Mackline’s Surprise
When Martin comes home late every evening, Mackline fears an affair. The truth surprises her!
“Why have you been coming home so late?” Mackline confronted Martin as he settled down for his meal. “You used to be home from work early in the evening, and now you have been late for five days in a row.” She studied his face, looking for any sign of shame or deceit.
“Hmm!” Martin smiled. “Why don’t you come with me to the construction site tomorrow? You need to see for yourself what is keeping me.” He winked. “If I tell you, you might not believe me—but honestly, I’d love to have you join me.”
“There’s nothing for me to do at the construction site all day,” Mackline replied. Besides, she thought, I don’t want to give him all day to plan something convincing. I’ll have to surprise him to find out what is really going on.
All day, Mackline waited. Then, a few minutes before quitting time, she sneaked to Martin’s worksite and hid in the shrubs nearby. As Martin passed, she crept out and silently stalked him until he entered someone’s house. Cold sweat broke out, and her heart beat wildly. It looked as though her suspicions were correct. Martin must be cheating on her with someone at this residence! She waited for the door to close so she could go and peek in the windows. To her surprise, the door remained open.
At length, Mackline decided to walk right into the house. What she saw was nothing like what she had expected. A group of fourteen people sat in rows, as if in class. A young man stood at the front with a Bible in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other, writing figures and dates on a blackboard. Someone motioned for Mackline to sit down. She tried to follow what the teacher was saying, but it seemed she had missed some important information!
As they left the Bible study together, Martin took Mackline’s hand. “This man has been teaching amazing things! I’m hooked.” He grinned. “I found out about the class from a friend at work. He said he was learning facts too interesting to keep to himself—and he was right. Every day, someone new has joined us. Tonight it was you!”
After that night, Mackline attended the Bible classes openly with Martin. Meanwhile, Innocent Musaasizi, the Bible worker, began praying for his students. “It felt difficult teaching Bible prophecies to people who did not have Bibles,” he shares. “I spent a day fasting and asking God to soften their hearts to save up and buy Bibles.”
Soon, the entire class committed to attend church on Sabbath. Innocent already had fourteen others worshipping with him in a rented room, and now the room became too small. Pooling their money, the group bought a big tarp to make a shelter for their Sabbath services. After their generous gift, Innocent didn’t have the heart to urge them to spend more money on Bibles.
Then one Sabbath, God answered Innocent’s prayers. A box of Bibles and Bible study guides arrived for all his Bible students, made possible by support sent from Mission Projects International. “I cannot tell you how much this boosted our evangelism endeavors!” Innocent says.
Today, Mackline and Martin, along with the other students, are fervently studying their Bibles, prayerfully and patiently waiting for the day they will be baptized. Please pray for this new congregation in Kagongi, and consider how you can help them. With the number of believers increasing, land and a permanent church building are becoming an urgent need!
Location
Uganda
Author
James Musinguzi is a retired pastor who keeps active in evangelism and church planting.
How You Can Help
Pray for Martin and Mackline and the growing group of believers in Kagongi as they continue to learn about Jesus and the truth of the Bible!
Give. Needs in Uganda include church buildings and church planter support. To help, mark your gifts “Uganda Workers” or “Uganda Churches” and send to:
Mission Projects International
PO Box 151
Inchelium, WA 99138
To give securely online, visit:
www.missionspro.org/donate