DELIVERANCE CHURCH UGANDA

Ben Oluka: The Undeground Church
by Rebecca Rugyendo and Wilson Balenzi

First it was the 2nd world war in 1945, then a very devastating famine in 1952, which was closely followed by an invasion of Locusts from Ethiopia. These are some of the unforgettable events in Ben Oluka’s birth and childhood sixty two years ago. Born on 26th May 1945 in Anyumu Sub District, Kumi County (Kumi District), he is the third of four sons. Before going to Primary One in 1954, his mother taught him vowels at home which made it easier for him to catch up. In 1959 he went to Kanyumu Primary School and finished P.6. In 1960, after failing to raise school fees, his uncle took him to Fort Portal where he worked as house boy before joining J1 and J2 in 1962 and 1963, in Ngora High School.

Meeting the Lord
Ben had to grow some cotton to raise school fees to join high school. He sold it and got two hundred and thirty shillings. This could not take him to Nabumali High School where he wanted to go because school fees amounted to four hundred and seventy five shillings. As luck would have it, an English teacher who noted Ben’s capabilities and knew his struggle to raise school fees pledged to pay his fees from Senior One to Senior Six. In 1967-1968, Ben became the head prefect of Nabumali High School.

Even though Ben’s father had warned him against indulging in the drinking of  alcohol and the smoking of cigarettes, the excitement of HSC could not but make him feel like drinking a bit. One day, after he had been drinking, he staggered back home only to find his mother had not cooked any food. He was hungry and drunk. All of a sudden, this seemed to sober him up and suddenly he thought about God.  “That night, God used that alcohol and the hunger I felt, and I sat up and said to myself, ‘life can not go on like this’. So it was on that night, August 19th-20th, 1968 that I gave myself to the Lord. No one had preached to me but I had heard the gospel before.”

Ben’s life took on a totally different meaning. He had to abandon all the habits that had taken root in his life. “My mother used to sell alcohol which was going for one shilling at that time. So she would ask me to keep her money, and after she had made about eleven shillings, I would take off one shilling to buy a tennis ball because I loved football. When she saw me with it, she implored me to explain where I got the money from. Every time she asked, I denied. After my conversion however, I got compelled to speak out the truth. I told her that I had been the one who always picked her one shilling. And that was the end of that.” His life never remained the same.