Uganda

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Peterson Sozi, executive director and founder of the Back to God (BTG) ministry, writes that BTG was asked by the Anglican Church of Uganda, in which over 35 percent of the Ugandan population are members, to expand its HIV/AIDS prevention crusades to all of the Anglican dioceses.

“Through BTG ministries, many people have come to know Jesus as their Savior,” writes Sozi. “And because of HIV/AIDS, people are looking for meaning in life.” A large component of the BTG crusades are HIV/AIDS awareness lectures, including instructions for Ugandans to lead lives of abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage to prevent HIV/AIDS. Sozi’s mission is to turn Uganda—a nation of 19 million people—back to God. BTG’s message is appropriate in a country where the effects of suffering are found everywhere.

In the 1970s and 1980s Uganda was notorious for human rights abuses, first during the military dictatorship of Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979 and then after the return to power of Milton Obote, who had been ousted by Amin. During this time up to half a million people were killed in violence. All indigenous Christian movements other than the sanctioned Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox churches were banned. The scourge on nontraditional churches forced evangelical fellowships underground. When Obote was overthrown, Sozi spent the year studying theology and shortly thereafter became the founding pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Kampala, Uganda’s capital.