27 April 2013 by Adeline Lum CM-
On April 10th, Rev John Mulinde came to New Life Restoration Centre in Petaling Jaya as a speaker for the ‘Awakening Malaysia’ conference. And this is Part 2 of how a prayer altar is linked to suffocating Joseph Kony’s atrocious operation.
“Let me give you a testimony. In Uganda, when the Lord tells us about building prayer altars, the most interesting testimony at a village level is that homes and companies were changing. The village was changing as a whole,” said Rev Mulinde.
If there were an issue, pastors in Uganda would gather to pray together and mobilize people to pray.
“Most of the pastors took a few years of praying before seeing a change while a few only took a few weeks to see their prayers answered. So, we began to ask why the time difference in getting our prayers answered?” said Rev Mulinde.
As they questioned amongst themselves, a pastor from Northern Uganda in Gulu stood up with tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Someone please help me! How can it be that your prayers are answered in a few weeks and in few years? But I have prayed for my people for 17 years for the rebellion of Joseph Kony to stop; yet I have not seen any change. Are we praying to the same God?” said Rev Mulinde recalling the pastor’s plead.
In Northern Uganda, people left their village to live in refuge camps so that the governmental military can protect them from Joseph Kony’s bloodshed operation, called as the Lord Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is known for brutally slaughtering civilians, leaving women to be raped, young girls to be made into sex slaves in Sudan and young boys to be drilled into zombie-like soldiers; some as young as eight were forced to kill their parents to preserve their lives.
According to the Human Rights Watch, ‘LRA killed at least 80 people on December 25 when village residents had gathered for Christmas lunch after the morning church service. LRA members surrounded the people, tied them up with rope or rubber strips from bicycle tires, and then separated the men and boys from the women and girls. They took the men and boys about 40 meters from the church and killed them immediately with blows to the head. They took the women and girls into the forest in small groups and raped many of them before crushing their skulls.’ And this is only drop in a bucket of their atrocious acts.
Obviously, the meeting did not end on the right footing but it did make the pastors ponder. They met again and someone said, “Maybe… we are missing something. Why don’t we take time to seek the Lord and ask Him?”
“I tell you it’s very good to ask the Lord! Hallelujah! So, we gave ourselves to ask the Lord. And when we came back the next week, all of us came back with the same answer. We need to call for a national fasting. When we humble ourselves and ask the Lord, then He would tell us what to do,” said Rev Mulinde.
The Missing Link- Call for a National Fasting
The pastors called every prayer network, ministry and church leaders to congregate and discuss. On the first day, they listened to everyone’s feedback on what God had been telling them about the war. On the second day, they began to share about holding a national fast and pray, to the consensus of every member.
“We said to each other: Let us put out a document offered by all of us, calling the nation to fast and pray. But while we were mobilizing, God began to move,” said Rev Mulinde.
One of the commanders in the national military was a born-again believer and he received a word from God that this war would not end in guns but in prayers.
“Humble yourself in prayer! This commander told the general that he wanted to have a prayer meeting where the national military and civilians would come together to pray. Hence, he came from Northern Uganda into the capital city to invite us to become leaders for that prayer group. At that time, we were also preparing a national fast, with that same cause. Without planning, God was moving to mobilize the whole nation!” said Rev Mulinde.
The fasting started. In the middle of the fasting period, Rev Mulinde and other pastors traveled to Northern Uganda to hold a three-days prayer, where they raised up altars. A large assembly of people came to listen to their preaching but no one came to Jesus Christ.
After the preaching at night, the leaders came together and said, “Something is not right here.” They prayed and the Lord began to speak.
“It was the unholy altars in the region. The land had been dedicated to darkness, where the rebels had maintained their altars all over the region. Many sacrifices were made including human sacrifices. Even the church had no power against them because when Kony began his rebellion, he made a covenant with the church and tribal leaders of that area,” said Rev Mulinde.
“The church has been compromised and has no power. Kony drew power from the altars that he built. God said: you would never see this war end until you break these altars. Tell the church leaders to repent from the covenant they made,” he added.
So, the next day, the pastors also preached to the people with little results. And on Sunday, they decided to tell the church elders in that area about what God had told them. The elders came to the front and denounced every covenant they made with the rebels. On that evening, more than 1000 people came to Jesus Christ when the word was preached! The people brought out their talisman and witchcraft objects from their body. And they also began to report the location of LRA altars to the pastors to list down.
The Combo of Might and Prayer
The next day, when they were ready to fly off, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, was in the area and wanted to meet one of the pastors.
