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Excerpt from Chapters One & Fifteen of Samuel's testimony/book


1
Ingoratok:
People from Ngora

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
Acts 17:26


MY FAMILY COMES FROM WHAT is now the District of Ngora, in Uganda, East Africa. And before that, as history tells it, my people were traveling for generations. My ancestors originally came from the Mediterranean, which perhaps is why even today our language has some similarities with the romance languages of the Mediterranean. Words such as emesa which means “table” in my mother tongue of Ateso, is very similar to the Spanish translation mesa, to name but one of many examples. From the Mediterranean, we travelled down through Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and then down through Uganda and Kenya. We arrived in Uganda around 1600 AD.

As we travelled, we left settlers along the way, including the present-day Kalenjin, Maasai and Jie peoples of Kenya, the Kuuku of South Sudan, the Karamojong, Kumam and the Iteso in present day Uganda.
The last people to settle, before the Iteso moved on to where we still are today in Eastern Uganda, were the Karamajong. The name Karamajong is derived from the phrase Ekar ngimojong, meaning, "the old men can walk no further." And my people are called Iteso, which means “corps” or “dead people,” since the Karamajong thought that to continue on and not settle meant certain death.

My family comes from those who settled in Ngora, which at the time was in the District of Kumi. My Papa moved from Ngora to Amuria as a young boy, where he later purchased around 30 acres of farmland to raise crops and cattle.  I was born in the village of Acowa, Amuria, along with all of my siblings and immediate cousins, who are culturally also referred to as “brothers” and “sisters.”

The third born of twelve children, I am the firstborn son, after two girls, Apolot Joyce and Asamo Florence. I was born on May 18, 1980, the same year that Obote came back to power from his exile in Tanzania. Although it is said that he committed atrocities during his rule, my family and I enjoyed six years of peace under Obote before the government was overthrown in 1986, and my region was declared a war zone.

My Papa was a great businessman and my very first memories are of the comforts of home and of having all that we needed, although we knew nothing of running water or electricity...


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15
Lessons for Dying

Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the
bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come,
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
who are filled with gladness and rejoice when
they reach the grave?
Job 3:21-22


AS I PRAYED AND CRIED out to God, my brother-cousins chided me for crying tears. “Your body needs those tears, you have no water to drink and will lose more strength.” I replied that those tears brought me strength.

I feared death until it became the deepest desire of my heart. Fearing death is about fearing what is being left behind; not wanting to leave this world or worrying about family left behind. I died to those fears. I begged God to reveal to me why I was experiencing this torture, and He remained silent. Finally, I made a feeble promise to God, not boldly and with faith, but as a last hope and out of great weakness. I promised that if He would save me out of this cell - out of this torture -  that I would tell everyone I meet about His deliverance and about His faithfulness.

I felt pain until I could feel no more. Then I reached a point where all that I wanted to know was how it would feel to die, and then to be relieved of this suffering and be welcomed into His presence. I was ready to die. I gave up on this life, on all of my hopes and dreams and ambitions. I confessed every sin that I could think of. I surrendered completely to God and wanted to be with Him. There was nothing left, but a man destined to die. 


It took so much energy just to breathe and I wished that I could will myself to stop. If I could even take a five-minute break from breathing! But God held my life and my every breath in His hands. Although it took so much energy to breathe, I was not willing myself to breath nor could I will myself to stop. God sustained my breathing and commanded my body to keep living...



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