Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 12:31 am

Sherrie Cavin, Phoebe and Peter Sozi, Vikki Rogers

Friends from afar show faithfulness
Last Friday, I was blessed to have a three-hour lunch with two wonderful people, Peter and Phoebe Sozi of Uganda. I can’t possibly convey with words their entire story but I will attempt to make the proverbial long story short.  I recommend right up front that you attend and hear the Sozis' story in their own words. And luckily you have several opportunities to do just that this weekend.
It just might change your life.
The story begins in 1987 when their Ugandan homeland was facing very tough times.  One dictator after another ran the country with self-interest, persecution and denial of religious freedom.  It was a desperate time for the nation. Over 30 percent of Uganda's population of 18 million people were fighting an unknown disease. About 70 percent of the population was unemployed.
The disease, later identified as AIDS, was killing millions in the young adult age group.  There were predictions that the entire Ugandan population would be wiped out because the disease spread so fast.  Many natives believed it was witchcraft and most feared their neighbors.  No one knew how to stop the spread but the churches were doing their best to intervene through prayer.
In the meantime, Peter Sozi was anxious to help churches that were quickly forming across Uganda.  At one church the Sozis helped form, the congregation grew from 7 to 7,000 in a matter of weeks.  Month-long revivals were held and over 100 people would go to the alter to accept Christ almost every day.  The people cried out to God for help, Peter told me.
A change began to happen when the country’s new president, Museveni Yoweri, took office.  A Christian, he proclaimed the only way to stop the spread of AIDS was abstinence and faithfulness.  He spread the news by every means possible using a good old-fashioned marketing strategy.   Everywhere you looked, according to Peter, was the message to abstain and be faithful to your spouse and your God.
On the night of Dec. 31, 1999 and into the early hours of the 21st century, President Yoweri and 60,000 Ugandans gathered to pray. The president made a very bold move in this volatile situation, Peter shared. Yoweri dedicated his country to God for the next 1000 years.  The Sozis telling me this reminded me of so many Old Testament stories where the prophets predict disaster and the Jews cry out as a nation begging God’s forgiveness.
The Sozis too were praying. They had personally lost a brother, a sister and two cousins to AIDS. 
Peter explained, “Nobody was untouched by this disease.  Every family knew the pain of watching the person waste away to nothing.”
Peter shares his belief that God has helped Uganda turn its fate around.  The country has had a drastic improvement on illness rates, going from 30 percent of the population to 6 percent before the medications arrived.  The end result, however, has been that the Sozis' generation is all but completely absent. 
“Most of our generation passed away from the disease,” said Peter Sozi, “leaving the grandparents and the children.” 
It was so enlightening to finally understand why this epidemic of orphans has come to pass.  We hear so many wonderful Christians reaching out to Uganda and other African countries, but it was not until now that I understood the history behind the incredible number of 2.3 million orphans. 
The Sozis' church saw this resulting crisis of AIDS every day with their rapid growth. It held a meeting to discuss how to help the congregation in the best way.  Every day, families came for help with food and grandparents came seeking guidance for children. They were losing their homes and most sadly, every day someone came to their door needing to leave their children.  The Sozis told me that some families are simply not able to feed their children. Some are dying and need a place for their children to call home. 
Phoebe Sozi felt a calling to work with the children.  This was not an easy calling to answer as she and Peter were very blessed to each hold a job and they had to care for their own five children.  Peter, too, was feeling called to help with this situation full time.  They went on retreat to a praying mountain where they fasted and prayed.  They came back convinced they were making the right choice.
"I only asked God that he would not let my own children go without bread," said Phoebe Sozi.
Shortly after coming to these decisions, Phoebe Sozi was approached by a mother of five children.  She shared with her that she was dying and had only days to live.  She asked the Sozis to care for her children and they accepted them into their home.  These children and many who came after have been provided with food, shelter, schooling and even foster mothers. 
The children live at a boarding school as is tradition in Uganda.  When on holiday from their boarding schools, they come to live on the Sozis farm where the same necessities of life are provided.  This ministry now supportis 700 children, but only has only 150 sponsors.
The Sozis shared many success stories about the children who have gone on to receive college educations and to this day are giving back to their community.  One young man is now working with this mission and several young women are teaching kindergarten.
How did the Sozis end up in Brentwood?  In 2000, Dr. Rick Rogers of Murfreesboro heard of the Ugandan turnaround and decided to see for himself.  He traveled to Uganda and visited many different organizations.  On the last day of his Ugandan visit, he met the Sozis and in turn met their family of orphans.  Immediately Rogers knew he wanted to help these children.
Rogers decided to take home pictures and ask his friends and family to sponsor a child.  It was determined that a child could be supported on a donation of $30 per month.  Rick and Vikki Rogers have been working to support this ministry now for several years.
The Sozis decided they would like to visit America to meet their supporters and the Rogers welcomed them in to their home.  While in Tennessee, the Sozis met Sherrie Cavin, who had heard of the Sozis through her family in McMinnville.  She invited the Sozis to speak at her Methodist church in Hendersonville.  Her church was so inspired by the Sozis they raised enough money in six weeks to pay for a clinic which in turn served the whole community.
Cavin moved to Brentwood this year and has been working to introduce the Sozis to her new friends.  The Sozis have also brought with them Mary, one of the first orphans in their care who is now a grown young woman.  The family who has sponsored her throughout her childhood, paid to fly her to America and she has spent the last two weeks living with her sponsor family.

I encourage you to hear more of the Sozis story and be blessed by the light that shines through them.  There will be several opportunities this Sunday, Nov. 22.  If you would like to meet the Sozis during their visit here or get more information about their ministry, please contact Sherrie Cavin at 370-8396.

Woodmont Christian Church, 3601 Hillsboro Road (at Woodmont), Nashville at  9:30 and 11 a.m.

Brentwood United Methodist Church Youth Tabernacle, 309 Franklin Road, Brentwood at 6:30 p.m.