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<\/p>\n\u201cCome help us! We are killing each other!\u201d That was the urgent message Sam Soita (Executive Director of The Navigators Discipling for Development in Uganda) heard on the radio five years ago. Despite the desperation in the plea, he was hesitant to get involved.<\/p>\n
Sam\u2019s team learned that Bukhalu, Uganda \u2014 the community from which this urgent request had come\u2014had been formed by former criminals. It was rife with witches, murderers, and other wicked people who had been driven out of their previous homes by neighbors who hated them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had never worked with people like this before,\u201d said Sam. \u201cWitchcraft, drunkenness, adultery, and murder (especially through poisoning) were their specialties.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Every other non-governmental organization (NGO) in the area had avoided Bukhalu. In addition to the utterly corrupt character of the inhabitants, the community was extremely difficult to access. In the rainy season it was virtually impossible to reach when the primitive roads that led to the village became nothing more than mud sloughs.<\/p>\n
Sam\u2019s team was understandably fearful when he asked them to consider becoming involved with the residents of Bukhalu, but, after several weeks of prayer, they concluded that God was indeed calling them to minister there. The team has now been working in the village for several years and they are seeing some remarkable transformation.<\/p>\n
The team began visiting villagers at home\u2014explaining the Gospel to them and urging them to repent and believe in Christ. One of the villagers who came to faith in Jesus is Stephen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we asked Stephen (who is also a local government leader) about the ways that the Bible had brought change to his life and community, he lit up with enthusiasm, says Sam.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bible has told us about our sin and how we can receive Christ,\u201d said Stephen. \u201cWe\u2019ve learned that drunkenness wastes time and money and if we stop we find better lives. We\u2019re also learning how to love our wives.\u201d As a government leader, Stephen was often called upon to settle domestic disputes between husbands and wives. Where he once had to do that several times each week, he now only has to intervene a couple of times a month.<\/p>\n
In addition to changes in character, the villagers are also seeing changes in their day-to-day lifestyles. \u201cWe\u2019re learning how to clean our compounds,\u201d says Stephen, \u201cto remove standing water, and to get our drinking water from the borehole [well] instead of the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
One result is that the number of children suffering from diarrhea has been dramatically reduced. \u201cWe are learning how to have better lives\u2014spiritually, physically, socially, and environmentally,\u201d says Stephen.<\/p>\n
Sam agrees. \u201cBukhalu,\u00a0Uganda used to be the kind of community we would show to people as a prime example of a non-transformed community\u2014one that needs the Gospel. Now, by the power of the Gospel and the discipling work of the Ugandan team, Bukhalu is being transformed into a showcase of the glory of God!\u201d<\/p>\n
Learn more about Navigators World Missions.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhat is Discipling for Development?<\/b><\/h4>\n