MAKKO MUSAGARA1

 MY MIRACULOUS CALL TO SERVE GOD

Before I present my testimony I would like to make one important observation: God chose you many years ago, before you were born, to make a vital contribution to His Kingdom. Whatever you have gone through in life has drawn you towards that assignment.

Born in Uganda, East Africa, I grew up as a Moslem and my father had picked me out of all his fourteen children to train as a sheik. He had given me a special name saying, according to his faith, that angels would go round our house many times every night seeking to protect and bless a person with that name. He even made special arrangements for me to be coached by a Moslem scholar who rode a bicycle thirty-two kilometers every working day from Mityana town to our village for this purpose.

Unfortunately, for my father, my mother had a Christian heritage. As love knows no boundaries, my father compromised some of the Islamic marital restrictions and allowed my mother to maintain some of her Christian values, including her name Esta, and even permitted her to keep a Bible in our house which was full of Islamic books. When alone, my mother used to read the book of Psalms a lot.

My father was advised that I needed formal education, and since there was no Islamic school nearby, he enrolled me at an Anglican Church school called Kiggwa Church of Uganda Primary School, which was about two kilometers from our Home. What I liked most about this school were the exciting Bible stories which were read to our class every Friday morning. I couldn’t wait for the coming week to hear about the mighty miracles and wonders the God of Abraham performed, especially in the books of the Old Testament. I didn’t know that through these lessons God was planting a spiritual seed within my soul that would germinate many years later.

At the age of eight my father died, followed by my mother several years later. Both died through mysterious circumstances. I was left drifting between two faiths. My paternal relatives pushed on my father’s wish for my life by urging me to continue attending Friday Juma prayers, praying Swallahs five times a day and fasting during the month of Ramadhan. 

But deep within my soul I was praying to God that if he ever provided an opportunity for me to travel very far from my nagging relatives, I would give my life to Jesus Christ.

As God heard Jonah’s cry from deep inside the belly of a large fish, he heard the cry from deep within my soul as well. Through a miracle, I was offered a scholarship to study at the University of Exeter, Devon, South-West England. 

About a week after joining this University I presented myself to Christians at St. Leonard’s Church, in Exeter City. The Rector, Reverend John Skinner, realized my hunger for Jesus Christ and he immediately enrolled me into the baptism and confirmation class. On 25 March 1987 the Bishop of Crediton, Devon, baptized me Makko.

The two things I always remember about this baptism service were, first, an old bespectacled white lady who came to me during the reception and asked me, “Did you see the strange light that came upon you as you were being baptized?” and second, the Scripture quotation Philippians 1:9-11 which the Bishop of Crediton wrote in his gift book to me. 

Philippians 1:9-11 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

I always believe that it was God Himself who was speaking to me through these three verses, which I will always treasure throughout my walk with Christ.

I thank God that even as I write now I still feel the power of the Holy Spirit that filled the vacuum on that day which had been within my soul ever since I was born. I returned to my home country with more thirst for Christ and I joined a Spirit-filled church that was the center of revival in the country. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and personal Savior in this church in December 1987.

To read the rest of his amazing walk with God and read what God taught him about temptations and trials, download Makko Musagara’s pdf God’s Message to Protect His Children from Temptations and Trials

NEXT: Makko Musagara 2 Satan’s Wound