All posts by Matt Bullen

Mission Moroto Stories: The 800

In the spring of 2023, we had been blessed to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to many formerly unreached villages north of the mission. The villagers began telling us wonderful stories of what Jesus was doing to their villages. Stories like, “We have been fighting with this other village for years but now we have laid down our weapons.” Stories like, “We now take up an offering on Sunday and give to the sick and poorest of our members.” Stories like, “We prayed for rain and/or healing and Jesus answered!” We were stunned and thrilled at how Jesus was working. We finished our large church building at Mission Moroto and to celebrate the opening we had an all-night prayer meeting the weekend of Easter 2023. At the prayer meeting the grandmoms and grandpapas started asking if they could get baptized. Rebekah scheduled a 3-day revival meeting at our church so Papa Matthew and the team could preach and make sure everyone understood the gospel clearly and understood baptism clearly. To our great surprise and praise to God over 1200 villagers showed up on June 9, 2023. We sang and danced and preached and testified and ate together day and night for 3 days. It was a preview of heaven for sure. On Sunday June 11, 2023 we began hauling the new believers requesting baptism to the river. We stood on the bank of the river as the people all together professed their faith in Christ aloud and then Papa Matthew, Rebekah, and several of our indigenous pastors began baptizing. This went on all day and at the end of the day we calculated that we had baptized about 800 new believers! Only Jesus can move people like that. Only our God can perform miracles like that and we praise Him. Since then, we have been blessed to baptize over 900 more but we’ve never had another single day like the day of The 800. www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: Nile River Baptism & Sad Encounter

In July of 2023, Papa Matthew and Rebekah and a couple of Ugandan pastors were ministering in Juba, South Sudan and we were invited to baptize some new believers in the Nile River. It was a glorious baptism service and as we walked up out of the river we saw that a crowd of curious onlookers had gathered so we began to share with them about Jesus and some of them prayed and asked to be baptized as well. The pastors complied. But one young man in his late teens stepped out of the crowd and walked straight up to Papa Matthew and said in an otherworldly voice, “Man of God! What do you have for me?” Papa Matthew immediately recognized that he was a demoniac so he reached out to lay his hands on the young man and pray for him. The young man jumped back and yelled, “Don’t touch me!” Papa Matthew said, “I want to pray for you.” The young man yelled, “Don’t pray for me!” Then he began to quote scripture rapidly, and sing old gospel hymns loudly while sneering. Matthew asked, “Where did you learn these?“ He replied, “I went to religious school as a boy.” Papa Matthew said, “You know, Jesus is what your soul has always longed for, submit to Him!” The young man said, “I have a demon.” and Papa Matthew said, “I know and I can help with that. Let me pray for you.” He shouted a curse and stepped towards Papa Matthew aggressively. Rebekah took hold of Papa Matthew’s sleeve and began leading him back to the vehicle. The young man followed asking, “Are you afraid of me?” Papa Matthew replied, “No, you are afraid of me.” The young man flinched and stepped backward. Matthew went on, “I’m walking away for your protection but I’m going to pray for you anyway.” The young man said, “You have to give me something.” Matthew said, “All I have to give you is prayer.” The young man cursed and walked away. We still pray for him today when the Spirit brings him to mind. 😢 www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: Mama Ruth

In the fall of 2022 we decided to step out on faith and begin the church building at Mission Moroto that we had been dreaming of so we put all the money we had in the world into building the foundation and pouring the floor slab. Rebekah and the children began to march and pray around the foundation. We had a mission team from the U.S. come in December and they walked around the slab and prayed. In January 2023 the money came in and we built our beautiful church building. Easter Day 2023 was opening Sunday of the new church. The whole Mission Moroto family was enjoying a wonderfully anointed service when suddenly a first time visitor, Napeyok Ruth, began to manifest demon possession. She began to scream and attack all the people praying around her. Our pastors quickly attempted to restrain her but she was too strong for them. Rebekah stepped up and laid her hand on Ruth and said, “Come!” Ruth obediently followed Rebekah outside and for the protection of the children Rebekah took her to the gate of the property and told her, “Come back tomorrow and I will help you.” Then Rebekah returned to leading the worship service. The next day, Ruth returned and all the pastors and Rebekah prayed over her at length and she was delivered. From that day to this, she is absolutely the happiest woman any of us have every known. She professed faith in Christ, was baptized, and has served as a house mom at Mission Moroto for a few years. She is always singing, and smiling, and skipping, and dancing. She cares for some of our sickest children and is a wonderful mother to them. Every time she sees someone from the Bullen family on the property she yells and comes running smiling for a big hug. She is a bright light at Mission Moroto. Praise Jesus! www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: We Wanted to Kiss the Ground

