A Letter from Titus

Here is a recent letter I received from Titus. It will give you a sense for the kind of man we are going to partner with in Uganda. Please note that we will not be near where he was in this letter and should not in any danger from the violence of the LRA. Titus will be preaching at Trinity in September, when he visits the Words of Hope board meeting in our church.

Dear Friends,

Grace and peace to you all from God our father and Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Once again I wish to 'thank you' for your support and for your prayers.

God has continued being very faithful to us in the abundance of his Grace. Our family is doing well at this time even tho we had several bouts with malaria. My wife Mary and daughter Hope were hospitalized with malaria and on my return from the 2 week trip to Sudan I contacted malaria.

In my last letter I think I mentioned the trip I made to Juba in southern Sudan to conduct a Mission & Evangelism conference. In June I took a team from Chattanooga, Tenn. to do a follow up conferences in this area in Sudan. Where we were staying there were quite a few U.N. military observers and de-mining personnel from countries such as the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, India and Pakistan.

We struck up a friendship with a Peruvian officer who was seriously plying us with questions about Christ, asking for prayer, etc. He took me for a walk asking me questions related to the reality about our soul and eternity. After I shared with him my understanding of the Biblical plan of Salvation, I was amazed when he asked me to go with him into the Cathedral Church building and asked me to pray for him. Earlier at the local Anglican Church a soldier from India had come to Christ. I suspect none of those U.N. folk or the officials who sent them, ever dreamed that they were coming to Sudan to get ministered to by local folks.

This second Sudanese clergy conference was in Lainya, just 37 miles from where we were staying -nearly a 4 hour trip thought because of the state of the roads there. Another reason for the length of the trip was that we had to stop and wait while de-miners who were cleaning the roads and nearby fields exploded one of the bombs.

When we arrived in Lainya, we found it remote and undeveloped - no electricity or cell phone network, even the bishop was living in a mud and thatch house. We were dropped off and would be picked up at the end of the week. That evening we learned that the notoriously brutal rebel of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from Uganda had attacked a village on the Sudan/Congo border killing 28 people and were headed our way. Being pursued by the armies of Uganda, south Sudan & Congo, as the LRA army ran they split in two groups and had surrounded our position, some being near as 16 km. There was nothing for us to do but pray and go to bed. The next morning found us still alive. We went ahead and had our clergy conference and it was blessed by the Lord. Praise God.

The pastor's testimonies were humbling to all of us. Many of the pastors had lost all of their children. Some to the LRA, others to the civil war or poison, even curses by witch doctors. One pastor had been attacked by a lion which tore his throat, then was crippled by a land mine, then lost his wife and children. Another man had been at our clergy meeting in October but on retuning home found his son had gone out to the bush with friends. When they were discovered they were killed by the LRA. For several days the dad searched for his son, and finally found his body, hidden under grass and by then, covered with maggots. He wrapped him, carried him home and buried him, the pastor refused to continue in his church work. There are plenty more stories. Many of these pastors fear they don't have the emotional wherewithal to serve God anymore, yet in spite of the fact that they receive no pay for their work, they continue serving! They depend for their sustenance on farming, and despite the fact that our conference was held during the planting season and it was a sacrifice to be there, they still came. We talked about forgiveness, we talked about inner healing; the clergy said it was a great blessing to them. Many now plan to begin weekly or monthly clergy meetings for mutual encouragement and then they'll put on similar conferences to train their own people. Praise God! Thanks to God for such a remarkable opportunity and for the privilege to have a small hand in bringing much needed healing.

This week from 6th to 13th July we are in a great evangelistic mission in Jinja the city around the source of the Nile. It is a grand mission with a team of about 67 people. I am leading a team to High schools and prisons. Other areas are Mass preaching on a crusade ground, meeting of business people in hotels and politicians in their offices. I will be in charge of leading a seminar for those who professed faith in Christ on Saturday, then Sunday I will be baptizing some including 5 muslim adults.

Thank you again for your encouragement and support through giving and through prayer. It is a privilege to be able to go on your behalf working for the Lord.

We hope to meet many of you in September. My wife, Mary and I will be coming to the states for Words of Hope board meeting and some speaking and preaching in the Western Michigan area Iowa .

Rev. Capt. Titus Baraka
Mukono Uganda