Walking with an Apostle

There are few people in this world that you can love, fewer still that you are willing to follow with your whole heart, only a few that you can trust with your life, and only a hand few in the entire world that can elicit all of these emotions the moment you meet them. This special person draws many to themselves because of the honesty and sincerity of their heart. They truly care about others and are willing to do anything to help another human being. My friend Steven Sebyala is one such person.

Pastor Steven is one of these people that when you meet him for the first time you instinctively trust him, within a few minutes like him immensely, within a few days you would follow him any where.

How does someone become such a leader? Was he born as such? Is there a school that teaches this remarkable ability? I know Pastor Steven’s history and there is nothing that would indicate he would ever be anything but a poor, unlearned, and untraveled Africa man; it must be the Grace of God.

He came from extreme poverty and lived under the most horrible regimes of Ugandan history including the infamous Idi Amin. His life was spared more than once. There was the time that Amin troops came and gathered up all the people in the area at gun point and put them in a truck, including Steven. They were given no reason for their capture and as they were driven off to certain death, they decided the only way to survive was to jump from the moving truck and run.

All the captives began to leap from the truck and scatter. Steven ran as fast as he could with a hail of gun fire falling all around him. People were dropping down dead all around him but he kept running. He came around a corner and there were dead bodies in the street from a previous night of killing. He saved his life by lying down among the bodies and pretending to be dead. It took several hours for the soldiers to cease from looking for their captives but finally they left and Steven was safe again.

Steven went on from there growing up under these terrible governments and living to tell about it. From his suffering he has learned compassion for others but he also learned to fight. In fact he was such a good boxer that he was asked to be represent Uganda in the Olympics.

It was during this boxing training and competing that Steven began to yearn for something else. You see he found some fame as a boxer, but it didn’t satisfy the longing in his heart. He had found money, being paid to fight and win, but this too was not what he was longing for. He, like all of us, had restlessness in his heart, a hunger that only God can fill.

Then the day came when he asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. That day he quit boxing and began preaching. That is the day he became an Apostle. He had the spirit of an evangelist and set about preaching and teaching, learning and growing in the Word. His motto is “All Africa shall be saved” and his personal goal is to win a billion souls to Christ before he dies.

I asked him once where he got such determination to win souls and he related this dream God had given him:

“I was standing on a ladder that led down to a pit of fire and people were in the pit screaming and trying to get out but they couldn’t get to the ladder or they couldn’t climb up the ladder. I had to do something so I climbed down towards the fire and reached in and starting pulling them to safety. I was burned, but I kept going. I had to keep going; I was desperate to get them out. When I woke that desperation to save the lost continued in my heart and it is what motivates me to continue my ministry.”

Today Steven is working all over the continent of Africa with great crusades that bring thousands to Christ in a single night. But he doesn’t stop there! He also teaches the local Pastor how to care for the new Christians so none will be lost again.

I have had the privilege of working with Pastor Steven and I am always amazed at how easily he loves others and accepts them just as they are. What ever state of life they are in whether old or young, dirty or clean, rich or poor, he shows the love of Christ to one and all.

Paul said in I Cor 1: 4 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus” and this is my prayer for my friend Steven; I thank God for the grace given him and his willingness to share it with others.

D

You can find more information on Steven and his ministry at www.africaharvestmission.com.