21/04/2016
MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
I was born in 1952 to ‘Balokole’ (born again) parents. They got saved during the Balokole Revival (Late forties/early fifties) which originated in Congo, spread to Rwanda and swept across the East Africa Region. These ‘Balokole’ soon turned to the Anglican faith that was beginning to take roots in the West of the country. In 1953 I was baptized as an infant into the Anglican faith.
In 1961, I enrolled in the Church School for Primary Education. At school we were taught the Bible stories and grew knowing the basics of Christian faith. Scripture was a main subject at all levels. I remember in 1963, there was a Christian rally at our local church and many of us were called to denounce bad habits and manners. I also denounced sins of disobeying parents’ instructions. In 1967, I joined the ‘Boys Brigade, Uganda’, an association of young Christians.
I joined secondary school in 1968 at Kigezi College, a secular Secondary School. Christianity was organized through clubs. I became a member of the Christian (Anglican) Club. In November 1970, I was elected the Club President. The leadership of the Club was responsible for organizing church services and inviting preachers. In the absence of an external preacher, student leaders led the service. I preached to our congregation many times. I think it is this background that motivated me to read the Bible, cover to cover, during the Senior Four Vacation
In 1972, I joined Higher School (A Level) at Kibuli Secondary School, a Muslim school and also Headquarters of the Uganda Muslim Students Association in Kampala. The leadership however allowed non Muslims to hold prayers in their faith. In November of that year, I was elected President of the Christian Union, an Anglican leaning organization that promoted Christianity among young people, mainly in schools. As the president, I also doubled as the ‘School Priest’. That year, I was confirmed in the Anglican faith at a ceremony presided over by the first African Archbishop of Uganda, Eric Sabiiti.
In October 1972, I organized a Scripture Union Conference for all the Schools in Kampala that had Scripture Union branches. It was a two day conference facilitated by some of the best Pastors and evangelists at that time. They included Pastors Stephen Mungoma, Laban Jjumba and Zack Fomum. At the close of the conference, the facilitators called for people to identify themselves with one of the four groups:
1. Those who had accepted Christ before the Conference
2. Those who had accepted Christ during the Conference
3. Those that had not known Christ before and to whom the conference had no impact
4. Those who had been touched by the messages of the conference but still had issues.
Participants responded in that order.
I had fully participated in the conference but had not considered making any serious decision. All I knew was that I was a ‘Christian’ and a leader of this particular branch and the host of this conference. I knew I was not saved as per the teachings of the Bible elaborated in the Conference and did not come out when the first category was called. I also had not yet made a decision and could not qualify for category 2. It was also not true that I had not been impacted by this conference and so could not respond to category 3. Finally category 4 was called and I thought I belonged there. (To be continued)