In July 2023, Papa Matthew, Rebekah, and two Ugandan pastors, one of which knew South Sudan and could speak Arabic, traveled to South Sudan to visit and encourage believers, and for Papa Matthew to preach in several churches in the Juba area. We knew it was a violent and troubled area, but we had felt compelled for years to go there. We crossed the border into South Sudan after much wrangling with the local officials, even though our paperwork and visas and everything were in order. Immediately, we realized we were in a different world. The roads were horribly potholed and for miles upon miles upon miles there were burned out greyhound style buses, and overturned semi-trucks and bombed out cars and bombed out buildings. For hours we drove through this and prayed. We finally made it to Juba and were able to share in some churches and encourage some people. We were blessed to join in a baptism service in the Nile River. We started to receive messages from Mama Lisa who was back at Mission Moroto that a sickness had spread through the camp and children were lying everywhere on the sidewalks and around the buildings too sick to rise. Mamma Lisa and the staff were treating them as best they could. We realized we had to get home so we started back toward Uganda. It was then that it got really crazy. Rebel groups and gangs had set up intermittent roadblocks to rob or extort money from passing vehicles at gunpoint. We would show them our papers and pay the “toll” and then move on to the next makeshift “checkpoint.” At one point the gangsters in second-hand ill-fitting military uniforms demanded the passports of our Ugandan pastors. Papa Matthew waited respectfully in the vehicle with Rebekah but soon it became apparent that they were threatening the pastors and refusing to return their documents. Then Papa Matthew heard the Holy Spirit say, “Ok, your turn.” He said, “Yes sir!” He stepped out of the vehicle, walked straight up to the largest man who was a head taller than Papa Matthew and said with authority, “Give me those passports” and the man immediately handed them to Papa Matthew. Then the man said, “Who are you?” Papa Matthew said, “I’m here working for God and you are disturbing my people.” The man said, “Oh, you’re a pastor, don’t you know you have to follow the laws of whatever country you are in?“ Papa Matthew said, “Of course, can I see your credentials? By what authority are you disturbing us?” At this point, the man blew up and began screaming and shouting. Papa Matthew turned to the pastors, handed them their passports, and said, “Get in the vehicle. We are done here. Let’s go.” The man screamed, “I will send the militia after you!” Papa Matthew said, “See this white Land Cruiser with Mission Moroto on the side? Send them, we won’t be hard to find.” And we drove away. Thankfully, we were not stopped again and when we reached the Uganda border, we wanted to get out of the vehicle and kiss the ground we were so grateful to be back in Uganda 😂 When we got back to the Mission, Rebekah knew the medicine needed, and bought it, and the children were fine shortly thereafter. Another thing Papa Matthew and Rebekah brought home from South Sudan other than the memories was Typhoid and we have been fighting it off and on ever since. 😂 We’ve never been back to South Sudan but we have paid the way for the Ugandan pastors to go back and evangelize multiple times. www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: Driving With Malaria

A couple years ago, we had a mission team from the U.S. visit. They were a family that had visited years before the Bullen family was part of Mission Moroto. They were very excited about going up to Kakingol Village on the mountain to play The Jesus Film for the first time for the Tepeth people, an ancient and remote tribe that preceded even the Karamojong people in the region. The problem was, Rebekah‘s Land Cruiser was the only vehicle that could make it up the treacherous climb to Kakingol and the door of the vehicle had blown closed on Rebekah’s leg the previous week and she was not able to drive with a damaged knee and Papa Matthew, legally blind from a Traumatic Brain Injury and 25 days in a coma years ago, is strictly forbidden from EVER driving anything anywhere 😂. Mamma Lisa knew how to drive the Land Cruiser but had never driven up the almost impassable, steep, switchback rockslide of a road to Kakingol Village but she was willing to try. To compound matters, it had rained hard the night before, all night, and the next morning before the trip up the mountain. So, in four-wheel-drive, Mama Lisa, Rebekah, Papa Matthew, the Visitors, and a pile of Rebekah’s teens bounced and slid and spun and flew up the mountain throwing mud in all directions. We finally made it to the top and the people got to see The Jesus Film, hallelujah. The younger visitors also wanted to travel up higher in the mountain to another village where the vehicle could not go, so our pastors took them on motorcycles. One motorcycle crashed, but thankfully, no one was injured. They made it up and were able to minister on the mountain. All the while, dark rain clouds were rolling in. Uncharacteristically, Mama Lisa stayed in the vehicle the entire time asleep on the seat. At one point, Rebekah went to check on her, and found that she had a fever. We knew the rain was coming again so Mamma Lisa woke up and drove us back down the crazy, twisty, turning, sliding mountainside and took us safely home. The next morning, Mamma Lisa got tested at the clinic and she had Malaria. Dr. David Livingston, the rugged pioneer missionary who first brought the gospel to the interior of Africa was famous for saying, “We walk with Malaria” so we started teasing Mamma Lisa that she drives with Malaria 😂 Later Rubi and Papa Matthew took the visitors to town and they were blessed to speak on the radio. Praise the Lord, the family of Visitors later paid to build a new church building in Kakingol. When the building was complete, Papa Matthew grumbled, “We built this building way too big! We’ll never need this much space up here!” The next week we had a revival there and packed out the building with over 400 Tepeth people and scores were saved and baptized. Papa Matthew blushing, looked up to heaven and said, “Yes, Lord, Oh me of little faith.” 😂www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: 27 Miles

