38. Ben

“You’re useless. You have no future. Just go home and stay away from people.”

These were the words that Ben Buyinza heard at the age of fifteen when he lost his hearing. His deafness, caused by meningitis, ostracised him from his friends and his eight siblings, and led him to the belief – warranted by all around him – that his life was all but over. Orphaned (with his siblings) from infancy, Ben had few people he could depend on, no schooling to guide him, and nothing but the taunts of others to comfort him.

So how does a person go from being so destitute to becoming one of the greatest evangelists in Africa? Now there’s a story.

God uses the most unlikely people. 

One day, after Ben had withdrawn from society, a blind man named Charles Ssalongo came to Ben’s house. He was a member of the Ugandan Institute of the Blind and was an advocate for people of any disability. He told Ben’s sister (one of the very few who had been caring for him) that he wanted Ben to go to a vocational school for the disabled. His sister refused. The man insisted. Ben went. His sister spurned him.

At the vocational school, Ben, aged 17, saw other Deaf children for the first time. He was fascinated to see the way they communicated – signing backwards and forwards to each other – and he soon learned to do the same. It was at that school that Ben first met Olivia. Olivia was the administrator of the school and is the current Chair of the DMI Board in Uganda (and is interpreting for us in this interview). Despite the opportunities the new school afforded, Ben faced many challenges but Olivia was always there to help him through them.

God uses the most likely people.

One day, the late Rev Bulime came to the school and preached the gospel to the students. Ben was reluctant to get involved. He had doubts about God on one hand, and was afraid he might be asked to do something on the other, so he sat at the back, slumping behind others, and hid. But it’s hard to hide from God. In 2001, Ben accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, was baptised, and began to serve in the church.

Serving in the church involved washing the clothes of the church members and cleaning the church building. Ben was content with this and continued serving in this way until he finished his studies at the school. For someone who was still living with the echoes of being useless and not having a future, he accepted it as his lot. But it was not his lot. Not by a long shot.

God uses the most gifted people.

One day a prophetess came to the church. She told him that God had called him to serve as a preacher. She said that he was not to look for other work. He was to be a preacher for God and that God would send him to other countries to preach the gospel. Ben was shocked and immediately began to look for other work! Like Jonah, he ran, but it’s hard to run from God and before he knew it, he was enrolled in DMI’s Bible School for the Deaf in Uganda.

At the school, Ben was a surprisingly strong student. Before he even graduated, Rev Bulime sent him on missions to preach in churches and in schools. Hundreds and hundreds gave their lives to Christ through his preaching and were baptised. Rather suddenly, this humble young man who had once been told that he was useless, without a future and should just stay home, was becoming one of the most effective preachers in all of Africa. This is a testament to Ben’s faithfulness, to the wonderful work of the Bible school, and to the irrevocable call of God in a person’s life.

God uses the strangest people. 

One day a rotund white man with a love for the Deaf and a wicked sense of humour visited the church. (That would be more amusing if Neville were still with us, but I’m sure he would enjoy the roast anyway.) In 2012, Neville, in his wisdom, sent Ben to Tanzania as a missionary with his new wife Veronica, also an evangelist, to work alongside Daniel, the pioneer of DMI’s ministry among the Deaf in that country. Ben and Veronica’s work has been nothing short of remarkable. They have founded two churches for the Deaf and five fellowships in schools. Together, those congregations serve hundreds, and over the years thousands of Deaf have heard the gospel with multitudes coming to faith.

Useless? Without a future? Just stay home? 

Not by a long shot.

If you would like to support Ben, or any of our students, teachers or pastors, please click on the donate button below, or mail to info@deafmin.org