Man On Fire

The greatest blessings to me in my work is Tumwebaze Michael, in large part because he has such great passion for God, ministry, evangelism and teaching that he is doing the work himself, all I have to do is help with direction and discipleship (which I don't have to do, either, but God has blessed me with the calling to provide that for him).

Michael comes from a difficult home situation in which his father left work to become a full-time alcoholic, leaving care for the family in Michael's hands at a very young (early teens) age. After coming to salvation through the witness of an American NGO worker, he at first joined the Church of Christ in Mbarara before moving into a heavily charismatic, health-wealth-and-prosperity gospel church abounding in false teaching. I first met him when he came to my gate asking for an NIV Bible so he could study at some Bible school. I gave him the Bible, but the school didn't work out (they wanted a baptism certificate; he had a baptism letter). He came by again asking for rent money. I told him I would have to pray before making a decision; he came back the next day to thank me for praying because God had provided (normally people would still come back and ask for money. I knew he had a huge passion for God but needed some discipleship, but then I didn't see him and couldn't find him. Several months later he shows up at Kafunda because he wants to learn from what I'm doing so he can do it too. He eats up Bible teaching like Homer Simpson eats up donuts, and as he's learned things from me he's come to realize all of the false teachings in his church and started attending the baptist church, and without my prodding him to do so. As we have absolutely nothing in common except for Christ, all we ever talk about is God. He translates for me at Kafunda and helps with translation in Ibanda and goes with me on home visits, and is now very happy that God did not provide for him to go to college because of everything he's learned from God through me. I'll never forget how happy he was when I told him the Great Commission was not just for pastors and missionaries, and that you don't have to be seminary-trained to work for God. He said it was the best thing he had ever heard. This week I found out he has started his own Bible storying group, once again without me asking (I wasn't going to push him in that direction until I had a better understanding of what on earth I was doing with this stuff).

All this to say, God is good, and He is working...through us, with us, in spite of us and without us.