My name is Peter Asiimwe, the fifth born in a family of 15 children. My parents both knew the Lord and they were part of the East African revival fellowship. We used to have prayers every evening as a family. That instilled in me a discipline of having a family altar and until now, we have our prayer time as a family every day at 8pm. My father was a vernacular teacher (equivalent to kindergarten teacher). He used to put on one white shirt that my mum used to wash and iron. She made sure he was clean and smart as he went to teach. As a young boy, I used to walk 8 miles to go to school in primary. I remember coming back home and praying that “God, this school is too far, change it and take me to a school that is nearby”. I was perplexed when I reached home one day and my mum told me that I was going to change schools. I was transferred to Kabalega Primary School and started staying with my uncle (now) Bishop Wilson Turimanya. As you can see, I saw God answering my prayer at such a young age and I concluded that “this is a God that answers prayers”. When I was in P.4, something significant happened to me. I climbed a mango tree and I remember turning my eyes and only to find myself in hospital. I was unconscious for three days after falling down from the tree. I fell between a block of concrete and an ant hill. My head sunk into the ground a number of inches and I vomited blood. God is the only one who preserved my life although people thought I would not make it. The issue of prayer was very important as I grew up because my parents were praying for me. That was a big footmark in my life. I began to wonder why God gave me another chance at life.
I later joined Kitante Hill School for secondary school in 1967. People from the central region despised me because I was from Bunyolo. Kingdoms had just been demolished in 1967 and there was a lot of turmoil. I then decided that I was going to beat them academically. I also set a goal to join the National Chess team as a thinker and the National table tennis team. 5 years later, I was a member of the National Table Tennis team and a member of the National Chess Team after 11 years. I joined Makerere University and did Chemistry and I graduated with a second upper degree. I was the first graduate in my clan and village and I was very proud of myself. After doing interviews with the Ministry of Education, I was posted to Tororo Girls S.S as a teacher of Chemistry. Although I came from a Christian background, I did not have any relationship with God. In fact, my lifestyle was very worldly. I was into drinking alcohol, going to night clubs, and partying with friends. I remember my parents came to visit me in Tororo and I left them in the house. I went to a nightclub and only returned in the morning. They told me later that it pained them that I did not sleep at home that night but also because they found crates of beer in my house. After 6 months of teaching, I got another job at Kinyala Sugar factory as their National Chemist. In addition to that, I joined politics in 1980 and I was the Constituency Chairman for Masindi East. I also contested for the Member of Parliament seat but I lost. My life was in danger and unfortunately, some of my colleagues were killed. At that point, I reasoned that there must be a manual for my life. God reminded me that the Bible is the manual and I started reading it. I remember opening the book of Daniel and I found there a man who could not be eaten by lions. So I prayed; “God, protect me as you protected Daniel. Put a fence around me.” and I was quick to add, “If you cannot hear my prayers because I am a sinner. Please hear the prayers of my parents. They are born again and they are praying for me.” God answered my prayers because soldiers came looking for me in Kinyala but they could not see me, yet I was not hiding. Again, God preserved my life. In 1981, I got another job at Luhaga S.S in Hoima as a teacher of Chemistry. One day, I opened the Bible again and read Romans 2:4; “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” I thought someone had smuggled that verse into the Bible to convict me. God was speaking to me audibly. I decided to stop reading the Bible. I did not want to find similar messages again. An incident that would lead to my transformation then happened! The laboratory technician at school became blind because he was drinking ethanol. I used to drink it also, especially when I did not have money to buy alcohol. On 5th July 1983, while I was going back to my house from a bar, the scripture, Romans 2:4 came back to my mind. I knelt down and started weeping as I meditated on how good God had been to me. God had loved me so much but I was failing to reciprocate. I then asked God to save me the following day. I was drunk that night and hence I did not want to get saved and then attribute it to the alcohol. While I was in the staff room the following day, a staff of LIFE Ministry Uganda, who was also a teacher of Biology at the same school suggested that we go and visit our colleague who had gone blind. That happened to be Steve Foster. When we arrived, he shared the Gospel with the gentleman. I also decided to contribute to the sharing because I did not want to appear as a fool. I told the man that he needed to surrender his life to God. To my surprise, the man gave his life to Christ and he began to rejoice with Steve. Then I thought that I was like a sign post, directing people to heaven yet I was not going there myself. In that moment, I remembered that the previous night, I had vowed to give my life to Christ when I was sober. I asked Steve if I could also get saved and he beamed with joy. On 6th July 1983 at 3pm, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
At 6pm, I was at the bar with Steve. I asked for a soda instead of beer and everyone was shocked. I began sharing my faith with people in the bar. On Sunday, I went to church and shared my testimony. I was on fire for Christ! I did not want anyone to miss this Jesus who had pursued and found me. I also began to fellowship with the East African revival movement. Steve had discipled some students at school and so we would go and share the gospel with people using the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. The more I engaged in ministry, the more my passion for fulltime ministry increased. I knew there were many people who could teach Chemistry but very few people who can relate with others and give them a life transforming story. I had been challenged to join LIFE Ministry Uganda but I did not want to because I did not want to go to Kampala mainly. However, in 1985, I was encouraged to go for Great Commission Training (GCT) in Nairobi Kenya. By then, it was fine to do GCT and still not join the organization. I therefore went for the training so that I get equipped with skills of evangelism and discipleship and then return to Hoima.
