Uganda: Transformed Rebels

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - rflory

'Once a rebel, always a rebel' no longer needs to be a true statement for the children who have been kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. God is transforming the lives of these children. Meet Moses, one such child rebel who attended a Christian camp in September, who is being transformed by the True Lord.

After two years of his life as a child soldier with the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) rebels, Moses came to the camp on a Monday as a boy that didn't smile, laugh or talk. On Wednesday, he accepted Christ as his Savior and openly professed forgiveness of the soldiers that abducted him and forced him to kill and destroy many of his own people. Wednesday and Thursday Moses was a different boy—he smiled, laughed and was the first person to raise his hand and answer questions. God truly transformed him before our eyes and will continue to use Moses as a witness to the rest of his village.

Along with Moses, God's hand of mercy was clearly on the whole group of 63 children at the camp, most of whom had been child soldiers or child brides. While these children have escaped or have returned from captivity with the LRA, they are still not welcomed in their home village. The villagers harass them and blame them for trouble. One boy was told that he was a troublemaker and that he will always be one because "once a rebel, always a rebel". The boy, who was not a Christian a week prior, determined that he would kill this woman. On Sunday, the day before camp started, he sat in the bush alongside the road with a panga (a machete), waiting for the woman to pass so he could hack her to death. By God's grace, the woman was not on the road that day, and by God's grace, the boy was on the bus on Monday morning heading to camp. On Wednesday, he too committed his life to the Lord and repented for his hatred toward the woman. He told us Thursday that he was going to go home and love the very woman that spoke so badly about him! Praise the Lord for the plans he has to heal and to save us!

Continue to pray for the transformed lives of thousands of children who were kidnapped to be in this rebel movement.

Lena Pira , a recently deployed NMSI missionary to Uganda, currently works with New Hope Uganda, which hosted a children's camp, bible distribution and food distribution to a village in northern Uganda in September 2009.

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Photo Gallery: Click on first photo below to begin slideshow

Ainapakin—My Group of kids at Kobwin Camp - L-R: Rose, Phoebe, David, Joel, Imaculet, Robert, Peter and Amos Children of Kobwin Camp - rflory Ainapakin—My Group of kids at Kobwin Camp - L-R: Rose, Phoebe, David, Joel, Imaculet, Robert, Peter and Amos Downloads: 262 Download \| Details	Kobwin Camp—Former abductees of Joseph Kony forgive their captures as they symbolically give over their hurts/sufferings and unforgiveness at the cross of Jesus Reconciliation at the Cross - rflory Kobwin Camp—Former abductees of Joseph Kony forgive their captures as they symbolically give over their hurts/sufferings and unforgiveness at the cross of Jesus Downloads: 255 Download \| Details	Trust Building Games at Kobwin—Teaching the children how family is designed by God to protect each other Learning to trust through games - rflory Trust Building Games at Kobwin—Teaching the children how family is designed by God to protect each other Downloads: 259 Download \| Details	Kobwin Camp—Ainapakin (Peace) Group—Joel is showing off the new bible he recieved as part of our bible distribution Learning of God's love - rflory Kobwin Camp—Ainapakin (Peace) Group—Joel is showing off the new bible he recieved as part of our bible distribution Downloads: 251 Download \| Details
Kobwin Campers—Group Picture Many children heard of Christ's love and redemption - rflory Kobwin Campers—Group Picture Downloads: 299 Download \| Details	Food distribution in Amuria Men doing the heavy lifting - rflory Food distribution in Amuria Downloads: 254 Download \| Details	Food distribution in Amuria - The food was for the families of the Kobwin Campers—the kids at Kobwin Camp helped us distribute the 7 tons of maize flour to their village Families being fed - rflory Food distribution in Amuria - The food was for the families of the Kobwin Campers—the kids at Kobwin Camp helped us distribute the 7 tons of maize flour to their village Downloads: 259 Download \| Details	Food distribution - Enough food was provided for all of the villagers (183 families) to eat for 3-4 weeks Meeting a critical need - rflory Food distribution - Enough food was provided for all of the villagers (183 families) to eat for 3-4 weeks Downloads: 252 Download \| Details
Food distribution—Amuria Much needed food supplies - rflory Food distribution—Amuria Downloads: 258 Download \| Details	Food distribution—Amuria Two girls helping each other with food - rflory Food distribution—Amuria Downloads: 258 Download \| Details

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Uganda: Transformed Rebels

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