Ashella Ndhlovu, the Regional Director for Africa Region, shared this powerful testimony following her time with the team at Prison Fellowship Uganda.
Deep in Northern Uganda, the Karamojong people live as a nomadic pastoral tribe, known for their warrior-like nature and frequent cattle raids on neighboring villages.
Their way of life remains deeply traditional, resisting outside influence, and most have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
I first learned about them in Jinja Main Prison, a severely overcrowded maximum security facility housing around 2,000 inmates—including 250 Karamojong men. Only one among them could speak or understand English. Out of curiosity, he joined a course for The Prisoner’s Journey (TPJ) and, for the first time, heard about Christ. By the end of the course, his heart had been transformed, and he gave his life to Jesus.
His newfound faith ignited curiosity among his fellow tribesmen, but language was a barrier. Determined to share what he had learned, he trained as a TPJ facilitator and began leading small groups. By the time I visited, he was disciplining 50 Karamojong men, with many more on a waiting list.
As I sat among them, I asked if any had ever heard of Christ before. The answer was unanimous—no one. Not in their families, not in their communities, not even in a church. They were the very first in their lineage to encounter the Gospel. With conviction, they declared that their days of violence were over. Their only desire now is to return home and share Christ with their families.
Thanks to The Prisoner’s Journey, we are witnessing the birth of first-generation Christians among the Karamojong—men who may one day be the very missionaries to bring the Gospel back to their people and transform entire communities.
Praise God for the power of the Gospel!
In a powerful addition to this testimony, Prison Fellowship International and Prison Fellowship Uganda are confirming language needs with Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) in order to update the audio/visual Bibles that are currently in the country with the Karamojong language. This would make the even more of the Bible accessible to them through The Listener’s Way.
Let’s join in praying for them as they work on this important initiative!
