Kato.

Nalongo. Wasswa. Kato.

In Ugandan culture, when a woman gives birth to twins, instantly identities are changed.

The mother, from that point on, becomes known to all as Nalongo, "mother of twins".

The first twin boy is named Wasswa, and the second is named Kato.

Even the child who is born after the twins has a pre-determined name, Kizza, "the one who came after the twins".

Being born a twin is more than a circumstance. It is who you are. It is your whole identity.

Meet Kato Ibrah. His name may have been determined by the circumstances of his birth, but his true identity goes much deeper. 

Healing Faith has had a relationship with Kato Ibrah for many, many months. Jason wrote about another identity changing moment in Kato's life, when he began living a life led by God and covered in the grace of Jesus. You can read about that here.

Kato, suffering from severe leg wounds for many years, also has identified with his injuries, never imagining a day when he would be without pain. There is no known cause for the wounds. As he tells the story, small wounds simply appeared and without treatment, they grew worse and worse.

When Kato first sought treatment for the wounds covering the lower portion of both of his legs, Jason was able to clean and dress the wounds on a regular basis, and healing was taking place nicely. Then, there would be weeks, or even months, when Kato wouldn't come for treatment, and the wounds would be in bad shape next time we saw him.

That was the case when we ran into Kato last month. Once again, he was in excruciating pain. His left leg had healed completely with only a deep scar remaining. The right leg was not a pretty sight though.  As we attempted to unwrap the dressing, we quickly realized that we were way out of our league. One wound was infected, another stretched all the way around his calf and had gauze embedded in it. I will spare you the actual picture. The mental image is more than enough.

We took him to a clinic, and even they took one look and knew that he would need to be referred to a specialist.

After waiting almost a month for an appointment, Kato is checking in today at a ministry hospital 4 hours from Jinja. There he will undergo a skin grafting procedure that we pray will healing his leg once and for all.

Today, as he prepares, and tomorrow during surgery (9am here, 1am CST), will you join us in prayer for Kato?       

In our time together over the past month, we have come to identify Kato as a great card player, a devoted, praying man, funny-as-can-be, and a great friend.