Mr. & Mrs. William & Esther Serunjogi Testimony on their Golden Jubilee Anniversary – 30th May 2020
William married Esther on 30th May 1970 at Namirembe Cathedral. The two have walked together for now 50 years, in which time the Lord has blessed them with many children. The walk-in marriage was not necessarily a smooth one but through love, forgiveness, and perseverance, they have made it to this day and so are eternally grateful to God.
Their marriage like any other was not devoid of hardships and troubles, but they had made up their minds right from the start to stick by each other. Some of the thoughts that they may leave with other married people who want to emulate their example include the following;
1.Be part of a strong congregation together and be involved in that congregation. In their earlier lives, they lived in Entebbe and went to Namatte Church of Uganda, they then moved to Kibuye from where they left and came to Kyebando in 1980. They join St Paul’s church Kyebando where they have been to this day.
2.They testify that each of them found friends in that church that they have walked with all these years. They have also had families with whom they have raised their children.They give thanks to the families of Kitakas;. Musokes; Lwangas; Kaboggozas; and Nsubugas. These are some of the historicals of Kyebando whose children grew with theirs and their children have such profound stories of their growth at Kyebando village.
3. Another advice is to have respect for one another and the willingness to help out each other as a couple. They recall with profound memories their days in the Hospitality industry where William worked as Front Office Manager in the then Apollo International hotel (now Sheraton); Nile Hotel (now Serena). He was a trainer with International Labour Organisation-ILO in the 1990s.
Esther recalls her time at Imperial Hotel and Fairway hotel where she worked as a Head housekeeper. They were both very hard-working people and this came in handy and enabled each of them to play major roles like the paying fees of their more than ten children they looked after.
4.The ability to forget and let go also helped them come this far. Because in marriage people hurt each other, the need to forgive and forget is important. This of course is no easy fete but the Grace of God has enabled them.
5.On raising of children, Maama Serunjogi was the more disciplinarian who left nothing to chance as far as raising children in the most disciplined way. There was no moment she did drop the cane which in a way helped the children raise as hardworking, respectful and yet loving. The now grown-up kids thank the parents so much for this.
6. Teaching the family to pray was also an important issue that they made sure happened in their marriage on a daily basis. They made sure that all children went to Sunday school and that they involved themselves in church affairs. This greatly paid off as all the children are deeply involved in their home churches where they have set up their own families.
7. Knowing the Lord more has helped the Serunjogis a lot in their most recent years starting in the 2000s. Their accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior has been of much help to the two love birds in these more of later years. They are still steadfast in serving their local church and for that, they bless the Lord.
Finally, the issue of being a welcoming family to many. In their humble home at Kyebando, Mr. & Mrs. Serunjogi have had all caliber of people go through their home be it distant relatives, friends, and in-laws. This they have kept on doing to this day.
The blessings of God that have come with this are immensely a lot.