Hands Across Nations Newsletter 8-22-2015

[Carolyn Jones]

Hands Across Nations Update

8/22/2015

FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD HE'S FREE AT LAST!

HANDS ACROSS NATIONS  -  FEAST OF NATIONS

BENEFIT FOR UGANDA

COMING  SEPTEMBER  12, 2015

We've all heard the saying, "history repeats itself", and it does appear to be true.  There is a repetition of events, and a cycle of life that is common to all people.  A recent happening in Uganda is a present day example of a story from the history of Israel, of Joseph, a godly but somewhat arrogant young man whose brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery in Egypt.   From there, he was unjustly accused of trying to sleep with his owner's wife, and thrown into prison.  Through all of these circumstances, Joseph remained positive, knowing that God was with him.  He was miraculously released many years later and became the right hand man to the Pharaoh of Egypt.  There's much more to the story which can be read in the Bible, Genesis chapters  37 - 50. 

 

Ebil Patrick, the young man on the left receiving his literacy teacher certificate,  from the Lango tribe in N. Uganda, has a similar story.  We first met him in the Lira Main Prison, where Hands Across Nations had been invited to start a "Learning to Read, to Read the Bible" program.  He was one of the 28 inmates who were trained as volunteer teachers for the other illiterate inmates.  Quickly, he rose to the challenge, and became the leader/organizer of the 5 classes of learners.  We soon learned his story:  As a young boy, the oldest in his family, he had been orphaned when his parents were killed by rebels.  As a result, he was responsible for the rest of his brothers and sisters, and struggled to both feed them, and educate himself.  Teaching was the least expensive and shortest training time, so that was his best option.  Soon, Patrick became the owner/ director of a very successful primary school in his village.   According to him, the director of a nearby school found that the parents of their students were moving their children to Patrick's school, and falsely accused him of "defiling" one of his 6 year old students. 

Quickly, Patrick's life went from one of respect and honor in his village, to shame and  incarceration.  He was held from 2011 until this year, 2015, without a judgment being made on his guilt or innocence.  He had an attorney, but has seen her only 3 times for a total of under 10 minutes in the intervening 4 years.  Uganda does not have jury trials.  One judge hears the prosecutor's side, then several months later, the defendant's  side, and then makes a judgment several months or even years later.  The young girl's parents accused Patrick of infecting her with the HIV virus, but with testing, it was found that he does not have HIV or any other disease like it. 

At the time of our meeting Patrick was still waiting for the judge's decision, 4 long years.  His wife had left , and given their children to another woman to keep.  His school had closed, and there was nothing left for him.  However, Patrick accepted his situation as coming from God, stating as Joseph in the Bible did, that his accusers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.  He was a strong advocate for both his teachers and the learners - requesting medications for the sick ones, school supplies so they could be more effective teachers, tarps to shade them from the hot sun and the rains.  The teachers and learners were so dedicated to the literacy classes, that they held classes Monday through Friday for 3 1/2 to 4 hours each day.  One day, he requested that Keith and I help him to contact his attorney to see if she would ensure his case went forward.  Keith began researching how to help him by looking at old court cases that were similar and getting permission from the Prison Commander to advise Patrick.

 

Patrick watched as the students he and his teachers had trained, showed the rest of the prisoners and guests at their graduation, that  the students had learned to read and write extremely well and do simple math in a mere 3 months.  We held a great celebration with a drama, a song and poems all written by the learners, performed for the honored guests.  Their performance of readings from the Bible, selected by the guests, was the most powerful testament to their new ability to read as if they had been schooled for years. 

 

The week following the graduation there was a surprise for Patrick.  Without warning he was to finally be judged for his supposed crime.  We requested a meeting with his judge and were able to meet with him for 20 minutes prior to the court being convened, which is surprisingly legal there!    Patrick and dozens of others were hauled over to the High Court in a cattle truck with guards protecting them on all sides.  But no judgment came that day, or even two days later when they were returned to the court.  This seemed to be a very good thing, giving Keith time to dig deeper into the justice system to find a way to help Patrick and eventually others in similar circumstances.  He had 3 weeks to pray and proceed to gather evidence and talk to another judge about Patrick's case.  As God would have it, unknowingly we had scheduled a Teacher Training Workshop for the Hands Across Nations literacy program in Patrick's home village, and Keith was able to interview many people involved in the case, discovering evidence which definitely pointed to Patrick's innocence.   In the Lira Prison, where 650 - 700 inmates are housed, only 80 -90 at any one time have actually been convicted.  The rest are waiting for their cases to come up or for their judgments.  The prison Commander knows this and is uncommonly supportive of helping  the men and women under her care to defend themselves.

As Patrick waited in prison, he told us that he trusted the Lord.  Whether he was to remain in prison, or be freed, he would serve God, and continue to work helping inmates to learn how to read from inside or outside the prison.  On July 22nd, the day he was to hear the final judgment, there was much prayer, and anticipation of the outcome.  Thanks to our faithful God, Patrick's judge stated that there were 13 specific reasons for reasonable doubt to his guilt in the case, and suddenly, Patrick was free!  He walked out of the court a free man, after 4 years of waiting, 4 years where he suffered an unjust incarceration.  But in the last 6 months, he had been given a new life of service to fellow prisoners, and a new direction for his future.  His children have been restored to him, he has free access to the prison in which he was a captive, and he is already working with Hands Across Nations to bring the "Learning to Read to Read the Bible" program to all the prisons in the Lango Tribe Sub-Region.   What men meant for evil, God has used for good!

Hands Across Nations will hold a Benefit Dinner with Auction, Saturday, September 12th.  Please come join us in celebration of the work continuing in Northern Uganda. 

Sharing the love of Christ in practical ways,

Keith and Carolyn Jones