganda. He was an inspiration to many Pentecostal pastors.

The late Osborn did so much for Uganda

He heeded Jesus' call to go make disciples of all nations and went everywhere, preaching the gospel. After 77 years of doing it passionately, Dr. T.L Osborn went to be with the Lord on February 14, 2013, but his legacy will continue to speak for itself.

Just here in Uganda, he held miracle crusades in 1961, 1985 and 1991 at which many got saved, delivered and inspired to join ministry. At the February 1985 crusade at Lugogo Cricket Oval, Osborn stunned everyone by removing a gown he had worn for 35 years and putting it on his interpreter, Ps Robert Kayanja, saying go and preach the gospel.

It is said the anointing that came with the gesture is what revolutionised the blessings of the man that today heads Uganda's biggest Pentecostal Church, Miracle Centre Cathedral Rubaga.

"I believe hell would be here on earth if Dr T.L Osborn was not born and anointed," says Ps Kayanja of his spiritual mentor, whose friendship, advice and wisdom he will continue to miss. "But I know he is with Jesus whom he loved and represented so well."

Apostle Alex Mitala of the National Fellowship of Born-Again Pentecostal Churches was also inspired into evangelism first through Osborn gospel tracts and books, particularly Go Where the Sinners Are, and his teachings.

"He gave us free megaphones to use in our gospel street meetings and trained us in many of his evangelistic meetings in Kenya in 1978," he says. "I was privileged to serve on both of his last gospel crusade committees in Uganda and with my eyes saw many great miracles in Uganda and also in Nakuru-Kenya in 1978. Uganda will forever miss T.L."

So powerful were Osborn's missions that many parents named their children after the evangelist. Ps Osborn Muyanja of Good Samaritan Ministries is one such child. He relates a story of a man with twisted legs he saw healed at Osborn’s crusade.

"I got saved too and my life has never remained the same," he says adding that the preaching of Daisy, Osborn's wife was the first to inspire Ugandan women into believing they too can preach. "“Osborn's crusades launched Uganda into another dimension. People shut their shops and went to Lugogo," Muyanja reminisces, "That thirst and hunger for God should return."

 Ps Michael Kyazze of Omega Healing Centre also remembers how Osborn's crusades reignited the fires of revival in Uganda at a time when Pentecostal Churches were struggling to re-emerge from the worship ban slapped on them by Idi Amin in mid 1970's.

"Through Osborn, we upcoming ministers saw that even the evangelists can be men of the Word and very apt teachers. I do not remember Osborn as a loose prosperity preacher, but a man of great integrity and passion," he says. "He also brought the first readable Christian literature for all to read and understand the working of the Holy Spirit which were distributed for free to all people who attended his crusade. We will truly miss him but will sure meet him in glory."

A simple background
Born Tommy Lee Osborn on a potato farm in 1923 in Oklahoma, U.S., among 13 children, he was converted at 13 and got inspired by another powerful preacher, Oral Roberts, who was a family friend.
In 1944, Osborn opened his own church, but feeling its walls would limit him to spread the gospel to all nations as Jesus would have loved, so he went to India as a missionary. He was hungry to see the might of the Lord delivering people but still needed lessons in patience and fervent praying.

In 1947, he attended a crusade organised by the then famous miracle minister William Branham at which the blind received sight, the deaf heard, and the crippled walked; deliverances Osborn had never witnessed, and that inspired him to fast and pray for such power. His prayers were answered with a visitation from Jesus Himself who promised to be with him as He had been with others.

The fiery preacher believed and started holding healing crusades around the world, starting with Jamaica. By 1980s, he had preached in over 70 countries. He also established the Association of Native Evangelism to support local pastors in all ways and plant churches. Meanwhile, audio and visual recordings of Osborn's sermons enjoyed preeminent demand and so did his books and tracts which were translated in 132 languages.

His indefatigability was attributed to a strict diet, exercises and absolute reliance on the Holy Spirit. That he eluded the financial and moral dents that destroy many men of God also testifies to his closeness with his Master, Jesus Christ, and added to the potency of his TBN/LTV sermons.

Osborn died peacefully. His daughter LaDonna Osborn tweeted that there was no pain or sickness: "The Lord simply took away his breath. My father was wrapped in love, his family surrounding him as he stepped through the veil into eternity. He is now in the presence of Jesus, whom he had served faithfully for 77 years."

Here was a man who ran his race, and who many believe will be welcomed at the gate of heaven with the Scriptural words: "Well done good and faithful servant."

A gathering of purpose

IN SUMMARY: 

Women are always trying to get together, be it for serious or light concerns, but most male meetings are limited to sports or brown bottles. However, writes DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA, every first Saturday of the month, a group of men come together at the University Men’s Breakfast to touch base on different issues ranging from their Christian faith and family to economic conditions and happenings in our society over a plate of Katogo.

Comedian Bob opens the Breakfast with some funnies

It’s a classic case of iron sharpening iron as university and post-university men come together every first Saturday of the month to touch base and talk without inhibitions on man issues in what’s dubbed University Men’s Breakfast.

“The world’s script says all men are liars and cheats, but what if we thought different?” said the Facebook ad on the event. And then: “Be part. Live life – on intention.” That provoked sufficient curiosity in me, and I attended the second edition, which like the first, took place last Saturday on the second floor of Diamond Trust building in Wandegeya, and is organised by Pastor Martin Ssempa’s One Love Dream Church.

The flier I was handed on arrival congratulated me for having overcome the temptation to stay in bed and enjoy the sweet morning sleep and for braving the cold to be here this early. I couldn’t help grinning at how apt it was seeing it was not easy abandoning my bed at 5.30am to prepare to be here by 6am.

“Our hope is that you will enjoy the katogo accompanied by a hot cup of spiced black tea, connect with other men, get a chance to stretch your vocal cords as we sing together and finally catch some words that will be thrown at us on our manhood journey,” the flier read on, and listed seven principles that should govern the authentic man.

These promises challenge the real man to honour God always, have vital friendships with other men to help him remain accountable, practice spiritual, moral, ethical and sexual purity, build strong marriages and families based on Biblical values, diligently support the church through giving his time and resources, rise above racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of Biblical unity, and remain committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment of loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself, and fulfilling the Great Commission of making disciples of all men as put in Matthew 28:19-20.

