When God Visited Nyangoma

When Nyangoma Kisakyamukama, 18, got married in mid 2004, she thought her life was making a turn for the better. How wrong she was! One and a half years later, her husband had died of AIDS, leaving her infected with HIV, breastfeeding their first daughter and pregnant with another. Her earthly possessions included two tattered dresses, a worn-out mattress and two thread-bare mats. Her home: a tent of three meter circumference made out of sticks and banana fibres. By all standards Nyangoma belonged to the wretched of the earth.

“The first time I met her and the husband, they were even poorer than I was,” Ayinza recalls. “When he fell sick, I tried to provide what little help I could,” she adds, which often meant buying them sugar or giving them food from her own garden. The help was modest, for a family that had almost nothing, it went a long way.

 “When it rained heavily, my house would leak. I had no option but to flee and seek refuge in the nearby church,” she recalls. Over the years, the Church became her second home.

“The parishioners were very understanding. They never sent me out of the church and even when my house was swept away by the wind, they decided to help me,” she says.

That help came in form of building a bigger albeit similar tent. The pastor of the church, Ayinza Nayiga-herself a widow- stood with Nyangoma all the way, encouraging her through the tough times.

 “We wanted to do more, but we had no means. I kept telling Nyangoma that the God who saw Jacob through his tough times will see her through the same,” Pastor Nayiga narrates.

Luckily, Nyangoma accepted Christ in her life and held on to every word of encouragement that her pastor spoke.  When she wasn’t fleeing the heavy downpour in the middle of the night, Nyangoma was in church to pray and ask God for a break-through.

“I saw God answer my prayers in the daily support and bread He provided through the parishioners, but like the lady with an issue of blood, I wanted to see God intervene personally,” Nyangoma says, her voice full of conviction.

Her pastor too was convinced that Nyangoma would live to see God transform her life. “She kept praying for me and warned me against seeking refuge in any man’s arms,” Nyangoma says of her pastor, “Whenever men approached me, I would consult her and she would tell me to turn them down.”

About a year ago, Nyangoma’s world went through another shocking phase. The house that parishioners had built her was gutted with fire.

“I don’t even know how it happened. All I know is that we were praying at Church when all of a sudden, we heard a loud bang. Everyone run out and we found that the house was on fire,” Nyangoma says, “I was completely dumbstruck.”

Once again, Nyangoma found solace in the words and encouragement of her pastor and parishioners.

“My pastor told me, ‘God has allowed this to happen in order that you may get a new house.’ I didn’t know how this was going to happen, but I had no option but to believe and wait.”

The wait was not long.  In April 2012, a team of World Vision Sponsors visited UK-funded projects in Ntwetwe, Kiboga district. While interacting with the community there, they got to hear of Nyangoma’s plight. In an extra-ordinary show of God’s grace and compassion, one of the team members committed to building  Nyangoma a house.

“I couldn’t believe my ears,” Nyangoma narrates, her eyes sparkling with excitement, “It was as though God Himself was speaking to me.”

By the end of September Nyangoma and her daughters were owners of a two-roomed brick house, complete with sofa sets, some cutlery and a bed. If she had needed some convincing that God exists, Nyangoma doesn’t anymore.

“I praise the Lord. I will never leave Him. Nothing is impossible for Him and I am a living testimony of His love and provision,” she says, breaking into laughter and praise.

But Nyangoma has also not forgotten those who stood by her.

“I made it through the tough times because of the love of my pastor and fellow parishioners. I was saved, but seeing God’s love in action among fellow believers kept me going,” she says, before adding, “No one was as desperate as I was. Today, no one is as grateful as I am”.

With the extra money remaining from the construction, Nyangoma has been able to buy an extra piece of land that she tills to get food for her family. She dreams of one day owning pigs and goats which would enable her generate an income for her family.

“With every day that passes by, I grow weaker. Tilling the garden is not very sustainable for me. But after seeing God come through for me in such a big way, I know He will never desert me,” she says.

Nyangoma’s second name is almost prophetic. Loosely translated, Kisakyamukama means “God’s grace”. And oh, how appropriate it is.

Her stick and fiber house still stands in the compound. It is her kitchen now, but also an imposing reminder of just how far the Lord has brought her. Sometimes, when it rains very heavily, Nyangoma leaves her comfortable home and heads for the church that sheltered her in times of trouble. Kneeling or standing in the exact spot she used to lay her head to rest a few months ago, she says a prayer of gratitude, remembering very vividly, God’s enduring love and favor towards her.

“If it weren’t for God’s grace and Love through my church, I wouldn’t be alive,” she says.