This story is from one of our missionaries in Africa. It is reposted here with permission and also at Prayers for IMB
“In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain,’ “ Psalm 11:1 (ESV)
Anthony was 10 years old in South Sudan when the soldiers came to his house and took him, forcing him to be a child soldier for five years. Looking back on those days, Anthony remembers, “Being a child soldier was traumatic…I lived a calloused life then.” But his life changed dramatically in 2005. One night he happened upon an evangelical crusade and decided to follow Jesus. Sometime later Anthony was praying about his future and he sensed the Lord telling him that one day he would take care of street kids, vulnerable kids and orphans. He wrote about this calling in his Bible. In 2016, his whole life up until then having been filled with the terror of war, Anthony escaped to Uganda. He walked from South Sudan to the Rhino Refugee Settlement in northwestern Uganda, where IMB missionaries are reaching out primarily to refugees from Sudan and South Sudan. Almost immediately Anthony found himself surrounded by abused and orphaned refugee children in the camp. A woman told him that the Lord had sent them to him so that he could protect these defenseless ones. The Lord used this woman’s words to remind Anthony of His words to him: “It was as if God said, ‘This is what I told you about. This is what is happening in the camps.’” That day, after his conversation with the woman, Anthony immediately went to find his Bible to see where he had written God’s words 10 years before. Fifty children now call Hope Children’s Home their home. The Lord God has taken a child soldier and is using him to take care of refugee children and introduce them to the One who said, “Let the little children come to Me.”
Fact: “The third largest host of refugees in the world is Uganda with 1.1 million refugees.” according to UNHCR Mid-Year Trends 2018
How Can We Pray?
- Pray for Anthony and Hope Children’s Home, that they will protect the little ones the Lord brings to them and introduce them to Jesus
- Pray for the 1.5 million refugees in northwestern Uganda, most of whom have faced horrible trauma, that they will find peace in Jesus
- Pray for the protection and salvation of the thousands of abandoned and abused children in the refugee camps
- Pray that the Lord will raise up many believers like Anthony to take the Gospel throughout the refugee camps
