Starving Triplets, Part 2
Messenger FM radio rouses a community into action.
“Pastor, come and pray for these people.” Judith Nahabwe, a family friend and staff member at the Bushenyi Adventist Hospital stopped me one day.
My wife and I followed Judith to a hospital room and a heart-breaking scene: a couple crying tears over three tiny babies in desperate need of nourishment. My heart filled with compassion for them. Patrick and Dinavence had lost hope. They painfully stared at their premature, undernourished triplets lying on the verge of death—the youngest three out of their eleven children.
“I couldn’t stand seeing them die,” Dinavence poured out her story after Judith introduced us. The weary mother could not produce enough milk for her babies nor afford to buy cow’s milk. “I decided to feed them with porridge made from plain cassava flour,” she explained. In digestive failure, the triplets were rushed back to the hospital and later prescribed a formula that she could in no way afford. “My children will definitely die!” Dinavence mourned. “I cannot afford to buy what is required, I have no money.”
I learned that Dinavence had gone a year without praying, but recently in her struggle, had walked to a nearby cornfield and prayed for her children. “For the first time in 13 years, I had no other option than to cry to God for my babies,” Dinavence said. My wife and I comforted Patrick and Dinavence with prayer and the Word of God. We didn’t have any money with us to give them, but our hearts were touched by those beautiful, dying, innocent babies.
When we reached our home, I wrote an appeal to the public to rescue the starving triplets. Our Bible worker shared it over the Messenger FM radio waves. God moved on hearts and almost everyone was moved to give. As a result, we collected enough money to buy formula to feed the children for a year! Even government officials from Dinavence’s village heard the news and bought clothes, bedding, and food for the family.
Light shone in their hearts. From the day that the funds came pouring in, Dinavence and her children have never lacked. “I now realize that there is a God in heaven, and He hears with concern whenever we run to Him in prayer,” Dinavence told me with a smile. “I took my burden to Him, and He has relieved me of it.”
Rays of hope transformed this family, now so interested in spiritual things. Our Bible worker, Herbert Tumwine, initiated Bible studies with Dinavence and Patrick and linked them to the local church in their village. They attend services every Sabbath now with their large family—including the set of thriving triplets! In their excitement, the couple has invited six relatives to join them. “Come see where I met Jesus,” Dinavence urges.
Herbert’s Bible study class of eight members is making a lot of progress as they cover the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, and he addresses their many challenging questions with answers from the Bible. They are almost ready to be baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Please continue praying for Dinavence, Patrick, and their eleven children as they navigate the challenges ahead. Also, pray for Messenger FM radio’s plan to engage the eight Bible students and other local people who are desperate for hope and starving for the Bread of Life.
Location
Uganda
Author
Told by Dinavence Maziina to John Kaganzi, a district pastor in the Ruhandagazi District in Uganda and the manager of Messenger Radio in Mbarara.
How You Can Help
Pray for Patrick and Dinavence’s growing family and for those whom they are sharing their newfound faith.
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
To give securely online, visit:
www.missionspro.org/donate
Thank you. Your gifts sustain seven full-time Bible workers and one full-time evangelist who are bringing God’s last warning to southern Uganda. Thank you so much for your support of these workers.