2 years ago, a family of 11 came to visit the mission. Years before they had been up on Mt Moroto and ministered to some Tepeth Tribe villages and they wanted to reconnect with them. So Rebekah and some of her boys took them up there on foot and they found some villages and had a glorious reunion. They camped the night among the windy mountain peaks in tents and Rebekah still says that it was the coldest night of her life. They had a wonderful time but there was still one village higher up that they couldn’t reach. Some days later, Rebekah and one of her boys decided they would hike up there and find it. They took a motorcycle up as far as it would go. Then they hiked and climbed rocks and scrambled up nearly vertical slopes on hands and knees grasping one clump of grass or one root at a time. Up and down, one ridge and valley after another, they hiked and finally exhausted, they found the village and shared Jesus and fellowship with them. They hiked all the way back down and when they reached the motorcycle, it had a flat tire. So, because they had no other option, they drove the motorcycle with a flat until pieces of the tire were flying off, and they were down to the metal rim. It was now night and they had to push the motorcycle until they finally reached a police checkpoint and the police called one of Rebekah‘s staff members to bring the vehicle and pick them up. But the staff member had never driven the vehicle at night because of the tribal warfare and the gun battles along the roads, it is very unsafe to travel at night so he didn’t know how to turn the headlights on so the children piled into the vehicle and began to push every button and flip every switch until finally, the headlights came on. 😂 The staff member drove to the police checkpoint and picked them up and brought them home safely. When they finally reached home, Rebekah looked at the steps meter on her phone and it said they had walked 27 miles that day. Whew! Rebekah was violently sick all night from dehydration but rejoicing that they had found the village. Today, there’s a church among those villages. Many of the people have become baptized believers and they love to sing and dance and learn new worship songs. They tell us, “Teach us more! We are behind because we never knew these things and we want to catch up!” www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

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Mission Moroto Stories: River Sermon

In December of 2022, we had been spreading the gospel in the villages just north of Mission Moroto for almost 2 years and we had a group of new believers who wished to be baptized. We set a date and a location at the Nakiloro River and about 150 people showed up on the riverbank. We had been having a 2-year drought and most of the rivers had dried up and the Nakiloro River, a typically strong one, was just above ankle deep. We found a spot that we believed we could use for immersion baptism if the people lay flat down on their backs in the river. Just as we decided on the deepest location, a demoniac woman appeared and walked out to the baptism spot and let out an unnatural amount of urine in the very spot. Then she began to undress. Papa Matthew walked into the river, laid his hand on her shoulder, and said, “Jesus says come.” She jerked as if shocked by something and obediently followed Matthew out of the river. He turned her over to some local women pastors and they began to pray over her (sadly, she was killed by raiders a few days later). Papa Matthew quickly decided that we were not baptizing until he had preached the entire gospel to these people and explained baptism thoroughly first. So, he stood in the river and started with explaining the Holy Trinity before creation and then creation, the fall, then the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection and ascension, and then the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then he explained baptism thoroughly. Just then, out of a clear blue sky a black cloud appeared just above us and it began to pour rain! The people cheered and clapped. One of the local pastors turned to Papa Matthew and cried, “Papa Matthew! This is a miracle! It never rains her in December!” We cheered and praised the Lord. Suddenly, the river rose about 2 feet. Papa Matthew exclaimed, “Well! Today they are going to get sprinkled and immersed, hee hee!” The rain quickly stopped and that day we baptized about 150 new believers. What we couldn’t have known that day but happily learned later was that first, the town drunk, Loduk George, had seen the gathering and came to see what was going on. He heard the sermon and he often reminds us of the words that touched him most that Papa Matthew said, “There is no magic in this water, it is just a symbol, but the Holy Spirit will change you from the inside out and when you come up out of the river, you will be a new person.” He came and was baptized and he says that when he came out of the water he felt the Holy Spirit change him and he has not had a drop to drink to this day and he is now one of our village pastors. Nearly every time he sees Papa Matthew he says, “My baptizer, my baptizer!” and gives him a big hug. Second, there were 5 prominent elder ladies, called grandmoms, present that day who believed and were baptized. They went back to large villages farther north than we had ever visited and began to tell everyone about Jesus and a revival broke out and in the spring of 2023 thousands were saved and baptized. Praise the Lord Jesus for His power and His kindness to us. www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

