who we are
Africa Interfaith Uganda was formed after careful study of our continent Africa, our region East Africa and our country Uganda. We have labored to look deep into several aspects of life including; political, spiritual, cultural, religious and social life. We have realized that the problems affecting us are the same and any efforts to solve them will help the whole continent. We have realized that all kingdoms in Africa share the same problems and limitations, which means solving these problems and limitations in one country will influence the whole continent. The influence of kingdoms in the leadership of these African nations cannot be ignored but must be embraced, perfected and empowered to positively contribute to the leadership of our countries especially our country Uganda. The religious leaders have chosen war instead of peace, a few who have chosen peace do not discuss issues affecting their doctrine, and this situation affects the believers and followers because they expect the truth from their leaders which is not availed. The most asked question is why should we all be talking about the same God and the same Jesus but fight each other and have different denominations that don’t agree? Surely someone there is wrong or something is wrong! We intend to come to the root cause of all these differences with God’s help. The most important productive, religious, social, spiritual, political institution formed and instituted by God, this institution is called family. The father, mother and the children, the relatives and friends form the family, and this crucial institution is currently under full attack and needs urgent intervention by servants and people who speak on behalf of God. The people currently regulating this institution have no idea of God’s intention when creating this institution and there for are incompetent to handle this glorious institution, leading it into equality and divorces everywhere. Men of God need to come together and reason with God as called for in the bible; Isaiah 1:18 18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. You are all welcome with your different reasons to the reasoning table of God.
VISION
To see the radiant glory of the kingdom of God evidenced by glorious harmonious living and coexistence of all God’s people.
MISSION
To reach out to religious, cultural, spiritual, traditional, and political leaders and the public with the intention of dialoguing, teaching, training and unveiling the mysteries of the kingdom of God by promoting unity, harmonious living and co-existence.
MOTTO
Establishing the kingdom of God.
SLOGAN
Interfaith Ark - Tolerance and Coexistence.
MAIN OBJECTIVES
- To promote harmonious living and co-existence among different faith.
- To dialogue on body, soul and spirit as well as all faith issues.
- To dialogue on all faith, cultural and traditional issues.
- To establish and recommend faith reforms and scrutinize all policies affecting faith.
- To establish, strengthen, and deepen interfaith fellowship through reading and study of the interfaith scriptures, through rendering prayer and conducting regular worship.
- To put faith into action by living true and exemplary lives in accordance to Godly values.
- To raise up spiritual leaders for today and tomorrow who are equipped with knowledge and skills to reach out to the nations with the heart of joy, honesty and restoration of hope to those who are heartbroken due to domestic, cultural, and economic factors within their societies.
- To offer spiritual, marriage and family guidance and counselling services to the society.
- To establish spiritual, theological and vocational institutions and universities.
- Advise the Government, Kingdoms and the Public on all spiritual matters.
Our Team
HON. PATRICK NAKABALE
BOARD CHAIRMAN
APOSTLE. MWESIGWA CHRISTOPHER
CO- BOARD CHAIRMAN
MS. NAMUTEBI ROSE MARY
BOARD SECRETARY
MR. TUKACUNGURWA ENOCK
BOARD MEMBER
MR. AMOS OPOLOT
BOARD MEMBER
MR. DAVID LUBOWA
BOARD MEMBERRecent sermons
ADVANTAGES OF INTERFAITH DIALOGUE
There are a number of valuable benefits. If we agree that dialogue is a religious requirement, then dialogue contributes to the fulfillment of our religion. If we agree that dialogue is a natural expression of our innate human disposition, then dialogue enriches our experience as human beings.
The merits of Dialogue between followers of different faith traditions can be listed as follows: Interfaith dialogue demonstrates to the public how different faiths can live together in harmony without hurting or insulting each other’s instincts. The attitude of dialogue should not be aggressive, it teaches the viewers and its followers that every religion and its followers must be given due respect. It significantly improves a person’s understanding of the other person. While the person can learn a significant amount about another religion from books, talking to people who practice that religion about what they believe, what they do and how they feel about it transforms a person’s knowledge and more importantly his/her understanding. It enhances understanding, goodwill and a sense of community between people of different faiths.
Inter-faith dialogue is helpful in removing the fear from the minds of the minorities who are oppressed and help them to co-operate with the majority community in the field of development and prosperity of the nation.
