Pr Oundo: Legacy etched in service at Deliverance Church

"My parents were nominal Christians, but tried to instill Christian values in us" he says.

Fast forward, Oundo came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and saviour. It was on 31st October 1966, at 6.30am in Nabumali chapel.

He later trained to become a chartered secretary (ACIS), before lecturing at Uganda College of Commerce, and afterwards working as assistant secretary at UNEB.

He would finally move to the institute of bankers, as an administrator / finance officer, and it was here that God would call him to full time ministry.

As students at the then Uganda College of Commerce at Nakawa (current MUBS), Oundo met Doreen May, a stenographer who later became his wife. He became an early father of his two late brother's children, but they've been blessed with 4 biological children. Their first born, Sam is a clergy in the UK, and third born famous guitarist Myko Ouma.

Deliverance Church

While at Nabumali, being born again was initially a cause for mockery. "Big boys used to say; how can you get born again? You haven't enjoyed life. You'll backslide. But fortunately God helped me" he recounts.

Something else he remembers about those days was: "I was the president of Christian Union, but around 1971, Idi Amin said; "There is no other president apart from me". So we changed to chairman" he adds.

Then a time came, for the birth of Deliverance Church Uganda in 1967.

"We had Nicholas Wafula, and Steven Mungoma who were slightly older than us, and then later happened to be fired up by Dr Joe Kayo, a then young evangelist who had prior served with Elim Church, and Full Gospel. But after having vision of young people somewhere, coupled with extra details therein, he was led to Nabumali High School where we were"

He imparted on them, believed in them that God would disciple them, and that by the power of the holy Spirit God would use them" notes Oundo.

Wafula who got saved in 1965, a year before other founding fathers, moved to and from several schools with them, traversing Eastern and Western Uganda, as well as Universities in Kampala.

"The power of the holy spirit was key in all we did. And for me I was filled with the holy spirit in S6" he says.

But just like any other God authored mission, those formative days were not without their challenges. Oundo recalls how fire was lit after Kayo's visit, and people started telling the headmaster to send them away arguing that they were going to spoil the school.

Oundo says that the Holy Spirit was moving mightily, with people crying everywhere, in dormitories and so forth.

And one day, almost all students, those walking on the compound, those playing tennis, those in the library, all abandoned whatever they were doing, and went to the chapel.

Oundo and team had started an evening fellowship, which always ran from 6-7pm before supper.

And there happened to be day in the chapel, where it housed a lot of noise, was packed inside out, and then their accusers called the headmaster and told him to come and see how they were confusing the school.

"He came and walked through the crowd and I didn't know. He came infront and found me in the very act of praying for people to be filled of the holy Spirit. I laid hands on the head girl wnd she fell down, and when I looked up, and who did my eyes meet? The headmaster. But I said it's too late and just continued. I was so charged, I continued until he went out" he narrates.

After that incident, Oundo expected summons but at the end of the term, it was incidentally the headmaster's turn to preach. And when he stood to preach, he said; "Ladies and gentlemen, what happened this term was of God, and it's the end of the matter"

The Holy Ghost had taken over the school, and even after they'd left, people continued to be touched.

A rock and a hard place

When God called Oundo to serve in full time position as pastor, he was enjoying employment facilities of a well paying job at the time, and declined for 2 years.

In 1984 Pastor Nicholas Wafula started speaking to him into taking up full time pastoral responsibility, but he gave him a number of execuses without disclosing that the concern was financial uncertainty.

He was also on the church's finance committee, and knew well how little the church bag weighed. Thereby leaving the job at UNEB and the institute of Bankers was a nightmare.

He reflected on his humble background and the poverty he'd experienced whilst growing up, and felt it unlogical to quit the jobs at a time he believed that he was climbing out of the poverty graveyard.

So he said NO. And Wafula asked that they pray about it, before he shortly went out to attend (EAST) East African School of Theology in Nairobi.

Gradually, Oundo accepted to oversee the church while he worked, however something would come up.

It was not long until he noticed that the church population was dwindling, due to lack of pastoral care. More so one day, a lady from the church went to his office at the institute of Bankers, while Oundo was in with the director of the institute, busy drafting a budget.

And after long waiting, she left a note on his desk reading: "Pastor I have been here for 2 hours waiting for you, in vain. I have a problem that needs urgent attention, but since I failed to see you, I have had to leave. God bless you"

"I felt I had let down God by abandoning his flock. And eventually after serious time of prayer, I decided to quit the jobs. I went to my bosses and told them i am packing, and they were broken" he recounts.

Nonetheless there were two other obstacles Oundo was to overcome: ie Crossing "The red Sea" (his wife), and the "River Jordan (his mother).

By God's grace, he crossed the Red sea easily. But for crossing the Jordan, the mere imagination of breaking the news to his mother was a hard nut to crack.

"Delivering the news to a woman who had gone through a lot bringing me up was unfathomable" he adds.

Albeit, he eventually shared the news; and she asked him a straight question: "My son, what shall we eat?"

And he told her that the Lord who had called him would provide for all their needs. He also assured her that he would accord her and his father decent burials, which he said he did in 2012, and 2000 respectively.

Oundo's mother argued that her husband had also worked with the church in their early days, however after 3 months of faithful service, he went home with 3/=, giving her 2/= and remaining with 1/=.

She added that after that, he even joined Police. And thus Oundo quitting his jobs too would mean taking them back to the lack dungeons.

"However, although I received her concerns with emotion, I stuck to swimming against odds, and quit on 1st May 1985. But since that day, God has been faithful todate" he rejoices.

Retirement

At deliverance church Uganda, it is a policy that once one reaches the age 55 (for early retirement), & 65 mandatory, or 70 by special resolution of the church, they have entered retirement.

