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From the Bush to the Pulpit: Godfrey |
Before the crisis in Sudan became front page news, even before the slaughter of Rwandans documented in the movie Hotel Rwanda occurred, genocide was taking place in another African country: Uganda. Godfrey Katete was born in 1972 in the so-called Luwero Triangle in Uganda, where most of the killing took place. During that time, Milton Obete’s military government was taking over people’s homes and farms at will. Prisons filled up with people from unfavored tribes. Mass graves and mounds of human skulls were later found in the Ugandan bush.
The violence climaxed in 1985, when Godfrey was 13 years old. Soldiers killed Godfrey’s father and three brothers, and stole all his family’s possessions. Godfrey was forced to live in the bush with his mother and sisters, struggling to survive. He tried to go to school, but it was difficult for him to raise money for school fees.
Then Godfrey found the Uganda Gospel Rehabilitation Centre, CCC’s first school/orphanage in Africa. There he came to know Jesus as his Savior, in addition to receiving a quality education to which he would not have had access otherwise. Godfrey was also healed emotionally and given new hope; he said that before coming to UGRC, “We were people whose hopes were completely gone.”
At UGRC Godfrey learned that he didn’t have to follow the devil’s plan for his life. God had a better plan. He began pouring himself into studying God’s Word, praying and fasting.
In 1994 he heard God calling him to the ministry, and four years later, after the genocide had stopped, he moved to his family’s homeland, Rwanda, where he began a house church.
After this, God brought Peace into Godfrey’s life. It turns out the older ladies in his church decided that it wasn’t right for a pastor to be single. They confronted Godfrey, insisting he needed to get married. He told them he would be happy to get married, but to whom? Not long after, the women introduced him to Peace, a beautiful, vibrant young lady. Now they are married and have two daughters, Shalom and Sharon. Peace is a vital part of Godfrey’s ministry.
The devil has tried to interrupt God’s plan for Godfrey’s life. For example, after the house where the church met became too small for the congregation, they began worshipping outside the house. When local government officials learned of this, they told Godfrey that his church must meet inside a church building—or they must stop meeting.
“I am not only ready to go to jail for Christ, but also to lay my life down for Christ’s Gospel and salvation message,” Godfrey wrote to us at that time.
The faithful CCC supporters responded to our appeal for help on Godfrey’s behalf. We sent the church $1000, which they used to put up a temporary building with tarp-covered walls and a tin roof. When they held their first service in the makeshift temple, 450 people attended! Although the devil had meant to harm them, God used the situation to help them.
The believers were delighted and so grateful for this building, but God has moved in such a mighty way for them that they have already outgrown it. After learning that regular attendance had reached 250 from an initial 50, we appealed to our supporters, who again came through. Godfrey’s congregation was able to buy a very good piece of property and again began raising a building, this time a permanent structure that will seat about 800 people.
It is time for us to make another impassioned appeal for help. For months the building project has been at a standstill for lack of new support. It will take about $60,000 to complete. Until the project is finished the church must continue to meet in a building that was meant to be temporary, where they have no room to grow. Costs for building materials are increasing daily. Long periods of exposure to the weather are damaging some building materials that have already been bought. Those materials need to be put to use.
Godfrey’s congregation often meets for prayer and fasting, asking God for funds to complete the building. He encourages them to tithe so that God can bless their efforts. They desperately want to serve Him and reach out to the lost people around them. Since the church began, he has written to us giving reports of God’s miracles and blessings.
“God has remained faithful, proving His Word with wonders and miracles,” he said, “healing people even of AIDS.”
We want to make every effort to support Godfrey’s ministry. We know Godfrey well and trust the work God is doing in his life. We watched as God rescued him from the harsh life in the bush and made a missionary pastor of him. We helped him start this project, and now we want to help him complete it.
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