April of 2022 was a crazy month for Rebekah and Mission Moroto.

First, Rebekah discovered that the former Mayor of Moroto Town had stolen the title document to Mission Moroto’s land and was trying to steal the land and sell it fraudulently. So, she set up a meeting with this man and some elders to ask him to return the stolen title document. At one point in the meeting the former Mayor picked up a club to strike one of Rebekah’s teen boys whom he assumed had told Rebekah about the theft and attempted fraud (But actually the Holy Spirit had woken her in the night and revealed it to her). As the club was coming down on the head of the teen boy, Rebekah jumped in between and blocked the strike, breaking her arm. The meeting quickly disbanded and the Mayor went and liquored up a group of 20 or 30 local ruffians and they came back with clubs shouting that they were going to kill Rebekah. She stood there in front of them with a herd of her little children behind her holding stones, ready to defend Mama Rebekah. She told the mob, “Go ahead and kill me! I’m standing right here! But, I don’t think my God has given you authority to kill me, has He?” They looked stunned and dropped their clubs and left. Later, a larger mob came and tried to break down the large iron gate at Mission Moroto but finally the soldiers came and broke up the mob. The Mayor put out a contract with local hitmen on Rebekah’s life but the Holy Spirit kept waking her in the night and revealing their plans to the point they finally asked her, “Are you using witchcraft on us? How do you know these things?” She smiled and said, “The Holy Spirit tells me.”

Second, a few nights later, one of her teen boys came to her door with the alarming story that he had just received a call from neighbors telling him his brother had just been abducted and robbed by raiders, his goats stolen, and how he was tied up, clubbed, stoned, stomped and left for dead. Rebekah grabbed her purse, rushed out the door, picked four of her biggest boys to go with her, and drove her van in the dark with one arm in a sling through the mud to find the dying boy. Suddenly she realized her fuel gauge was on empty all the while knowing there was still a contract out on her life. BUT GOD! They didn’t run out of fuel, they found the boy, and raced him to the hospital. He slowly recovered at Mission Moroto and eventually became Rebekah’s gardener for awhile. News outlets began to pick up the story about the Mayor breaking her arm and it went all over Uganda and the perpetrators fled the area. She went to court and miraculously won against the fraud and today Mission Moroto is a very happy and peaceful place. ❤️❤️❤️ www.missionmoroto.org #missionmorotostories

Mission Moroto Stories: Rubi’s Hats

2 years ago, God sent an angel to Mission Moroto named Rubi Hernandez. Soooo many wonderful things could be said about Rubi but the one we want to tell you about today is her unusual affinity for hats. Rubi loves to wear hats! And she wears lots of them! Here are just a few hats that Rubi wears at the mission. Assistant Director, Bible Teacher, Youth Pastor, English Teacher, Spanish Teacher, Medical Assistant, Wound Care Specialist, Prison Ministry Director, Street Ministry Director, Puppet Aficionado, Pest Control Specialist aka Bed Bug Sprayer, House Painter, Picnic Table Refinisher, Tortilla Maker, Latin Chef, Coffee Barista, Motorcycle Daredevil, Youth Chauffeur, Gopher Cha IYKYK, Snake Burner IYKYK, Abrazo Instructor IYKYK, Master Photographer, Baby Snuggler, Chorus Teacher, Typhoid-Malaria-Ulcer-Bacterial Infection Conqueror and the list could go on. Needless to say, Rubi’s love for hats is a huge blessing to us. We love you Rubi! https://www.missionmoroto.org/