While I was at the training center, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Dr. Bill Bright visited the Centre. I remember asking him “How can one know God’s will? He responded that we were going to learn about that and he then prayed for us. I was with a fellow trainee. This is what he prayed. “Oh God, wherever these young men go, let there be revival.” On April 19th, I began to grieve over the condition of the church I had left back home. I wondered why the church was not accelerating the fulfillment of the Great Commission and why it was different from the first century church. I cried for hours and I remember going to bed in tears. That night, I had a dream and God revealed many things to me in visions concerning my future in ministry. I heard an audible voice telling me “Be strong and of good courage because you will lead many to the Promised Land. Go and read Joshua 1:3.” As soon as I woke up, I got my Bible and read the scripture. I learnt through prayer that the Promised Land represented destiny. I therefore finished the training very confident that God wanted me to lead His people to their destiny. Although I did not join the organization when I returned to Uganda, Steve continued to invite me for staff meetings and expose me to the ministry.
When the war intensified and spread to Hoima in 1986, Steve Foster went back to America with his family and other LIFE Ministry staff went to Kenya. They asked me to stay in their house. I promised God that “If you protect me in this place, I will go wherever you want me to go” One day, soldiers came but they could not enter our compound. In fact, they asked neighbors for directions to our place because they could not find the way, in broad day light. Hundreds of people all over the world were praying for our security. When the unrest in the area seized, God reminded me of my promise. I radio called the National Director of LMU, Mr Sepi Kajubi and informed him that I was ready to join the organization. I later got married to my wife, Elizabeth on 5th April 1986 at St. Peters’ Church in Hoima. Since she had also made up her mind to join the ministry, we went for GCT in June and retuned on 30th December the same year. Elizabeth was a trainee and I went as a trainer. We faced several challenges when we started staying in Kampala but God was faithful and he always came through for us at the right time. We stayed in poor places and at some point, we shared a house with a witch doctor in Lugujja. But it was in those moments that we learnt how to completely depend on God and engage in spiritual warfare.
The Lord has done amazing things in and through my life ever since I joined the ministry and they include the following:
First and foremost, I worked on campus as the Campus Director and from 1987, we prayed for an opportunity to go to Russia for ministry. Our first trip was in 1989 to Philippines. I led a team of 3 people and we went to Manila for 2 weeks. We preached the gospel and many people came to know the Lord. In 1992, doors opened for ministry and I led a team of 10 people to Russia. We used the Russian- English dictionary to communicate the gospel to people. We prayed to be empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit and we saw many Russians came to the Lord.
Secondly, in February 1995, Dela Adadevoh visited Uganda and he informed me that I had been selected as the New National Director. He was the Area Director for Southern and Eastern Africa region at that time. I first turn down the proposal because I felt inadequate. The position seemed too big for me. But after 7 days of prayer and fasting with the staff team, it became clear that God wanted me to take on the assignment. In July 1995, I became the National Director.
In addition to that God through Isaiah 32:8 told me that He would give us dwelling places. I was very excited and I shared the message prophetically with staff by faith. We started tithing as a ministry and the Lord responded by giving us money that was not designated and we bought plots of land in Jinja, Mbarara, and Kikaya. We also bought a Lorry that was used for ministry and also to ferry materials for staff who were constructing. The Lord gave us an enduring word and it is still being fulfilled to this day. More so, through the generous giving of Steve Foster, we were also able to buy over 2700 acres of land in Mubende with a purpose of beginning a staff welfare project.
In 1995, I went to South Korea for a Global Consultation for World Evangelism conference. I got a vision to establish a prayer mountain and the Lord told me “As you have seen in South Korea, so will I give to you.” We had property in Kako and when I returned to Uganda, we began the process of building Kako International Prayer Mountain. I am very grateful that the prayer mountain is still being used to this day.
Some of my major highlights in ministry include:
In 2003, God impressed it on my heart to step down as the National Director and focus on building leaders. On 18th January 2006, I handed over to Dr. Lazarus Seruyage. In 2007, I was impressed to form a Professional’s company that builds leaders. I started it but it did not take off as intended because of the leadership responsibilities I was having at that time. Now that I have handed over as the Team Leader for Leader Impact, my desire is to revamp this program and focus on mentoring leaders for this and the next generation.
The 35 years we have spent in ministry have been everything but completely smooth. We have faced challenges but God has been faithful. I therefore encourage anyone who could be considering to join ministry to have a clear calling from God, be in the Word, listen to God and obey. And no matter the challenges you face, you will overcome them because you will be knowing the Lord who called you.
Dr. Peter Asiimwe
Executives and Embassy Ministry Director, LIFE Ministry Uganda
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