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_The following is written by *Sara Fischer*, a Mocha Club member who just returned from Northern Uganda and witnessed the impact you are having in the war-torn area of Gulu. In the above photo, Sara is wearing a white headband. Some of this story is graphic in nature, so please read with discretion._
The town of Gulu, Uganda has a gloomy atmosphere. The town is replete with people who have lived in fear for 20 years. The *Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)*, a rebel paramilitary group in Northern Uganda, has ruined the lives of many people and the land through raids, burnings, abductions, and torturous ambushes and killings. The LRA has abducted tens of thousands of people, mostly children, since 1987. Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, has denied this in the past few months. There are many young women in Gulu, Uganda, however, who tell a different story. These young women are called *”child mothers”* because they were only children themselves when they were abducted, trained as fighters, and given as sex slaves to rebel soldiers in the LRA. Now that they are free, the community at large rejects them and their children. Nearly 500 of these child mothers are enrolled in a program through Action International at a place called the *Butterfly Center*, where they receive love, acceptance, support, Christian counseling, and a safe haven. The women at the Butterfly Center will eventually live in the “Village of Hope,” a safe community of huts, a workshop, and a school, that is under construction through the support of various Christian ministries. *Monica* is one of these women, and these are not just the facts of her story, but this is the face-to-face grueling account of her eight years with the LRA. These are the real and painful wounds of her life…
_(In the photo above, Monica is in the yellow shirt, seated on the left.)_
*MONICA’S STORY*
as told by Sara Fischer
Monica is a 27-year-old child mother who lives in Gulu and comes to the Butterfly Center for love and Christian support. She was abducted in 1992 at the age of thirteen by the Lord’s Resistance Army. In the bush like most abductees, she was anointed with oil in the sign of the cross all over her body. She was given a Bible and was made to swear that she would not try to escape. All abducted children are trained for six months to be fighters – they learn how to raid, torture, burn, and hit and kill. Children are ordered to cut off body parts such as a nose, ears, lips, or a penis. They are also forced to kill family members or other children who have not done as they were told. Acceptable girls are also made into sex slaves.
Monica was acceptable, and was given to a 60-year-old soldier in the Lord’s Resistance Army. This man was a high-ranking field commander who was HIV+. Monica remembers feeling terrified to share a bed with him, but she could not refuse or she would be killed. When an abductee refuses anything they are commanded to do by the rebels, they are beaten or killed. Monica once froze up when she was ordered to kill a woman in a village and almost received a life-taking blow from the man who gave the order. Miraculously, the stick flew out of the man’s hands and it never touched her. Was this the protection of the Lord for His later purposes, even amidst such hellish circumstances?
Monica cried the first night her husband had sex with her. He not only took her virginity, but he took her health and her life. This man had 24 wives, most of whom were 13, 14, or 15 years old. All of the wives were infected with HIV. The man died in 1997 of AIDS, and all but eight of the wives have died since. Five of the wives, including Monica, bore him children.
After Monica’s husband died, the wives tried to escape. They were caught by the Sudanese government and were returned to the bush, where each woman was beaten over her whole body. It is said that 200 strokes is enough to render a person near-dead, but each of these women received 250 strokes.
In 2000, there was another escape attempt. The women were again caught by the Sudanese government and were going to be returned to the bush. The women pleaded with the Sudanese government and convinced them that Kony would kill them if they returned. The Sudanese government flew these women to Gulu, Uganda where Monica was enrolled in a program set up by Action International.
Monica believes that it is the Lord who provides for her through the Action Program. She survives today because of the care and the love she receives at the Butterfly Center. Monica constantly emphasizes the love and the acceptance that has been extended to her.
Many humanitarian organizations are present in Gulu and work with the child-mothers, but the Action Program shares the Word of God. Monica received Christ through hearing the Word of God at the Butterfly Center. She does need to have her physical needs met, but it is only the wounds of Christ by which she is truly healed, for “with His stripes we are healed†(Isaiah 53:5). Monica has been rescued from the dominion of darkness and has been brought out of slavery not only in the most extreme physical sense, but also in the spiritual phenomena that takes place in the hearts of all Christ’s followers.
Monica has received micro-financing to help her set up a small kiosk of goods to sell. Her small business was doing well but has recently been closed because she fell sick. It is getting increasingly difficult for her to maintain the kiosk because of her frequent illness. The Action Program is encouraging her to find a partner to help her when she is unable to work. Monica asks for prayer for strength and courage to work and to care for her children despite her sickness.
Monica has two children, ages 9 and 12. They are in the primary grades 3 and 5 this year. Monica deeply fears having them tested for HIV. She says she wants to die alone and wants them to have a good life. It is very difficult, however, for most people who return from the bush to have a normal life. Monica, as it is with most men and women, has been rejected by her remaining family, is unable to find a real husband to love and care for her, and is not fully acceptable to society. Even though the men and women who come out of the bush are victims, the community at large does not receive them as normally functioning members of society. Many people fear that the children of the child mothers will grow up to be like the men who infected and impregnated helpless little girls.
The atmosphere in Gulu is dark and oppressive. The war has ravaged the land and the people, especially the children. Monica and the women at the Butterfly Center have hope that God will do something for them. He will sustain them because nothing is impossible with Him. There is no reason for Monica or the other women to be joyful aside from this hope in God. They do have joy because of the love they have received from God at the Butterfly Center.
~ Sara Fischer
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