Mission Moroto Stories: Baby 2×4
When Inowa was 3-years-old, her uncle inexplicably beat Inowa’s mother nearly to death and broke her hip. She couldn’t get to the hospital and so the break became very infected. Rebekah was in her village one day bringing food to a different family that had just buried a relative and stumbled upon Inowa’s mother and learned of her situation. Rebekah rushed Inowa’s mom to the hospital and they were able to get the infection under control but she lost all ability to walk. A couple of weeks later a neighbor brought Inowa to Rebekah and begged her to take her because the mom could no longer care for her. And, of course, Rebekah took Inowa in. Months later, Inowa was playing with our hand pump at the water well and crushed her finger and needed stitches badly and IV antibiotics. Even though tribal warfare was raging all around and the roads were dangerous and the hour was late, Rebekah and Papa Matthew raced Inowa to the hospital and got her treatment. As they were racing back home in the dark they came around a corner and the headlights flashed upon a giant Rock Python stretching across the entire road. The snake was as big around as Papa Matthew’s bicep and the length of the road’s width. As Papa Matthew screamed SNAKE!!!, Rebekah gunned the van and we felt the bump bump and raced on home. When Inowa recovered, she made a constant habit of wrapping up an object and carrying it on her back the way Karamojong women carry babies. We would tease her because somedays it was a baby flip flop on her back and some days it was a baby 2×4 board and somedays it was a baby brick. When some of Rubi’s friends heard about the baby 2×4 they packaged up a baby doll and sent it with Matt & Lisa to the mission. And now Inowa is all healed and she has a baby doll on her back and a ready smile and hug for everyone. ❤ www.missionmoroto.org

Mission Moroto Stories: 21 Soldier Hitchhikers

One day a few years ago, Rebekah, Lisa, and Matt were headed to town from the mission in their Toyota Mini Van when suddenly 21 heavily armed soldiers stepped out into the road and flagged them down. Rebekah pulled over and the soldiers asked if they could be given a lift to town. You don’t really tell 21 soldiers no so Rebekah said, “Sure!” Lisa scooted over as far as she could and they began to pile in with rifles and packs in the seats sitting on top of each other and in the floor and then one of the soldiers said, “Open the boot.” The Americans looked at each other quizzically and then realized they meant the hatch! So, Rebekah opened the hatch and 8 of the soldiers piled in on top of each other stacked like firewood. Finally the hatch, the sliding door, and the two front doors were pressed closed. Except for arms and rifles sticking out of the windows, all 21 soldiers and Rebekah, Lisa, and Matt were crammed in the van. The soldiers kept asking Lisa, “Madam, are you ok?” and Lisa would respond, “Yes! I’m great.” Matt slowly began to slip his phone out of his pocket to sneak a photo but Rebekah looked over at him and said sternly, “Dad, don’t even think about it.” So the phone was quickly slipped back into the pocket. 😆 The 21 Soldier Hitchhikers got their ride to town and when they got out they thanked and fist bumped the three profusely. Mom, Dad, and Rebekah drove off shaking their heads at each other and saying, “Ain’t nobody every gonna believe this one!” 🤣 www.missionmoroto.org

Mission Moroto Stories – Just Another Day In The Life Of Rebekah Bullen🙃

At 7:30 a.m., one of Rebekah’s pastor team members is waiting at the door for a motorcycle key to carry our pastor team up to one of our remote village churches for a marriage conference and the grand opening of the new church building. Then Rebekah heads to town to get internet so she can send documents to the Minister of Education for our new school licensing process. On the way, she must drop off a staff member and two sick children at the hospital.

It had rained the night before, and they encounter a mining semi-truck stuck in the mud, so Rebekah guns her Land Cruiser and turns off-road, sliding and bouncing through deep mud and throwing mud all over the vehicle. She stops at two stores for baby supplies. After dropping the children at the hospital, she stops at Mount Moroto Hotel to get Wi-Fi so she can send her documents.

Suddenly, she smells a terrible stench in the vehicle, so she opens the glovebox to find a very large rat with a nest full of baby rats! She screams, slams the glovebox shut, then rips the glovebox out of the dashboard, carries it to the parking lot trash can, and promptly dumps the squealing contents into the trash. 🤣

She does her computer work and realizes she is feeling very ill and needs to go to the clinic to get tested. But first, she needs to buy 20 sacks of maize flour from three different locations, pick up the kids from the hospital, and drop our friends from the Netherlands off at Mission Moroto.

