Children take gospel to remand home in Arua

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ARUA - Children in the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Arua City have taken a message of hope and change to juvenile offenders at Giligili regional remand home in the city.

During their visit to the remand home on Sabbath last week, the children preached and comforted over 100 juvenile offenders at the remand home many of whom ended up giving their lives to Jesus Christ.

Kevin Anjoa Martin, 10, a P4 pupil who preached during the outreach, encouraged the inmates to be steadfast in their circumstances as God knows the reason for their tribulation and is ready to change them.

“Our heading for today’s sermon is that God’s timing is the best and He knows why you are here. Maybe he wants to change you and you never know if you were to remain outside, you would have landed in the hands of bad people and some of you could have lost their lives. So, we need to give glory for everything he has done in your lives,” Anjoa told the inmates.

Prisoners of sin 

Meanwhile, Ketty Musoke Ondia, a member of the SDA church and a midwife at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, who led the team of the children's church described the visit as exciting saying it is always important to visit the needy to give them a message of hope and spiritual nourishment.

“One of the messages I love so much was that, as they were imprisoned due to various reasons while we outside the prison are imprisoned by sin. So, the two groups are the same and we wanted to give them the message of hope that, God has taken them there for a purpose and that one day, they can change and become better people in society. So, they were excited to receive us," Ondia said.

God to children

Beatrice Martin, a parent whose daughter preached in the remand home, encouraged parents to introduce their children to the love of God early so as to minimise their chances of conflicting with the law.

According to her, as a result of introducing her children early to God, she has not faced any difficulties in managing them.

Likewise, Bilha Agazu, a parent from Ociba Coast, whose three children were part of the outreach team said, she was happy about the testimonies shared by her children after the visit to remand home and advised parents to allow their children to actively participate in church activities.

Overcrowded facility

Arua regional remand home at Giligili has a capacity of 74 inmates, but the facility often accommodates over 100 inmates causing shortfalls in bedding and congestion in the available rooms.