So, when I went to Uganda in April, I met a young gay man in his mid-20s. I’ll call him Bob here–obviously not his real name. His parents died of AIDS when he was young–first, his dad and, later, his mom. So, from the age of about six years old, his aunt and grandmother raised him. He grew up, got the equivalent of high school education, and started a college program in Kampala that would take a year or two. As he approached completion of his certificate, however, his family back in his village learned of his homosexuality.
They chased him out of the village, disowned him, and cut off all funding for his education. Despondent, Bob OD’d on sleeping pills he had gotten, and he would have died had his friend, Gerald, not found him and used the money Acts10 provided for another purpose to get him to the hospital. Discharged about a week later, I met him at the end of my visit. While encouraging him to apply internationally to get a sponsored education, I decided to fund the rest of his education there, so he could finish his program, which would complete in only two weeks or so.
He got his certificate, and I planned to sponsor him to come to Indianapolis for further study at Martin University. Bob gained acceptance there and was ready to come for the fall 2022 semester, but his visa was denied. Meanwhile, unhappy with where he stayed outside of Kampala, he left with some friends, but police raided this intermediate location. They took one gay person prisoner, and Bob just escaped out a window with the clothes on his back. At that point, he decided to try to apply for asylum in Nairobi, Kenya. The Kakuma camp will accept LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum.
Acts10 paid for his transportation to Nairobi and helped him get in touch with a group there that assists LGBTQ+ refugees seeking asylum. It may take 5-10 years before his asylum is approved, and only God knows what country he may land in. But by the grace of God and some Acts10 contacts and contacts of contacts, he has some moral support. Pray with me that he will persevere and look towards a brighter future!
