Several years ago, I was sitting in a youth conference in Florida as Chris Tomlin taught me and thousands of other high schoolers the words to a song called "God of this City". This past week during team worship, I was brought to my knees in our living room as we proclaimed that same song over Rukungiri and all of Uganda.
In the midst of a place where we regularly encounter people who are bewitched or hear stories from students whose relatives have been cursed by witch doctors, or where kids casually ask if you still have both of your parents and the life expectancy is 45 years old, I needed to be reminded that God is the Light in this darkness. In the midst of all the malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, political corruption and civil wars this country has seen, I needed to be reminded God is Hope to the hopeless. In the midst of the power that witchcraft and alcoholism and poverty and Western culture seem to hold here, I needed to be reminded that God alone is the God of this city.
He is the God of every student at Makobore High School. He is the God of every woman and child we prayed over at the North Kigezi Maternity Clinic. He is the God of every orphan in this country, every baby at the market, every kid who comes to our gate to play. He is the God of every person we meet on the street and may never see again, everyone who needs prayer for physical or spiritual suffering, and everyone who prays to accept Christ, whether they are sincere or manipulative.
He is the God who is bringing salvation to this place. He is shining light into darkness and promising that one day, He will wipe away every tear, death will be no more, and all things will be made new. His is the only Name in all of creation by which men are saved. Eyes are being opened and hearts drawn to their Savior. Lives are being changed in ways I will never even know.
When the seniors at Makobore graduate and move all over the country for university or work next year, I will never see the impact they have on this country for Christ. When I pray over people who barely speak English, I have no idea if they understand a word, or how God will answer.
I will leave this place in a number of weeks. But God never has and never will. My heart and my flesh may fail. There will be things I cannot accomplish here. But the sovereign Lord of the entire universe is strong when I am weak and is working all things out according to the purpose of His perfect will. Greater things are still to be done here.
"You're the God of this city,
You're the King of these people,
You're the Lord of this nation,
You are.
You're the light in this darkness,
You're the hope to the hopeless,
You're the peace to the restless,
You are.
There is no one like our God,
there is no one like You, God.
For greater things have yet to come,
and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come,
and greater things are still to be done here."
