"When Jesus Says 'Follow Me'" by Siraji Adomati

The one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome here to Strength to Strength. It's really good to see you all. The purpose of Strength to Strength is to advance Jesus' kingdom by tackling thought-provoking topics, by stimulating candid discussions, and by sharing faith-building testimonies.

And this morning, we have the privilege of having Saratchi Adonati from Uganda with us on this call, and he's going to be sharing about his journey from the northern part of Uganda up close to South Sudan, his journey from there down, growing up there, and then moving down into Kampala, Uganda, and how he became a Christian there and a follower of Jesus, part of the kingdom there. We met earlier this week, and I was just, yeah, I was just really blessed and challenged to talk to Saratchi and hear his story.

You know, I come from quite a different background than you, Saratchi. We talked about that. You know, my parents come from out of the Groffdale Conference, Horse and Buggy Mennonite, right out of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and I have quite a—I grew up in a Christian home. Yeah, just quite a different background. And as we hear, Saratchi, you know, grew up—he grew up in a Muslim home or from a Muslim background, and quite, quite different. But this morning, there's a verse that stuck out to me in Acts chapter 1, verse 3, that says this, and this is Jesus speaking—well, and that's not, but it's about Jesus. And it says, "After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days."

And what was Jesus talking about? And it says he was talking about speaking about the kingdom of God. And so that's what's so exciting to me about the kingdom of God, is that it's a spiritual kingdom that is around the whole world, and many people are coming into this kingdom, many people from different backgrounds. Me from my background, Saratchi from his background. It's a kingdom that is growing, that is spreading, and it's a kingdom that will be victorious because our King has risen. He rose from the dead and has inaugurated this spiritual kingdom. And so we have this incredible privilege of being brothers here this morning, brothers and sisters with the same Father. We have the same elder brother, Jesus Christ.

And so—and that's something that stuck out to me, Saratchi, as you were sharing, is your heart for the kingdom. And I believe all of us on here this morning, our hearts are beating right with you. And so you're not a stranger here, brother. You're a brother. You're a friend. And so we really give you a welcome to this call.

So before we get started here, why don't we just bow our heads for a word of prayer? Let's pray. God, heavenly Father, thank you, Lord. Thank you that we can come to you in Jesus' name. Father, we can know that you care deeply about your kingdom on earth, about your sons and your daughters.

Father, we know that Jesus is seated at your right hand, and he's there interceding for us. And we see in the book of Acts, we even see you standing at God's right hand, just intensely involved with the affairs on earth. And Father, I believe that around the world today, there are situations that are happening, Lord, where you're intensely interested in those. Maybe it's in Africa at some place where radical Islam is attacking somewhere, Lord, and where Christians are being persecuted. And so Father, we ask, Lord, that you would be near to your body on earth, specifically those who are being persecuted, Lord. And Father, I also ask, Lord, that you would be near to those who are just coming out of Ramadan, the Muslim faith, and who may be disillusioned.

They maybe felt no—they feel coldness from Allah, from God. And so Father, I ask, Lord, that you would draw them to yourself and that you would use your body. You would use us as followers of Jesus just to be there and to speak words of truth and life and lead them to the light of the world, and that is your son, Jesus.

And Father, we ask, Lord, that you would guide this call this morning as our brother Saratchi shares about his life and how he was once a Muslim, once far from you, and how that you drew him to yourself, and that today he has a wife and children and is part of the church there in Kampala. And even this weekend, will be ordained as a deacon there in that congregation. Father, I pray that you would bless him in a very special way. And Father, may he just share words of you that you would use him, his testimony, his powerful testimony as a tool in your hand for advancing your kingdom. Thank you that we can be together this morning, and thank you that we can be talking about the same thing that you were talking about, your son, Jesus, Jesus that you were talking about when you left this earth.