Interfaith dialogue helps to explore and learn about each other and know more about the traditions of one’s faith. Every person’s inner soul is in search for a deep understanding of the truth that includes Almighty God, the Universe and the Life. The process of dialogue helps the participants and the viewers to get an insight of the concepts of truth in other religions, which will help them to get a clear vision of the different aspects of facts and truth. Also the knowledge and insight of other religions will help to eradicate the misconceptions and misunderstandings of any particular religion.
Dialogue between followers of different faith traditions helps each religion to grow and develop mutually. Each religion through dialogue helps other religion for its enrichment. Interfaith dialogue provides space for the religions to contribute and complement each other. It helps society as a whole by producing better mutual understanding among the believers of different religions
Dialogue between followers of different faith traditions encourages in supporting of each other in times of difficulty. When natural or man-made calamities strike upon the society, dialogue helps in creating people and individuals who do relief work irrespective of caste, creed, religion, language etc. They don’t consider priorities in rendering their much-needed services. They only see that their services are rendered in its proper channel to each and every one affected by the calamities. (The best example is during this pandemic COVID -19 in all parts of the world, people help each other irrespective of their religions.) As Uganda recovers from the effects of a nationwide lockdown since; March 2020. Many people were stuck at home alone, leaving the elderly especially feeling lonely and cut-off from family and friends. But While both the governments is actively working on implementing new measures to battle COVID-19, and fixing logistical glitches in existing lockdown procedures, it is the ordinary citizens and their extraordinary acts of kindness that have proven to be a bright spot in this dark and desolate time. Along with all the fear and panic caused by the coronavirus, the pandemic has also seen kindness go viral across the globe, with neighbors and complete strangers pitching in to help. People have been provided meals across the country during the lockdown, a good number of people were fed by the Government, Individuals, Religious and Faith based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and all this was done without knowing or asking each other’s religion.
Doctors in Uganda, like elsewhere, are on the front lines fighting the pandemic, and they are often working around the clock. Their anxiety and stress levels at work are immense, but through this tough journey, they have helped lots of people irrespective of their religions.
Likewise, when any individual of any particular religion suffer economically or physically he will be looked after and taken care of by the members of the other religious groups without considering his religion. This mind can be set up and build very strongly with the help of interfaith dialogues. There are many moral stories, which expose the moral values or are brought as examples for a particular moral value in every religion. These stories of morality and virtue can be exchanged in the process of interfaith dialogue, which will be quite helpful to the recipients in inducing those values among its followers.
Interfaith dialogue helps the people with whom you are talking to understand any religion. The experience of dealing with anyone is limited to situations such as the workplace where you never talk in any depth about your religion, what you practice and how you feel about it. By taking part in interfaith dialogue, you can help each other to understand that the people who follow other religions are intelligent, sympathetic who can discuss their differences with members of other religions while remaining completely confident in their own.
Dialogue between followers of different faith traditions is of great help to achieve common goals of the society and nation. It enhances the participation of every member of every religion in the development and prosperity of the nation.
Dialogues help in making public opinion against the evils prevailing in the society and thus result in its eradication from the society. Dialogues minimize the gap between communities, which in turn reinforces the national integration and unity. “All human beings are entitled to participate in the activities that will shape the world in the third millennium. No nation should be left on the sidelines because of some doctrinal, philosophical, political or economic argument. It is not enough to tolerate others but one must work with others. The human world must be shaped by the massive cooperation of all human beings. Though this notion up to the early 20th century sounded like a humanist motto, today it is a necessity for the continuation of human life.”
All religions believe in selfless service to humanity. With the help of interfaith dialogue, the services and aids can be extended to the people of other religions also. Muslim have a remarkable historical background of good communal bonds with other communities. Islam itself encourages and teaches its followers to maintain communal harmony with members of other religions, while Christians also teach members to love their neighbors as they love themselves. During the festive seasons religious organizations can give more attention to such activities. During the month of Ramadan in and Christmas there are many organizations and political parties, which extend their aids and distribute relief funds among the needy regardless of their religion.
If there are some joint activities in this regard it will bring good results and thrust for peaceful co-existence. This group of religious leadership can run schools and hospitals and other institutions and funding agencies jointly in areas where people of different religious denomination resides and create an atmosphere where people of different religions can interact peacefully.
The paradoxical benefit of engaging in interfaith dialogue is that it helps a person to understand his/her own religion much better. They may have been brought up practicing their religion but that is not the same as studying it in depth to find out how it addresses fundamental issues. When a person preparing for any formal interfaith dialogue discussions, they have to do a significant amount of research on the scripts of their own religion as it is essential to put forward propositions which are firmly grounded in the texts rather than being at risk of simply conveying the own assumptions about what the person think of his/her religion.
