Uganda Vision
What is God up to in Uganda – Vision for why we travel there When I first arrived in Jinja, Uganda, I felt a difference there, a hope for the future, a window of heaven open over that land. Uganda was called the Pearl of Africa by Winston Churchill. I have heard it referred to as the Land of Dance.
>After independence in 1962, the hopes of the people were crushed by 25 years of civil war, including the 8 year reign of Idi Amin Dada, where his nickname was the Butcher of Africa.
With the current president, the land has experienced over 15 years of healing. Moreover, Janet Museveni, the first lady of Uganda, has dedicated this beautiful land to our Lord, Jesus Christ for the next thousand years. Because I had already felt the hope that comes from Jesus Christ throughout the cities of Uganda where I had visited, reading the first ladies booklet was a confirmation of what I was already sensing in this land.
There are only a few times in the history of a land or of a people where there is the potential for a radical transformation of the culture. In this case, the people of Uganda are on the verge of a radical transformation, and the beginning of a nation that reflects the glory of God in its business dealings and in its personal relationships and in its relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe this is an historical time for the people of Uganda. I pray that the moment will be seized and that it will not pass by.
In the words of Janet Museveni, “The Lord is still God Jehovah. He wants to bless Uganda, that He may truly use it as a flagship for the rest of Africa to know that He lives and He is still as powerful as in the days of Moses when people looked to Him for life and He was able to perform extraordinary miracles. He is still the same if we truly look to Him.”
The next question that Julie and I needed to answer was why did we feel that we were being called to this part of the world? What is it that we might have to offer? How can we make a difference? Who are we that we might provoke change in anybody, let alone a people group that I have never been a part of?
There are times when a person simply needs to speak that which God has put into them, and let Him work out the details. Our first conference in February of 2003 was much like that. We found fertile soil for the message that God had put into us. We found a people that listened and tried the best they could to apply that which they heard. We firmly believe this is a message for today, a message that will radically change and transform the lives of the Christian people who will embrace this message.
We do not believe that we have within us any ability to change a culture, but we do believe that God is stirring the pastors of this region through the ministry that God has put us into. Africa can only changed by the African people, for we cannot speak into the culture the way the African people can.
In general, people do not change, therefore, we are under no illusion that the task is very simple. In the end, it is God and God alone that changes people. All we can do is to point the way and to challenge the Christian people that they have only seen the beginning of what God desires to do in their life and through their life.
We attempt to challenge people to abandon their very lives and “trade them in” for the life that God has for them. We hope to demonstrate the power and the glory of God in such a way that they come to know that God has put that very same power and authority within them, if they will only surrender their lives, and fall in love with their God.
I believe this is a critical time for Christianity in this part of the world. I have a historical sense that the current unification of the Islamic faith combined with their “victimization” attitude is very dangerous for world peace. I believe that just as large territories of Christianity have become Islamic in the past, so the potential for such tremendous religious change is now there. Imagine if you will an Islamic Africa and an Islamic Europe. Impossible!!! you say, but, I would say you are not discerning the signs of the times. Nor do we understand any of the appeal of Islam, nor will we face any of the weaknesses of our Christian faith.
Of every nation that I have visited, I see the greatest potential for revival and change within this nation. There is a window of heaven that is open over this land, and the people desire to embrace a shockingly powerful move of God. The problem is they are not prepared to do so, primarily because of our limiting Christian theology.
The Character of Christ must be formed within them to an extent that we here in the United States would stamp “radical”. As this character of God is formed, and as the love between this people and their God develops, there will be a time when an observer will say, “Wow, look at the love these people have for their God!!!” And then we can say that this people have become one with their God, for they will walk with the purposes and plans of God foremost within their lives.
It will be said that this people have foresaken their own lives in order to see the very Kingdom of God advanced in this generation. Because this people currently are not afraid of the supernatural, they will be able to “taste of the powers of the Age to Come” and be able to partner with the Holy Spirit as God does tremendous works through them in ways that most here in America will not do.
I believe with all my heart that the vision given to Janet Museveni, that of Uganda becoming a flagship for the rest of Africa, is very much a vision straight from the throne room of God. It took 120 such people to turn the world upside down in the first century of the Christian Age, and Christianity spread into central China, India and far into Africa. This is a people who are on the verge of their destiny in a way that seldom comes to a people group but for once in a century or a millenium.
There are many problems in Uganda. There is great poverty. There is great “oppressed people group” thinking. There is great lack of Godly character. There is far too much “faith” in the ancestral gods and their limited power. There is far too much unbelief in the tremendous power of Jehovah God and His son, Jesus Christ. There is just as much selfishness and pride as there is in our country. There is a poverty mentality. There is a constant prayer that a foreign people might come and ease their economic burden — as in the Americans.
However, Julie and I have seen the power of our God move with an intensity that most have never seen in our country during these meetings in Jinja and Njeru. We anticipate that power to increase, because the people are seeking their God with an increasing desperation, an increasing intensity, increasingly falling in love with their God, and desiring to become one with Him as a bride and a bridegroom become one the more time they spend together. My bible tells me that when a people seek Him, they will find Him — not in a religious sense, but in a very real meaningful to the day in which we live sense.
In the end, Julie and I conduct these conferences only to challenge the people who will be challenged, and to “disciple” the few that would ask the question “What must we do to do the works of God?” These people we hope to disciple are those who are not afraid of the answer – to become everything that Jesus became, in order to see the very same works that Jesus did, the very same power of God that Jesus brought to the earth in this day.
As the people of God are strengthened, their Communities of Faith (their churches) are strengthened. As this happens, the macro church in a region is strengthened, and the blessings of Dueteronomy begin to manifest themselves through this people and in this region. Then, the glory of God is seen throughout the region, and the people who are not of God will be stunned at what God has done, and they will come to acknowledge Him as the Lord and there is no other. (1 Kgs 8:60) Uganda will then be used as a flagship for the rest of Africa.
Julie and I are only the catalyst. We clearly see that a revival of the type I have outlined is far bigger than a name or even a church. The leadership of a movement that transcends names and churches can only be a movement directed by God Himself. Most of the work will be done by African pastors, with Ugandans in the lead. We are only the fire starters. Maybe God will use as as fire tenders and maybe not. We are only thankful that He is using us for His purposes for such a time as this. May His will always be done, on Earth as it is being done in Heaven. AMEN
bye for now
Rev. Cliff Pash
