Businge Peter Simon passed the long hours in his prison cell dreaming about how he would murder the man who sent him there.
But before he could put his plot into action, God intervened in a dramatic way. Here is what Businge wrote to me:
Brother Ken,
Praise the Lord, God is great, God is able and God is too merciful to me. I, Businge Peter Simon of Fort-Portal, Uganda, thank God for he has a purpose for me. I am not an accident to be in prison today. Behind it God has a reason.
I also thank the prison’s authority for having kept me safely for almost six years, for in only three weeks I go out to be a free man. If all goes well, the Lord is my helper, I will attend university and pursue a divinity course, my wish is to serve God.
Before I sat through your course I had a horrible unrepentant and unforgiving heart. If I would have been released earlier, by now I would be on death row because I had planned to go and teach my accuser a lesson. I was going to set ablaze his house and be on guard with a gun to make sure that not even a rat or a lizard escapes. What unrepentant and unforgiving heart I had.
But I praise God who prolonged my sentence in prison and worked upon me through your course by revealing scriptures that convicted and proved me more guilty than those I was going to kill. God cleansed my heart with his blood which he shed on the cross 2000 years ago. He changed my heart and thoughts. I forgave my accuser and asked God to forgive me too.
I now have peace in my mind because I no longer hold my accuser in my prison. He will be filled with great amazement when he sees me kneeling before him seeking reconciliation with him next month when I go to him.
Until then, I am urging others to trust in Jesus and believe his gospel and discover the secret of peace. When I go out from prison I plan to introduce your course to my church in Fort-Portal so that many Christians can attend. Because when they attend it in big number there will be peace and harmony in the church and our country.
Businge Peter Simon
This is just one example of how God is using our training resources to transform people’s lives and spread the gospel. Although most of our work is focused on churches, ministries and seminaries in the United States, two key global partnerships have opened hundreds of doors overseas.
The European Leadership Forum is promoting our training to ministry leaders throughout Europe. In March, the Lausanne Movement gave us the opportunity to provide eBooks and online training to 850 Christian leaders in 145 countries.
In every one of these countries, as well as the U.S., there are people like Businge, trapped in sin, bitterness and cycles of conflict. The gospel is their only hope for freedom, which is why it is the foundational theme of every resource we send out.
Will you please help us to expand this work?
We are working hard to complete several new training courses by the end of the year, including a new Peacemaker Seminar and a “values-based†version of our training that could be taken into businesses and other secular venues to open the way for people to hear the gospel.
We also provide thousands of dollars of scholarships to people who cannot afford to pay the full price for our training and resources.
We depend on generous gifts from people like you to help with these costs.
So please, join with us today in bringing gospel-centered training in relational wisdom to people like Businge, giving them the opportunity to learn how to find the peace, reconciliation and friendship that Jesus offers to all who put their trust in him.
Warmly in Christ,
Ken Sande
PS: Here is an example of the kinds of scholarship requests we receive every week: “As a missionary serving in Haiti, I am often expected to counsel people and mediate conflicts in a high stress, foreign, bilingual and multi-cultural environment. I need RW training to improve my skills for making peace and building genuine relationships.â€
Permission to distribute: Please feel free to download, print, or electronically share this message in its entirety for non-commercial purposes with as many people as you like.
© 2018 Ken Sande
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