Denis Kigongo
NEW YEAR RANG IN MY NEW LIFE
FOR many people, New Year resolutions mean going on a diet or joining the gym.
But for Denis Kigongo Victor, it meant nothing short of gaining a completely new life.
While family and friends were partying as the bells chimed midnight, Denis fell to his knees and cried out to God.
Denis, 37, who now lives inTaunton,Somerset, remembers the moment he gave his old life to God and got a new one in return.
At the time, he was a young man living in a small village inEastern Uganda.
“I was 19, but even at that age I knew I was wasting my life,” he said.
“I was always getting into trouble, usually after drinking too much and just messing around. I didn’t have any ambitions and never gave much thought to my future.”
As the fireworks crackled outside his bedroom window, Denis rose to his feet with a sense of joy and peace that he had never known before.
Growing up poor as one of 11 children in ruralUganda, life was hard for Denis.
At school, he got involved with a bad crowd and soon he
HELPING OTHERS… Denis Kigongo and the clinic he set up in his home country,Uganda was spending his days drinking and roaming the streets with his gang.
It was then that Denis met a woman missionary called Pat. Unlike the religious people he was familiar with, Denis felt able to relate to Pat.
She encouraged the teenager to go to church and much to his surprise he enjoyed 4&ft-service.
“I started to love praying and reading the Bible. It was as if God was guiding me and giving me direction.”
When he saw an advert in a magazine for a Christian youth course inEngland, Denis decided to apply. He felt it was nothing short of a miracle when a letter arrived a few weeks later inviting him to come to the UK.
Now based inBritain, Denis has returned toUgandato open a clinic where villagers can receive basic healthcare that they can’t afford to pay for.
And last year he led a voluntary group of 12 dentists fromPlymouth who provided free treatment.
Whether working with local youth inTauntonor helping out at the clinic inAfrica, Denis says he owes everything to that New Year’s Eve when he called out to God.
“I run African drum classes where I teach young people about rhythm and beat. I tell them how the whole universe is pulsating to a natural rhythm that was set going by God.
“It needs a Creator, the same Creator who heard me over the noise and partying one New Year’s Eve and changed my life forever.”
For more info on the clinic in Ugandaor to make a donation, go to www.suubiclinic.co.uk
