Meet Acan Santa, a Women's Refuge Center graduate

Discovering that God is our eternal father can transform our entire outlook on life, like it did for Acan Santa. We are sustained by a loving God who guides us, supports us, and comforts us during our struggles. His Word gives us hope and a purpose even in the face of life's most difficult challenges. As we navigate through trials, we have nothing to fear for we are not alone. He will neither leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). 

Santa, 41, is Acholi by tribe and grew up in Gulu, Uganda, as one of 13 children. Her mother had six girls and seven boys. All seven boys have passed away and both of her parents also passed away when she was young. When Santa was a child, Joseph Kony was on a mission to overthrow the Ugandan government. Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army terrorized the people of northern Uganda, abducting children, murdering the innocent, and ransacking villages. At the age of 10, Santa and two of her brothers were abducted by the rebel army. 

The soldiers released Santa after a short time because she was so young, but they didn’t release her brothers. She made her way home through the African bush and found out later that both of her brothers were murdered by the rebels.

Santa found her first brother near the Gulu community lying beside the road with his hands tied. Someone who witnessed the second brother’s death told the family he was killed in another district in eastern Uganda. They couldn’t bring his body home, and Santa doesn’t know where his grave is. 

After Kony and his rebel army left Uganda, Santa felt a sense of freedom and relief. She and her surviving family were now able to stay at their home instead of the Internally Displaced Persons camp.

Santa attended a Baptist church in her community for the first time when she was a teenager. There, she heard songs of praise and preaching of the gospel. She heard the good news that she could be born again and have eternal life in Heaven through faith in Jesus Christ who died for her sins. She left the service filled with questions. She prayed for understanding and for God to save her. That day she asked for forgiveness and gave her life to Jesus. Now, she shares her love for Christ with her children, encouraging them to follow Him.

Santa had one child with her first husband. After he passed away, she eventually remarried and had four more children, but her second husband committed adultery and abandoned her and her five children. Santa and her children lived with her uncle for a time, but it was still a challenge to pay for her children’s school fees.

“When Agnes found me, I was struggling with my kids as a single mother. Agnes was encouraging to me,” Santa said through a translator. Akuma Agnes is another graduate of the Women’s Refuge Center (WRC) who is now a leader in the ministry.

In 2022, the ministry heard about Santa’s situation, went to her home to share the gospel with her, and offered her support through the WRC. The WRC was created in 2013 after the ministry heard stories of women who were living in horrible conditions with their children in the communities surrounding Abaana’s Hope. Through God’s providence, the ministry was able to acquire a little over 12 acres of land near Abaana’s Hope and the WRC was born. Since that time, seven traditional homes have been built, along with a piggery and garden space to accommodate up to five families at a time.

The WRC is a three-year program designed to disciple these women and their children, to instill foundational biblical truth, and provide counseling for the families living there through Living Stones Community Church. The program’s sole purpose is to teach them to rely and depend upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and the provisions and sustainment of life. Each woman is given vocational training in animal husbandry and taught responsible money-management skills that will help them throughout their future. The ministry hopes to empower these women to be able to purchase their own land, build a safe and secure home for their families, and use the skills and wisdom they have acquired to provide for their futures.  

“When I heard that I would come here, I kneeled down and prayed to God that if this is His will, then I’m ready,” she said.

Santa felt peace with her decision and accepted the opportunity to join the WRC. Over the course of the three-year program, she grew in the Word of God, had a home to live in, and earned money to save up for her own land.

“I will never forget what the Lord has done for me. What I am going through, I cannot carry it alone. I thank God for what He has done for my life, giving me a new home where I will live with my children. God is so gracious He allowed me, up to today, to take care of my children,” Santa said. “I’m thankful for all who are supporting me through this ministry from the United States because I know God convicted them to help. I don’t know everyone who is there supporting me, but I know that one day God will allow us to meet and see each other.”

Santa, along with the Four Corners family, celebrated the dedication of her new home in February. This May we will be rejoicing again as she officially graduates from the WRC. She will continue working with the ministry and plans to share what God has done in her life with other women in the WRC and the community. She hopes to encourage them through sharing the gospel like she has been encouraged.

“When someone is having a hard time, I will be able to share the Word of God so they will get to know Him,” she said. “I thank God that I now know He is my father and that all of my children know that God is their father.”