22 November 2010
Each day is new dawn for the ladies at Living Hope in Uganda. This week, we share two life-impacting stories of three women whose lives and families have been restored as a result of discipleship.
Margaret was an alcoholic who wasted every penny she earned on her drinking habit. During the Living Hope discipleship class, she learned how to live responsively. She began to trust God to help her with the things that she could not change. As she prayed and trusted God, her life began to change. Soon she gave up alcohol and through the business training course, also offered by Living Hope, she learnt not only how to run a business but also to use her money wisely. Margaret is now using her start-up loan to support her own business, which is quickly gaining momentum.
Sometime in September, Living Hope conducted a four-day discipleship training in Entebbe, about 45 minutes south of Kampala. Out of the 49 ladies in the training session, Margaret and Josephine had a breakthrough in their broken friendship. The first session saw Margaret weep as she was confronted by the bitterness and unforgiveness she had toward Josephine. Margaret’s bitterness began when her friend Josephine 4 years before, had falsely accused her of stealing her mobile phone. Even when the phone was recovered, Josephine never acknowledged her mistake or offered Margaret an apology.
Margaret had since sworn never to forgive Josephine. During the discipleship session, Margaret learnt that unforgiveness hurt her more than Josephine. Then and there, she decided to forget the past. Josephine on her part had been too afraid to speak to Margaret. On the final day of training, the two women met and were reconciled. They hugged and cried, remembering the pain they had caused each other and their families.
Our God is so amazing that in four days, He undid four years of pain.
Living Hope, whose goal it is to improve the lives of vulnerable women, has not only helped the ladies break free of the hurts from their past, but also look forward with hope to a better future. The ministry is currently committed to 1,200 women in Kampala and 900 women in Gulu.
For more about Living Hope, go to www.watoto.com/livinghope.
