Dear Friend,

It is hard for a stranger to let you into her house in the middle of the night, but I know one who did. I am a live today because of what Jesus did on that day through that woman.

When we entered her house, she turned on the tin kerosene lamp, and she told us to settle in as she made tea. A few minutes later, she served it with small bans, she then sat on the bed and introduced her self-saying, “I am Grace but most people call me Aunt Grace and I work at Makerere University Guest House.”

Then she said, tell me about you. I introduced myself and then I added I got born again a few days ago and this is my sister Shamim, we were invited to Kampala to work at Daily Monitor as newspaper vendors. She asked a few questions about the validity of this job and its authenticity. Until that moment it hadn’t occurred to me that there might be a possibility that there could be no job at all and here I was being daft.

She listened and said nothing in regard to what I just said. She said get some sleep we have a long day tomorrow. I slept on a two feet width space; my long legs touched the end of the room so I had to fold them so I could fit. In a few minutes we both passed out. Then I was awakened by the sound of someone praying. At first I thought there was a church close by. I was wrong; it was Aunt Grace who was praying with such intensity.

I am such a light sleeper, I wake up at any sound, so I got up and sat quietly as she prayed. I listened as she poured out her heart to God. To my surprise, she wasn’t praying for herself but for us. She mentioned my name before the LORD and went on to pray for my family, siblings, education, ministry (this one I didn’t understand because I thought but I don’t work in any government ministry, may be she meant my mother because she is a teacher) etc. then she started sobbing, gently but deeply.

I was baffled, why was she crying? Did we do something wrong, is she in pain! She went silent for a while, and then I heard what sounded like groaning. Then she started talking again in a way that I understood, she addressed the LORD as someone she knew, as a friend, she kept saying, “Dear LORD, please make away for them, I know they are not here by mistake.” Growing up, the word “Dear” was so personal; we only used it to write small chits to girls and saying “Dear Nakasi…

Then she started sobbing, there was such a presence but I didn’t know what it was then but I know it now, it was the sweet Presence of the Holy Spirit. I started to cry as well. I didn’t know how to pray, so I sat quietly as she prayed. Here is the strangest thing, it felt like I was praying with her, I was drawn into it, I felt what she felt, and it felt like it was coming out of my belly. Before I knew it, light was coming in through the crack of the little door, that’s when I realised it was already morning. But wait a minute, it only seemed like I was awake for a while and yet Aunt Grace was up whole night. I quickly lay on the bed so she didn’t think I was spying on her or something.

When she finished, she went out to shower as she sang this sweet song about Jesus. I was completely stunned, how can someone pray for the whole night? It didn’t make sense to me. A few moments later, she came back inside and was ready to go to work, she said to us that she was on the day shift but as she prayed for us that night, she felt we should go to her work place and meet with a pastor friend of hers. She asked if we knew Makerere University, I quickly said yes to be honest I didn’t and I wasn’t even sure of what I was saying or why I said what I did. Shamim turned and looked at me with this probing eye and I could hear her silently saying huh!

Then she asked if we had money for transport and before I knew it, my big mouth had said yes, again Shamim looked at me because she knew we had used up our last cash on the special hire last night from Nakasero Market to KPC, Aunt Grace left saying she expected us at 9am at the guest house. The moment she walked out, Shamim was up in arms, “But Arnold, how can you say you know Makerere and I am sure you don’t because we came from Mbale yesterday and you lied that we have transport, now we are going to disappoint the woman.”

I told her, your right about the money because we are going to walk and I didn’t want us to burden her besides, she had already let us into her house. Then she goes, how then do we get to Makerere because you don’t know the place. I said we would, we quickly got ready and frankly speaking I didn’t know the place. The moment we got onto the road, something happened that I will never forget for as long as I live, it felt like when the Jews were just about to cross the River Jordan,

“Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.” Joshua 3:15-16

Until the priest’s feet touched the water, the Jordan didn’t stop flowing. Until we got onto that dusty road in Nakawa, I didn’t know where to go or how to get to Makerere, I just knew I had too because I had given my word, then when I took the first step, all of a sudden, the entire path was deposited in my spirit, It felt like fire ran through my spine at that moment, you should have seen how I was shaking, I was super excited.

I couldn’t tell Shamim that something had just happened to me, I said to her boldly, “Follow me” oh the joy of the LORD. We walked through the old estate at that time and sloped down at Total then joined Jinja road and crossed into the swamp at lugogo to join the bypass, there was no Game store at that time. When we joined Lugogo bypass we walked past shell and then took that left turn to go up to the airstrip. We walked up for about 400 meters then took the next right turn opposite Wampewo Avenue and went up the hill in Kololo and came out down on Acacia next to Capital Radio, crossed through an open football field where City Oil is right now, then we joined Mulago road, walked down Kitante past the museum and came up to the main gate of Mulago. The map was super clear and I could see it in my head, then we crossed and instead of going by the ministry of public service to wandegeya, we took that turn into Katanga.

To show you that it was the LORD, Katanga is a crazy place for one to find there way out but the LORD took us through until we got out on the other side near Akamwesi hostel. We then walked through Wandegeya and joined the ring road that takes you towards the Mosque then took a right towards Nakulabye, less than 100 meters away to our right stood Makerere University main gate, oh how my eyes brightened up, I forgot I had been walking for two hours. Then Shamim goes, “Kumbe you knew the place all along, but Arnodiii hehehe”

The LORD had done it, it seemed impossible but the LORD had done it for us, it was undeniable. How do you explain two young people getting to MUK without help yet they had never been there, it could only be Jesus. It had to be Him, no one else and that’s why I believe with all my heart that with God all things are possible. Do you?

Each time I remember that day; I can’t help but cry because it was my first real Encounter with the Holy Spirit. It was unbelievable and I was so new in salvation. I can testify that I have seen the LORD; I have seen Jesus in the middle of what seemed a hopeless and impossible situation.

In the next letter, I will tell you what happened

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 NIV

This is the Word of the LORD.

His servant,

Pastor Mark A Odeke Mark

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36