Skip to main content
Darllenwch hwn yn Gymraeg

In 2003 I went to Uganda

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘In 2003 I went to Uganda. I was treasurer of a charity and I went to visit the work I'd been supporting. I had never been abroad before and never gone on a long-haul flight so it was a major event for me, more so because a few years previously I'd had ME and I had been off work for 10 months. 

‘I wasn't well when I got there, and I remember one night lying under a mosquito net saying to the Lord, “You wanted me here, I'm trusting you but I don't know what this is all about.”  

‘My profession was in health promotion. I realised that God wanted me to experience what it was like to be ill and not to be able to get any help. During that time, I attended the funeral of a three-year-old girl who died of malaria because they couldn't get her to hospital. 

‘One night it was pitch black, and the only way I could see where I was going was with a torch, and Psalm 119.105 came to me, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” I thought, God's word will only show me one step at a time. That was a very vivid illustration. 

‘The next day I went for a walk through the sights, sounds and smells of the village. I felt the Lord saying, “Thelma, can you feel my heart?”

‘Now I knew why I had had to go to Uganda. My profession was public health – this was clearly absent here.

‘Shortly after my return home, I was invited by my work to enroll for an MSc in Public Health.  I thought this strange as I was approaching retirement age. I had no A-levels and no degree. Yet, I thought back to Uganda – was this the next step? After several years of part-time study, at the age of 60 I graduated with an MSc in Public Health. Within days, I was invited to be a voluntary consultant and join a group to write the health promotion strategy for a Christian charity working internationally.   

‘One step at a time, the Lord was fulfilling his plan for my life, and he continues to do so.’

Do you have a story to share? Email [email protected]


More Stories

I became very ill when I was 20 years old and was hospitalised

I became very ill when I was 20 years old and was hospitalised, nil-by-mouth, on a morphine drip, etc. This illness led to me being in and out of hospital for the next year or so. At that time I wasn’t a Christian but my...

I’m sometimes guilty of thinking I know better than everyone else

I’m sometimes guilty of thinking I know better than everyone else. That mindset often extends to thinking I know what I need better than God. When my wife and I were moving house, I found that I tried too often to force...

I was an executive in a company. A colleague had retired and died very suddenly.

I was an executive in a company. A colleague had retired and died very suddenly. He was a lovely man, and I went to his memorial service. We sang, “Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name...

I keep coming back to John 6.67–68

I keep coming back to John 6.67–68 where Jesus has been teaching and people are finding it hard to understand and lots of his peripheral followers are falling away.

Hebrews 11.1–6 has kind of shaped my life

Hebrews 11.1–6 has kind of shaped my life and reflected how I see the Bible and my faith. It says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. I had this as a poster on the back of...

I have had four strokes

I have had four strokes. The first one was 16 years ago after my late wife died and the last one was in February 2023. I was in hospital for six months.

Want to share how the Bible has impacted your life? Email [email protected]

Read the Bible icon Read the Bible
Open the full Bible