Faisal Kateyenge is on the right, alongside the rest of the Novo Uganda team
Even in nations where the Church has a strong presence and the majority of people are Christians, there can be entire people groups outside the reach of the existing church. I grew up in one of those Christian nations, and I was one of those unreached people.
I was Muslim in a country where Muslims were the minority—Uganda. As a kid I saw my dad spending a lot of time promoting Islam—building mosques, teaching about Islam, and engaging in conversations about it with others. I knew I was a Muslim. So were my brothers, sisters, and extended family. There was no question.
But then in high school something strange happened to me that was a turning point in my life—I encountered Jesus in a vision.
It was just a normal night when this strange thing happened to me. It was 3 a.m. and I was in bed. Suddenly, I felt someone carrying me like a baby—someone very, very powerful. I felt so small in comparison. Then a voice said, “Follow Jesus, because this is a word of truth.” At that point I came back to my normal senses. This can’t be possible, I thought. I tried to resist what had happened and kept it to myself for some time. But it kept on troubling me, coming back to my mind again and again. I could not concentrate; I could not do anything!
But making a decision to follow Jesus would have a lot of consequences for me. What would the course of my life be if I made that decision? I would definitely get in trouble with my family. And then what would I do next? I realized that this wasn’t really about me, so I made the decision to follow Jesus right then, whatever the consequences might be.
At the beginning it was very tough. Nothing like this had ever happened in our family before. I told them about my vision. “This is something I can’t explain, but it happened,” I said. But none of them could understand me. They responded, “You either choose to be with us or go do your own thing.” So I had to leave home.
I wanted to attend University after high school but I couldn’t pay for it; all my sources of support were completely cut off when I left my family. I kept believing that God would help me somehow—and he did a miracle! I got a very competitive scholarship that even came with a living stipend. I felt alone in the world, but God was with me.
I knew I really needed fellowship when I got to University. I had been part of a local church for awhile, but it had really torn me up on the inside because of my Muslim background. The church taught that if people didn’t join them, they would perish. But the history of the church is full of opposition toward Muslims; consequently it didn’t feel like a safe place for a Muslim to go. And being Muslim was a significant part of my story that would never change. Did following Jesus really mean I had to leave my people? Was joining a local church the only way for Muslims to follow God? I needed to find answers to these questions.
I wanted to connect with other Muslims, share my experience with Jesus, and talk together about it. This led me to start a small group of Muslim friends at my University. They encouraged me, and we slowly started to share the word of God together.
As I read the gospels, I began to see that my experience of “Christianity” had really been an experience of a specific culture built around Jesus. Jesus had been put in a box with extra criteria for who would be accepted by God—things Jesus hadn’t actually required. As I studied scripture I started to believe that each of us has the ability to see Jesus and be reached by him right where we are, regardless of our backgrounds. That included Muslims.
Eventually, as we read the scriptures, many of my Muslim friends embraced Jesus and committed their lives to follow him. We were now a real fellowship. I called our gathering a “small group meeting” to avoid Christian labels that would trigger that long history of conflict with the Church. But in reality, I knew we were functioning like a church—a church of Muslims who were disciples of Jesus.
Our one small group expanded and started multiplying. By the time I left University, there were 15 groups, both at our campus and at different institutions. I didn’t plan for that to happen; it just grew organically because Muslims were encountering Jesus in the groups. I had unexpectedly become the leader of a major ministry to Muslims. It was a lot of pressure.
A Christian organization on campus took an interest in our groups and wanted to support us. They gave us a small budget to help us communicate and lead the groups, and there was even more multiplication as a result. Group leaders were emerging in other Universities and high schools, and even other countries—Tanzania, Kenya, and South Sudan. All the groups were focused on reaching the Muslim community or other forgotten groups—like kids in the ghettos, for example—and all of them were focused on the Bible. There weren’t other ministries in Uganda that were effectively discipling Muslims, but Jesus was really at work in this small group ministry. God had given me a vision to help people experience the depth and meaning of the message of Jesus, like I had, and it was happening! We were careful to not omit anything from the message of Jesus, even if it might be offensive to Muslims, and they were still choosing to follow.
We eventually had 150 groups with 60 leaders overseeing them. I had never planned on leading a major ministry to Muslims, but here I was. I knew it must have been God’s plan for me from the beginning, but I didn’t know what to do next. I needed a clear vision of where all these groups were headed. There wasn’t anyone in my circle who could help me figure it out, so it felt like I was carrying the ministry on my own. It was up to me to find the way forward.
That’s when I met Norris, a member of Novo. Norris had experience in Muslim contexts, so we had a lot to discuss. I told him about my questions and he introduced me to gospel movements. I knew deep down in my heart that this was what I had been yearning for. Here was the clear vision for what our small groups were and what they could become! I was in the middle of a gospel movement among the Muslims of Uganda and East Africa!
Our small group leaders began to meet with Norris over Zoom to learn more about movements with Muslims. Norris was able to answer so many of the questions we had, and he challenged us to start practicing what we were learning immediately. Using Discovery Bible Study and intentionally multiplying our groups really brought another dimension to our work. Before this training with Norris, each small group would have one person share what they were learning; now, every time a group met everyone was expected to share and to act on what they were learning. As a result, everyone was becoming a leader. We went from having 150 groups to 209 in just eight months.
Since learning about gospel movements, the weight of leading this ministry has fallen from my shoulders. I understand that this is God’s work, not mine. We just prepare the table for our Muslim friends; we create the space and share the word. And then God does the rest.
The Holy Spirit is prompting us to reach out to more people, and I am able to follow his lead from such a peaceful place. We have a goal to train 209 leaders and start 209 new small groups this year—one new leader and group from each group we already have. And we expect we will actually be able to accomplish much more.
This gospel movement to the unreached Muslims of Uganda and East Africa is multiplying—but so is my peace and trust that God will do it. I no longer feel alone in my leadership. Novo has come alongside as a support. And I feel God carrying me again—just like he carried me in the vision where I first encountered Jesus. God has used my background and my experience to help more than 1500 Muslims start following Jesus, but I know this is really his doing, not mine. The burden to reach Muslims is on his shoulders. And I am light and free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Faisal Kateyenge is the leader of Novo’s newest CoNEXT partner—Novo Uganda. He is married to Ruth. Faisal is pioneering new ground in Uganda, specifically among Muslims. He is leading a team of about 60 young adult leaders, many of whom are also Muslim background believers, toward catalyzing a gospel movement in East Africa.