Answering the Call of God as Ugandan Missionary

GROWING UP IN THE JUNGLE

Carole Ward didn’t have a typical upbringing. Her grandfather, an orthopedic surgeon, and her grandmother served as missionaries in China for 30 years. Watchman Nee was a family friend that frequented their home. In the late 1940’s when the communists invaded Shanghai, Carole’s grandparents and their children were taken to a prison camp and later released as exchange prisoners of war. 

In 1960, Carole’s parents went to the fields of the Philippine jungle and served as missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and served for 48 years. Carole’s stomping grounds were playing in those jungles with children of Islamic terrorists. In 1975, the terrorists wanted her father killed and a price was put on his head for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not allowing fear to prevail, her family continued to serve the people of the Philippines. As Carole grew, so did her passion for missions. At the tender age of 12, she was reading books like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and she dreamed of the day she could pour herself out for others the way she watched her family do day in and day out.

Returning to Oklahoma to attend college for nursing, Carole graduated and worked as a nurse while starting a family and also fostering children who needed a loving home. All the while, the call for missions burned within her heart.

In 2002, she had the chance to go to Kampala, Uganda for three weeks where she met many amazing people. Yet, she came home dissatisfied because she knew it would take longer than three weeks to make a difference. Carole’s prayer became, “Lord, send me where no one else wants to go." 

Not long after her return to the States, she received a letter from a missionary she had met briefly in Uganda. He asked if she would run his Bible school, Lake Victoria Christian Center, for a year while his family took a sabbatical. After months of praying, she accepted. “When I landed in Kampala, Uganda, he picked me up at the airport and said, ‘There’s the campus. There are the students. There’s the mission house. There’s the car. Goodbye,'" she shares.

During that time Carole did a lot on campus but she knew if she wanted to serve somewhere longer than a year, Kampala wasn’t the place she was called to stay. The people were already being served and the Word of God was actively being shared. She explains, “Our outreach expanded rapidly across the area and even to the north into the Gulu district. It was here where my heart knew I was supposed to be. As horror stories about wars in the north reached us through many of our students who made it to our mission seeking help, I felt theirs was like the Macedonian cry and I cried with them to the Lord every night to the point my pillow was wet with tears.” 

When her year at Victory Christian Center was up, she returned to the U.S. but knew she would go on to serve in Northern Uganda. Carole called the American Embassy to inquire if American citizens were allowed in northern Uganda. The person said, “That is Joseph Kony’s territory and a place where no one wants to go. Do not go.” Carole asked if it was a suggestion or an order. “It is a strong suggestion and if you insist on going, we will cross you off the list,” he said. When Carole asked what that meant, he replied, “It’s because there is no chance for you to return to this country except in a body bag.” Carole went anyway.  

When she arrived in Gulu, the Ugandan military told her to go away. When she refused, they began calling her the crazy white lady. Learning the heart of the people, their culture, and what was going on in the area was her priority. The house she stayed in was riddled with bullet holes. Just like her parents, Carole refused to let fear overcome her. She hung a sign on the front of her home that read “House of Prayer.” Eventually, people began filling the house and praying for revival and change. Leaning heavily on the Holy Spirit, she also began learning about the war raging around them by asking the locals lots of questions.

From 1986-2009, Joseph Kony and the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) were spreading terror, decapitating, and butchering people. Around two million people were displaced and living in camps. They abducted 30,000-50,000 children, and dedicated them to Satan, making them practice witchcraft, and turning them into child soldiers. He would make the kids murder their parents to desensitize them to death. 

One of the women Carole met was forced to watch several of her children being decapitated. Carole held her as she wept and loved her the best she knew how. She made it her mission to serve them with her life. Whether it was sitting down and holding children covered in feces or helping people who had their lips cut off by soldiers of the LRA, Carole’s love won over the hearts of the people and she earned their trust. 
Witch doctors had supplied the locals with witchcraft as their religion, but Carole began waging spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness. 

As word got out about the crazy white lady, the hurt and homeless began flocking to the “House of Prayer” to find comfort and God began transforming his children’s lives. Pretty soon thousands were coming, and Carole had to find a way to help them. Without any promised provision, except for a few widows who sent money from the U.S., her only source of supply was God. She prayed in the resources and God answered her prayers by providing in miraculous ways. 

The team that Carole had prayed for was forming, as they worked together, setting up prayer chains, establishing Bible schools and discipleship programs, offering trauma counseling, and creating an orphanage. Favor International was formed and thriving but not without great spiritual warfare and sacrifice. As the miracles increased so did the spiritual warfare. 

JOSEPH KONY’S NEPHEW

Unbeknownst to Carole, a young man by the name of Okelo began to get involved with the ministry. As God began dealing with his heart, he confessed that he was Joseph Kony’s nephew who was sent to kill her. He told Carole, “As hard as I tried, my finger was not allowed to pull the trigger to kill you, nor was I able to lay a hand on the House of Prayer team.” Okelo gave his life to Christ and became one of her staunchest supporters. 

FAVOR INTERNATIONAL

Working with the indigenous leaders in Northern Uganda and South Sudan, Favor International brings community development, and prayer and evangelism nationally, primarily to rural villages deep in deserts, jungles, mountains, and grasslands. Their education, discipleship, and economic empowerment ministries work from fixed locations in both their Gulu (northern Uganda) and Juba (south Sudan) headquarters receiving, training, and sending leaders to the furthest reaches of East Africa.

Carole’s team trains over 100,000 people annually with the Portable Bible School program with 70,000 converts each year with discipleship. Within the first five years, Carole and her team disciplined and equipped over 5,000 people for leadership. They distributed 40,000 Bibles in more than twelve languages and their trauma rehabilitation has helped over 36,000 people. 

Now they are in eight nations and going farther north into the 10/40 window. They have over a thousand indigenous missionaries and are seeing 10,000 - 11,000 people come to Jesus monthly with discipleship. They distribute over 100,000 Bibles annually in over 40 languages.

Learn more about Carole Ward's incredible ministry, Favor International.