Field Report: Uganda, Arua
“You are worthy of it all, you are worthy of it all, for from you are all things, and to you are all things, you deserve the glory.”
The unprompted a cappella voices of the DTS students rose and blended together in a song of gratitude that came from deep within hearts that had experienced healing and freedom. The tangible presence of the Holy Spirit rested gently on everyone in the room, as we took a moment to thank God for what he had been doing in each and every one.
The first week of the mission had been with the DTS students on the YWAM Arua base. The students’ expectations had been quickly turned upside down, when they realised that this was not just going to be more academic teaching, but that God was going to take simple Biblical truths they already knew in their heads and make them “real” in a life-transformative way.
These young people have been through so many incredibly hard things in a relatively short lifespan.
At the end of the first afternoon some of the students were already telling us about how God was challenging them about lies they had believed about themselves and others. This helped to build the engagement, relationship and trust we needed, before tackling the challenging teachings about forgiveness.
God was at work, gently chipping away during the prayer ministry led from the front at the end of each session, and preparing for a time of personal prayer ministry at the end of the week.
The unprompted a cappella voices of the DTS students rose and blended together in a song of gratitude that came from deep within hearts that had experienced healing and freedom. The tangible presence of the Holy Spirit rested gently on everyone in the room, as we took a moment to thank God for what he had been doing in each and every one.
The first week of the mission had been with the DTS students on the YWAM Arua base. The students’ expectations had been quickly turned upside down, when they realised that this was not just going to be more academic teaching, but that God was going to take simple Biblical truths they already knew in their heads and make them “real” in a life-transformative way.
These young people have been through so many incredibly hard things in a relatively short lifespan.
At the end of the first afternoon some of the students were already telling us about how God was challenging them about lies they had believed about themselves and others. This helped to build the engagement, relationship and trust we needed, before tackling the challenging teachings about forgiveness.
God was at work, gently chipping away during the prayer ministry led from the front at the end of each session, and preparing for a time of personal prayer ministry at the end of the week.
The testimonies were beautiful, here are just a few…
One young man had been adopted as a child and had formed an identity around the search for his biological parents, as well as believing that asking for forgiveness was a sign of weakness. God gave him a very special revelation during his prayer ministry that allowed him to release his biological parents to the Lord, and he was able to publicly humble himself, repent and ask forgiveness of some of his classmates and teachers for his previous attitude. The reconciliatory hugs were especially touching.
One young lady had great difficulty forgiving family members who had hurt her, caught up in the lie that she couldn’t forgive if they didn’t reciprocate. After an intense session with the anger sticks in the middle of prayer ministry, she was then able to connect with her emotions and get to the place where she was able to forgive freely.
Another young lady had sat alongside her dying friend in hospital 2 years ago and felt “something cold” coming onto her arms. Ever since then she had never been able to feel warm and had attended the class all week wearing thick cardigans. After releasing her friend to Jesus, cutting the ungodly links and some deliverance, she appeared in the afternoon class wearing a pretty, short-sleeved dress and told us the coldness had gone.
One young man had been adopted as a child and had formed an identity around the search for his biological parents, as well as believing that asking for forgiveness was a sign of weakness. God gave him a very special revelation during his prayer ministry that allowed him to release his biological parents to the Lord, and he was able to publicly humble himself, repent and ask forgiveness of some of his classmates and teachers for his previous attitude. The reconciliatory hugs were especially touching.
One young lady had great difficulty forgiving family members who had hurt her, caught up in the lie that she couldn’t forgive if they didn’t reciprocate. After an intense session with the anger sticks in the middle of prayer ministry, she was then able to connect with her emotions and get to the place where she was able to forgive freely.
Another young lady had sat alongside her dying friend in hospital 2 years ago and felt “something cold” coming onto her arms. Ever since then she had never been able to feel warm and had attended the class all week wearing thick cardigans. After releasing her friend to Jesus, cutting the ungodly links and some deliverance, she appeared in the afternoon class wearing a pretty, short-sleeved dress and told us the coldness had gone.
The second week of the mission was a little more physically taxing for the team, with four hours a day of “dancing without music”, lurching and swaying as the vehicle manoeuvred the bumpy road in the dust and heat, to and from Rhino refugee camp.
