Pastor Patience Museveni Rwabwogo has encouraged Christians to live gospel-centered lives, adding that this will lead to true transformation in families and communities across the country.
Speaking at a conference on prayer yesterday, the mother of four, and daughter to the President, observed that as much as statistics show that the highest proportion of Uganda’s population is Christian, many pay no heed to biblical principles and values.
Pastor Rwabwogo explained that to walk by faith, a Christian must die to self continually and live for Christ.
She observed that many Christians today have abandoned their “first love” for God. Mrs Rwabwogo, who is lead Pastor of Covenant Nations Church, noted that the trend cuts across to some Christian leaders who have ignored their purpose for ministry.
The prayer conference was organised by Dr Michael Kimuli of Christian Discipleship Ministries International at Kampala Parents School, under the theme, ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail.’
“We have overnight prayers, lunch hour fellowships, morning prayers, and others go to the prayer mountain. Even now, we are preparing for the new year. Most Christians will be somewhere on 31st December, whether at Namboole, or any other place, to usher in the new year with prayer and fasting. We should be having the highest level of transformation based on our spiritual exhortation. The question is, why don’t we?” she wondered. “In all our busyness, have we lost our intimacy with God?”
“If you are on social media, you will see that almost everybody who has an account keeps posting scriptures, an inspiration quote, or favorite pastor.. So many people talk in a way that is ”Christian” … but there is a way it is not connecting into our actions, and way we live our lives,” she said.
“So many times in the Church today, it looks like we are following the world, and the cross is behind us,” she said. She later quoted Rev 2:1-5.
The passage says:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Return to your “first love” for the Lord
Pastor Patience Museveni Rwabwogo called for repentance and urged that there is a difference between knowing God and knowing about God.
She said when a church knows that it is called to disciple a nation, it has great purpose and authority.
Mrs Rwabwogo reflected on days when Pastors were not celebrities, but “simply servants of God.”
“Now, the church in Uganda, seems to have more physically, but less spiritually. Is God happier when we have big buildings and congregations, big TV stations and systems but, who we are on the inside has grown cold and hard? When pastors are celebrities, and everyone on social media wants to have the most ‘likes’ and followers, is the one [who called us to ministry] pleased and happy with the Church?”
Getting Saved
Mrs Rwabwogo shared a personal testimony saying she gave her life to Christ at the age of 11.
“I remember I was coming home from school, and I heard a voice. It was not an audible voice, it was a voice that I heard in my spirit. I had never heard that voice before, but when I heard it, I instinctively knew it was the Lord. I remember the words were very simple. He said, ‘follow me.’ And so, that day I made a decision to make Jesus the Lord of my life. I have been walking that journey over since,” she said.
“The first thing I learnt in my walk with God is that I loved spending time with Him. I loved talking with Him. My first bible was given to me by an evangelist called Daisy Osborne, who had come to Uganda with her husband called T.L Osborne. I found that I loved reading the bible, and I would color my favorite [verses]. I learnt how to pray by reading the bible. I would read a scripture, and begin to use it in prayer,” she added.
Four years into her marriage, Mrs Rwabwogo started having the same vision repeatedly.
“It was the same vision for a whole year. I could see the continent of Africa, it was very dark. Then, a small light started coming out of Uganda. In the vision, this light started small, but kept growing bigger and bigger, until the whole country was full of light. There after, the light started spreading out of Uganda, into Kenya, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and into northern Africa, and then the south. It started spreading out into the whole continent.
“The light spread out of Africa, into the world. I then heard the Lord say, ‘Out of what was called darkness will come a great light.’ He said, ‘the light will come from within you’. I asked the Lord, ‘why is the light coming from Uganda?’ The Lord said, ‘Uganda is the heart of Africa’. He continued, ‘just as a man is made right when his heart is made right, Africa will be transformed as Uganda aligns to its purpose.’ In that vision there was somebody blowing a shofar. I asked the Lord, ‘who is that person blowing the shofar?’ And the Lord said, ‘you are the one blowing that shofar.'” she explained.
Patience receives several other visions after that, which led to her devotion to ministry so as to “fulfill her purpose.”