She then picks up another staff member and heads to the clinic, where she finds out she has malaria and typhoid. As the doctor is trying to put an IV port in her hand, she is typing important, time-sensitive information into her phone for the Minister of Education.

Then Rebekah and her staff member head to Moroto Prison for an appointment with the warden to receive six preschool children whose parents are incarcerated there. After waiting for an hour and a half, they explain that the prison’s paperwork is not yet complete, so she must return another day.

She arrives home just in time to have the staff count out the beans and cups of rice and flour for the next day’s meals. District government personnel come and inspect the new school, and all is in process!

She organized family worship, took her medicine, organized for a boy to have eye surgery on Friday, and is sending two staff members to Kampala for school licensing and to get one of our girls with a heart condition some new medicine.

Then she called Lisa and me to catch us up. ❤🙏

Monday, a family of 11 will arrive for a week-and-a-half visit at the mission, and the day after they leave, another team of three will arrive for a visit.

But all in all, it was just another day in the life of Rebekah Renee Bullen and Mission Moroto. 🤣 www.missionmoroto.org

We had recently planted a new church and Jesus & Porridge Program in Morukakero Village and because they sold really good fire wood, we were there to buy some for the mission. Suddenly a platoon of Ugandan soldiers stepped out of the forest in uniform carrying rocket launchers, grenade launchers, machine guns, and even bazookas. They had been patrolling the bush looking for raiders. Rebekah quickly stepped up and greeted the commanding officer and shook his hand. She told him about the church and that we were buying firewood. He said, “Yes, I know about all of your churches and I have to tell you that the villages where you have planted churches are now so peaceful that it’s making our work much easier. Also, there is another village down this road called Napedo and they need one of your churches too. Some of my soldiers are bivouacked near there and would love to be able to attend worship once in a while.” Rebekah said, “Yes Sir, Commander we will do that.”

Today, we have a thriving church in Napedo and a matriarch of the village, Josephine, has come to faith, been baptized, and has been coming to our Bible College every week for over a year, praise the Lord! Stay tuned for more Mission Moroto Stories!

She doesn’t know exactly how old she is, but Sagal assumes she’s around 65, which is considered very old due to the poor living conditions in the area. She resides in the village of Atedeoi, situated fifteen kilometers outside Moroto, where huts with thatched roofs are common and surrounded by a fence made of branches.
As a child, she grew up believing in ancestral spirits, as is customary in Karamojaland, where these spirits are thought to inhabit trees or reside near rivers. Men are traditionally responsible for worshipping these spirits at a shrine, usually located some distance outside the village. In the past, the deceased were not buried but rather tied to tree trunks, allowing wild animals to consume the body, with the bones eventually scattered over a large area, signifying that the soul remained in the tree.
In times of trouble, such as drought, men seek guidance from spiritual healers to appease the ancestral spirits, believed to be punishing the community. Advice may involve sacrificing a cow or goat in a designated manner and place. In the past, human sacrifices were not uncommon but are now illegal. Sagal recalls witnessing such practices.
The introduction of a Catholic church in the area intrigued Sagal, prompting her to attend out of curiosity. She found solace in the faith’s teachings, particularly its emphasis on regular worship and overarching spiritual strength. However, her parents, like many others of their generation, opposed her Christian faith, viewing it as a challenge to their authority and village traditions. Weekly church attendance clashed with their agricultural responsibilities and societal expectations, making it difficult for Sagal to openly practice her faith.
Despite her parents’ disapproval, Sagal maintained her connection to Christianity, occasionally attending church services clandestinely. Marriage and motherhood further constrained her ability to participate actively in religious activities, as women bore the bulk of domestic responsibilities. Meanwhile, her husband adhered to traditional practices, seeking guidance from spiritual healers during crises.
The arrival of the Pentecostal Church brought significant change to Sagal’s life. With services held in the village under a tree, faith became more accessible, leading to a deepening of her religious convictions. While some men resisted the church’s teachings, others recognized its tangible benefits, such as community support and aid for the disadvantaged.
Amidst societal shifts, Aleper observed a blending of old traditions with Christianity within her village. Despite initial resistance, more men and women embraced the Pentecostal faith, drawn by its perceived power and tangible benefits.
As the region grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Sagal witnessed a resurgence of traditional rituals alongside church services, reflecting the community’s desperation for divine intervention. With the pandemic’s wane and improved living conditions, interest in church services surged again, reinforcing villagers’ gratitude and faith in God’s protection.
Motivated by a desire for spiritual closeness, Sagal decided to be baptized, symbolizing her complete surrender to God. The baptism ceremony, held in the Nakiloro River, marked a significant spiritual milestone for her, providing a newfound sense of peace and liberation from life’s worries. For Sagal, the transformation from Sagal to Hellen represents the most profound change she has experienced, signifying her deepening faith and personal growth. – Transformation by Floris Bijlsma of the Netherlands

