Job’s Story

by empower one

Job is a first year NEATS student. When I met him in August at NEATS, he came across as a quiet, bright student with a very high ceiling. Toward the end of the trip, we had the chance to sit down and hear his story. I asked him two questions.

1) How did you come to know Christ?

2) How did you become a student at NEATS?

Job grew up in a traditional home with the family unit intact. His father and mother regularly took Job and his three siblings to a protestant, evangelical church. Job learned about the bible, but he hadn’t yet surrendered his life to Christ.  
 
Job told us that he remembers being exposed to sexual things at a very early age. The most horrifying moment came in 2012 when he was only 10 years old. While home alone, Job and his friend were going to explore sexual urges. As he went to shut and lock the door, Job’s uncle unexpectedly stopped by and caught the two just before they committed the terrible act. The uncle rebuked the two taking the friend home to explain to the parents the act that was interrupted.
It was shortly after this incident that a Christian radio station began to broadcast sermons over the airwaves in Job’s village. One day, the topic of the sermon was taken from Genesis 19 addressing the sexual sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. As Job listened, the sermon “pricked his heart.” For the first time, Job understood sin. He said that he remembers feeling that all of his sin was fully exposed. He felt God offering him redemption and healing. He accepted Christ as his Savior and gave his life to Him. 
As the family grew older, so did the responsibility of providing for them. For the next seven years, instead of the family going to church on Sundays, they spent their weekends in their garden farming to sustain a food source for the family. The father’s increased responsibility took a toll on his spiritual life. Job said that his father now gave little time to spiritual matters. Even though Job had no spiritual mentor and no church to attend, he would sit in the field during breaks from farming and read his bible and pray.

In 2019, his parents separated. His mother went back to her home village leaving the children with the father. Job’s older brother also left shortly after to live what Job described as a “hustling life”. His brother felt that it would be easier to take care of one person than four. At this point, his father had outwardly lost any spiritual fervor. His only concern was surviving and supporting his family. There was no mention of God or Jesus. There was no faithful prayer that God could deliver them out of this life of heart break and suffering. For Job, the responsibility of a broken home fell more and more on his shoulders. The roles that belonged to his mother, then to his brother, now fell on him. 
In 2020, Job decided to leave home as well. He went to Adjumani to stay with his aunt, but Job describes the time there as short and harsh. Over time, she sent him back home to be with his father. Instead of going home, Job diverted to stay with a different uncle in Adjumani. This uncle is Empower One’s Dominic Eruaga, a teacher at NEATS. Job stayed with Dominic for 5 months. For the first time in his life, Job was discipled by someone who could model what it meant to be a man of God. As Dominic discipled Job, he encouraged him to disciple others. 
 
On January 15, 2023, Job received a call from Dominic inviting him to enroll in the Certificate class at NEATS. When Job arrived, he remembered being “full of depression and full of broken-heartedness.” But as he spent time in fellowship with other students and faculty he said, “the broken heart is now gone because I came to understand God fully.”
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