So guide and direct us, Lord, this morning. And may you receive the glory, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. So Saratchi, welcome here. And why don't you just open up, share what's on your heart here at the opening, and then maybe something that happened in your life today or this week, whatever's on your mind here to start out, and then you can just move into where you grew up at and your journey through your childhood. And I'll try to ask some questions as we go along here. And yeah, so God bless you, brother.

All yours.

Thanks so much, everyone. It's very glad to see all of you, and I'm so excited to be a part of the call today. I was looking forward. Yeah, my name is—I'm called Adonati Saratchi. I'm 20 years old, 27, 28 years old.

Right here in Africa, most particularly East Africa, in parts of Uganda, that's where I am located.

I came from the northern part of Uganda, so near the border in Sudan. So yeah, I'm married. I'm married with two children. One is a boy and there's a girl. And also we're expecting another child as well. Yeah, this week has been quite a busy week here on my side, mostly here in Kampala.

Looking forward, as Brother mentioned earlier, I'll be ordained as deacon this very coming Sunday. So we're studying and talking about what it looks like to be a deacon. What does it mean? What does the meaning—what does deacon mean? So all those things. And I was thinking of the responsibility, about the responsibility.

So every position comes with a responsibility. So just thinking about that, it was quite easy. But I'm very open and I'm very excited to work with the church and also work with my brothers and sisters here in Kampala and to serve one another. So I'm very excited for that opportunity.

This week alone was—yeah, that was a whole other thing I have in this week. Nothing real special, but that's what I was thinking about. Yeah. Well, thank you for being willing to come on a big week like this. It's really special and really exciting.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, talking about myself, I grew up—I was born and raised up in a Muslim family. My dad and the entire family was Muslim, except my mom. My mom comes from a Christian family. It's an Anglican church. So the mindset back then is if you get a woman from a Christian family, you're Muslim, automatically your wife has to be—have to sit to Muslim even though she's Christian before. So the relationship between my mom and my dad, it didn't work out, and they broke out when I was still young.

And I was left with my grandmom and grew up with my grandmom. So my grandmom was the one who raised me up. I grew up really not knowing my mom and my dad. So I just came to know them recently. And yeah, that's what it's all about, my growth. And one of the things I find it more challenging when I was growing up, growing up with a grandmom, it's not something which is easy. It's not easy because she was old and she couldn't give me all I need because she was old and weak. So in other ways, we need to work hard. So the activity back then, when I reached something like seven years, then I started to look after cattles and keeping animals and then shepherds.

Yeah. Yes. Yeah, going to booths with animals. And then I grew up in that activity and farming and I was doing farming as well with my grandma. So if I could just recap a couple of things there, brother. So you were saying that your dad had married a Christian woman, or that's more of a kind of a quote Christian, right? It's not like it's not true Christianity, but it's kind of maybe Christian by birth, right?

And then that didn't work out. And so you ended up kind of living with your grandmother in that time, which was really difficult. Was it—it was probably maybe a—were you—did you grow up poor, like without much money? I'm assuming that was really tight for you. And you were saying that you started being a shepherd, right?

Yeah. Yeah. And you told me that earlier this week, and I thought, well, with you being a shepherd of cattle and goats and maybe has equipped you to be a shepherd of the church. So that's used a lot in scripture, this idea of a shepherd and being a shepherd in the church. So that's really interesting. And how old were you when you started to do that? You said farming and being a shepherd.

How old were you? Seven years old. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. So you were quite young. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. So maybe you could talk a little bit about your schooling and some of that. How did that work out for you?

About the schooling, I didn't really start—I didn't really go to school here in Uganda. So there's schools for government. It's for free, but it doesn't provide a lot of materials for a student to learn. So if you really don't have money for all those things, it will become very difficult. So I ended up being in primary school. I didn't go to secondary school due to lack of money and lack of parents and all those. So I stopped in primary, and I just dropped out from school and started doing some things like cattles and something else. Sure.

