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foundation that is not based on the word of God, is shaken to refine and grow our faith. As I got acquainted with my new life in Christ, reports began to circulate from my husband’s family that the child I was carrying was not his. The rumors spread like wildfire and my husband’s family told him not to take responsibility of the child. It appeared like pain and I were born twins. This was really hard, very hard in fact, that I contemplated leaving that family for good. However, my cousin’s words kept ringing in my ears. “Do not fear anyone in this life,” he had said, “Fear God.” Trembling, I took heed of those words. The hardships drew me closer to God, giving birth to my prayer life. However, I continued to live with bitterness for a long time. Blessed is the person who finds God when there are no problems. It is true that people seek God most when they have problems. They pray fervently and make many promises to Him that they never fulfil. When God comes to their rescue, everything ends there. They immediately forget their vows and swiftly return to their routine as if nothing had happened. The Bible says it is better not to make promises than to promise and not fulfil, (Ecclesiastes 5:1-5). When you are convinced about your choice to follow Jesus, do not get distracted by what people say about you. Instead, from their words, derive more strength and courage to get closer to God. Even if people rejected you and you lost everything, finding refuge in Jesus Christ would be enough, since we have everything in Him. Rejection by men is an opportunity for one to get closer to God. As I said though, God’s ways are mysterious and good because they lead us to salvation. Through those few people who were rejected by their families, many people in the region converted to Christianity and the message went across and reached many people. If they had not been rejected after seeking refuge in God, how would the unbelievers get to know the truth? Praise God, for He knows His plans for His people. Our Lord Jesus is gracious and merciful. He does not condemn those who 56
do not accept Him (John 3:17). Rather, He convicts them with His love. Those who turn to Jesus will always tell you how they regret the time they spent in spiritual ignorance. They will, in fact, count that time lost. As my faith in Christ grew and I learnt more about Jesus’ crucifixion, I also made many new friends that I did not have before receiving God’s grace. Above all, I had peace that surpasses all human understanding, which strengthened me and helped me ignore what people were saying in a bid to discourage me. I maintained my focus and pursuit for the higher calling of God for my life and was not deterred by whatever stood in my way to spiritual growth. Through my service to God, I gradually understood the will of God for me. At the same time, I was often overwhelmed by situations; because serving God is not as easy as many people think. The way before me was marred with difficulties, but I surrendered everything to God’s will and power. My conviction was that God always has answers even for problems to which we do not have solutions ourselves. I spent almost 10 years living an empty life because I felt there was something I had not yet achieved. I moved from church to church searching for a place that would quench my thirst and satisfy my hunger. I was unsteady during that period because I had not yet understood my vocation. It was difficult for me because there had to be spiritual sacrifices of obedience made and I resisted the idea of making such sacrifices. It was after a long-drawn-out struggle that I accepted that I needed to stand firm in my vocation and start the work that God had called me to do. I learnt that in many cases, God works through different types of pressure and difficulties to prompt us to make decisions that we would not make under normal circumstances. When people are distracted or in noisy situations, they cannot listen to the voice of God. It is only when you are quiet and meditating that you get an opportunity to hear God’s voice. I thank God who gave me good spiritual parents and friends who stayed beside me, gave me advice and prayed for me till I was able to hear 57
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Unless otherwise stated, the script
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To the Lord God Almighty, without w
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PREFACE When I think about my roots
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was I able to know the true value o
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forgiveness of my sin. I thank God
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I started school, but because my fa
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ight there and there was no wasting
Page 18 and 19: and social support during this time
Page 20 and 21: It is unfortunate that some people
Page 22 and 23: us. Now, here I was putting the liv
Page 24 and 25: of trust, people will look at you f
Page 26 and 27: accomplish anything. Hiding was lik
Page 28 and 29: happening, this verse and many othe
Page 30 and 31: THE SADDEST DAY OF MY LIFE In accor
Page 32 and 33: When I landed in Kigali, my fears s
Page 34 and 35: If there was anything Patrick longe
Page 36 and 37: of my father in-law’s despicable
Page 38 and 39: We were stuck. We were not going an
Page 40 and 41: abominable thing and married from t
Page 42 and 43: surrounded by my family and my husb
Page 44 and 45: place we called home, with no runni
Page 46 and 47: eturned to pick Justine and I befor
Page 48 and 49: were poor and hopeless and for one
Page 50 and 51: starved and stayed in those oppress
Page 52 and 53: the moment when being dead definite
Page 54 and 55: Uganda because the social system in
Page 56 and 57: elatives. Many of these people were
Page 58 and 59: THE AFTERMATH I was formerly a Cath
Page 60 and 61: I neither had the papers no the exp
Page 62 and 63: to take charge of my life and move
Page 64 and 65: knew about it and warned Patrick. H
Page 66 and 67: UNSHACKLED In 1997, three years aft
Page 70 and 71: God’s voice and understand His wi
Page 72 and 73: When we realize that only God can f
Page 74 and 75: my thoughts than your thoughts,”
Page 76 and 77: Bible says we did not choose Him, b
Page 78 and 79: of the weight that Jesus had to bea
Page 80 and 81: towards me, and that He had saved m
Page 82 and 83: PEACE OF MIND AND THE BUMPY ROAD TO
Page 84 and 85: Romans 8:6-7 says, “The mind of a
Page 86 and 87: and that he was the only enemy I ha
Page 88 and 89: had also been broken a million time
Page 90 and 91: seen, I decided to surrender to God
Page 92 and 93: peace. It is indeed something that
Page 94: Forgiveness helps us focus on this
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