Page 35 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 1

HIS-STORICAL PLACES

choice to die for Him that He may be
honoured and glorified.
have been healed or their marriages
restored. Folklore has it that the pool By their choice, they entered into the
was formed from the ash and vapor realms that Stephen, the first disciple
from the burning of the martyrs, or to be martyred had access to, and
formed mysteriously when they were for such people, God is not ashamed
killed, because of their purity. Fact- to be called their God, for He had
lore states that bricklayers dug it to prepare a place for them in eternity.
get water for making bricks and that A sight beyond physical sight, that
it was later expanded and modified empowered them to choose wisely to
after the construction of the Basilica. build the unseen.

The pilgrims who track their way to How many of those who come
the Shrine each year, come seeking there yearly, seeking for a life shift,
healing through prayers and the water understand the life shift that is staring A Martyr, St Baliquodembe
from the well and soil from the site. them in the face. At every crypt
Searching for miracles. honoring one martyr or another, a
statement is being made - ‘for Jesus,
While we were there and in the days I did this’. And indictment goes out
following, as we continued to ponder against anyone who would walk these
the mystery of the Namugongo grounds... ‘would you?’
Martyrs, we began to realize
something. Namugongo took on a special shine
for us after that moment. A place to
All the martyrs had paid the ultimate come to reflect on the willingness to
price for what they had believed. die for Christ or risk everything for
They walked exactly according to Christ. And if one is not opportuned
Revelations 12:11 “... they did not to visit this place, the story must at
love their lives to the death.” And least give a context of what the lives
“by the word of their testimony” of the disciples of Christ looked like
they overcame everything, for the and how the words of Jesus to them
cause of Christ. This is the story of about carrying their cross was clearly
Namugongo. The beauty in choosing illustrated in their willingness to give
Jesus over self, over others, over what it all for Him without regards for their
appears to be safety, at whatever cost. lives. It is also a special reminder
that Africa as both a continent and a
It’s not a story about healing water people destined for a grand purpose
from the ground, or some religious act in God are not some form of tourist
of pilgrimage but rather the healing attraction, or a biased picture of
Water of the Spirit of God, based on a poverty and corruption but a clear
picture of lives lived in awe of God and
in submission to His will even when it
costs blood of sacrifice on the stones
of the ages. A Buganda warrior/executioner

The water of Namugongo