Welcome to the family Longem Steven, Loduko John, Lolem Christine, Loono Moses, Loiki Hannah, Aryong Lillian, Longolee Varonica and Taoi James.

Angel is one of the older boys that lives at Mission Moroto and goes to school. In order to attend school next year he had to return to his home village to get his ID and birth certificate. While he was there his mother told him that one of his brothers had been killed by raiders and his brother in law had drown in a river. His 8 nieces and nephews were left with no one to care for them as the grandmother and sister were struggling to support them and the children were beginning to starve. He called Rebekah and begged her to let him bring the children back home with him to Mission Moroto. Of course she said yes and sent him transportation money to being them all home.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

 
READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIP

Welcome to the family Teko Claudia and Iriama Caroline

Teko and Iriama are cousins of one of our cooks, Hellen, at Mission Moroto. Their parents have passed away and their aunt recently kicked them out of her house. They have been staying with Hellen but she does not have room to continue taking care of them so she asked if they could stay at Mission Moroto where they would be well fed and cared for.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

To set up a $35.00 a month sponsorship or

one-time debit/credit tax-deductible donation

click the yellow donate button below:

By mail

Mission Critical International

8915 Finnery Dr

Tomball, Texas 77375

100% of your gift will go directly to the maintenance

of this wonderful orphanage.

Mission Critical International 501(c)(3) public charity EIN #45-5395074

Welcome to the family Apie Lokut

Apie showed up at the Mission a few days ago and asked if he could stay. His parents both passed away from disease and his grandmother abandoned him. He is about 13 years old and was carrying a letter from the sub-county with him requesting assistance.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Lotee Moses, Longok Gloria, Angela Lowot, and Lopuwa Nicholas

Imagine that you step out your door in the morning and these four beautiful siblings are standing there all alone holding a letter stamped by the sub-county politely asking you to take them in at Mission Moroto. Of course Mama Rebekah said yes and welcomed them in.
Their father is dead and their mother remarried to survive but her new husband kicked the children out. They knew their relative, Christine, lived at a place in another county called Mission Moroto and now they are home.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

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Welcome to the family Nachugae Beatrice, Loukae Lomer Isaac, Loyep Lokolkori Judah and Moru Apalona Able

Siblings Nachugae, Loukae and Loyep’s mother died in the mines recently, and they are the relatives of our nurse Sylvia. They’ve been sleeping in her house for the last couple of months, and she finally asked us to help her. Moru is also the relative of Sylvia and the cousin of the two other boys. His mother is deaf and works in town as a maid but he’s been living with the other two boys because she can’t keep them in town with her.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

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Welcome to the family sisters Lokol Hellen, Kerisa Angelina and Manang Marry

Welcome home Lokol Hellen! Her parents passed away and she’s been living with her aged grandmother who has fallen very ill and cannot take care of any of them. Hellen’s little sisters, Kerisa Angela and Manang Mary have been at Mission Moroto for awhile and we are glad to have Hellen home now too. Mission Moroto

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

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Welcome to the family Lokol Ayole

Lokol Ayole is 6 years old. His aged father brought him to Mission Moroto because he is unable to take care of him. His mother passed away.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family brothers Logiel Godfrey, Liko Mark, Ochen Joshua and Opio Moses

Rupa Subcounty leaders brought the boys to Rebekah stating that their parents had abandoned them. The neighbors alerted the police and a month-long search was made but they failed to track down the parents so they brought the boys to Rebekah. The baby had a badly infected surgical wound on his leg that would have gone sepsis and the leg would have been lost but today they are happy and healthy. Joshua and Moses are twins.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Keem Loteleng James

Keem Loteleng James was brought to us by the leader of his village. He is an orphan and would have had to go to the streets if not taken in by us.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Israel and Erereng Blessing

Their disabled father heard Pastor Matthew preach, gave his life to Jesus and was baptized in the river in December. He quit drinking and has been serving faithfully in the church, but his wife did not like that he was not partying anymore, so she left him and the children to go back to the bar lifestyle so we have taken them in to live here at Mission Moroto since their father cannot care for them on his own due to his condition.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Lotikol Joab, Ichumar Yoana and Amodoi Gabriel

Joseph Longoli Behrmann is one of our boys here and he has a friend in town who owns a shop. Everyday Lotikol Joab, Ichumar Yoana and Amodio Gabriel who were living on the street, would hang around the shop hoping for a little food.

