President Yoweri has asked Christians globally to obey Gods command of working hard, taking dominion over their own affairs and manage nature.
He made the statement yesterday while addressing a large gathering of born-again Christians at Kololo independence grounds.
The Christians gathered for a one-day national prayer organised and conducted by Generation Pastors Network (GPN).
Represented by the Vice President Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, Museveni said Christians have obeyed the command of being fruitful but were failing to take dominion of their own affairs.
” In Africa, our people have tried to obey the commandment on multiplying and filling the earth; but they are lagging behind on the second commandment on taming and establishing dominion over nature.
This why we still have the problems of poverty, hunger, disease, etc. Previously, people all over the world lived in poverty and backwardness, because of a lack of the means to tame nature to the advantage of mankind” he stated.
He added “all the big inventions that have liberated man from poverty, backwardness and want are relatively recent. The steam engine was only invented in the eighteenth century and penicillin was not discovered until the 1940s. So, these miracles of machines, chemicals, rockets and energy are not very ancient. However, you can already see their impact on the lives of the people of those areas. Machines have, for instance, made travel very easy: you now can travel from here to Europe in a few hours”
President Museveni therefore explained that the process of taming nature to produce goods and services is in line with the Holy Scriptures. “God has endowed Uganda with a lot of natural resources, that other countries do not have. But Uganda will not develop by the mere possession of natural resources. They must be exploited sustainably to create wealth and jobs and revenue for the government”.
He thanked the church for its spiritual and physical development roles.
“I want to use this occasion to commend the religious leaders, in Uganda, for spearheading developmental and social uplift projects that are geared towards improving the believers’ wellbeing. Man has both spiritual and physical needs. The Church caters for people’s spiritual needs. There are also physical needs for food, water, shelter, medicine, hospitals, schools, clothes, transport, jobs, etc. In a modern economy, you cannot obtain the goods and services, which are necessary to sustain life without money. Moneylessness can be eliminated by undertaking a profitable enterprise in one of the four sectors of: commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT. These are the four sectors where you can create jobs and wealth”.
He also thanked Generation Pastors Network for organising the prayer day.
“I want to thank the leadership of Generation Pastors Network, for organising this prayer event, where you are dedicating the Country, the East African region and the entire African continent, to God. I thank Apostle Gift Mugisha for mobilising the pastors and the believers to assemble at Kololo Independence Grounds, to pray for continued stability and accelerated growth and development, within our borders and the whole of Africa.
The Christian faith has two revolutionary ideas, which can help to unlock the potential of Uganda and the other African countries. The first idea is Jesus’ parable of the good samaritan. In that parable, Jesus taught that neighborliness transcends the narrow confines of tribe, religion, race, gender, class, etc. It is all embracing; it does not discriminate anyone. This is also the ideological stand of the NRM, because within Uganda, we promote patriotism (that is the unity of all Ugandans, regardless of tribe, religion, political affiliation, etc.) We advocate for East African and African cooperation and integration, as a strategy for guaranteeing greater prosperity and security. Therefore, Christianity fosters unity and tolerance for one another, which are the precursors for development.
The second idea is found in the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 28, where God commanded man to: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
Therefore, a relevant Christian Ministry must encourage the believers to work towards achieving decent standards of living. In the process of working for heaven, some of the faithful become negligent about their earthly responsibilities and thereby end up perpetuating poverty in their homes. If we have spiritually seen the light, then we must do the same economically. We cannot see the spiritual light yet stay in economic darkness”.
Museveni went on to say that Jesus Christ was exemplary in the field of work.
“Jesus Christ should serve as an example to all the religious leaders and their followers. He earned his living by working alongside his father, Joseph as a carpenter. He worked for both the spiritual and socio-economic uplift of his family and society. This is what all Christians must emulate” he added.
GPN boss Apostle Gift Mugisha while addressing the crowd proclaimed over the gathering that God is making a new move in Uganda and in the region of breaking the spirit of poverty off the church. Â He asked them to remain keen in prayer and to also be vigilant in the world of work.
Apostle Mugisha also sent a proposal to the President through the Vice President A. Jescca.
Christians from 139 districts of Uganda attended. Pastor Peter Morwabe a guest speaker from Kenya, praised President Museveni for for stabilizing East Africa’s security and asked Christians in Uganda to keep the fire burning through prayer and exemplary living for God and to be agents of both spiritual and physical development.
