Stories from the Field

August 2005

The Rest of the Story

By Terry Singletary, Your IMB missionary in Uganda

I can't really describe it, but it seems that the clouds are lifting spiritually here in Uganda among the Karamajong [KARE-ah-muh-jong] people. Because there has been a lot of rain the past two weeks, we were not able to drive to Narengenya village, but my husband, Larry, walked there and back. Nearly all the elders and leaders were there, very happy to see him and very ready to hear some story from the Bible.

Larry told them about King Solomon and his meeting with the Queen of Sheba and how she took her new belief in the one true God back to her home, which many believe was Ethiopia (at least in the general area of the southern Red Sea). Then he jumped over to the New Testament story about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. It has been discovered from visiting with the old men that the Karamojong Tepez people migrated from their original land of Ethiopia (or the general area) sometime before the Good News reached them, leaving their ancestors with only the stories of the Creator God, which they believe to the fullest extent. And that led Larry to tell them why God has sent us to them: to finish “the rest of the story!” The men were completely mesmerized by this story. They now want to be baptized. Isn't it amazing how the Lord has sent this huge amount of rain for us to be able to baptize in? Please pray as we give them baptism stories, so that they can understand the seriousness of this commitment. We are planning a baptism service in July when the volunteer team is here.

More about the work among the Karamajong at www.littlestar.com/karamojong/index.htm