MY JOURNEY FROM THE PARTY HOUSE TO THE PULPIT

I was always that party girl, not just attending them, but throwing them too. Honestly my insecurities had caught up with me, so many doors in my life were shut out. For example, I always asked God for a perfect husband, but never gave him the chance to perfect me first. I always wanted to be rich, but couldn’t keep my salary for more than a week, I always wanted to be a leader, but had too many hangovers to deal with. My world was a cold dark one, one that I convinced myself only a bottle could understand. But Gods love will forever amaze me. He pulled me out of that dark hole, showing me that it was not over with me.

See ladies, the thing I have learnt about God is he is the author of our lives. He knows it even before we do, so no matter how far we run, he isn’t surprised, he will keep changing the script till you get back to where he calls you. For me, that happened one ‘hangover Thursday’ when I decided to enroll for a class called ‘MIZIZI.’ It’s a ten week experience where we get to establish a relationship with God, understand our purpose, and plug in to community. To be honest, I reached out because I was bored with my life. The first couple of sessions, I could have given up, but something in me kept me going. I met people just like me, alone and confused, looking for a place to be real with God. It turned my life around. Even though I had not quit partying for a while, I was beginning to seek and trust God again. I began to understand my self, the things iam passionate about, my personality, and slowly dealing with my insecurities. I began to serve in church, and realized I had skills I had shun for so long. I was entrusted to lead ministries and missions, I grew from a girl to a woman.

Now more than ever I am passionate about God, when you understand his mind and his ways, gosh, its mind blowing. I have understood his will for me, and my purpose has directed my heart to a group of young single mothers and women living in Nsangi town in Uganda. My desire is to show them what hope looks like, and what God’s Grace can do for them. That they may understand that their story is not yet over. If Christ went through a transformation story, so will they. And most importantly, that their children may see them as hardworking women and desire to walk right in their footsteps. I have just completed my MA in Organizational Development from United States International University in Nairobi. That was close to two years away from home. I call it my ‘wilderness experience’ God taking me to a land where I knew close to no one in the beginning, so he could work on me and groom me to the woman iam now. It’s amazing that in a place where I had so much freedom to be that crazy party girl again, I found myself in places of leadership, service, and prayer.

So let me encourage you for a minute, I don’t know what you’re going through, but God is bigger than it, approach him who is ever merciful, forgiving and loving, and let him re write your story. I was honestly nothing before understanding who God is, and now, I’m moving from glory to glory. I serve a mighty king. He is using my past experiences to turn around the lives of girls and women who have lost hope. I have gone ahead to start a SACCO (Beauty in Grace Savings and Credit Cooperation) with over thirty women in Nsangi, this is not just an opportunity for savings and financial development for these women, but also a place where they can come together to be encouraged, spend time in prayer and empower one another, that God is the author and Finisher of our faith, and he says ‘It’s not over!’ we sit together, eat and laugh, share past experiences, testimonies and lessons, we host mature women in different fields to counsel us on family, relationships and career and business among others, we give hope for our children, I mean if the Bible tells us the power of life and death is In our tongue, then we speak life into our children, we believe, and they become. As I write, I’m happily getting married into ministry, so more opportunity for God to use me to change lives, and be an encouragement to women in diverse situations as I learn him even more!

This can be your story too, your weakness is your greatest strength, believe you are what God sees you as, surround yourself with positive people who will stand by you no matter what, and don’t be too hard on yourself, God doesn’t expect you to be perfect first, he wants to do it for you. I believe that today, you are inspired to believe in yourself, go out there and impact your community, for in your community, you will find yourself! And God above all Things!!

This inspiring story was shared through a collaboration between Say It Forward and Allied Youth Initiative–Uganda

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