The meeting began at 6.30am with day’s emcee, comedian Bob Nuwagira of Pablo Live, cracking us up that some could be here this early out of running away from their landlords! Then David Katumba of Centenary Bank shared on the delights of being a family man, and how he has managed to balance family life with his professional work as a banker as well as spiritual life seeing he’s a pastor too.

He said it’s mandatory for a husband to pursue priesthood in the home, lead family prayers, bless your children and have the knowledge of deliverance because, “a Christian without knowledge of deliverance is like a soldier without a gun.”

He also explored the subject of sloth and mediocrity: “Some Christians are lazy and this morning I want to challenge you to wake up. Reach your workplace early, work like an ox, set an example because through all that there’s a lot of favour.”

Katumba’s sharing was followed by praise and worship as guttural voices soon rocked the house with men singing their hearts out to Jesus. Then they declared in one accord to lead the family, the nation and the world all for the glory of God.

Breakfast was served, katogo of matooke and rice with offals. Men helped themselves to a second serving, even a third because there was more than we could consume. And as they ate, Eddie Ssemakula representing all the bachelors in the house, shared on his challenges as a young man striving to be the man God desires him to be. His trials were basically an embodiment of what every career young man goes through, the challenges of striving to stay sexually pure in a morally decadent world, challenges of budgeting as the cost of living continues to escalate, and finally his struggle to remain true to his identity in Jesus Christ.

Key speaker, Ps Ssempa, talked passionately on “Crush-landing into Manhood,” about the negative effects of growing up without a father-figure. He shared his personal story of being raised by a poor single mother, and becoming a father at 16 after impregnating a girl, how he was once attacked by a homosexual and how he ended up at a Christian meeting because of “a hot babe,” only to find salvation and transformation.


Everything from identity to finances and domestic violence against the men were discussed with such brutal honesty that by the end I felt empowered and returned home with the true definition of manhood.


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MEETING: Five things that troubled the men

Domestic violence:  You won’t believe it, but the issue of domestic violence against men dominated the November Men’s Breakfast. Apparently, the independent woman of today who is educated, has a powerful job and probably earns more than her husband has become a bully in the home. Although the slap or pinch is sometimes part of the equation, this domestic violence against the men is more psychological as the woman uses intimidation and threats until the man is cowered into meeting her demands for the sake of peace in the home. It has reached such alarming proportions that the men agreed to establish a centre to help male victims of domestic violence.


Financial insecurity: As the cost of living continues to escalate, the men voiced their fears over how they’ll manage putting bread on the table while the younger men’s overriding concern was where they would get money to marry the girls of their dreams especially seeing they are all God-fearing and cannot steal or contaminate their hands through shoddy deals. They got reassurance that you can use your God-given wisdom to attain wealth without necessarily resorting to corrupt means.

Rootlessless: Apparently, most men have grown up without father-figures or mentors to help them navigate the difficult waters of life. And so have grown up with low self-esteem or insecurity, because most of them were born out of wedlock and raised in loveless homes by either a single parent or by abusive relatives. So the demons of the past still come back to haunt them, and this coupled with confrontations from the tough challenges of life force them into seeking solace in the brothel or nightclub or in the liquor bottle. The question was: where is love in this world? How can I find a sense of belonging? How can I gain self assurance and attain the destiny I deserve?

Decadence: The breakfast meeting happened just days after UK Premier David Cameroon said foreign aid to Uganda was going to cease unless the country changed its hard stance against homosexuality. This really incensed the men at the Breakfast Meeting who said they are not going to equivocate, or backdown. That there’s no way the developed countries especially America and the UK are going to bully Uganda whose motto is “For God and my Country” into embracing “licking vomit under the guise of minority rights.” They vowed to write a petition against Cameroon and through a protest walk take it to the UK embassy in Uganda.


What can we do: Most young university students and graduates wanted to know what they can do for their country, and how they can begin especially in this day and age where unemployment is such a thorny issue, and where without “connections” it’s harder getting a job. The men agreed to keep having the monthly meetings to network and join brains on how they can infiltrate the world and set precedence as leaders of integrity that will redeem this this country and the world from the social, economic and political ignominy it had descended into.

 --Sunday Monitor, December 5, 2011

Must every Christian be baptised?

It is Biblically clear that baptism is a rite of purification that Jesus desires for all, but should it matter how and when it is done? Dennis D. Muhumuza writes 

In the early days, a cry of desperation rang through the wilderness and reverberated throughout Judea: “Turn away from your sins and be baptized!” Judeans and the inhabitants of Jerusalem attended to the cry of John the Baptist and were baptized in the Jordan River by him, confessing their sins (Mark 1:3-5).

a pastor prays for a convert before baptising her by immersion

It would be a point of no return! The converts as with the way John challenged the Pharisees and the Sadducees had to live in consonance with their repentance. He then assured them that One mightier was coming to baptize them with “the Holy Spirit and with fire!” (Mathew 3:11) 

Something extraordinary happened shortly after when Jesus Himself arrived from Galilee, and got baptized in the Jordan as well. It was the perfect endorsement of baptism as something sanctified by Heaven and pleasing to God (Mathew 3: 13, 16-17)

Over 2000 years today, baptism remains a sacred rite in the Church but the different Christian denominations have failed to agree on proper procedure. Mainstream churches baptize infants by sprinkling of water on the brow. This ritual, according to Encarta Encyclopedia, was introduced by Saint Augustine in late 4th and 5th centuries, his argument being that people are born with an affinity for sin and, as descendants of Adam and Eve, share in the guilt of original sin. Sprinkling the child’s head with water, he emphasized, would cleanse its soul and prepare it for a life in Christ.

baptism by immersion

But Pentecostals and Baptists insist on baptism by total immersion, and reject the baptism of infants, saying the act should be carried out when an individual is mature enough to comprehend the finished work of Christ and make a commitment to God.  

More controversial is the view that baptism should not be a one-time thing. In The Power of God in the Two Sacraments (Baptism and Communion), the author argues that since baptism represents the washing away of sins, it should be an everyday experience seeing we sin daily. 