Biblically as a pastor Oundo says that it's also cited both in the old and new testaments, ie in Numbers 8: 23-26: God speaking to Moses concerning the Levites, and 2 Timothy 4:2-8 where Paul speaks to Timothy regarding his departure.

Tips:

1. Start preparing yourself for retirement the moment you assume work. It's comparable to when a pilot takes off a plane. Have a posture that retirement is inevitable, and is indeed coming. You need to know that your desk at the workplace is not permanent. Like a pilot, he takes off bearing in mind that he will land. Whether you're self employed and are exercising maximum energy going about your business, know that the vigor and energy will run out, and you will retire to a humble and less involving position. Therefore bear in mind how you'll face that state of diminished strength and skill. Like in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, the Bible says that "There is a time to be born and a time to die". We came into the world, and at one time we have to go. "Like I have always say at funerals, for every coming there is a going"

2. Groom a successor. Good retirement demands that someone is coming after you, or even better. In the evening of King David's life he said; "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it" 1 Kings 1:47-48. Spiritually, identify the person and set aside time to pray and seek God's mind about them, or and scientifically, use the analysis of personality traits such as choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine, and melancholic. This will save you engaging 'square pegs in round holes'. Forexample, it's unwise to appoint one a personnel manager, yet his personality cannot handle people. Or relatedly, do not engage a person in the office of an accountant, yet they are not given to details.

3. Equip the successor. Practically equip the successor with the necessary skills for the job. John Maxwell says; "A leader is great, not because of his or her power but the ability to empower others". I personally tried as much as possible to stretch my successor with challenging leadership tasks, and I'm sure he's now able to handle similar tasks given that exposure. Delegate so that they won't be overwhelmed in your absencure.

4. Leave at the right time. The Bible says that "everything is beautiful in it's time" as quoted in Ecclesiastes 3:11. And as it is said; God is never too early nor too late, but rather on time. So let it be with us too. Relinquish positions before negative instances arise.

5. Save. Start saving small and keep increasing. This calls for discipline because forexample if you have decided to be putting aside Ug.Shs. 50,000 per week for the purpose of saving for investment, don't shift goal posts by missing out on any week.

6. Knowledge. Have proper facts regarding your investment. This can be acquired through research, or exposure by visiting projects of your interest. This is key, as you shouldn't put your money into a project you are ignorant of.

7. Have the necessary skill. Many people incur losses because of mediocrity. Forexample I've heard of people who have invested in piggery and lost almost everything due to lack of skill in that particular trade.

8. Invest. Decide on reliable avenues of investment. Not every avenue is good for you even if it may have been successful for another person.

9. Don't go for very strenuous projects which over weigh your physical strength. Forexample, avoid projects which involve extensive administration, personal supervision, and such. Because you can't expect what you don't inspect.

10. Take advantage of your employer's fallback retirement policy (if any). This includes among others, National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and / or gratuity.

11. Have integrity. In business, integrity is important because that way you expect maximum return when those you're partnering with are morally upright. Watch out for people both who don't command a lifestyle of integrity.

12. Adjust your expenditure. Note that your regular income on retirement has reduced, and as such tone down on your expenditure. Weigh the necessities versus the desirables, and then eliminate some of the desirables so as to meet the necessities. The former include not limited to food, shelter, clothing, health, utilities, and the latter include gifts, celebrations, tourism among others. Therefore, ensure that the desirables are moderate, don't play the hero for public recognition.

13. Redundancy and boredom. This coupled with minimal income worries many people. Someone imagines finding themselves intellectually unchallenged as they sit by their television set, checking Facebook and WhatsApp all day long. The antidote to this is; consider volunteering. I have been greatly challenged seeing some of the older brethren keeping busy with organizations like scripture Union, Bible society, African evangelistic enterprises (AEE-U), World Vision, TASO, FOCUS (Fellowship of Christian unions), life ministry among others. Here you could generally fit in their programs of missions, and seminars. You could even connect with these circles before retiring, so that you create a good landing ground when your job is over. Other possible involvements include starting a nursing home (especially by the women), consultancy, lecturing/teaching, evangelism, church planting, book writing, and counselling.

14. Don't live outside the pulse of society. The society around you is on the watch to see whether you are one of them, and are interested in the things they do. Be more pro active in the programs around you, say charity, marriage, sports, caring for the sick/needy, etcetera.

15. Health care: Many employees are dependent on organizations for health cover, and are often scared of how they'll deal with health when they are retired.

Antidote:

1. Make use of the Insurance scheme entered while still working

2. An investment scheme targeted for health

3. Go for regular check-ups to ensure your health status mitigates any negative developments.

4. Do regular exercises and eat right.

5. Above all, prayer and trusting in the Lord is vital for good health.

Oundo wishes that employers would put in place a retirement schemes in their organizations, to help retirees and the future generation be less preoccupied with RETIRING, but rather RE-TYRING for a new life. In the same vein, he also urges employers of gospel ministers to take into account the principles embedded in Numbers 35:1.

Like the Hebrews 11 writer wrote, time would perhaps fail to accomplish Oundo, a happy landlord, farmer, author, consultant, speaker, among others.

And in 2014 he said; "As I retire from the DCU team chairmanship, I put on new Tyres for God's new assignments. I only have hints of what I'm going to do, but borrowing a leaf from my father in the Faith- apostle Dr. Joe Kayo, I will simply stand in a corner at the master's building site, and wait for instructions of deployment. It is premature to tell you what instructions he is going to give me, but when he tells me to take a spade, hammer or wheelbarrow to him, I'll do just that"