Breaking Free

 
This past Sunday one of our Timothy Girls’ High School students, Mariam, preached a powerful sermon at the church in Masaka that we attend.  The students from TGHS were asked to minister in the Sunday morning service and did a magnificent job of singing, leading in worship and sharing the Word. 

What was striking about Mariam’s sermon was the bold and confident way she shared openly about her own life and how the Word of God had set her free from following in the tragic footsteps of her mother and aunt.  Mariam grew up in Kibaale village and was sponsored to attend Kibaale Community Schools.  Her mother died of HIV/AIDS when she was two years old.  She was then cared for by her aunt who also passed away with HIV/AIDS when Mariam was 5 years old.  At that point her maternal grandmother became her guardian. She also lost her grandmother when she was in Primary 6 class.  There were difficult years after this until she was taken in and cared for in secondary school by one of our teachers in Kibaale.

Through all of this, she saw the love of God and his provision for her life through her sponsor and the Christians in Kibaale Community Centre.  In her sermon on Sunday she shared about the strength and determination God had given her not to follow in the footsteps of those in her family who had given in to sexual promiscuity and lost their lives as a result.  The reality and power of her relationship with God and the conviction that God had a higher purpose for her life came through.

Mariam is the academic prefect at Timothy Girls’ High School this year, an emerging leader, and has a bright future as a woman who can make a difference in Uganda.  She is living proof that, with God’s grace, children can break free of the cycle of disease and despair that entraps so many.