Victory Living Word Church

My name is Makumbi Johnson. I am the Senior Pastor of Victory Living Word Church. I am married to Anna Johnson and I am a father of seven children; three girls and four boys. I am the second sibling in a family of four (two girls and two boys). We were a very poor family and were close to starvation for most of my childhood.

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My parents separated and this led us to starvation because our father spent most of his time away from the family, so it was not much of a home. When our mother knew that we were almost dying, she came and took us to the place where she was living. I spent some of my childhood days with my mother.

In 1970 my father died and I went to live with my grandfather. I was 12 years old at the time. My grandfather loved me dearly and I loved him. He was a very powerful witchdoctor who was feared by everyone in the village where he lived. He was also much more prosperous than my father, so things went better for me in terms of creature comforts.

Naturally, my grandfather began teaching me the family business (being a witchdoctor). Unfortunately, he was killed by Idi Amin on January 25, 1979 when I was 21 years old. Since this was a completely unexpected turn of events, my training was still incomplete. While I had learned many things, I was by no means ready to take over without his help. Nevertheless, I had no choice and began functioning as a witchdoctor in 1979.

Since I was not fully trained, some of my local competitors grew stronger at my expense. Naturally, people wanted results and I could not always deliver the full spectrum of services normally provided by a witchdoctor in Uganda.

In due course, I felt it would be better for me to have a different kind of job and began looking for one. I ran into a childhood friend who suggested that I visit his church for prayer. I did so several times, and the prayers of that Christian minister healed me in several powerful ways. I was shocked to learn that this Christian God was more powerful than the demons my grandfather and I had been serving for years. I soon gave my life to Christ (May 11, 1983) and began learning about my new faith.

I believe you will find it interesting to learn that my most precious experience to date was my personal encounter with Jesus Christ. This occurred in September 1984 at about 4:00 p.m. Each Friday, our church has an all-night prayer meeting which begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening and is over at roughly 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. I had just returned home to rest for a few minutes before going to the Friday evening prayer service.

My wife, Anna, was preparing our meal. I entered into our room and just as I was laying down to rest, I was immediately transformed into an altered state of consciousness. I looked up and saw our Lord descending into my presence. He came down but not all the way to the ground. He stopped about three feet up in the air and stood there the whole time.

I could see the nail scars in His palms as He beckoned me to come to Him. He said to me:

 
• “Makumbi, where are your brethren?” I said, “Lord, they are at the marketplace doing their business.” Jesus told me, “Go and call them.” I asked Him, “Lord, will I find you here when I come back?” He said, “Yes, I will not leave you.” I did not go.
• He asked me the second time, “Makumbi, where are your brethren?” I said, Lord, they are at the marketplace doing their business.” He said, “Go and call them.” I asked Him, “Lord, will I find you here when I come back?” He said, “Yes, I will not leave you.” I did not go.
• He asked me a third time, “Makumbi, where are your brethren?” I said with a change in my tone, “Lord, I told you, they are at the marketplace doing their business!” He said, this time with His countenance changed, “Go and call them.” I asked Him, “Lord, will I find you here when I come back?” He said, “Yes, have I not told you? I will not leave you; tell them that I need them.”

As I left to go and follow the instructions, I came to my normal consciousness. I know my words cannot convey the way this experience changed me, but you may be able to understand that I will never be the same. Jesus is my close companion, best friend, Lord and Savior. I serve Him and Him alone. Of course, He sends me to serve others, but I never go alone. He is always with me.

I became a street preacher late in 1984 and quickly encountered many challenging opportunities, from different religions. All of this was helpful because I had innumerable opportunities to talk with members of other faiths to learn their views of God and questions about being born again. We started a Christian fellowship in our home in 1985. God, of course, knows the future and never wastes anything. As I look back on it now, I can see how He groomed and prepared me for my present role. I needed to be intimately familiar with the functioning of witchdoctors and evil spirits so I could work effectively against them when I became a Christian minister.

In 1990, God arranged for me to go to a Bible School in Kenya. The classes were in English and Swahili. After repeated visits, I completed the curriculum and was equipped with the basics of Christianity.

In 1992, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me to go to the Kawempe community (Mbogo zone - 95% Moslem) and open a church. I did not want to be a pastor! I asked the Holy Spirit to talk with my wife, Anna, who was also against such a move. A few weeks later, Anna said she thought we should go and open a church. I believed God had truly spoken to us, so we went and opened a church in this Moslem community.