Joseph brought them home to Mission Moroto because he knows they will be well cared for and will never have to beg for food again. They are safe here at home.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Longole Alice, Korobe Mary, Yona Munyo, Lobur Petero, Imuk Justice, LLukol Sarah and Lowanyang Abner.

Joseph Longoli Behrmann is one of our boys here. His uncle was killed last year by soldiers and his aunt remarried but her new husband gave her HIV. She was dying and could not take care of Joseph’s 7 cousins so she abandoned them with his mother.

Unfortunately, she cannot care for so many children so Joseph went and brought them back home with him to Mission Moroto. Losing a father and a mother is devastating. Please pray that the love of God and new friends will help heal their hearts during this very sad time for them. They are now in a place where they will be loved and cared for.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family Akol Jonah

Akol Jonah, nicknamed Brown, came to us 2 years ago. His father had been a worker at Mission Moroto many years ago before our family came and he had helped build the original buildings at the mission and had one day fallen from the roof of one of the buildings and was crippled.

2 years ago his father died and Brown was brought to live at Mission Moroto. He is a great boy and a sweet big brother to all of the other kids. He is an exceptional soccer player too.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS

Welcome to the family siblings Veronica, Johan and Moses.

One day in July 2021, Augustine, who is now graduated from Mission Moroto, came to Rebekah to ask if we could help his 3 siblings, who were being cared for by their aunt. The aunt had been recently attacked and nearly killed by raiders and all of their livestock had been stolen. The aunt had two children of her own and because of the misfortune could no longer care for Augustine’s siblings.

Rebekah, Papa Matthew, Mama Lisa, and Ellie Kate Gorman drove an hour through the rain and mud to a remote village and three precious little souls, Veronica, Johan, and Moses, came walking out to the road. They were very skinny and very scared. Now 2 years later, they sing and pray and worship and are good students at school and anytime Rebekah, Lisa, or Matthew leave the house one of them is almost always instantly there to give them a long hug.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them here at Mission Moroto

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Welcome to the family siblings Moru Jessica, Ipoloo Paul and Lopeyok Daniel

One day very early on before we even had a fence around Mission Moroto, Mama Rebekah saw a woman with 3 very sick children crossing the grounds and went and spoke to her. She was the aunt of the children whose parents were dead. All 3 children were covered in Scabies, a skin parasite, and were malnourished. Rebekah treated the baby, whom the aunt was nursing, but she took in Daniel and Paul and began treating and caring for them. Little Paul’s shirt had not been changed in so long that he had badly outgrown it and it had to be cut off of him. Layers of dead skin came with the shirt.

A few days later Moru Jessica showed up looking for her brothers. She was malnourished and very skinny. Rebekah invited her to join the family and she gladly accepted. About a year later our traveling nurse recognized a very rapid heartbeat in Jessica and Rebekah took her to the heart hospital in Mbale. She was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. The left side of her heart is swollen from a childhood infection. She receives monthly injections and checkups. All three children are thriving, happy, and very loving. Their aunt and grandmother come regularly to visit them here at Mission Moroto

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them.

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Welcome to the family siblings Lorot Paul, Teko Margret, Ngoleluk Luke and Sagal Jacinta!

Every day at Mission Moroto we have a preschool for our 65 preschoolers with a professional teacher, and we invite the local village children to attend and have some porridge. A few days ago, mama Lisa reached down and put her hand on the back of this little child that Rebekah is holding named Sagal Jacinta to guide her up to the porridge line. She was shocked when all she could feel were bones so she asked Rebekah to please check on this little one and find out what is going on with her.

Rebekah found out that she and her two brothers and sister had been coming here every day for two weeks and our cooks have been feeding them and keeping them in their own houses because they knew Mission Moroto is full and busting at the seams.

Little Sagal Jacinta is three years old and can barely walk. She’s so malnourished that without our help she will not live to see four years old so we have taken her and her siblings into our mission and into our hearts at Mission Moroto

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children and funds to build more houses for them.

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS