Jackie's Testimony
The fact that I am alive today is a miracle. This is the story of that miracle, or rather, the many small miracles that led me to where I am today. This story is not made up. It is a real story of my life. I am the child from an impoverished, AIDS-affected village in east Africa, who is now a living testimony to God’s work.
I was born in the village of Ggaba, a small fishing community on the northern shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda. It is a very poor village. In my village many babies die before they are even born; many mothers die too. Of the children that do survive childbirth, many die as infants.
It is very good for me to encourage lives, as I have been in the situation myself. I know what poverty means; I know what it means to be poor. To me one life changed is like an answered prayer or a dream come true. That is where my passion comes from. Ever since I was a little girl I’d say; God if you will ever get me out of where I am, this is what I will do for you; I will speak against injustice and act as a voice for the voiceless.
Life for me is a far cry from days spent selling coal and samosas in a hustling market place. My father had three wives and eventually 11 children, but before all those wives and children came along my mother was his first wife. I was born after six children had died before me. I came at the time when he needed a child from my mother, and when I was born, he really loved me. I used to go everywhere with him, wherever he went I was with him. At least I have memories that he loved me.
Just like many families that have suffered the HIV/AIDS epidemic, mine was one of them. My father contracted HIV AIDS but never believed it. He thought they were be-witching him, a belief of so many people in Africa. By the time he eventually accepted reality, it was too late. In a place where most people have to feed their families, and survive on less than a dollar a day, medicine was very expensive – up to $ 10 for every tablet! My father received too little, too late. He died in 1994. I am very grateful that my father accepted the lord just two weeks before he died. It was very comforting to know that.
But when my father died, I could no longer be a little girl. At 11 years of age, childhood was a luxury I could not afford. I had to grow up quickly. When he died, we were left in the hands of a loving but helpless mother. Two of my fathers other wives also had died to HIV/AIDS. God is so good my mother survived and she tested negative.
My mother had to take care of the 11 of us. I,being the oldest, had to start responsibility at a tender age of 11. I had to work to make a living for me and my siblings to survive and help my mother too. I had to sell coal and samosas so that my young brothers and sisters could get something to eat. So much energy would be spent working in the scorching sun and yet earn less than a dollar a day. I used to wake up at 4:00am with my mother so as to start on the days work.
This is because by 8:00am I had to be at school. On many occasions I arrived late at school and this called for punishments. My performance in school was really bad. In the evenings after school I had to go and sell samosas in the market. I never had time to do my home work. So my performance in school was so poor.. Another blow came about when my fathers relatives sold off the only property our father had left us with. We were thrown out to the streets and We lived from here to there, eventually settling into a tiny dilapidated house made of bricks with muddy floor. Many times my mother had no food to give us. My brothers and sisters would say to me, ‘Jackie, we are not eating, we are starving.’ And this would break my heart and my mother’s too. It was very hard; I felt the pain of hunger too.
Friends, I am happy to say that in the midst of all those problems, God opened a door, that’s when Compassion International came to my village and I was registered in the Compassion program where I met my husband when we were both very young. Compassion changed my life from the life of a miserable little girl to what I am today.
I have come to believe that when the devil closes one door, the God we serve always and always opens another door. Jeremiah 29:11.Thanx to the wonderful ministry of Compassion International which has introduced the love of Christ to young people like me. I was amazed that someone loved me, the shy little girl I was; someone actually believed in me, and that encouraged me so much.
I began to lift my head a little. I came to believe that my situation did not dictate my future. That one day, my life could be different.
Alma a lady who sponsored me through compassion had packaged Christ and his love in such an amazing way, making it real for me. - a dream for the majority of young Ugandans like me! As well as studying at the university. I was involved in the Leadership Development Programme another programme of Compassion International. I learned more about servant leadership and have opportunities to minister back in my community. After many years of being so faithfully sponsored by Alma, I now had another sponsor named Tony Neeves who paid for me to participate in a Leadership Development Program. Tony also became a father figure and mentor for me, which I had lacked for so many years.
Thanks to this wonderful Compassion program, in 2005 I graduated from Uganda Christian University with a degree in communications. In January 2008 I married a wonderful man named Jonathan- a pastor.
Today as I look back on where I have come from, I am amazed at God’s goodness and blessing. At 11 years old, my dream was simply to go to school; never imagining that one day I would be a university graduate, fully equipped to serve my family, my community and my country Uganda. Today, I am a passionate advocate for the children . I use my communications training to speak for the poor- particularly poor children and to be a voice for the voiceless.
My husband Jonathan and I put our visions together as away to give back to God for what He has done in our lives since we were little children in a Compassion program. My husband felt a call upon his life to reach to the unreached places. He went to bible college and he was able to be trained. His desire was mainly to help and serve the pastors in the rural areas with less privilege. There are so many pastors in our country who want to serve God but lack the necessary training and resources. God called us to start Unreached Africa a ministry suited to reach to the Unreached.
Our main projects are the Mobile Bible and Leadership Training Program and Youth Outreach Program We organize missions and bible training to illiterate pastors in our country. We also run short courses that usually go for 2 weeks and after, each pastor is awarded a certificate.
Friends, You can as well write a story into the life of another person and be part of our ministry. Stand with us both through prayer and financially as we take God’s kingdom to the unreached villages in our country. You visit our website www.UnreachedAfrica.org May God bless you as we are looking forward to hearing from you.
God Bless You
Jackie