Yeah. And also what I would love for you to talk about a little bit too is—and then also with Islam, this village that you were in, was that a Muslim village or was it kind of, quote, "Christian village," or did you have Muslim Christians living together? How was that?

It's the village I grew up, which mixed up with Muslim and Christian Anglican church. But most people in the village were Christians, Anglican church. So Muslims, they are just a little bit small. They are not many as Christians there.

Yeah. But the family I grew up in, the entire family was Muslim, from my grandmother up to my dad's. Then one of the things is that I really didn't have that background, the Muslim background, like studying about Muslim, being knowing things about Muslim. Since there was no one who can take me through that, so I couldn't know anything concerning Muslim. So I just grew up knowing that my dad and my family members, they are all Muslim, so I am Muslim as well. So that was it. There was nothing much I know about Muslim.

Sure. Yeah.

So I was having some issues with my mic this morning, so sorry about that. Very interesting, Saratchi. Now, was there a mosque in your village? I've been in West Africa, and one thing I noticed is every village has a mosque or two. I mean, even a little village, just a little adobe mosque type set up with a couple of little minarets on it. Was that the case for you there in East Africa?

Yeah. Here, mosques are everywhere. And also back in the village, we do have mosques as well.

Yeah. Whenever you see the community of Muslim, there must be a mosque to be—the mosque has to be there, something like that. Yeah. Now, would have you received teaching at all at the mosque or in any kind of Islamic type school at all, or how was that?

We used to go to mosque, and I was having a lot going on back then. I can't be focused on one thing. I was thinking about my grandmom, who was also old, and there were also animals to take care of. So I really did use the time a lot to study. But once on Fridays, we normally go for prayer or something like a mosque, but I didn't get that chance to study and to go to mosque to study the Quran or something like that.

Sure. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your experience in the grade school. You went to a Catholic school or an Anglican school. How was that experience for you? It was quite challenging.

The school from primary one to primary seven is a Catholic—I went in a Catholic school. So every Friday, the priest comes, and then we pray before we go to the class in the morning. But the priest, they were just—their teaching was very good, and they were really doing a good work.

But the problem is that they don't really follow what they are teaching. And that thing made me—it makes in my mind that this is how the Christians they are. It was very challenging. I've seen people standing in front and talk some nice things and maybe teachings from the Bible. But the problem is they don't apply what they teach on whatever in their lives. So it really gives me a different picture of Christianity. And I really feel back in my mind that this is how the whole Christianity is about. So I really have a negative about Christianity according to the way—according to the region where I was. But just when I shifted to Kampala, that was now a different thing.

Crazy guy. And it's sobering to think about that people are watching us, right, Brother Saratchi? They're watching us, and they're concluding by our lives, "What is Christ? Who is Jesus?" And that's really, really sobering.

So you would have really got a really bad taste of Christianity, from what I'm understanding from you there in that school. Yeah. Yeah. So that was in your mind, something you were thinking about when you began to observe the brothers there in Kampala, which we'll get to that. We'll get to that soon. So yeah. Okay. Well, anything else you want to share with us, brother, as you think about your time there in northern Uganda? Like you said, Uganda's East Africa, right next to Kenya, right south of South Sudan, which you were right up close to the Sudan border where you grew up.

Anything else that you want to share with us from that time, your childhood years?

Yes. Being in the village, like the other side before me coming to Kampala, is that what you're asking? Sure. Yeah. Just curious, did you have—did you grow up with TV in your village at all, or were you kind of hooked into the rest of the world in that way?

No, no, not really completely. We don't have TVs. What we could have back then was these radios, but there are very few people who were having access to those things. We just grew up in—we just grew up in a remote area. There was no big things like TV. There was no things like even electricity. Power is not there. And then the place—yeah. So we couldn't have access for all those things. Sure. Yeah. And is it still that way today in that part of Uganda?

No electricity, no TV? Some places, they don't have as well. And some places, they do have now. But still, it's not everywhere. Some parts, they don't have. Some parts, they have. Even up to now, back in the village, we don't have electricity up to now. People use solars or something.

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very interesting. We would probably on this call—so I grew up around electricity. I couldn't imagine anything different than that. Running water, all those things that you would have there in Kampala. But I'm sure there would be some folks on this call who come from Amish background, the Amish people here in the United States, and they would grow up with no electricity, some of those things. So they could relate a little bit more maybe to that than what I could, for sure. So very good. Well, let's go ahead and move on.

Saratchi, you can begin telling us about moving to Kampala and why you moved to Kampala and how that was for you, kind of what age you were when that happened. So all yours.

Yeah. Thank you.

I came to Kampala; it was 2013 when I was 20 years old. And the reason why I came to Kampala was to look for something to do and support myself and just make sure that I can stand by my own because my grandmom can't meet all my needs. So I have to move; I have to come to Kampala and start looking for what to do. Because Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. So whereby there are so many investors, you can get such a small kind of job and start working and earn some money. So I came to Kampala; that was 2013 when I was 20 years old. And when I get to Kampala, it was quite challenging.

It's my first day, and it was my first time to come to Kampala. I really don't have anyone; I did not have anyone to stay with. Then a little bit, I ended up being strict for a while, something like one to two months in the streets. And then I find it very difficult because I wasn't having friends. So it was challenging. And all what we could do back then is sleeping in the mosques, something like that. You work and you— So you had no relatives, no friends, no connections in Kampala? No. You just moved there hoping to find work and another life, really. I'm sure that was quite—yeah.

Had you been to Kampala before you moved there when you were 20 years old? No. Okay. Wow.

So all what we could do is just to sleep. We went to race tonight; we go to mosque, and we sleep there. Then in the morning, you clean the mosque and sweep around, make sure that everything is clean. Then at night, you keep yourself there for two months. Then I came across to the advertisement when they are recruiting a private security team. Then that was the only option.

And then though it was risk, but I was like, "Okay, I just need to take that job like that." And then I went, and then I got recruited, and they took us to the training. The trainers are like two months and a half.

They passed us out. After training, I was sending—they sent me to the—they sent me to the other side of Uganda, bordering Uganda and Sudan. So that's where I was working. And the work wasn't easy as well. The work was so risky because we are guiding the bands, things like we are guiding the money.

They could have sent us with money, and we take the money to various places. And it was very risky. And remember, by then, I was still young, 20 years old. There's a lot of temptation, a lot of need, a lot of need of money.

But we just—we were just like in my heart, I was like, "Okay, this is the job I have now. I need to keep this job, and I need to make sure that I do my level best to keep myself alive." So I worked there. I worked like two years with the same company, with the same private security team.

But we are not in one place. You can be here for six months. They take you to the part of another side of the country, like six months, something like that. So we were not settled in one place.

Very interesting. So you were part of a private security firm, and you were guarding money, doing money deliveries or kind of guarding funds as they traveled around there in Uganda. And didn't you also end up in Sudan as well, in the country of Sudan? So yeah, quite a dangerous job. But it was a job that came to you, and you said you worked there for a couple of years.

Okay.

I worked there. It was just on the border between Uganda and Sudan. So something like five meters, you're already in Sudan, then five meters you're in Uganda. So I worked along that line, and it was very risky. So yeah, I worked there like six months. Then after that, they transfer us somewhere. They also take new people, something like that.

Yeah. Very interesting. Very good. Yeah. So in that time, you would have been obviously just living life, right? You weren't trying to be a good Muslim, or obviously, you weren't a Christian either. So you were living, from what I understood, a pretty godless life in that time. And so could you just take us then kind of the next step in your journey? What was that? What was that next step?

The thing was, back in my mind, I could have counted myself a Muslim. But when I think deep, I know nothing about Muslim, and I know nothing about Christianity. So I count myself just in between. I was not sure about myself. I was not sure about where I belonged to. So it was quite challenging for me to determine where I belonged to. So it was quite challenging.

And by then, I was—in the other side, I was also strong in my heart that I'm Muslim somehow because of my parents and my relatives. They are Muslim, so I count myself as Muslim. But deep in my mind, I know nothing about Muslim. So what makes me to be Muslim? So I also didn't have that question by then.

Sure. Yeah. So go ahead. Go ahead. Take us on to the next step in your journey there. Yeah. So from there, when this is done, the last when they brought us back to Kampala, and we were deployed within the city. Then I was working there as well. Then from there, I used to have some friends, Christian friends, and they could tell me, "Guys, let's go to church," something like that. We could go together with their team, with my friends whom we worked together with. We could go together to the church. But we were really not focused because the training was quite difficult. They train people, and we have different view.

We view human beings in a different way. We look at people as if they are bad people or something like that. So we couldn't have a very good conduct with the people due to the nature of our work. So we could go to church and pray, but we don't have a motive to go to church. We just go to church because church is there. So slowly by slowly, and I have a friend. And now this is when I come to get to Chilton, along to Chilton. And I was deployed nearby Chilton's friend. His friend, he was my friend as well. So when he was looking for someone who can take care to provide security here at the place, at Antioch here, so he talked to his friend, and then the friend talked to me.

Then I was like, "Okay, let me first go and see." And then the first day I came to Antioch here at the research center was I talked to—I didn't meet Chilton. I met Brother John. So I spoke to him. So maybe I'll just jump in a little bit here, Saratch. So Charlton is a brother or kind of the leader of the congregation there, if I was the way.

John is John Gooch, which is another brother there. Actually, a friend of mine, Saratch. I don't know if I told you about that, but John Gooch lived with us here for a month or two back in 2015. So John is a good friend. So you had a mutual friend who introduced you to Charlton and John. Okay. And the Antioch center there is a training center that you have for teaching students about Jesus and his kingdom. Okay. Great. We'll continue on.

Yeah. So the first person I met by then was John. And then we talked to John, and we ended up in agreement. And then I started to work right away. Then we were by then have class on Saturdays.

And I could show up in class sometimes. I couldn't come alone sometimes like that. So I was not so interested about the class because I still have negative thoughts about Christianity due to where I came from. But as time keeps going on, I started to draw myself near. I started to take interest. Then I started to understand. I started to come to the class. Then Charlton came.

He came up with a plan and have a Bible class, which is Creation to New Creation. Then we started from the Old Testament up to the New Testament. So I took that course. I think by then we were like 16, something like roughly 16 there. I took that course. And it was very interesting. The first course, I finished the course, but I really get nothing. There was nothing in mind. This is the course that they had put together there called Creation to New Creation, right?

Yeah. So you took that. Yeah. And did you say something about 16? Or when was that? Yeah. We were like 16 students in the class. Oh, 16 students. Yeah. Okay. Great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the first class, I really didn't do well. And then again, after our intake, they also recruit. They also start another intake, which I also joined in. Then the second intake was really I was really getting things. I have a lot of questions. I asked questions. I asked a lot of questions. So still, at the end of that course, it wasn't all well to me. And I was trying to put things together, but still, things were not coming. Then I also retake the course again for at that time.

Then that's when I come to when I come to see a clear picture. Then one of the things one of the things motivated me from the course we did is the Creation story. The Creation story, how God created us and how God wanted us to be.

God in the book of Genesis, we are the representative of God, and God made us with his own image. So what does that mean? That means we are the image bearer of God. We need to reflect that image.

So I have a question in my mind that I asked myself. Now, if I'm the image if I'm the image bearer of God, if I'm the representative, do I really represent God? That question was in my mind, back in my mind. Then the answer was no. And then I was like, "Okay. What can make me what can make me to represent God? How can I represent God?" So these are the two questions I was having in my mind. Then I was like, "Now the other answer is the answer I have back in my mind. Okay. Now, I really need to work hard to make sure that I represent the image. I represent God because God made us with his own image, which means we are his representative."

So then from there, that really boosted me. I worked so hard. I couldn't miss class. And I keep retaking the I keep retaking the course. I keep retaking the course. This is now my this is now my seventh time in the same course.

That's great. So it really took for me very long to make a decision because I really wanted to learn, and I really wanted to know a lot about Christianity and most about the Bible, what is it all about. So it really took for me a good time. Wow.

That's a real neat opportunity you have, brother, to take those classes. I would love to come take one. You take American? Okay. How long have you been going through that? I mean, okay. So when did you start? Was that two years ago or three years ago when you started that first course? How much time from now to when you took your first course there in Creation to Creation? I think my first course, it was it's now, let me say, almost going to three years. Three years. Three years ago. That was the first one. Yeah. And then the second course I took after that, just a class after class when this semester ends and the new students to come, I also joined in because I was working right here, and I have opportunity to be a part of the class.

So I couldn't use that. I couldn't waste that time. Then I just joined the class. I keep going with the class like that. So this is now my seventh time for the same course, as I said earlier. And I really learn a lot. Sometime when we're in class, before even Charlton says something, I will know that this is where he's going.

I know that this is where he's going. After this topic, this is the next one which is coming. So I'm really very excited. But Charlton was so patient, and he was really working with me and teaching us and really investing a lot of time for me, mostly on me because I really took along. If he was to be someone who doesn't, he was going to lose hope. But he was there for me, and we were studying together. Whenever I have a question, I brought him and asked questions, and he cleared for me those questions. He gave me a book to read.

So after my third course, then that's when I get a clear picture of the Bible. And then I made my decision to follow Christ and request a church for the baptism. And they told me it's fine. Then they gave me books about baptism. I read those books, and there's a lot of materials they provide for me. And then we talk about things and making things right. So as time keeps going on, as a Muslim family, this is the part where I didn't talk about, and I need to talk about this a little bit.

We see in Uganda, people didn't really value a marriage. What people call a marriage is you just getting a wife, and you start staying with that wife. That's what they call marriage. And in Muslim homes, it's just like that. You just get a wife, and you start staying with the wife, and that's what they call marriage.

So for me, completely, I thought I was married by then. But the fact was, after learning, after going through the classes, I found out that I was not married. And then he left me with a very heavy question. Then I went to Charlton. I was like, "What can I do now? What can I do? What can I do to make all this right?" Then he told me, "Yeah.

Before you go to be baptized, you really make sure that you really need to make things right and make sure that you have a proper marriage with your wife so that you two people can come together. But for now, it's quite challenging.

You are not official marriage. You just stay together. It's still from case." So from there, I was like, "Okay. It's fine." Then from there, I keep working hard. I keep working hard. So making sure that I really wanted to make things right with my wife and with the family back in Aruba. So I worked hard. And then after that, we went home and made things right. And the two families, my family and the family of my wife and the church went there and they witnessed that. Then I was baptized. And then I joined Followers of the Way. I was a part of Followers of the Way.

Now, this happened two years. It's now going to three years, almost making three years. And immediately, I came back to Kampala with my family, with my wife. And then my wife also picked interest to be baptized. And both of us, we are part of Followers of the Way. Praise God.

We are really working so hard and some work and some people within us as well. Yeah. I was very excited. I was very encouraged with the group of people I came across.

My point of view in Christianity by then changes within a period of one month because I find the new people. I find new community. I find new people who have different thoughts about different things and people who live in different life. So that mindset, this is how Christians they are, just gets off in my mind. I was like, "Ah, this is another new part of it." So people are very hospitality, and people are very welcoming, and they are very open. They are very honest to one another. The love people have to one another is super.

There's nothing I can compare it with. So that was one of the things that motivated me. But one of the things is the community itself. Everyone is held accountable. And even if there's work going on, people are always there with you, and you are part of family. And brother, you could maybe tell us a little bit what you grappled with as you considered following Jesus and becoming a part of the church there. And as you thought about your Muslim family, just share a little bit about that, kind of how you wrestled with that and some of your conclusions then that helped you move forward and become a Christian.

Yeah. That was also quite a struggle. And it's one of the things which took me long because I was trying to I was trying to balance, and I was trying to think about all the things before I made a decision, before I made a request. So I was counting the cost as well.

That's what I can say. But one of the things is Jesus made a statement saying that if you want to be my disciple, if you can't hurt your mother, your father, and your children, your wife, even yourself, you can't be my disciple.

So that is put a stand for me, and it really stands for me strongly. So I really need to I really need to cost I really need to count my cost, what it will take. So when I come across to that, I have a clear mind that, okay, whatever comes across, I will need to take it. And this is the decision I've made. Then from there, I just move forward. And I was like, "Whatever comes, it is okay. But I will never go back, and I will just move forward." Then I say, after making that decision, I felt rejected by my people. People were not happy with me. People were unhappy. They cut off the line between me, and there was no connection between me and my family.

No one wants to come across to me. Everyone was mad at me. So they just left me and my family, my wife. They just left us for ourselves. But I really didn't have envy or hatred towards them. And I was not I didn't really feel bad for that because I knew because Jesus says that when they hurt you, they also hurt the prophets who were before you. So it means these things that it keeps going. It keeps going. It will not stop, and it will keep going. So I was like, "Okay. Jesus was denied by his own people." So if they are also denied by my own people, that's not a problem. But on the other hand, I have brothers.

I have the sisters. I have people whom I can even call father, people like Charlton. So I was like, "Okay. I have my tribe. I have my community. I have people who are within me, with me. And I have people who can stand with me." So there's nothing wrong with that, even though I felt even though my relatives, they become so bad about the decision I made. And I stand strong still. And I encourage my wife. I encourage my wife. I told her to stand strong, to stand with us, and we make sure that nothing should let us down, and we keep going. Amen. And one of the things I told my wife is that following Christ is not something easy.

It's a work. When you work, you really need to work hard. I told her one of the things that's one of the things I told. I said, "It's work. There's a lot of challenge. We shall face a lot of challenge. We face a lot of temptation. We face a lot of things. But what makes the difference is we really need to be faithful, and we really need to push it hard. And we really need to move forward. So we shouldn't be letting down for what people say or for the rejections we have from our family." So that was the motivation I have towards my family. And we are really working so hard. And I'm really very I'm hoping that I will really need to seek more and learn more about Christ and keep learning and be a part of Christ and also make sure that my children, I can teach them and make sure that they can also be a part of with us as a journey as they grow up.

So that's one of the things I'm looking to as a family, as a father, and also as a leader in church. So that's what I'm trying to see in the future to come. Yes. That's really beautiful or very challenging.

And the idea of how your family was against you. And I think even your wife's family had some as you chose to really follow Jesus in the way that you have. And your words of like, "It's work, right? We have to work hard to follow Jesus."

Wow. If that message could just if every follower of Jesus or every Christian could just grasp that and embrace that, Sirach, how different Christianity would look. The idea of to be a Christian means to follow Jesus and accept his hard teachings, as you all have. That's beautiful.

That's beautiful. And you saw that there in the community there in Uganda, there in Kampala, the Followers of the Way. You saw that in them. And that's what changed your understanding of what true Christianity is. So we're coming down to about 10 minutes from the top of the hour here. So we like to try to wrap it up around Savon or a little bit after. So this has been really, really just inspiring, brother, to hear your story. I know you could probably talk for weeks about all these different experiences that you've had. So it's been really a blessing. And I'll open it up here shortly to the others on the call for them to ask you some questions.

