THE CHOSEN 15 TO IMPACT HUNDREDS IN THE COMMUNITY

We are excited about the plans God has for the people in the community of Kibogo and the whole of Mityana District through our Ministry. Our prayer as a ministry is that the transformation we desire to see in vulnerable communities will be led by the community members them selves. To achieve this we have adopted a strategy of partnering with local churches to train teams of Rural Health Evangelists empowered to challenge their own communities physically to live healthy and spiritually to have a better relationship with God.

This month we are grateful to God that we were able to partner with New Hope Church planted by our ministry in the village of Kibogo and we trained a team of 15 Rural Health Evangelists (RHE) who were willing to learn with incredible enthusiasm.

It was a two days training which started on 17^th to 18^th July, focusing on Evangelism, Health care and Leadership.  The team had people from 3 different neighboring villages (Ndagi, Bulera, Namiwunda) and churches. We stated at 9:00am with an introduction to Rural Health Evangelism covering topics like; What is Rural Health Evangelism as a program of FoHA?, Program Objectives, Selection Criteria and Roles and Responsibilities of a RHE. This took about 45 minutes after which we had the first speaker handling Evangelism; the meaning of Evangelism and salvation after which we went for our breakfast at 11:00am.

The second session started with praise and worship led by two of the RHE members and then the second speaker came to teach on leadership covering the definition of leadership, principles and qualities of a good leader and this went up to lunch time.

The third session was on Health and the trainer handled topics on; first Aid, Home cures and popular beliefs. When it got to popular beliefs, the comments were unbelievable for the trainer started by asking questions on some of the beliefs people had on various diseases and their cures. Some of the beliefs that were stated among others were;

1.       Some wounds and fungal infections can be treated with shoe polish, ash and cow dung

2.       That hiccup is a sign that someone is talking about you somewhere and that it can be treated by putting a small piece of paper with some saliva on the forehead

3.       That a sunken and swollen fontanel is caused by which craft

4.       That headache can be treated by tying a piece of long grass around the head.  

5.       That high temperature can be cooled down by covering someone under a mat.

This proved the need for the training not only in this village but in other communities to save the lives of people in vulnerable communities through health sensitizations and training teams to reach out their communities with the right information for good health.

After all these beliefs were stated, the trainer went on to give the right causes of diseases and their rightful prevention and treatment. On First Aid she made it clear on how some diseases can be managed at home with the right procedures and here she emphasized the need for quick referrals to see the doctor.

The session ended with questions and answers on Leadership, Evangelism and health.

The second day started with praise and worship followed by prayer and then training on Evangelism from 9:00am to 10:30am followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers. Among the questions that we had during the evangelism training were;

1.       What if I don’t remember the day I gave my life to Christ, do I need to confess again and mark the dates?

2.       If I grew up in a family where my parents were Christians, do I need to confess again or am i a believer by default?

3.       If I gave my life to Christ but I again back slid, do I need to re-confess?

Here the trainer emphasized the need for genuine repentance and that faith comes by hearing the word of God, confession and believing Christ as your personal Lord and savior, that it’s a personal relationship with God.

After the first session we broke off for breakfast and the second session was leadership followed by Lunch and then back to Health care up to about 4:00pm.

After the session on health care, the team filled up membership forms and some of the questions where whether one had given their lives to Christ, Name of Church and pastor, Leadership role in community or church and their age. Each RHE was asked to attach their passport photographs and their contacts.

We ended the 2^nd day of the training with the selection of a team of leaders with a Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and a mobilizer and we all prayed over them encouraging them to meet regularly. We appointed Pastor Tom who is also the pastor of New Hope Church as the overseer of the team but the committee was chosen by the RHE members themselves.

The team together with the other teams in other communities will be undergoing a 2 years training in Leadership, Healthcare and Evangelism and we believe by the end of the training the teams will be equipped with the skills of leadership, and healthcare to save the lives of the people in their communities and to challenge them to have a better relationship with God.

Our desire is that you will consider supporting the RHE trainings through prayer and financial giving. Your investment of $250 to train a community volunteer can result in hundreds of changed lives and an introduction to Jesus’s love. Be a part of this exciting opportunity now and the Lord will bless you. Know more about Rural Health Evangelism