Prayer Transforms the Karamojong People
Up to 900,000 Karamojong live in the least developed and poorest part of Uganda, across six districts in the north-east, mostly in the hills. Locals call them "Karamojong Warriors,” as they often steal cattle and kill resisters. They live in “homesteads" of several extended families, with their cattle, when they are not out grazing.
Automatic weapons have turned the region into a virtual no-go zone. Heavy flooding, droughts and armed conflict with related tribes all contribute. Government efforts to forcibly disarm the Karamojong have only been marginally successful.
Mission work in Uganda began with other people groups in the plains, with few ever working among the Karamojong. However, one worker who lived among them became a prayer champion, facilitating on-site prayer teams from Uganda, South Africa, Korea and the U.S.
God is now answering these prayers through a Church Planting Movement (CPM) started in 2015 in northern Uganda refugee camps. Six years later, this CPM has spread to 44 refugee camps and 56 districts of Uganda, with starts in other countries. The CPM has multiplied to 2,775 groups across Uganda, with about 2000 new believers every month.
In June 2021, just before a new lockdown in Uganda, a CPM team leader, Jennifer, took two others to share in her home district of Abim. Later, Jennifer and a translator ventured up in the hills to find a nearby Karamojong community. She reported:
The elders were sitting in a circle, drinking. I greeted them and asked if they could give me a few minutes. They gladly accepted, and I shared from our "Good News for You" lesson.Before I finished one warrior stood—crying, “I have killed so many, can God ever forgive me?” When I finished, all eight received Jesus as Lord and Savior. I then shared with the wom- en and children. Ten women and a few children also gave their lives to Jesus! There was no train- er to leave with them, so we began fasting and praying for this seed to grow.
The whole CPM network began praying fervently for the Karamojong, and by January 2022 three DMM training teams had visited Kotido and seen 790 spiritually hungry people saved and 22 groups formed (mostly whole homesteads).
‘Elders’ maintain clan culture, regulate land use and liaison to keep order. Paul, a person of peace, opened many doors. He was given a free radio broadcast, and after his message, a clan elder asked him in July to meet with 25 elders and later to a much larger gathering of 250. So 1,000 people chose to follow Jesus in two weeks, for a total of 3,700 new believers since Jennifer’s first contact, now in 94 disciple- making groups. We pray for individuals and see many miracles leading to salvations. Our task now is baptizing and establishing them in disciple-making groups!
Famine and starvation are huge issues here. Children, the elderly, and pregnant women are the most vulnerable. We welcome continued prayer for resources to fully seize this opportunity to meet the spiritual hunger and also desperate physical needs—with food, vegetable seeds, medicines and water purifying. Join us in prayer.
comments