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On June 21, Michelle Cardwell read a handwritten note given to her by a 19-year-old boy in Uganda. She edited out some of the more graphic portions.

To: The Christian servants of God

From: James

Hello, church. Praise God! This is James, a man of God, who has been wounded and has pains all over his life. I’ve suffered from the bush for three years in the hands of the rebel leader, Joseph Coney, in the northeastern part of Uganda.

After my primary education, I was abducted by Coney and his army, who killed my parents, destroyed the family properties and structures. Eventually, we became homeless. The remaining clan members in a few days were also dead, so I remained in a hopeless life in the bush with no parent or guardian.

We were taken to the bush, and all our minds could no longer focus on anything which is human, but rather a destructive mind. We became friendly to the inhabitants of the forest and the bush. I really encountered a lot of suffering.

I served as a boy where I carried excess guns and bullets and plenty during the way and the heavy weight and also supplied food to the rebels during the way. We would sleep on the open bushings using grasses as our mattresses and blankets.

All mosquitoes and other predators used to take their advantage on us. We usually ate raw food, such as meat, from dead animals and other unmentionables. Under enforcement from the top officers, failure to obey, the end result would be death, to mention a few. It was a miserable and terrible condition of life.

One day, when I tried to escape, I was almost dead because a bullet came from nowhere, but because of God’s love, it touched on the tip of my hair since I had much hair on head. I somehow bled, but it stopped after some few minutes.

We were used to herbal medicines as forms of healing, and witchcraft was the final game for decision making. We always believed in the spirits of the dead. Every dead body would be buried under water, possibly on the banks of the river or on the streams of water, and this would be done by the young soldiers immediately. We used to move long distances while carrying guns and bullets, but whenever someone complained of tiredness, the best answer was to shoot you, and eventually you die, so it was much worse than slavery.

How I got out of the bush:

It was one evening when there was a serious fight between the rebels and the Ugandan people’s defense forces. It was a serious and crucial battle which lasted for more than six hours.

During the fighting, it rained heavily, and many people thought of escaping, but you couldn’t see where to start from. But because of God’s favor, we were told to go and collect water tanks, as it was our custom. So, I took this advantage to run away in the neighborhood forest known as the Chwaba, but again the condition worsened as I developed fear.

I stayed in the forest three days without eating anything like food. The only food of mine was to enjoy the fruits of the forest and drinking stagnant water.

The next day, I saw the government army patrolling the forest. I thought they would kill me, but they questioned me and knew I was ignorant.

I was taken to the IDP camps, internally placed people, where I started catching up with the hardship situations. I remained parentless, hopeless and a miserable person.

So please, church, whoever can feel and serve God can help me from this bad and critical condition. I am ready to welcome the spiritual, economic and social support. You can know more about me by writing to my e-mail address. May the almighty God bless you, church, as you minister to him.

Yours in need,

James