“Many, many mornings when I get in the shower, I thank Abba Father that the water is washing my sin, failure, fear, guilt, and everything else negative from me.” she writes. “I get out of the shower 'baptised' in His love, grace, peace, joy, etc…” 

But Pastor of Bashan Zziwa of Makerere Full Gospel Church confutes this by quoting Jeremiah 2: 22: “For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity and guilt are still [upon you; you are] spotted, dirty, and stained before Me, says the Lord” (Amplified Bible). 

It implies no amount of washing and scrubbing can expunge man’s impurities except through the blood and name of Jesus. As Ananias tells Paul: “…arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16)

Pr. Zziwa faults mainstream churches for ignoring the clarity of Jesus’ demonstration of how baptism is done. “If Jesus Christ is our master, we should emulate His example of baptism by immersion,” he says. “There’s no excuse as technology has made it possible to have baptismal pools even at the alters as we do have at Full Gospel Church.”

Once, Peter and the apostles preached to multitudes who got convicted of their sins and asked, what shall we do? Whereupon they were told to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, and the receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 37-38).

“This makes baptism is a conscious act that comes after confession, signifying the turning away from sin to live a transformed life by following Jesus Christ,” says Pr. Ziwa. “Since infants are unconscious of their sins, they should not be baptized, however they should be dedicated to Jesus by letting a minister pray to God’s blessing on these young lives as Jesus did in Mark 10: 16.”

Anita Asiedu of Promise Church of Christ, in Accra, Ghana is an example of one who got dedicated to the Lord as a baby.

“The pastor prayed for me and it was after I turned 18 that I finally got baptized by submersion,” she emailed Sunday Life. “I was supposed to be baptized at 16 because I knew everything by then. But I fell in love and started living in filth. Later I gave up the world for the work of God, and put my old self to death in baptism. The devil would be very happy if you would stay the whole of your life in church without what God wants you to do to attain total liberty. That’s why adults should actually put pressure on their pastors to baptize them.”

Rev. Canon Dr. Johnson Ebong, Chaplain St. Francis Chapel Makerere, says the baptism of infants by sprinkling and the baptism of adults by immersion are all right, water being the indispensable ingredient. 

He’s backed by Fr. Lawrence Kanyike, Chaplain of St. Augustine Chapel who says: “How baptism is done does not matter; it’s either by pouring [of water on the forehead] or by immersion, but the essential thing must be water.”

It’s the church’s responsibility, he adds, to welcome parents who feel the obligation to share their faith with their offspring through baptism. The baptized infants are after they have become adults then fully initiated into the community of believers through the sacrament of confirmation. The priest lays hands on them, anointing them with consecrated oil. This nullifies the need for a second baptism popularized by Pentecostal churches to those who become born-again.   

Some rush to baptize their children fearing that dying unbaptized would send their souls into what the Catholic Church calls “Limbo” –where they won’t suffer the torment of hell but are denied the everlasting bliss of Heaven. To this, Fr. Kanyike says: “What happens after death is not for us to judge.”

It is Biblically clear, overall, that baptism is a rite of purification that Jesus desires for all: “He that believeth and is baptized shall have saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).

--Sunday Monitor (Sunday Life Magazine, page 4-5), March 20, 2011 

For how long are we going to provoke God?

The prosperity gospel, or the gospel of the financial seed, has become preeminent in church, alienating the poor and conspiratorially replacing the gospel of fire and brimstone, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza 

In his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” fiery American theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), pleads with Christians to mend their ways and cease provoking God.

The sermon may be 269 years old, but its relevance is still as immediate as it is powerful, for it is evident there is a desperate need of healing and cleansing from the leprosy of sin that has infiltrated the church today and subjected it to mockery. Avarice has overshadowed the real Gospel as businessmen are busy becoming pastors and ripping off unsuspecting congregants for self aggrandisement.

The prosperity gospel or the gospel of the financial seed, has become preeminent in church, alienating the poor and conspiratorially replacing the gospel of fire and brimstone (Revelation 19: 20) that has long been effective in reminding believers about the ramifications of sin.

The non-believers and hypocrites in church circles are on rampage, using their money and treachery to hook up church girls; others are running after fame and riches at the expense of heeding the holy dictate of seeking the righteousness of Christendom by which these things follow by default (Mathew 6: 33).

It is flabbergasting how drinkers of inequity easily quote scripture to justify their straying: “All have fallen short of the glory of God,” “Let him without sin cast the first stone” as they go on amusing themselves in the amusement park of secularism. It explains the latest trend of sisters in church getting married in a hurry to disguise their pregnancies and quite a number dying while aborting.

The Biblical command of handling our salvation with fear and trembling has been ignored; we are living in the fast lane; indulging; replicating the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18, 19), after all God’s grace is sufficient.

One is tempted to believe these are the last days alluded to in 2 Timothy: 3, where greed, hedonism, envy, immorality, pride, disobedience, violence, deceit, recklessness, irreligiousness and all manner of loathsome behaviour had become the only way of life.

Similarly, we have become like the Cretans, who professed to know the Lord when in works they denied Him, “being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1: 16). That is right; we should be guilty! For how long is God going to be “dreadfully provoked” as Edwards puts it? For how long are we going to abuse the liberty that God, in his immeasurable goodness, has granted us?

To think that it is alright to sin and repent afterwards is unquestionably delusional because life is so slippery that none can even tell what happens in the next microsecond. The Bible says the Master will arrive incognito and cut the unfaithful servant in pieces; sharing the fate of the disobedient (Luke 12: 35-48).

For as much as God is indescribably merciful, he resents hypocrisy and disobedience. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt for this (Genesis 19:26), while Ananias and his wife Sapphira were struck dead for their financial dishonesty (Acts 5:1-11).

Edwards stresses that we are already condemned. That God holds us over the pitiless pit of hell, looking at us as worthy of nothing but to be cast into the fire, yet His hand upholds us from falling into the fire because of His mercy. Should He then be taken for granted? The Israelites crossed the Red Sea under the cloud of God but later desired evil things and sat down to a feast that turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. But in one day, 23,000 of them fell dead as a warning to us that the Lord must not be put to the test (Corinthians 10: 1-9).

The Bible further says straying after testing the righteousness and goodness of God is synonymous with crucifying once again the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt, thereby becoming like worthless land full of thorns and thistles and whose end is to be burned (Hebrews 5, 6).

Wake up, therefore, from your drunken stupor, says the Bible - and do not go on sinning so that the power of God that is constant in our lives can help us win in the daily war between the body and soul as revealed in Galatians 5: 17. Paul himself became a pugilist, punching his carnal self to bring it under subjection and subjugation so as to win the unfading crown presented to all who finish the race of salvation (1Corrinthians 9: 24-26).

It is time to mature from the elementary doctrine of Christ and graduate from milk to solid food in the word of righteousness by learning to distinguish good from evil. That way, we cease dreadfully provoking God, as Edwards put it.

--Sunday Monitor, October 10, 2010

Celebrating 50 years of Pentecostalism

When a pastor and his wife from Canada came to Uganda to preach the gospel, little did they know how far reaching their actions would be, Dennis D. Muhumuza writes.

It was all about praising and giving thanks to the Lord last Sunday when the community of Pentecostals and other believers crammed up Makerere Full Gospel Church to crown 50 years of Pentecostal movement in Uganda.

The spiritually elevating event was the climax of the Pentecostal week of activities the highlight of which was a three-day pastors’ conference codenamed ‘Jerusalem Council’ in which God’s shepherds took stock and set new goals as a Pentecostal movement.

And on Friday May 7, hundreds of born-agains marched through the city in what was dubbed ‘Abaloke March’ and crowned the day with an overnight service at Makerere University sports ground where sages of old who were present when the first Pentecostal church was planted on home soil in 1960 testified about the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit that has brought the church this far.

But what will stick in the minds of many is last Sunday’s final celebration at Full Gospel Church Makerere. Among the happiest of the guests were Pastor Hugh Layzell and his wife Audrey to whom God directed in a vision to leave the comforts of their home in Vancouver, Canada, and take His gospel to Uganda.

Pastor Layzell alluded to Mark 16: 15 in which Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel to everyone everywhere. “God honoured us to come to the Pearl of Africa; to bring His gospel to this great nation of Uganda,” he said emotionally.

His wife shed tears, unable to contain the fullness of joy in her heart. It was understandable as it was almost unbelievable that 50 years later they would still be alive to witness the prosperity of the church and the gift of salvation that has since given direction to hitherto wandering souls.

As soon as the imperialist British government granted the Layzell’s permission to begin mission work in Uganda in 1960, they started preaching the full gospel of Jesus at open air meetings. The first ‘crusade’ was held under a mango tree in Nakawa but the meetings spread to Naguru, Katwe, Kibuli, Mulago and Nakulabye among other areas, and those who had come out of curiosity to hear what the bazungu were going on about, ended up getting converted to Christianity.

Audrey talked of two deaf men who got their hearing back, a Congolese man who finally spurned witchcraft and turned to Christ, and his dumb wife regained her speech, numerous other miracles and how the “gospel of power” began getting press coverage.

Alongside the preaching and healing ministry, the Layzell’s opened up their home for evening Bible classes. A year later, small Pentecostal churches began slowly but steadily sprouting around the city and in far-flung areas of Kigezi, Toro, Bunyoro, Busoga and later Ankole. Today, the country boasts of over 1,500 Pentecostal churches, with sister churches in other East African countries, and in Sudan and Congo.

The Layzell’s also bought the land on Makerere Hill on which they erected the Full Gospel Church that is today under the stewardship of Pastor Fred Wantaate. In fact, Princess Muggale, the sister to Kabaka Muteesa I of Buganda became a born-again Christian in an early open air crusade in Mengo and was to later represent the Kabaka at the official opening of this church in 1962.

At the golden jubilee celebration, it was time to reminisce; highlights of the extraordinary growth of the Ugandan church from that period were re-enacted in a captivating drama showcase including the dark seasons that the church has endured like in the late 1970s when the Amin soldiers stormed Makerere Full Gospel Church and arrested over 200 believers.

The Layzells soon after left the country and as fear and tension gripped the church, many preachers and believers went underground. But after the restoration of the freedom of worship following the fall of Amin, the gospel experienced an explosion as redeemed churches and deliverance churches synergised with Pentecostal churches to spread the fame of Jesus like never before, infiltrating every corner of the country.

As Layzell said, God was preparing the Ugandan church to be strong and reach out to other churches worldwide. “We look forward to great things ahead knowing that God has a great purpose to transform our society,” he said, “The church in Uganda is going to be a catalyst of the gospel and you will be known throughout the world as a missionary church that’s sending the gospel to other nations.”

His prophesy inspired a fresh lease of life as the worshipers lifted their hands and voices and danced. Many were clad in t-shirts written at the back: “Oh! Uganda now give thanks 2 Cor. 2: 14,” the verse that reads: “But thanks be to God, who made us His captives and leads us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet fragrance.”

A choir of the deaf people moved the crowds the most as they used sign-language to praise God with emotions of joy and gratefulness etched on their faces. And in an end prayer after all the feasting, the celebrants cried out for new revival, calling upon the Holy Spirit to rain down with more power in the next 50 years, well knowing, at is put in Haggai 2:9 that “the future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory."

--Sunday Monitor, May 16, 2010

That little but loaded word “faith”

Many have devised their own means of making things happen without the helping hand of God, but it is important to note that it pays to have an unwavering belief that He will take care of all our needs when we believe He can, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza 

“It’s all about faith in God; do you believe that God can change your life, satisfy every longing of your soul, provide all your needs? Ask Him to. Need more faith? Ask Him for it. Don’t even know what it is to have faith? Ask.”

This Facebook status by Ishta Nandi provoked an interesting exchange on faith. Faith, that five-letter word whose power Elijah knew so well that he depended on it and prayed that it might not rain and indeed it didn’t for three years and six months! (James 5:17).

It is this faith that is under the microscope today; that little but loaded word defined in Hebrews (11:1) as “the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen…the evidence of things we cannot see yet.” It means that it pays having an unwavering belief that God will take care of all our needs, just like the troubled woman who believed a little touch would cure her 12 years of bleeding. “For she said within herself, if I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole” and she touched and got instantly healed. And Jesus turned and said to her, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Mathew 9:20-22).

Yet today, telling a young man who has been jobless for two years that God will make all his dreams come true if only he trusts Him is bound to elicit a response like that of the doctor in Hortense Calisher’s great short story, Heartburn, after a patient tells him he has a live frog lodged in his chest. The poor doctor yells, “I don’t believe you!”

Certainly, many of us have been through situations where we have prayed passionately, only to see all our great expectations come to naught. But as Nandi puts it, “God doesn’t respond to our begging and pleading, He responds to our faith!

Indeed, several episodes in the Bible corroborate this. The Roman centurion whose servant had been in torment, paralysed, felt unworthy to host the Lord but with unshakable faith asked Jesus to command the sickness to go without necessarily entering his home. And a marvelled Jesus told his followers, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Mathew 8:5-13).

This kind of faith seems to have gone with the era of Jesus as many, even Christians, have devised their own means of making things happen without the helping hand of God. Steve, a professional teacher, is a fervent born-again Christian, attends church dedicatedly, knows most of the classic hymns word for word, reads his Bible, tithes and is a gifted speaker on the things of God. Steve is today pursuing his second degree, this time in law, but is struggling with tuition. Now he is considering applying for a dead year to work and raise tuition. When I asked him why he couldn’t ask God to clear his financial need, he gave me an ambiguous answer yet the Bible says “All things are possible to them that believe.” (Mark 9:23).

Others find it implausible that there is a better world beyond the one we all live in. Self-confessed agnostics, mostly authors, critics, essayists and evolutionists have written “eloquently” on the inexistence of God, with some indirectly calling for the spurning of believers.

In 1928, shortly after American poet T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) embraced Christianity, his friend and author, Virginia Woolf, (1882-1941) was so horrified that she wrote to another friend about it saying, “I have had a most shameful and distressing interview with dear Tom Eliot, who may be called dead to us all from this day forward. He has become an Anglo-Catholic believer in God and immortality and goes to church. I was shocked. A corpse would seem to me more credible that he is. I mean, there’s something obscene in a living person sitting by the fire and believing in God.”

Such perspectives as Woolf’s have swayed many into stubborn unbelief whereby they have chosen to enjoy their “heaven on earth”, leading - with wild abandon - a life of extravagance and hedonism and mocking the ascetic life of professed believers. This is what second century Roman Theologian Tertullian meant when he put it that faith resembles folly to the eye that has not been opened by the grace of God.

The uncertainty regarding the power of God can even be traced to the New Testament epoch, where Thomas, who had been with Jesus all through His ministry, refused to believe the Lord’s resurrection until Jesus appeared to him personally and showed him the scars of nails in His palms. Jesus also chided him, saying blessed are they that have not seen but still believe (John 20: 24-29).

That’s an aspect that most believers have ignored in favour of the physical assurance that doubting Thomas was lucky enough to receive. So we continue to maunder in doubt and unbelief, alienating God’s miracles in our lives, leading the slow miserable life of struggle and want. The Bible says it’s impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). And if God is not pleased with our faith, how then can He grant all the desires of our hearts?

As it is, the secret to having all our dreams fulfilled lies in learning to have faith, not in gods but in the one true God, otherwise Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn’t have survived Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace (Daniel 3). And according to preacher Andrew Wommack, “Believing that God can do something but not believing that He will is not faith.”

Luckily, God knows how frail our faith is and will help our unbelief if we cry out to Him (Mark 9:24). And as Nandi advises, “We build our faith by finding out more and more about who God is, because when we love Him and seek to obey Him, we aim to learn about Him and what He requires of us.”

--Sunday Monitor, April 25, 2010

Pastor Okudi bares his heart

Pastor Okudi of the Wipolo fame was the first Ugandan to earn the Best Male Artiste in East Africa Award and Best African Male Artiste at the Kora Awards. After that, his life was marred by scandals, which forced him out of the country. Here, he tells Dennis D. Muhumuza why he fled and his future plans.

If my mum sees this, she will pass out,” he said breathlessly. “I hope my wife, who is five months pregnant, will not give birth right away!” The house responded to the memorable words with exuberant applause while Bebe Cool and Jose Chameleon jumped on the glitzy podium and lifted him up to the animation of camera flashes.

All the attention was now on Uganda as the flamboyant pastor pulled magnetic dance strokes to the contagious sounds of Wipolo, the hit that catapulted him to fame. The Sandton Convention Centre momentarily turned into a church as the guests got to their feet, swaying and singing along to the spiritually elevating lyrics.

The year was 2003, at the Kora Awards Ceremony in Johannesburg. A night to remember for no one had possibly guessed that the then 34-year-old Pastor George Okudi, raised by a single mum in extreme poverty, would this day earn the Best Male Artiste in East Africa Award and top it with Best African Male Artiste the same night.

The significance of this accomplishment was gilded by the reality of his being the first Ugandan to scoop the prestigious music accolade, moreover on his debut participation. Obviously, the lanky Pastor was overwhelmed as words from his acceptance speech affirmed: “There are things that happen that you think are a dream; this is one of them…I am a nomad boy who learnt how to sing by listening to bird sounds. I am now the best. This is to celebrate nature, Jesus Christ and God!”

Even the Ugandan Parliament honoured his achievement by observing a minute of silence. Earlier the same year, he had become the first Ugandan pastor-cum-musician to win the Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) Award for Best Gospel Artiste and his funky Wipolo was voted Best Gospel Single. He had unwittingly set precedence for the likes of Ps. Wilson Bugembe, Martin Sseku, Judith Babirye and Exodus, who today are enjoying popularity in both gospel and secular circles.

Okudi’s historic success was a result of hard work and the unique blending of the traditional sound and urban beat. The resonating power of his music also comes from singing about his experiences growing in difficulties and the invigoration that comes from knowing God.

“I’ve gone through a lot as a person and I sing from the heart,” he told me. “The lyrics speak of what is going on inside me.”

