Field Story · Uganda
From the Guardhouse to the Jailhouse
Some stories begin at an ending — a job lost, a man dismissed, a family left without. Brian’s story begins there. What happened next is the kind of thing that reminds you why this mission exists.
A man abandoned
Brian had been working faithfully as a security guard for a local church in Uganda. For seven months they promised him his wages would be saved toward a motorcycle. That promise would change his life. When the day came, the church said they had no money. Brian kept working for three more months, still unpaid, with a wife and young child at home, and another child on the way.
When they finally told him to go, it was MV missionary Lenora Gauthier’s Bible school that stepped in. They hired him as a security guard, and Brian — who had just begun attending meetings and learning the Word — was grateful for the fresh start.
One month in, everything unraveled. Brian’s wife needed an emergency C-section and was placed on oxygen in the hospital. The bill was $70. He went back to the local church and begged for the wages they still owed him — $435 after all those months, but they only gave him $13.
That night, desperate and out of options, Brian left his post at the Bible school and went to a coffee plantation in the dark. He stole coffee from the trees. He was caught. He was severely beaten. He was taken to jail. He called the church again for help, but the pastor wouldn’t even come to the phone. Church members gossiped about him.
But not the Bible school.
A cell, a prayer, and a confession
The jail conditions in Uganda are difficult to describe. One small, dark cell. No light. No toilet. No food. When the Bible school staff learned where Brian was, they prayed, and then they went.
Lenora said Brian lied to them at first, but they knew he was lying, so they prayed anyway, and left. That night, one male Bible school student returned with food. Sitting in the dark with food in his hands, Brian told the truth for the first time.
The next day, two Bible students came back — not with accusations, but with the gospel. They sat with Brian and talked about Jesus. He prayed and gave his life to Christ.
But the story doesn’t end with one man’s prayer. The neighboring cell held five prisoners, and as the students shared the gospel, those men pressed against the door to hear. Officers came. People passing by stopped. A Muslim man paused and listened.
By the end of that visit, five people had prayed and given their lives to Jesus, including the Muslim man.
“It was amazing to witness what the Holy Spirit did that day.”
— Lenora Gauthier, Salted with Fire Ministries
The Bible school paid Brian’s medical bills from the injuries he received when he was arrested. They brought food to his family. Today, Brian and his wife are believers. His wife and children are doing well. And the Bible school is working with the officer in charge to establish a monthly ministry with the prisoners.
The love and grace of Christ was poured out on Brian, refreshing more than his life but the lives of many connected to the jail.
Ten years in the field
Brian’s story is one thread in a much larger tapestry that Lenora Gauthier has been weaving in Uganda for a decade. Her ministry, Salted with Fire, has a clear and uncompromising calling: teach the Word of God accurately — to anyone who wants to learn, anywhere they are needed.
For the last nine of those ten years, Lenora and her team have been mobile, taking Bible school to the learners. Twelve villages. Thousands of students. Remote places that most would never reach. That chapter isn’t ending, but something new is being built.
On one acre of land in the village of Lweteega, Mukono district, a permanent training center is taking shape. The vision is immersive: students come, learn deeply, and go back to their villages to make disciples. The land is paid for. Bathrooms are built. A temporary fence is up.
The lecture hall, which will seat up to 500 students and house ministry offices, is 85% complete. The student dormitories are 60% done. What remains is a matter of provision, not permission.
Phase I — Remaining needs
Lweteega Bible School, Mukono District, Uganda
- Student Dorms — $4,899 (60% complete)
- Lecture Hall — $9,749 (85% complete)
- Water Tanks — $1,093
- Well — $3,647
After ten years of faithful, mobile ministry across Uganda, the fruit is visible in every direction.
- 12 villages taught
- 1,500 Bible students
- 600 new believers
- 500 water baptized
- 5 churches built
Behind each of those numbers is a name. A story. A person who heard the Word of God in a village, or a jail cell, and found that it was true.
From anywhere to everywhere, for the Glory of God.
Lenora’s ministry is supported through Missionary Ventures. If you’d like to stand behind her work in Uganda — from the building in Lweteega to the villages still waiting to hear — you can give directly to her ministry below.