“The president said that we have done a good work in mobilizing people together. He asked us to do more and he can even fund it. But the pastor said to him: Mr President, you don’t understand. This war is not your kind of war but it is a spiritual kind of war. And there’s a power we’re fighting which we don’t understand. The church is the only one which can fight these powers,” said Rev Mulinde.
The curious president asked the pastor to explain. And the pastor began to unravel about the unholy altars and covenants in those regions. After listening, Museveni ordered his commanders to come in.
“The military also had a list of places where the rebels come in regularly but whatever the military did, they would always miss the rebels. So, the president took the pastor’s list of altar locations and compared it with his own list. And they were exactly the same! Every place where the altar was built, the military testified that they never prevailed against Kony,” said Rev Mulinde.
The Chief of Defense officer was there in the meeting as well, saying, “I understand everything you talked about in all these places. How can a church fight?” The president also asked what we wanted him to do.
“We asked the president to give us safe passage into those altars. He said: No, you’re not soldiers. But the pastor said: Yes, we are soldiers of another army,” said Rev Mulinde.
Pastors and Intercessors in War Tanks
Hence, the pastors were asked to make arrangements, where Museveni promised them funding and providence of security and flight into the warzone.
“So, we prayed and waited for the Lord. And He gave us a strategy. We sent them a budget and the government provided us army tanks and also troops to go ahead of us to clear the area. These tanks carry pastors and intercessors into the warzone! There were some areas, which the pastors could not go by foot, so they were dropped down by the helicopters. And there were already armies there to protect the heavenly soldiers,” he added.
The water at one altar was so poisonous that birds which drank the water would die and dead bodies would be found lying around the place. The soldiers made a big circle to encamp the pastors and intercessors for their security.
“Everyone was warned to stay away from the water. But as the intercessors began to pray, they received a prophetic word that the water is healed! It is even good for drinking!” said Rev Mulinde.
A pastor immediately jumped to the edge of the water and scooped the water in his hands for a gulp. The commander and soldiers were aghast! Other pastors joined in and drank, singing praises to God.
“The commander said that even the chemist record in the government showed that this water is poisonous, what power do you have?” said Rev Mulinde.
The pastors then preached the gospel and the commander came to believe in Jesus Christ with his soldiers! And they were baptized in that same water!
My God is God of the Nations, God of the Bible
And since that day after they tore down every prayer altar of LRA, the rebels did not win a single battle again. Everyday, the rebels were captured.
One of Kony’s captured commander said in a video, “The spirits have left. I don’t know where they have gone but if we see these born-again Christians, they are our enemies.”
From that day, LRA was trying to find ways to escape. The government of Sudan suddenly stopped all support for his operation and permitted the Ugandan government to enter their border and pursue the rebels.
“Does that sound like the God of the Bible?” said Rev Mulinde.
The International Criminal Court suddenly opened up a case to search for the rebels and they have rescued thousands of women and children to bring them back to Uganda.
LRA had nowhere to hide since they lost their base in Sudan. So, they ran into Congo for refuge. But the government of Congo and Sudan joined hands to hunt them down. So, they finally fled to Central Africa. The government of the United States sent troops to hunt down Joseph Kony in the dense forest of Central Africa. Kony was rumored to be moving locations every day to avoid being caught.
The people in Northern Uganda have all returned to their villages. Houses, schools and hospitals were built! The war raged for 17 years but it ended in two years since a group of mighty men of God came together to fast and pray to the Lord. Our God is a faithful God.
“We are talking about God of the nations! Sometimes, we reduce God to only a personal level, doing only personal miracles. But the God of Israel, the God of the Bible is the God we believe in. And He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is able to do exceedingly above what we ask. There are times we cannot seek answers. So, let’s ask God what is missing,” said Rev Mulinde.
“If you’re praying and nothing is happening, humble yourself and ask God to guide you because He is not a liar. Our God is faithful. He doesn’t change on pulses. He is a good God. He rejoices in blessing His children. He is dependable. Our God is the God of the Bible. He has never changed. Everything we see Him do in the Bible, He can do today,” he added.
My God is the God of the nations. My God is the God of the Bible.
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Pictures for the 'Awakeninng Malaysia' Conference were provided by and credited to New Life Restoration Centre in Petaling Jaya
Reference for other pictures:
http://www.newstimeafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/The-LRA.jpg
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2007/11/16/LRA2.jpg
http://tcon-uganda.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/lra-child-soldier.jpg
http://resistancestudies.org/wp-content/LRA.jpg
http://echwaluphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/3.jpg
http://echwaluphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/8.jpg
http://www.thefamilyinternational.org/media/photos/9/feature/Some_of_our_students.jpg
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