FAMILY HILLOCKY
The Father
The position of the father is undisputed as the head of the home, the spirit of God the Father sits in him and uses him to govern the Home in a Godly way. The first church of God is a home, the first dwelling place of God is the home and that is why the devil fights it very much because it knows that when it loses the battle in homes it will have lost the war. The home must be well established because it is the foundation of the body of Christ.
If any man wishes to serve God as a bishop but can’t manage his own home, he will not be allowed to manage God’s home? 1Timothy 3:1-5 “Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)”
God is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of a man and a man is the head of a woman, the hillocky of heaven is the same hillocky in the home. 1Corrinthians 11:3 “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
The father produces the body or the fresh but we also have the heavenly father who produces the soul and spirit. The family members depend on the provision by the two fathers, the physical father and the spiritual father, during sex at the time of producing a man and a woman will transform into spiritual experience so that the child to be conceived has both the body soul and spirit. Luke 11:2 “He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Matthew 6:17-18 “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The Mother
The mother is another important personality in the home and the Holy Spirit sits in her to help her perform her duty in the setup of the home.
The First Born Male
The firstborn male another important personality in a home his title in a hoe is hair, the spirit of Christ sits> in him to help him carry on his fathers will and linage.
The Children
The boys and girls born in the same family, these include children born to the father and those produced by the mother. Clarity has to be made here, so as to avoid confusion in the home.
Extended Family
These include the relatives on the side of the father and mother, the uncles, unties, in-laws, and the rest of the relatives from their families.
Friends
All the family friends that usually come into the home have limitations in circles of the family, members must know how to treat each one of them.
Visitors / Strangers
The bible teaches that we should always entertain strangers for sometimes we entertain angels without knowing. Therefore strangers have a place in our homes, but we must know the boundaries of each of the mentioned family members.
FINAL REMAARKS
To conclude I would say, the Dialogue between different leader’s followers of different faith traditions is not about conversion. It is the best practical expression of peace and harmony. It does not mean to accept one’s religion but it is essential to stand-in communal harmony as well as teaching you about the other religions, engaging in it helps you to understand your own religion better. To combat communal hatred and promote inter-community harmony, people of different faiths must strive to promote a culture of dialogue. People should work together to make the world better. They should be able to make the ways to come out of the dangers of the modern technocracy and environmental devastation, energy crises, youth problems, hunger, violent radicalism and decadence of morality and faith. In addition, every human being should have the ability to discuss their religious and cultural differences, which is very important in a democratic society such as ours that is filled with people whose differences are deep and complex in nature.
Dialogue between followers of different faith traditions can be an excellent way to heal divisions in society. Social science research indicates that having a positive, meaningful relationship with someone of a different background and learning about his or her identity correlates to viewing that person’s entire group more favorably. The same logic applies with interfaith conversations. It is also experienced that the discussion and study about any other religion helps one to be more acquainted and have deep knowledge in his own religion. The good aspects of every religion should be taught in schools and seminaries and in upper level religious parliaments can be organized for the exchange of ideas and views about religion in the presence of religious scholars. Such exchanges will help form reasonable ideas of co- existence in students. Further the interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and other faith will help in removing partialities and misunderstandings about one another and help to realize common objectives such as the establishment of peace and justice in the world, the protection of families from disintegration, the fortification of human rights as given by God and the promotion of moral values. In this context of interfaith dialogue, there are three Categories of people to deal with;
- First are those who have the will and inclination to understand the fundamentals of other faith. This group tries to read, learn and understand about other religion through various means.
- The second group of people is those who have an allergy towards other religion. They have fixed opinion about other religion and do not want to listen anything positive about any faith.
- The third group of people have empty mind towards other faith. They fall prey to many misconceptions about other faiths.
The challenge before us working towards interfaith dialogue of religions in Uganda is to engage all the three categories of people and reach out to them with the message of humanity and peaceful coexistence. It is very important for our future generations. Our discourses today, would pattern the lives of our children in future. Now it is in our hands to determine the future of our children, we have to decide now whether our children should live in harmony, peace and coexistence or leave them to live in discord and religious wars forever.
May Allah / Almighty God Bless and gives you the courage to be part of those who advocate for interfaith peace, unity and coexistence dialogue in Uganda.