2005 - Mark Gill

I was blessed to be born in the United Kingdom; a country where we have good roads and a strong economy. Unemployment is low and we have health care through the NHS. We also have free schooling for our children up to 18 and a benefits system to help those who cannot work or are unemployed. Most of the population lives in accommodation that has gas, electricity and water. Our electricity network is good and we very rarely have any power cuts. The water we drink is clean and healthy. Most people own a TV set. Compared to countries in the Third World or the Developing World, the people of the UK are wealthy. 

I have just come back from Uganda; a country where the roads are full of pot holes. The economy is slowly recovering after being decimated and jobs are hard to come by. People have to pay to have health treatment or go to hospital.  Due to the cost, most cannot afford it. Everyone has to pay to go to school and most people struggle because of this. There is no benefits system so most people in need go without. The electricity is haphazard so power cuts happen often.  Water needs to be boiled in order to make it safe to drink. Most people watch TV at bars or restaurants, as they cannot afford a TV at home. Compared to the UK Uganda is very poor.

However wherever I walked around Uganda I kept hearing this message;

“God is here, let the broken-hearted rejoice
God is here, let the sick say I am well,
God is here, let the weak say I am strong,
God is here, his wonders to perform."

I then looked again and saw a country where due to the restrictions on the health service, sick people would go up for prayer and God would heal them. Uganda is a country dedicated back to God by the First Lady where God's name appears everywhere; in shops, on  billboards, on taxis, lorries and buses. People queue up to get into church. People with very little possessions praise and worship God with such joy and heart.

Captives are set free from the occult. Churches without grand PA systems and vast arrays of musical instruments can worship with with power. God's word is spoken freely for all to hear and hearts are willing to accept His message so that when the call was made large numbers of people came forward to give their lives to the Lord.  It is a land where God's word is freely taught in schools and Christian values are promoted.

I then looked back on our country; a country where schools are being discouraged from teaching Christianity for fear of upsetting minorities; where the Government would like to remove Christian festivals from our calendar; where people with illness do not see the point in being prayed for as they have doctors and the NHS service; where church attendance is in decline and where some churches are almost empty; where people are more contented with their material possessions than with what God has to offer them; where there are people who would rather go out on a weekend and get drunk to the point of being sick and passing out in order to have a good time.

I think to myself “Who is weak and who is strong? Who is rich and who is poor” and give thanks for what the Lord has done for me.