Mysterious disappearance
No one knows what happened. Maybe it was difficult to reconcile the prominence garnered by the Kora Awards with the down-to-earth persona inherited from his humble upbringing in Wera village, Soroti, but things began going wry for the young pastor. Allegations of marital infidelity and of a strained relationship with his wife filtered in. The pastor was nowhere to respond, and next it was said he had left the country incognito. Not long after, 256news.com reported that he was residing in Minnesota, working in a home of the mentally deranged.

Okudi kept a low profile until a U-Tube video showed him in September last year performing at the Ugandan North American Association Convention in Chicago. Meanwhile, his Facebook page was swamped with messages from fans expressing their disappointment over his mysterious disappearance and wondering when he would return home. And, about five years after he unceremoniously left the country, Pastor George Okudi finally granted us an online interview in which he did bare his heart.

He says he was hounded out of his beloved motherland by some envious figures in the Ugandan church. “I was the break-out artiste of the continent in 2003 and I’m still the only one with the greatest music award to ever come into the East African area,” he says. “But being a pastor, I had to reconcile too many things at the same time and that’s when my critics started trying to bring me down. Some pastors in Kampala wanted me to be typically a church artiste but my talent had already transcended the church boundaries; it was time to work with everybody and spread some wings and that’s exactly what I did. I made many friends and fans but also many enemies,” he says.

“When I won the Koras, and being from the Northeast and operating in Kampala as pastor, some pastors started fighting me and calling me a no-good; they caused confusion, so I was left in the middle with no promoters and no church support,” he adds.

In retrospect, the pastor says he has no regrets for he found a home in Washington DC, where God continues to use him “mightily” through his music and behind the pulpit.

“I preach with Tower of Hope, an organisation that raises money all over the US to support disadvantaged children in Uganda,” he says. “I’ve preached in some of the largest congregations like those of KC Price, Creflo Dollar and TD Jakes. I’ve performed with Kirk Franklin and in universities all over USA and also had the opportunity to meet dignitaries in the White House because of my music,” he says.

Okudi also owns a studio in the US and has four albums waiting to be launched. “The first is called East to West, a mix of east and west to create a neutral beat. Survival Africa is an album that follows the Wipolo trend, Children of Africa has a reggae feel and the last album is called I Found the Way,” says Okudi. “And I’ve sent a song called Celebrate Africa to South Africa for evaluation; I want it to be one of the theme songs for World Cup.”

The pastor is determined to launch his albums in Kampala and expects to be back in the country in November this year. The interview could not be complete without him commenting about the accusations of his infidelity. “Every family has ups and downs but as for the affairs - that didn’t happen. Things happen but we have to move on and continue to run. Even Benny Hinn has been going through issues –who expected a great man like that to be going through that? So, tell everyone to forgive me for not being perfect; I wish I could be,” he said.

He added: “To my fans, I’m going to send the first wave of beats next month to start the reconciliation process and for sure there’s and will always be only one Pastor Okudi and he is alive and well – ready to rock just like before; get ready!” 

--Sunday Monitor, March 21, 2010

Winning in times that try men’s souls

Having money and fame does not bring joy and a peace of mind after all, rather, learning from mistakes and letting God take control leads to a blissful, purposeful and fulfilled life, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

The famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh seemingly had it all but ended up shooting himself. And one of my favourite American novelists, Ernest Hemingway, with all his influence and affluence, committed suicide in 1961, seven years after winning a Nobel Prize in literature. And I have never stopped asking why. Could it be that money can’t buy happiness?

Celebrated gospel artiste Papa San recently told an inquisitive journalist that at the height of his fame, he spent most of his nights drenching his pillow with tears because he felt purposeless and empty inside. It was only after he changed his ways and became a born-again Christian that he found joy and contentment.

We are living in perplexing times for sure as every passing day we are inundated with stories and occurrences that make us cringe. People are throwing themselves down tall buildings and some buildings are taking turns falling on people as well. Then some individuals have turned it into a business to “bump off” innocent children in the quest of wealth. Others are, because of unemployment and poverty, driven to con, snatch, bribe, kill or offer sex in exchange for a meal, a job, a promotion or even a pay rise.

I recently watched a movie in which a little girl pestered her mother into telling her when she would be allowed to have sex. The shocked mother reluctantly said 18. But the girl said firmly that 15 was the new (modern) 18 and it was clear she couldn’t wait to turn 15 so she can have sex. It reminded me of a recent story in my neighbourhood of a mother who dumped her baby on the doorstop of a man that had impregnated her and denied the responsibility.

It also reminded me of the splash in tabloids; crimes of passion committed when one of the partners is ditched or cheated on. And of the sex escapades (fornication and infidelity), which all serve to confirm the new preoccupation – fulfilling our emotional urges, and the loss of faith in moral values. It is as if there is nothing more to live for as people recklessly drown their frustrations, anxieties, anger and fears in alcohol, drugs, sex as well as wallow in self pity.

All the while rhetorics are being posed. Is God still relevant? If He’s real, how can He look on when circumstances are too much to contain? The Bible challenges us to test and see that the Lord is good. Blessed are they that take refuge in Him (Psalms 34:8). So, yes, God is real and still relevant and ever willing to help. But like the prodigal son (Luke 15), we must be willing to say enough is enough and head back home with contrite hearts.

As I write this, Joyce Meyer is on TV and she just said, “Until you kill your giants, you will never become what God anointed you to be.” When the hustle fails to yield fruits, many are numbed with disillusion and turn to coveting the lifestyles of celebrities from their hairstyles to their fancy houses and cars, instead of wearing out their knees in prayer asking God’s intervention as He helped little David slay giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45).

It makes today the ripe time to let God be the merciful cleanser and healer of the souls in our land. African-American preacher Creflo Dollar says the secret of joy and true accomplishment is not in positions and possessions but in learning from mistakes and leaning completely on the Lord. The Bible says cursed is the man who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord, and blessed is the man whose confidence is in the Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by the water that always bears fruits (Jeremiah 17: 5 and 7).

It means that in times of scarcity and temptations, those who trust in the Lord and obey His will stay strong like a mountain that cannot be shaken (Psalms 125:1). Be sure that if we remain steadfast amid all forms of pressures physical or spiritual, however insurmountable they may seem, if we hold on unswervingly to the promises of God, we shall, like an old hymn goes, overcome someday (Hebrews 10:35).

