By Modern Muhereza,
#MuherezaWrites
NATIONAL
In the 1930’s, the term Balokole started ringing loudly in the ears of Ugandans. It was an African fundamentalist Christian reform movement mainly championed by the Ugandan Vibrant Simeon Nsibambi and Joshua E. Church. The movement arose within the East African Revival movement which sought to renew faith in the traditional religions. It challenged the hierarchical structures of the traditional religions and it became more lively to the supernatural experiences of the spirit like speaking in tongues, divine healing which were really scarce in the traditional churches.
By around 1980’s, a great proliferation of born again churches started to be evidenced. Structures that seemed to be temporal made of reeds were erected in almost all parts of the country that the movement was to be dubbed “Abe Biwempe”. Well, this was not just a movement, it was a revival. A revival in faith, A revival that transitioned a believer from his old life to a new life in christ. It was a spiritual rebirth that religion through its formalities could not offer to believers. The Balokole felt a new experience, they felt closer to God than ever before, they felt the power of the holy spirit like never before and God to them was more personal than communal as potrayed by traditional religious circles. This was not a wave to be ignored that it latter penerated into the conservertive traditional religions leading to the birth of the charismatic movement. We saw priests in conservative roman catholicism became slightly liberal by making healing crusades, becoming tolerant with speaking in tongues and more so conscious to the supernatural world which was abit contrary to their initial conventional system.
With so many sects now among them, the Balokole churches have had a great boom and “oli mulokole” has become a frequently asked question.
However, the movement wasnt a darling to the elite middle class. In their view, they portrayed the movement as a group of low lives who sought supernatural interferences in their miserable lives to seek consolation. The over zealous Balokole acts like street evangelism were looked at as an embarrasment and a far fetched narrative of calling them “mad” was the order of the day. Churches and pastors that always held Night prayer sessions were always lambasted by the elites and other people that did not relate to the born again fraternity way of worship. A certain sort of deception was bred and instilled in majority of the gullible population that prayers were only meant for sundays only the day when people were taking sabaticals.
But guess what? The year was 2014 when all these notions were to change. It was a year that the true gospel that revealed who christ was and what he did for man kind was to stop being a mere fairy tale and myth but become a reality. It was a year that people would really understand what christ did for them not what they can do for christ.
This was the year of “Phaneroo and its annointed man of God Apostle Grace Lubega” commencing ministry and holding the first service at theatre Labonita, the spirit of God could not stop but do what it does best, wounders. The place filled to the pinnacle, it attracted people from different walks of life, it was a ministry that hit differently. For the first time, we saw the class that once trashed the gospel come alive to it. The gospel became daily medicine to them, this was a ministry of the word. It made the word of God come to reality, yes, many for the first time realised that through the word of God they had the power to heal the sick, to cast out demons and to be of great influence.
Faith came alive, men started believing, testimonies started flowing, signs, miracles and wounders started happening. The miraculous became more revelational like never before, the grace message preached here superseded just being a mere doctrine but a life. Before we knew, Labonita was full, a bigger place had to be found, MTN Arena Lugogo. The spirit of God did not disappoint here as well because it never disappoints, it was a cycle of what happened in Labonita but this time greater since the spiritual pattern is from glory to glory.
Before we knew, the ministry was celebrating its anniversary dubbed “Its working.” What a celebration it was! Indeed, it was working. Again for the first time we saw people from different spheres of life preaching on the streets, Doctors, Bank managers, lawyers, students, engineers, CEOs were on the streets preaching the gospel. They did not care about what they could be labelled as but they were on the streets. Men in classy suits, men owning posh cars, men owning big bussiness were on the streets. The gospel was preached.
Now Phaneroo is at a bigger space UMA show grounds and it continues expanding (From Glory to Glory). Phaneroo as a ministry is not an ordinary one. Its a revival, I have always told people that everyone needs a phaneroo in his life and I still say; “You need a phaneroo in your life to make manifest. God has been faithful,” we are celebrating 8 years in a worship and miracle experience. All roads are leading to Kololo independence grounds on 6th Aug 2022. Come let’s tarry in the presence of God.
By Muhereza Modern, the Author is a Phaneroo Christian, Social Commentator at Parrots UG and businessman.