So you all can be thinking about that. If you have a question for our brother, please be ready to share that here shortly. But something, Sirach, I'd like you to talk about is so all of us on this call, including you, we want to see God's kingdom advance. We want to see more Siraches come into the kingdom, people who are not in any way, shape, or form following Christ. And as you observed that church there, obviously, you've said how it was so different. Could you maybe give us two things or several things that really stood out to you that were like, "Wow, that was that meant a lot to me. That was that really, really made me think differently about Christianity."

Is there several tangible things that you could just share with us? Yeah. Thank you. There are a lot of things to be pointed out. But I will just point out on the one thing is when I came to know when I come to when I become the before I become part of the church here, one of the things I was seeing from the church is that people live exactly. They live exactly. They live exactly the way the Bible wanted us to live.

Sometimes flesh is against us. But one of the things I was seeing by then is people try to live exactly the way Jesus wanted us to live our life. So that's one of the things that motivated me. It's a very big thing. And one of the other second is that people like the church here takes the teaching of Christ is that is what Christ meant.

It's what Jesus meant. So if Jesus meant that, what next? We have to do it as his followers. So it was making people it was one of the things I've seen with the church. And people make sure that they take the teaching of Jesus and they live according to it. Even though things get off sometimes, but we make sure that we're still in that line. So that's one of the things that stand for me in the church. There are several things, but that's one of the things I wanted to point out. Sure.

Yeah. Very, very good. So obviously, the creation, the new creation, you probably looked at history and some of the things where we can draw lessons from history. I noticed, Sirach, the other day, you were at a different place or the Antioch Center, and you had the same painting on the wall behind you.

So we're on the baptist history, and it helps us understand what that looks like to follow Jesus and to love our enemies. So yeah, wonderful. So if Jesus said it, we do it. I like that. Yeah. That'll be something that'll stick with my mind today.

Very good. Okay. I'm going to open it up here to the other ones here on the call. What questions do you have for our brother? Let's be quick with our questions here.

Or just words of affirmation or whatever.

Yeah. I don't know if I have a question exactly, but I just want to thank you for coming on here this morning. It's very inspiring to think that many thousands of miles away, there's people who serve the same God. And so yeah, it's just a blessing to hear your testimony and also to hear you say how you want to lead your children into the way of Jesus as well. So yeah, God bless you.

Amen. Amen.

Could you maybe speak into our culture to give an indication of where you might see a weakness that we would have that otherwise we wouldn't see? Yeah. That's good, Dan. Thank you.

Did you get that, brother?

I didn't get it clear. Yeah. That's fine. I'll reiterate it here. So you said, "Would you have a challenge for us?" So most of us on this call are Americans from the West here. Would you have a challenge for us or a weakness that we might have that we're not seeing?

Would you mind sharing a challenge with us as a brother in Christ of how we could become more like Christ?

No. Okay. That's very kind of you. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you. That was a good question for the day. And I know that many times we yeah, we want to follow Jesus, but we might we live in this one kind of culture, and it's easy for us to overlook things. And I know that, Brother Sirach, you can teach us many, many things about following Jesus. And just your faith and your love for Jesus shines through. Tell us what your favorite song is.

Actually, I have two favorite songs, but there's one which is my favorite. It's "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." Yeah. Amen.

"The Cross Before Me and the World Behind Me." So that's my favorite song. And the other one is "What Friend We Have in Jesus." Okay. Amen. I would love to hear you sing that song for us, brother, but we'll let you off this morning.

I can see the friendship we have in Jesus. Seeing all of you in calls, this is a really very blessed thing. And the friendship we have in Jesus is really very strong and it's something which is untouchable. Amen. Wow. I'm really very excited for that.

Yes. And we can look forward to that new creation, that new heaven and the new earth where we can be with Jesus. We can all be together in person. Worshiping Jesus there, worshiping the Lamb. Amen. Yeah. Very good. Okay. Well, thank you, everyone, for being on the call. And Brother Sirach, thank you so much for sharing your journey into following Jesus.