--Sunday Monitor, November 1st, 2009

Will the newly named Watoto Church change the destiny of Africa?

The house literally went down in Busega, Kyengera, as Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) celebrated 25 years of existence last week , writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

E xuberant volunteers lined up both sides of the road, waving flags, singing songs of welcome and crying out “Happy Birthday” to the arriving guests. Children played video games and jumped on castles with wild abandon. In the amphitheatre, adults engaged each other in the game of cards, played pool and played table tennis.

The stage exuded glory. The sound system was perfect. Mr. Exodus stole the show from Wilson Bugembe and Martin Sseku with Ganja man – the song that has popularised him in the gospel circles; the song in which he tells of how God changed him from “liquor-man ganja-man to preacher man”.

“If Jah is standing on ma side, then why should I be afraid to preach the gospel of my life,” he sang the melodious chorus.

And the now charged crowds lapped it up, danced and shot their arms in the air, completely carried away. The Watoto Children’s Choir evoked a hush with their sweet little voices, and Judith Babirye was overwhelming with her heavenly voice.

Not even the afternoon downpour could foil the fullness of joy. Here was celebrating God’s faithfulness, appreciating the prosperity He has earned KPC, and most of all, the lives He has touched through His church.

A 17-year-old girl, Percy, could not contain her gratitude. In a poem, she praised KPC, calling it “…a mother with a joyful spirit that touches every one who knows her…a home of the homeless…the lamp holder of the Pearl of Africa…”

It was in the thick of a civil war in Uganda in 1984 that God asked Ps Gary Skinner and his wife Marilyn to head to Kampala and plant an English-speaking church in the heart of the city.

At the time, as Marilyn said, this was a country people were not running to but a country everybody was running away from. But they heeded God’s call and that made all the difference. The church began in a room in Imperial Hotel with 75 people, but the number went up so rapidly they had to find a bigger place.

After more than a year in prayer, a door was opened and they got and later modelled what to-date remains the sanctuary that is on Kampala Road. It’s also out of the upsurge in the congregation that God impressed it upon Pastor Gary Skinner to turn KPC into a cell-based church as the best way of reaching out to every member of the congregation.

Today, the church has 1550 cells and over 20,000 people, but it’s for its charity that it’s renowned. Pastor Gary said it all began when God showed him in James 1: 27 what He considers pure and lasting religion: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

This led to the birth of the Watoto Childcare Ministries in which 1,700 children are cared for, and Living Hope Ministries which has changed the lives of over 1,000 HIV/Aids positive women and widows.

The church has also reached out to the afflicted community in Gulu by opening a church there whose membership is now at over 1,200 people, and a ministry that rehabilitates former child rebels, bringing hope to the victims of war.

During the celebrations at Busega, it was known that KPC has changed name and everyone was awaiting the revelation. When Pastor Gary revealed the new name to be Watoto Church, the announcement was received with the longest and loudest standing ovation.

Watoto is Swahili for children, and in a country where 78 per cent of the population is under the age of 30, it’s only a matter of time and the future of the country will be in the hands of the young generation.

That’s why Watoto Church has as well started a school of community leadership in which over 300 young people pick leadership skills.

Pastor Gary is optimistic that in the next four to 20 years, the best pastors, scientists, economists, doctors, business men and political leaders who are not tainted by corruption, will emerge from the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem the future for Africa.

“This nation has more young people than it has all people; this nation belongs to young people,” he said. “I believe this is the generation that needs to rise up and change the destiny and the future of this country of Uganda.” He shared his dream – a dream in which Watoto Church will be replicated across Africa, starting with South Africa and Zambia; before the sprawl covers the rest of the continent.

“God has spoken to us clearly,” he said. “We have had 25 fabulous years but it’s in the past, there are now 25 phenomenal years ahead of us…in the next 20 years I believe we can see, through, Watoto, two million desperate African children restored. God who has brought us to this place will not abandon us now and leave us to our own devices; Jesus is our pastor and I want you to know that He has a bright future for us.”

Wild exclamations of hallelujah went up, followed by the fireworks. The cake was cut and enjoyed, along with the icing. The masses soon found their various ways back home with happy hearts.

--Sunday Monitor, April 26, 2009

The Lenten journey in the company of Jesus

As Easter draws nearer, staunch Catholics and Anglicans are meekly observing the Lent season, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

F asting began on Ash Wednesday (February 25) – the day a mysterious fire destroyed St. Balikudembe market.

Ash Wednesday is the day the priest draws a sign of the cross on the foreheads of the congregation using sacred ashes to mark the start of the forty days of Lent.

The ashes are attained from burned palm branches of the previous Palm Sunday. During the Ash Wednesday mass, as the priest smudges the foreheads of worshippers, he mumbles, “… you are dust, and unto dust you shall return”.

It’s a ritual that continues to confuse many Christians. But Fr. Joseph Ddungu, the Assistant Chaplain of St. Augustine Chapel Makerere, explains: “When we are receiving ashes, we are reminded that we are dust, which means that we are mortal; we shall die, and as our bodies decompose, our souls will go to meet the Creator. So, we have to think about our behaviour now, turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.”

Fr. Ddungu traces the use of ashes from an Old Testament practice whereby people would smear themselves with ashes and wear sackcloth to show how repentant they were.

“But for us in the Christian tradition, we don’t wear sackcloth but we just use ash as a mark to begin the forty-day period of fasting, intensive prayer, giving alms to help the needy and self-denial to show our repentance and to ask for forgiveness from the Lord.”

Genesis 7 tells the story of Noah’s ark and how the flood poured for forty days and nights, whereas in Mark 4: 1-13, Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil; and all this time, it is written, he ate nothing.

Exodus 24: 18 is about Moses spending f40 days and nights on the mountain before receiving the Ten Commandments, while Elijah in 1 Kings 19: 8 spends 40 days and nights preparing to encounter God.

Fr. Ddungu makes these biblical allusions and challenges believers to deny themselves, take the Lenten journey in the company of Jesus Christ, “…and when we come out of Lent, hopefully we will be renewed and transformed, and carry on with this transformation.”

