Challenges at Maranatha Primary School give rise to a new ministry.

The coronavirus pandemic created two big dilemmas for Maranatha Primary School—the same two dilemmas faced by many other ministries around the world. The first dilemma was financial. The second, and more important, was how to keep preaching the gospel in our community without violating the rules of social distancing.

As we prayed about it, my wife and I remembered two seminars we had attended that had inspired us to make better use of natural remedies. Perhaps natural remedies could help with our dilemmas! If we could train our students to make activated charcoal for sale, the industry could supplement our staggering school budget. At the same time, it could introduce us to people who needed help. It could open doors for witnessing! After all, teaching and healing dominated Jesus’ ministry on Earth. People came to Him with their diseases, chronic pain, demon possession and even paralysis, and He healed them. He also sent out His disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick. People need healing as much today as in the time of Jesus! 

With diseases and pandemics increasing, we do not want to simply look on and lament. We want to respond! People need our prayers. Those who never opened their gates for us to share the Word of God may be the very ones calling for help with their physical needs. The sick, the paralyzed, and the suffering still live in our communities today. They are ready not only to open their gates to us but also their hearts to God. This is the reason we decided to embark into medical missionary work!

As we provide charcoal and medicinal herbs to those in need, we pray with faith that God will heal. The results we have seen have encouraged us to keep going! As we have gone to our neighbors’ homes and done something to relieve their sick children and prayed with them, we have been surprised with what they have told us the next day! The testimonies from our community and calls from the sick encourage us to go forward in giving service to God’s children. 

We are also witnessing God’s hand at work in our church such as we have not seen before. The coronavirus pandemic has awakened our members, and the Holy Spirit is changing people’s lives. Through prayer and fasting, we have seen great changes in our lives and in the lives of those we have been praying for. An Anglican high school girl whom the demons had made captive was brought to us. We prayed and fasted, and the demons departed. Now she is back in school! Another girl who had been raised Seventh-day Adventist but drifted away when she married a Catholic also became demon possessed. We prayed and fasted, and the demon departed. Now this young woman is back in church! God has also blessed the people who have received our natural treatments, and they have been healed.

Sometimes we never discover how God is ready to use us until we allow ourselves to feel the pain of people around us. Feeling pampered and served can be attractive, but Jesus’ disciples are sent to serve others. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45, NKJV. Just like Jesus, we want to continue working to touch and change our neighbors’ lives!  

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Location
Uganda

Author
James Musinguzi is a retired pastor who is still active in evangelism and church planting.

How You Can Help
Pray for Maranatha Primary School and their mission to reach people with the “right arm” of the gospel. 

Give to the work in Uganda. Needs include church buildings, Bible worker training and support for church planters. Send your gifts marked “Uganda Evangelism” or “Uganda Churches” to: 

Mission Projects International 
PO Box 151
Inchelium, WA 99138

For secure online donations, visit:
www.missionspro.org/donate