In November of 2004, Baptists for Life received the following email:
My name is Veronica Nakyewe, founder of the The Comforter's Center -- a crisis pregnancy center in Kampala, Uganda. The Comforter's Centre believes that God is the Author of life, that all human life is valuable - born and preborn - and that abortion is never the answer to an unplanned, "crisis" pregnancy. We are dedicated to giving compassionate, practical assistance to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies, providing accurate information about the realties and possible consequences of abortion, and offering help, hope and healing through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to women already struggling with the trauma of abortion.
Abortion is illegal in Uganda but it is widely practiced. Thirty percent of our population lives below the poverty line. Pregnancy cases among school-going girls are increasing at an alarming rate. Both girls and women are dying each day because of the methods employed to terminate life, e.g. drinking poisonous and strong African herbs, etc.
I am very grateful for what God has done in my life. He started preparing me for the ministry some five or six years ago. I survived abortion, when I was still in my mother's womb. Because of the herbs my mother used, it damaged my right leg, but also God did the healing, and now I have resolved to speak for life of the unborn brothers and sisters, whatever it costs. Those who sow in tears the message of hope to the women in a pregnancy crisis will reap with songs of joy. The one who goes out weeping carrying the love approach seed to sow will return with songs of joy carrying the babies on their shoulders.
Right now the Comforter's Centre is reaching many men and women who continue to struggle with negative feelings about the past abortions, those who are in crisis pregnancies, also taking abstinence education program to schools, college, [and] churches. Ever since I came up with the vision, I have not received any training/support in regards to crisis pregnancy ministry, and am struggling to build up / to grow as a center.
The Comforter's Centre is experiencing a lot of difficulties to come up from the ground and operate in a sustainable way. Please see where you can support us in any way you feel led by the Holy Spirit. We are moving and continue trusting the Lord for a breakthrough.
Searching the Internet, Veronica had come across the web site of our associated pregnancy care center in Crystal, Minnesota - Metro Women's Center. Director Colleen Tronson forwarded Veronica's inquiry to us, thinking we'd be better be able to help.
In the habit of receiving many such inquiries, we sent a typical reply, attaching our policy for association and assuming we'd never hear again from this person in a far off country. Veronica was and is by no means typical, however. She is one of the most amazing women on the planet. As a disabled woman in a Third World country, she'd have had little hope for education or marriage and would ordinarily be shunted to the edges of society. That didn't stop her from becoming a pro-life leader.
The Comforter's Center is the first of its kind in Uganda, indeed in the entire region of Africa. Knowing how difficult it is to open a center in the United States, imagine doing that in a Third World country, without training or support, without resources or a nearby model to follow, with limited transportation, electricity, and communication, and with few Christians who share an understanding of the sanctity of human life as a key biblical principle. How did Veronica become the one who would perform this great feat?
A rough start in life
Veronica was born December 16, 1976. Her mother was the third of five wives, married to an important man who was forced to flee Uganda in order to evade Idi Amin's terror. Veronica was not his child. In his absence, her mother had taken a lover and become pregnant with Veronica. In order to destroy evidence of that union, Veronica's mother had gone to the local witchdoctor for an herbal potion that would cause an abortion. She drank "litres and litres of herbs." It didn't work. 
Veronica was born as her mother attempted to board the bus for the hospital, which was three hours from her village. Because of the herbs, one of Veronica's legs was severely misshapen. She would learn to walk, but not without a cane and much difficulty. Everything else about her is perfect, especially her warm smile.
But Veronica didn't find much to smile about early in life. She spent the first six years of her life hearing herself called "bastard." Everyone knew she didn't belong to her father. She was isolated from her half-siblings and grew lonely. She began to worry about what would happen when her mother's husband came home. To soothe her sadness and fears, she would sing herself to sleep at night.
