Romans 15.20 - No Churches Here…almost!
Our beastly Toyota 4-wheel drive bounced along the dirt treks of northwest Uganda with our cloud of dust landing on lush fertile fields. Clusters of mud walled houses with their grass thatched roofs spotted the landscape. Men dug fields with simple hoes and women carried bulging harvests on their heads to open air markets. Barefoot children smiled as they ran to get a better look at the passing diversion from their routine. The first hour of our drive we passed a few mud walled churches, some with simple crosses atop. As we drove over a small stream on thin planks our Ugandan friend and guide said, “There are no churches here!” This former Muslim who born and raised in this region further explained, “No church, no Christians, there are only Muslims here.”
Given that grim news as we traveled through this blank spot amidst the largely Christian nation of Uganda, our spiritual expectation was low when we arrived in Yumbe. This small town is not far from Southern Sudan and 98% Muslim. One thing keeping Christianity out of Yumbe has been the absence of a church. Over the years small groups of harassed Christians have managed to pray ‘under the radar’ of social and economic pressure, but not openly. A few years ago Sudanese fled down to Yumbe as refugees. Then an international organization obtained a piece of land, securely positioned with the police on the eastern border and an army barracks on the west, to feed them. In this protected spot Christians dared to meet openly under a tree for Sunday worship. When the umbrella of the relief program was closed, those few Christians dared to stay under their tree. The Muslim power structure allowed them to stay because a group of prostitutes (an aspect of ‘relief projects’ that never makes it into the glossy brochures) were also camping on that land. The town leaders tolerated the Christians because they hoped their ‘praises’ would drive the women away. It worked! A number of those ladies are now cleansed by Jesus. Taking this chance, believers dared to offer to purchase this prime spot in the middle of Yumbe. They had much more faith than funds! Great pressure was placed upon the Muslim landowner by the town leaders. But in the providence of God his child had been healed by the faithful prayer of a concerned Christian, something that Muslim clerics had not been able to do, so he felt that having them around was a good thing. And if they could pay 40 million Ugandan shillings ($ 16,000 US) the land was theirs.