Mrs Makumbi had been feeling unwell for a few days, but she still felt the responsibility she had to attend her son-in-law’s burial, a couple of hours from her home in our village of Ssenge, Uganda.
Mrs Makumbi was one of our neighbours, and she had recently started attending the local language service in our church. During this trip, her health rapidly deteriorated, and her daughters decided to hire a car with a driver to take her to the nearest hospital.
On the way to the hospital Mrs Makumbi was praying, pleading with the Lord to preserve her life. But the Lord, according to his purposes, took her life before she reached the hospital.
Not long after this, I received a phone call, “The car has broken down.” The hired driver, in an act of great kindness, had offered to bring the body back to Mrs Makumbi’s home. In Ugandan culture, the body must remain in the home for a day or two for family, friends and community members to come to pay their respects to the deceased and support those in mourning. But about half an hour or so from Ssenge, the car had broken down.
As her Pastor, I knew I had to do whatever was needed at this time, so soon I found myself in our car, transporting the body back to our village.
As Mrs Makumbi’s Pastor, I knew I had to do whatever was needed
That night, mourners gathered in and around Mrs Makumbi’s home for the vigil. The family were so poor that the body was not even placed in a coffin, which is almost unheard of in Uganda. Instead, it was lying on a mattress, being covered by a simple sheet. As a church, we decided to give money to buy a coffin in time for the body to be transported for burial. It was one way that we could tangibly show our compassion.
The following day was a Sunday, and the period of mourning was continuing at Mrs Makumbi’s house. I decided that we could hold our afternoon service near Mrs Makumbi’s home where the mourners were gathering, so we packed up church chairs, the keyboard and the pulpit, and transported them to where the community were grieving. This gave us an incredible opportunity to speak to those in our community who have no hope of life with Christ after death; to tell them of the salvation freely offered by the loving God whose name is feared throughout Uganda; to encourage them to seek forgiveness for their wrongdoing; to plead with them to consider their own standing before God; to excite them that there is no need to fear death if they have been reconciled with the Father through Jesus.
I had an incredible opportunity to speak to those in our community who have no hope of life with Christ after death
Praise God for this opportunity to proclaim the gospel publicly in Ssenge village. Pray that God will use Emmanuel Baptist Church to be salt and light in this community so that many may be called out of darkness into his wonderful light and that God may be glorified on the day he visits us.
Bosco and Heidi live in Ssenge, Uganda with their four children: Ezekiel, Eleazar, Talitha and Zebulun. Bosco is the Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist church which was planted in March 2018.
