By Charlie Barebo
Michael Deebee: Like Simeon when he met the Messiah, I can know die joyfully, knowing my people have been delivered.
Michael Deebee is the head man of the Kuku people in Romogi. His story is worth telling. Michael is the living history book of the Kukus and the Episcopal Church in the Romogi area. He believes he is 82. Michael spoke at a celebratory feast, November 10, 2008, after Archdeacon Stringfellow officially opened the Bishop’s house and Charlie Barebo said a blessing and cut the ribbon to the first dormitory at the college. His words were translated to me by the Rev. Emmanuel Murye.
Here is part of Michaels’s story:
“I remember when the first white men came to Romogi. I was just a small boy. They were very loud and clumsy and we heard them coming through the bush. We hid and watched as three white men came down the road. They were the first white men I had ever seen. I thought they were devils. We turned and ran as fast as we could. Later I came to know the leader, Bwana Carr, the first Anglican priest in the Romogi area. He was a kind, fatherly man and soon convinced us that he was not a devil but a very good friend.
“The white man has brought us much. They brought education, reading and writing. They brought medicine, and were able to begin saving the lives of some children who were very sick from malaria. They brought us better foods and ways to farm. Most important of all they brought was Jesus Christ. My life means nothing without Jesus.
“When the British left, things began to turn bad. (Michael does not know the year that happened.) Schools closed and we no longer had medicine. Then the war began. We lost many people. Many were killed, many ran to Uganda. I never left. My place is here to lead the people.
“Kajo Keji was never a diocese but part of a larger diocese. We were far from the Bishop and didn’t receive much attention. Then in the late part of the 1970s, I think, they made us our own diocese and gave us Bishop Manasseh. It was not safe for the Bishop here. He and most of the people were in Adjumani, Uganda.
“Much later, the 1990s I believe, Bishop Manasseh came to Romogi with Henry Leju. They came to see me and to talk about a college here. It sounded like a dream. We walked around the bush and Manasseh pointed to spots and said a classroom would be here, a dormitory would be there. As we walked through the clearing, an Antonov (a soviet built light bomber used by the Moslem government in Khartoum) circled twice. We ran and hid in the bush.
“Three years ago the peace came. The people from Bethlehem soon came. Their Bishop visited. Then the first classroom at the college was built. Now people from Bethlehem come and see us often. They have built these five buildings that are completed. They will help us build seven more. We have a young, new bishop. He has energy and a new view. Good things are happening fast. The people from Bethlehem have built a Bishop’s house for the faithful in Kajo Keji. Like a dream, our Bishop lives in Kajo Keji for the first time ever! Hallelujah!
“These people from far across the ocean have started a primary school for our young people. Bethlehem will build four more primary schools. Soon there will be a secondary school for them and then they can go to this college. These people are like the Good Samaritans in Jesus’ story. They do not know us, they are not even our neighbors, but they have healed us and have given us life. They have given their money, their food for us. These Samaritans are from Bethlehem. Like Simeon when he beheld the Messiah, I can now die joyfully knowing my people have been delivered.
“I have asked the younger village leaders and landlords to speak first. I did not want to sway them. They have given Bishop Anthony the lease on this land for the school and college forever. It is now the church’s. I am Michael Deebee, head man of the people of Romogi. Praise the Lord.”
I ask you to reflect on Michael’s story. While we are not messiahs, we have played a huge role in delivering these people for generations to come. These are the “least of my family” that Christ refers to in Matthew 25:40. I wish to thank Randall and Connie Fegeley and Rick Cluett for their pioneering work in Kajo Keji. I am thankful for our Bishop and his wife for their courage and unwavering vision. I thank the New Hope executive committee and Dale Bateman for their hard work. I thank my wife and children for sacrificing our family time as we have done the Lord’s work. And most importantly, I thank you, the donors to the New Hope Campaign, for you are the Good Samaritans of Michael Deebee’s story. You have walked the talk and followed Christ as disciples.
We enter a year of earthly uncertainties. Surely the Star of Bethlehem will continue to shine on us as we remain steadfast in our commitment to the poor here and in Kajo Keji by honoring our pledges and raising the last $250,000 needed to build all five primary schools. I ask God’s blessings on you all and remind you that we walk not alone but with Christ on this journey.
Happy New Year and Praise the Lord!
In the background: The New Hope School in Romogi
Archdeacon Howard Stringfellow opens the Bishop's House. This will be the first time since the creation of the Diocese of Kajo Keji that the Bishop has lived in the Diocese.
Dedication of Dormitory #1
CMS engineer Gary Ion inspects the sand before the cement is made, insuring that New Hope buildings are well made.
Romogi School, at the end of the rainbow
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