In the old days, people were expected to fast all the 40 days, starting with Ash Wednesday, but today, says Fr. Ddungu, “The practice is you are expected to fast on Ash Wednesday if you are not a minor or old.

That means skipping at least one full meal, but the rest of the days are up to the individual; you find people who fast every Friday, or every day of the Lent season.”

He however adds, “Apart from fasting on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, you are also expected not to eat meat every Friday of Lent because meat is one of the things we like most, so we give up something that we like most as a sacrifice. But some people carry it on by not eating meat every Friday.”

He’s not sure why the ash is applied onto the forehead but relates it to Catholics beginning their prayers by making the sign of the cross from on foreheads – the most visible part.

For those who think it’s a great sin to wash away the ash as soon as you are out of church, and for those who avoid the ash on Ash Wednesday, Fr. Ddungu allays your fears thus: “It’s an outward sign that helps us but you commit no sin if you don’t receive ashes or if you wash it away after the service.”

As it is, people have mixed reactions about Ash Wednesday. While Stella Nakalanzi, a Makerere University student, celebrates it every year and repents and turns to God completely throughout the Lent season, for born-again Christian Richard Tumukunde, Ash Wednesday and Lent mean nothing.

“Everyday is supposed to be lived in obedience to God, so I don’t have to wait for Ash Wednesday or the Lent season to repent,” he says. “What matters to me is having an every-day personal relationship with God and running to Him for forgiveness anytime I stray.”

“I’ve observed Lent for almost 10 years without going to church to get the ash onto my forehead,” says David Gumisiriza. “This season I’m trying to discover my innermost self – what is it that makes me live life meaningfully? I’ve discovered it’s not the pursuit of money or fame, but working to make things better and contribute to society.”

Just so you know, the Church of Uganda celebrates Ash Wednesday to usher in Lent with equal fervour like the Roman Catholics, because, as Rev. Hillary Jaffu, the Assistant Missionary Chaplain St. Francis Chapel Makerere says, “There is a very theological significance in putting the blessed ash on the forehead – it shows remorse for our past sins and is a symbol of our repentance.”

Besides observing Lent traditionally, St. Francis Chapel has also asked its members to read at least one chapter of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life – a move aimed at making Lent meaningful to the congregation as they seek to understand their purpose on earth.

So, the Lent period will lead to Palm Sunday – the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, up to Easter on Sunday, April 12. The question is are you using this period to have a special time with God?

--Sunday Monitor, March 29, 2009.

Orombi leads the flock to Christ in Ankole

DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Hundreds took the step of faith and became born-again Christians and in other souls, faith in God was rekindled during the second edition of the annual West Ankole Diocese Youth and Students Convention held at Bweranyangi Girls School in Bushenyi District from January 16-21, 2009.

The planning committee expected about 1500 participants but over 5000 came compared to last year's 1000. As a result, the earlier plan to hold a "Jesus Walk" through Bushenyi town was abandoned out of the fear that the overwhelming numbers would paralyse business in Bushenyi town.

Under the theme, Set An Example, drawn from 1 Timothy 4:12 (Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believer, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity), the convention was organised in partnership with the African Evangelistic Enterprise headed by Rev. Can. Geofrey Byarugaba, the convention's Bible expositor.

Renowned for his passion for young people and a big heart for evangelism, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, His Grace The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, was a befitting chief guest and main speaker. He called 2009 "a year of harvest and one in which God is going to manifest His glory among men." Then he encouraged the youth that they can make it and their light can shine bright against the darkness of immorality, corruption and all the evils rooted in modern society.

"We have a friend in Jesus," he said heartily, and cautioned the youth to be wary of the devil, which he said turns you from a gentleman to a pauper. His Grace also urged fathers to hug their daughters and hold their hands because out there are loose men and women who hug them lustfully.

He further challenged parents to refine their conduct and detest sin passionately in a way that pleases God. The Archbishop related his own story of prodigality as a young man when he turned his back to God. He chased after all the beautiful girls in the neighbourhood and at school, he confessed, but realised that even that couldn't quench the longing and emptiness in his soul.

"I was no different from the Biblical prodigal son; a young man from a rich father who was reduced to a shepherd of pigs," he said in a remorseful tone. "But his shame was covered by his father and in this convention; some of your 'nakedness' will be covered by the blood of Jesus, which cleansed me 41 years ago."

In his trademark firm but fatherly voice, the Archbishop suddenly broke into an old hymn: 'Softly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, O sinner, come home,' sung with feeling, as tears came to the eyes of many who lined up to give their lives to Christ. They raised their hands and prayed the prayer of surrender in which they acknowledged the sovereignty of Jesus, and like true penitents, cried out in unison, "Jesus, we need you."

With elevating hymns and other songs of praise and worship playing in the background, Innocent Paul Nyamujunga, a student of Bishop Ogez High School, who, like many others had just become saved, said he was grateful to the curiosity that led him to the convention.

"I wanted to find out what happens at a convention and when the archbishop gave his testimony, I was touched and after asking myself many questions, I found myself giving my life to Christ," he said. After a long pause, he added joyfully, "I’m so glad because I'm now a changed person."

Several choirs such as the Anglican Youth Fellowship Choir and other singers blessed the convention with uplifting songs. Mama Africa, for example, drew the congregation to their feet, clapping and singing along to her The Lord Loves Africa, a song in which she pleads with her listeners to shun lesbianism and homosexuality, calling our bodies the temple of the Lord.

The Bishop of West Ankole, the Rt. Rev. Yonah Katonene, asked the youth to be exemplary in their conduct and said the gospel should be preached with urgency in this depraved world. He offered to put a lot of energy in promoting the youth ministry in West Ankole and elsewhere because young people can easily be shaped and moulded to become great leaders of tomorrow.

Mrs Peace Tindyebwa, the Headmistress of Bweranyangi Girls School, talked about the pursuit of one's dream. She shared her own testimony of how in S.1 in the same school in 1977 she gave her life to Jesus.

"We are made by God for God and only in God do we discover our origin, identity, meaning, our purpose, our significance and destiny," she said, and ended with advice that drew prolonged applause: "Put your dream in God's hands and allow Him to give you the strength to pursue it, and you'll achieve."

--Sunday Monitor, January 1, 2009