Plans were made for Veronica to live with her biological father, but when her mother's husband returned, he decided to adopt Veronica. He hoped to sever any remaining ties between his wife and her lover. He also determined that "his" daughter would receive an education. She thus received a rare gift for a disabled girl in Uganda, attending school until he died. She was on the verge of starting high school, but her hopes for continued education were dashed.
Then, a few years later, a group of Norwegian Christians announced they were opening a school for the disabled in Kampala. They would accept two students - a boy and a girl - from each district in the country. Veronica applied, without much hope of success. There were so many applicants - two hundred for every spot. How would they choose her from among so many?
But they did, and so at age 17 she moved to the capitol city and fell in with these Christians. As a young woman steeped in idolatrous culture, she steeled herself against the message of Christ. Never before having heard the Gospel message, she felt Christianity was only for the white people, that they were telling her something that did not apply to her. When they told her they were praying for her, she laughed. But she liked their singing. She found herself singing their songs before bedtime.
New life
Then one Sunday, as she walked past their church, she heard a song she really liked. Stopping to listen, she decided to slip into the back of the church to hear more. She planned to leave before the sermon began, but everyone turned to look at her when she entered. So much for making a inconspicuous escape later! She was stuck in her seat when the sermon started soon after.
As the pastor began to preach, she felt certain he was talking right to her. It was as though people from her school had told him all about her, and she felt a little annoyed. But when the invitation to receive Jesus as Savior was given, she found herself at the front of the church, being prayed over by the pastor. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there, but had been drawn by the message of salvation and her compelling need to receive this gift.
That day was the beginning of Veronica's new life. She now immersed herself in the Bible and the life of the church. When her schooling was completed and her mother beckoned her to return to the village, she refused. She knew that going home would mean returning to idolatrous influences because witchcraft permeates every aspect of life in the village. Even though she was not yet 20 years old and still under her mother's authority in the eyes of Ugandan society, she followed her pastor's advice and continued to live in Kampala with an older, married sister.
Tragedy struck, however, when her sister died from an abortion attempt. She had already aborted one baby successfully using herbs, but this time they didn't work. Still pregnant, she resorted to a method involving the insertion of thorns in her uterus. Infection and profuse bleeding led to death. Around this time, a Christian friend of Veronica's also died from abortion complications. Veronica mourned her losses deeply.
For a number of years, Veronica had worked with relief agencies stationed in Kampala. Her work focused on helping the many street children in the capital city, children whose parents had died of AIDS. It was an arduous life, but her prospects were as good as they could be for a disabled, single woman in Uganda. With her sister gone, however, life became harder because she now had to fend for herself and care for her sister's two surviving children.
Having heard of a Christian program for street children in Zambia, she made plans to visit. The agency she worked with didn't have the money to send her but Veronica was undeterred. She set about saving her own funds. When the time came for the trip, she didn't have enough for a plane ticket. She'd have to travel by bus through Kenya to Tanzania. From there she'd take a three-day train ride to the capital of Zambia, and then ride another bus to the town where the pastor lived who ran the program. Along the way, Veronica wondered, "What am I doing?" and would have turned around if she could. More than just frustrated by the hardships of this journey, she also wondered about the meaning of her life. What was its purpose? Why had God allowed her to be so ostracized as a child and crippled for life, seemingly unfit for anything useful in Ugandan society?
Turning point
When she finally arrived at the pastor's house, he was away. His wife explained he was at the crisis pregnancy center. What was that, Veronica wanted to know? She had never heard of such a thing. When it was described to her, she was overwhelmed with emotion. She couldn't help thinking of her sister and friend, how if there had been a crisis pregnancy center in Kampala, they may not have died. And she thought about how her mother had tried to ensure Veronica "would not see the sun."
Suddenly, all the pieces of her life fit together. She knew what she was supposed to do, why she'd felt so compelled to come to Zambia, and why she'd suffered all these difficult experiences in life. She could see how they built into her life the unique qualities that would equip her for the task of starting her own crisis pregnancy center in Kampala. The desire to start such a ministry for women in her own country was "cemented deep within me."
