Month: November 2022

Source: Mission Frontiers, November 1, 2022

Up to 900,000 Karamojong live in the least developed and poorest part of Uganda, across six districts in the northeast, mostly in the hills. Locals call them “Karamojong Warriors,” as they often steal cattle and kill resisters. They live in “homesteads” of several extended families, with their cattle when they are not out grazing.

Automatic weapons have turned the region into a virtual no-go zone. Heavy flooding, droughts, and armed conflict with related tribes all contribute. Government efforts to forcibly disarm the Karamojong have only been marginally successful.

Mission work in Uganda began with other people groups in the plains, with few ever working among the Karamojong. However, one worker who lived, among them became a prayer champion, facilitating on-site prayer teams from Uganda, South Africa, Korea and the U.S.

God is now answering these prayers through a Church Planting Movement (CPM) started in 2015 in northern Uganda refugee camps. Six years later, this CPM has spread to 44 refugee camps and 56 districts of Uganda, with starts in other countries. The CPM has multiplied to 2,775 groups across Uganda, with about 2,000 new believers every month.

In June 2021, just before a new lockdown in Uganda, a CPM team leader, Jennifer, took two others to share in her home district of Abim. Later, Jennifer and a translator ventured up in the hills to find a nearby Karamojong community. She reported:

“The elders were sitting in a circle, drinking. I greeted them and asked if they could give me a few minutes. They gladly accepted, and I shared from our Good News for You lesson.

“Before I finished one warrior stood—crying, ‘I have killed so many, can God ever forgive me?’ When I finished, all eight received Jesus as Lord and Savior. I then shared with the women and children. Ten women and a few children also gave their lives to Jesus! There was no trainer to leave with them, so we began fasting and praying for this seed to grow.”

Read full story. Also from Mission Frontiers: A family left the field but didn’t forget about the people group they served among, the Rajput of India. They dedicated themselves to being prayer champions instead.

For more from Uganda, read Christian Evangelists Attacked for Preaching to Muslims in Uganda (Morning Star News) and a Pray for Uganda infographic from INcontext International.

Source: Mission Network News, October 27

Surviving another week is the goal of many in Lebanon. Others try to profit by hoarding handouts from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and selling them on the black market.

“There are [like] sharks around us, you know? They know that NGOs are receiving money, so they all try to get as much as possible from NGOs,” Nuna of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon says.

“Some commodities are not available anymore, so people can monopolize it, put it at the price they want.”

Triumphant Mercy demonstrates the love of Christ by meeting everyday needs. September “was the back-to-school month,” Nuna says.

TM Lebanon partnered with School in a Bag to distribute school supplies and children’s backpacks to needy families.

“That was such a relief; many people cannot afford a backpack with notebooks and pens, and all these [basic supplies] that they need,” Nuna says.

Grateful parents couldn’t stop thanking Triumphant Mercy team members. “We didn’t know how we could do this (get school supplies for our children), and then this specific help came,” parents told Nuna and her team.

Believers gladly shared the reason and source of their generosity.

“We keep on turning people’s eyes towards God, and I’ve never seen Lebanese people so open,” Nuna says.

“There’s so much pride in Lebanon; they did not need Jesus. But now everybody needs him, and that’s amazing; we’re seeing people open to receiving Christ.”

The full story includes links to learn more.

Keep praying for Lebanon in these difficult times. See also Aoun’s Presidency Ends Leaving Power Vacuum in Crisis-Hit Lebanon (Reuters).