Once called, “the pearl of Africa,” by Sir Winston Churchill, Uganda’s history is fraught with political unrest, environmental problems and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic. Uganda has a population of 48.6 million people and is also home to more than 1 million Sudanese refugees fleeing civil war.

However, the current threat that hangs over the country come in the form of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group based in Sudan and run by Joseph Kony. For the last 23 years, Ugandans have struggled against the brutality of Kony’s army, which has abducted an estimated 30,000 children to serve as soldiers or sex slaves. Because of the violence and fear of abduction, more than 1 million Northern Ugandans have been displaced.

Another problem facing Ugandan Christians is an increase in Christian persecution from an expanding Islamic presence led by the Alliance of Democratic Forces, a Congo-based group of Muslim Ugandans. Christians are being pressured to convert to Islam and when they won’t, they face intense harassment and persecution.

Despite these horrible threats around them, Ugandan churches are still growing and people are still coming to know Jesus. The response to Christianity has been substantial, even while the church faces internal battles of false doctrine, nominalism, and corruption.

Please pray for Ugandan Christians and our Mobile Messengers in Uganda working tirelessly to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a nation filled with fear and uncertainty.

Here are a few ways you can pray:

• Pray for restoration and healing after years of war and conflict.
• Pray for the Church and its leaders to be rooted in truth and not swayed by false teachings and cultural sins.
• Pray for a Biblical perspective on marriage and sexuality.

To learn more about how you can help the church in Uganda, visit withopeneyes.net.