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The Invisible Children -- The Tragedy in Uganda

For 20 years, northern Uganda has been one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a child.  There, a man named Joseph Kony and his commandoes have wreaked havoc on an entire generation of children.  Joseph Kony can only be described as one of the worst incarnations of evil the earth has seen.  Claiming to receive his directions from angels, one of whom was associated with Idi Amin, Kony has named his guerilla troops the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).  The "lord" he serves is certainly not the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one is clear who or what he is resisting.  He claims to be fighting to bring down the Ugandan government of Museveni and claims to be fighting for the Acholi tribesmen of the north who were neglected  under colonial rule.  The truth is, he has just as often been found attacking the Acholi as anyone else.  His attacks have shown no discernible pattern of reason and can only be described as brutal and devastating.

Stealing from children--their families, their hopes, their future
The LRA has kidnapped about 30,000 children in northern Uganda.  Kony's main generals are almost all children kidnapped and trained by his forces.  Coercing a child to become a combat soldier is bad enough.  Kony's tactics go well beyond that.  To toughen up the children, break their bonds with family and society, and to tie their consciences and their hopes to him alone, Kony usually forces children to kill or maim family members or other kidnapped children soon after capture.  He then tells them that since they have done such atrocious things, they can never be forgiven or accepted again by society.  Their only hope is now with him.  Kidnapped children are marched for a week or more without food into his training camps in southern Sudan.  Denied water, they are forced to drink muddy ground water or urine in order to survive.  There they are trained to shoot, cut off lips, noses and limbs, and to accept the word of their commanders without question.  They are then sent out to spread the kind of terror they themselves experienced.

The "Invisible Children" or Night Commuters
His forces usually strike at night in small villages, so for years it was unsafe for any child in northern Uganda to sleep with his family.  Tens of thousands of children began "night commuting", walking for hours into towns.  The fortunate ones crowd into shelters provided by Christian and humanitarian agencies, where they lay back-to-back like sardines in a can.  Some of the agencies enclosed their shelters with razor wire and provided armed guards.  The unfortunate children had to sleep on the street.  There, many of them were subject to theft, beating, and rape, but none of these are as bad as being inducted into the LRA.  These "night commuters" were called "invisible children" because when night falls, they seemed to appear in droves in the cities, as if from nowhere.  Thank God that with the peace of the last few years, former night commuters now sleep with their own families once again.

Squooshing children together in dismal IDP camps
There are thirty IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps in the Gulu District alone in northern Uganda, remnants of long years of war in Sudan and in eastern DR Congo.  Conditions there are well below the "minimal" level acceptable for existence.  Although the government is now emphasizing return to home areas, this can happen only slowly, since home areas have largely been leveled, even wells destroyed.

Resources are exhausted, those who care are overworked
Missionaries there are overwhelmed and exhausted.  There is a great openness and a great need for Gospel work in the camps.  Recent developments show that the intense and united prayer and fasting efforts of Ugandan Christians may be yielding results in spiritual breakthroughs.  It has been reported that Kony's mother and several of his top generals have recently come to Christ, and Kony himself seems to be on the run, hiding out somewhere in eastern Congo.  The number of night commuters has significantly decreased this year, and some sense of security is beginning to be restored to the north.  Now, the hard job starts--rebuilding a nation so devastated.  We believe that only Jesus Christ can offer hope for situations like these, and He is abundantly able!

ECM commits to Uganda
In the midst of all this, ECM has committed to working there.  This was the result of a three-week fact-finding mission completed in October and early November 2006.  As a result, the ECM Board voted to commit ECM to Ugandan children who have been robbed of a future.  It's bound to be tough and challenging work, but we can only believe that in places that have known so much pain, "grace does much more abound."

This project touches children in two other areas close to our hearts--1)  children of Sudan, who have been brutally chased from their homes by government of their own country, simply because they are Christian and black, and 2) children of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  ECM began work in the western part of their country in 1985.  Recent word is that Joseph Kony and his evil LRA are now in the Congo.  That country has already been devastated by a long war.  The last thing in the world Congolese children need is Joseph Kony and the LRA.  Please pray with us!  We believe that during our trip in October and November, God is going to show us how we can all help these children!

During October-November 2006, Lorella Rouster, Hazel Hermosillo and Sharon Aldrich conducted two seminars to train children's teachers.  One was held in the Mukono District just east of Kampala, the capitol city, and another in Gulu, to train Christian teachers now ministering in the IDP camps.  Since then, teams have taught Bible classes in a kind of "Day Camp" setting at Tegotatoo in the Gulu District twice a year.  We have sent a missionary couple to develop a sports ministry and help with the sponsorship programs in the south, and three single ladies are now preparing for service in the north.
With needs so immense, there is lots more to be done, and you can join us in serving the children of war in Uganda.

Here's how you can get involved--

1.  Pray!  Specifically for these points:

• Wisdom and guidance from God in all the planning and in every decision made.
• Good, effective contacts in Uganda and effective networking amongst God's people.
• That God's plan of action for ECM will continue to unfold.
• Needed finances.
• Missionary recruits, especially one year or longer.

2.  Give!

• Support a Ugandan orphan.  Sponsorship is only $30 a month.  Your help will provide educational assistance, medical care, supplemental nutrition, spiritual guidance and regular Bible teaching.

3.  Go!

• SUMMER DAY CAMP FOR FORMER IDP CHILDREN IN RESETTLEMENT AREAS
  Every summer, in July, 3 weeks each camp, including training
  
• If God is laying this work on your heart, if you are single or married without children, if you are strong and committed, please consider going to help.  Get in touch with us and let us get acquainted with you now.  Married couples with children can serve in the southern part of the country where they can train national leaders, have a hospitality to those coming into the country along with an R&R ministry to refresh those serving in the former war zone, and minister in the city slums where many displaced people from the war are now living.

To give to this project, click here and designate "Uganda"

To contact ECM about possible service in Uganda, click here.

To return to the ECM home page, click here.

To request ECM's quarterly magazine, AFRICAN JEWELS, click here and send us your name and address (US addresses only).

Visit ECM Uganda's National Homepage. (Takes you off site.  Come back soon!)

VISIT AN IDP CAMP IN PERSON NEXT SUMMER