The need for such a center in Uganda was great. As her letter stated, abortion is illegal but widely practiced. Women there abort in order to conceal illicit relationships, or to prevent the baby's father from gaining control over their lives. Poverty is also a factor. Children are a father's legacy, but aren't always provided sufficient support. When Veronica visited the U.S. in 2007, she was amazed to learn so many American women resort to abortion even though many social services are available to them.
The Comforter's Centre
Veronica reports, "It was not easy for me to start a center." She began by searching the World Wide Web. At the time, there was only one Internet café in Kampala, and it was expensive. With limited time online, she began researching international pro-life organizations. She found a few, but their help only went so far. Finally, she decided she just had to begin, and so she approached a doctor friend of her brother's for help. He was known to perform abortions. Would he allow her to have space in his clinic for an office where she could counsel women? She didn't mention she would be counseling women away from abortion. He agreed.
It was after she had begun The Comforter's Centre that she found Baptists for Life. The amount of help we could give was also limited, but she felt encouraged by our responses. We advised her on board matters and other issues. We regularly sent her information and resources that are helpful to pregnancy care center directors. Captivated by her story and her spirit, we began thinking of other ways to help.
We also referred her to LIFE International, an organization specializing in starting centers overseas and connecting them with supporters in the U.S. She had emailed them early in her quest and they had said they'd pray about helping her. Checking back to their web site after our referral, she was delighted to learn they were indeed praying for her. They, in turn, were delighted to learn she had forged ahead in starting a center with what little she had.
One thing we thought BFL could do is share her plight with other PCC directors. At our 2005 Leadership Summit, we asked our guests to clean out their back rooms and bring us whatever brochures, books, and videos they were no longer using. Several centers contributed and we collected five boxes full of materials for The Comforter's Centre. Other centers gave money toward the purchase of a television and DVD player.
Getting the materials to Veronica was another matter. Shipping costs to Uganda are exorbitant. What could we do? We put out a plea for help and a couple going to the mission field stepped in to help. ABWE missionaries Russ and Mary Huff were moving to Nairobi, Kenya, and the boxes could fit inside their shipping container. Veronica would have to travel to Nairobi in order to take them back to Kampala. This she willingly did.
In September 2006, LIFE International conducted a training seminar for volunteers and board members of The Comforter's Centre. Pastor Omar Garcia, from Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas, went along. Kingsland Baptist committed to partner with The Comforter's Centre for five years, supporting it financially while they get up and running. While in Kampala, Pastor Omar taught area pastors what the Bible says about the sanctity of human life. He also participated in a milestone in Veronica's life. Ever since becoming a Christian, she'd hoped to be baptized in the Jordan River, but it looked as though that would never happen. So she was baptized in the Nile by an American pastor, a very special moment in her life.
Today, the Comforter's Centre serves about 20 women per week, offering Christian counsel concerning pregnancy. They reveal the truth about abortion and minister God's grace to those who've had abortions. The center is also invited to teach abstinence in local public schools and universities, and is free to use God's Word in their presentations. The Ugandans seem eager to learn the biblical basis for sexual purity and the sanctity of human life and want to read about it in their own language. Although English is taught in the schools, Veronica has requested help purchasing Bibles in Lugandan.
The Lord has granted much fruit to this ministry. During a seven-month period after receiving training from LIFE International, the Comforter's Centre helped 158 abortion-minded women choose life for their babies; 496 confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior! To learn more, click here.
Veronica's story is by no means finished. We're grateful that her road in life brought her to a place where she can joyfully serve God, and feel privileged to serve alongside her from many miles away. We pray this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful ministry for Veronica.
Epilogue
For several years, Veronica lived in dread that her mother would die without knowing the Savior. Being the first in her family to come to know Him, she fervently prayed her mother would hear the Good News and be converted. One day a Christian couple went to her mother's village to preach, and her mother accepted Christ. This has filled Veronica with great joy.