The welcome when we arrived made it all worth it, the beaming delight on the host Pastor’s face, the welcome song from the ladies in the church, the growing number of people each day who managed to break cultural expectations and arrive ready for us to start on time. It was a beautiful example of unity, as the group contained pastors and representatives from 10 different churches/denominations and three ethnic groups (who do not always get along).
The teaching was well received. Many of the delegates said that they had not heard teaching like this before, and the dramas helped to make it clear. One highlight was the teaching on generational influences. Many of the group recognised the effects in their families, and were very ready to confess, forgive and cut themselves off.
The welcome when we arrived made it all worth it, the beaming delight on the host Pastor’s face, the welcome song from the ladies in the church, the growing number of people each day who managed to break cultural expectations and arrive ready for us to start on time. It was a beautiful example of unity, as the group contained pastors and representatives from 10 different churches/denominations and three ethnic groups (who do not always get along).
The teaching was well received. Many of the delegates said that they had not heard teaching like this before, and the dramas helped to make it clear. One highlight was the teaching on generational influences. Many of the group recognised the effects in their families, and were very ready to confess, forgive and cut themselves off.
During the Healing the Human Spirit teaching, the majority of the group responded to the crushed spirit, representing the vast burdens and trauma that they had been bearing. Red disks were nailed to the cross during the Forgiveness teaching, and the Anger and Emotional healing teachings helped the delegates to name what they had been carrying for so long and bring them to the cross. The cumulative power of God working in their lives throughout the week was demonstrated in a simple show of hands. Twenty three of the 50 people had been struggling with sleeplessness before the conference, but every single one stated that they had been sleeping better now that they had been able to let go.
One woman shared how she had not had any contact with her in-laws for many years or with one of her daughters who had gone to the DRC. Following the teaching, (and whatever business she had done with God), both of them phoned her out of the blue on the same evening. She had almost rejected the daughter’s call, when the unfamiliar international dialling code came up on her phone, and didn’t initially recognise her voice. But it was beautiful to see how God was starting to bring reconciliation.
The teaching on What we believe and unintended spoken curses was seized upon. One man realised that he had been treating one of his sons differently because of his resemblance to his mother, and had spoken such harsh words over him that he would cower when summoned. After the teaching, he went home and started to put his reconciliation into practice, by giving his son the special treat of watching videos on his phone!
On the last day we supported Rev Scopas, the host Pastor, in some practical healing the land ministry around his church boundary. They freely confessed many of the terrible things that had happened in the community - including retaliatory murders, rapes and the previous presence of a witch doctor -and with a little prompting were able to repent, forgive and break the curses. Scriptures were planted in the ground and blessed water poured over them. Many were keen to apply the teaching in their own plot of land. Rev Scopas made a public request of the Vice Chair of the Inter-church group to come together to cleanse other defiled areas of their community, including a river where a murdered body had been dumped. We look forward to hearing how things will change for the better.
We serve a very great God, and it was wonderful to play a small part in the way he chose to bring healing to two very different groups during this time. He really does deserve all the glory.
One woman shared how she had not had any contact with her in-laws for many years or with one of her daughters who had gone to the DRC. Following the teaching, (and whatever business she had done with God), both of them phoned her out of the blue on the same evening. She had almost rejected the daughter’s call, when the unfamiliar international dialling code came up on her phone, and didn’t initially recognise her voice. But it was beautiful to see how God was starting to bring reconciliation.
The teaching on What we believe and unintended spoken curses was seized upon. One man realised that he had been treating one of his sons differently because of his resemblance to his mother, and had spoken such harsh words over him that he would cower when summoned. After the teaching, he went home and started to put his reconciliation into practice, by giving his son the special treat of watching videos on his phone!
On the last day we supported Rev Scopas, the host Pastor, in some practical healing the land ministry around his church boundary. They freely confessed many of the terrible things that had happened in the community - including retaliatory murders, rapes and the previous presence of a witch doctor -and with a little prompting were able to repent, forgive and break the curses. Scriptures were planted in the ground and blessed water poured over them. Many were keen to apply the teaching in their own plot of land. Rev Scopas made a public request of the Vice Chair of the Inter-church group to come together to cleanse other defiled areas of their community, including a river where a murdered body had been dumped. We look forward to hearing how things will change for the better.
We serve a very great God, and it was wonderful to play a small part in the way he chose to bring healing to two very different groups during this time. He really does deserve all the glory.
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