Renewing the Mind - World Renew

(UGANDA) Apai is a small fishing village in Uganda’s northeastern district of Kaberamaido. World Renew and our local partner, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, work there to address the challenge of HIV and AIDS among over 490 households. Solomon Emyedu, 41, is a fisherman and lives with his wife Immaculate and their 11 children in Apai village.

Solomon Emyedu, 41, is a fisherman and lives with his wife Immaculate and their 11 children in Apai village.

I visited Solomon and Immaculate. Their testimony about the benefit of being part of the local church reminded me of what Paul wrote to the Roman church in Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Solomon shared: “I was a hopeless alcoholic, and even got another woman within the village. Twice I got too drunk to make it home and had to sleep in the bush. All the income I got from my fishing business was wasted on alcohol and a reckless life. Things got worse at home when my wife began drinking and also got another man. I used to fight a lot with my her.”

But then Solomon and his wife were encouraged to join a Stepping Stones group where village households would come together weekly to discuss family life, faithfulness, and love in families. Their Stepping Stones group is one of a collection of groups reaching over two hundred households in three fishing villages, with sessions guided by community health champions, some of whom are church leaders trained by World Renew.

“The program has totally helped us strengthen our faith in God. I have learnt to be faithful to only my husband and to God,” says Immaculate.

In February 2017, Solomon joined a Stepping Stones group for just men. “Due to the good things I had seen in the lives of my friends who were active participants, I got interested and joined our peer group,” he explained.

Solomon and Immaculate have changed. Solomon is now a church group leader for Apai village and his wife was appointed by her church (the Anglican Church) as a Mothers Union Chairperson for Apai village, mentoring other women on family life. Solomon and his wife are currently helping three families that are experiencing disunity and unfaithfulness in their marriages. “One of my friends asked me to share with him on how I have managed to handle my family, since he is experiencing the same challenges I had before,” says Solomon. “I am really happy with this program and I have realized that I delayed joining it. I would have been a better person long ago had I joined earlier.”

I was so inspired by my visit with this couple and what God has done in their lives, in their family, and—through them—in the lives of others!