DANIEL DRILEBA DRATIBI my name. Born in a Christian family, raised in the church by my parents Rev. Gard and Ruth Obale. Trained as a high school teacher and after teaching for 7 years the Lord called me to full time ministry as a Pastor at Masaka Pentecostal Church Uganda, East Africa on 2 January 2015. Happily married to Eva Amongin Drileba with 3 children so far.
My Dad was bitterly rejected for choosing to become a Christian in 1975 before he got married. Our grand father was a village activist for polygamy. Having been born in a family of 13 wives, my grandfather badly wanted all his children to have more 3 wives at least. While growing up I heard him telling us that when you bring the first wife, don’t take more than 6 months before bringing the second. As the 2 wives are starting to get along, get the third one so that they don’t get used to each other and agree to betray you. When my Dad refused to listen to his advice, he was excommunicated by the family. He then asked the entire village to have nothing to do with my dad and his family incase of anything. He only had a small space to put a house but chose to remain in the village and decided to serve God. Without any property in the village, he chose to start the first church in our community and he then married in 1980 and indeed he participated alone in the entire marriage process without the involvement of the family.
As I came into the picture, since my Dad’s entire family was rejected, I was a victim of circumstance. Though our grand father had 13 wives and some of my uncles and aunts were wealthy by village standards, they didn’t support our education, accommodation, welfare etc. In a way, God saw me through school amidst bitter rejection in our village government schools both primary and secondary. I was repeatedly reminded how we were cursed by our grandfather and as result we would never succeed in life. My dad kept reminding us with the promises of God in the Bible. After completing my course as a high school teacher in 2007, even though I felt I was ready to relate with girls and think of getting married, the rejection continued. Had 8 heartbreaks of broken relationships before finally getting married in 2017 and the indeed just like my Dad, I had the entire marriage process without the involvement of my paternal relatives.
I received bitter rejection from the family of my wife, because I couldn’t afford to pay all the dowry of ten cows, ten goats and four million Ugandan shillings at once. They viewed me as a poor teacher who could not be in a position to take care of their daughter. Thankfully she loved me and believed in me. After 3 years of a standoff, they finally allowed us to get married seeing that we were really in an unconditional love. I was rejected at school where I was teaching after being promoted to the director of studies and later the deputy headteacher. My fellow teachers believed that I was not fit to lead, given that there were some older teachers who had been in the school longer. But I had to do my work till I was called to the full time ministry in 2015.
I discovered my ability to become an author in 2017 after evaluating myself and having gone through a coaching session with a company called Imagine me Africa, which challenged me to discover who I was and what I had been created for. I will forever be grateful for that opportunity which helped me discover my gifts, talents and strengths of which being an author stood out. I decided to write in order to inspire, motivate, empower individuals for holistic transformation of generations through my personal story and testimony. Having gone through rejection from home, school, place of work and relationships, this did not stop me from accomplishing my purpose and dream and my ideal satisfied life. I chose to minister healing, restoration and holistic transformation to people who could be going through or have gone through the same using my books. For example, despite having gone through eight broken relationships, I got and I am still married with three children so far.
In the Bible, just as Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth in his letter to the them in the book of 2 Corinthians 1:2-11. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort in Suffering. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. Delivered from Suffering. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. Pauls Sincerity. NKJV
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. NKJV
I believe the challenges I went through as a child till adulthood was to benefit the kingdom of God. As an African child, I have been through a lot of pain, heartbreaks and depression and has seen many fellow humans go through the same. Abandonment, insults and abuse, false accusations, starvation, corporal punishment and harassment, isolation from others, negative attitude towards you, never been appreciated but rather blamed, being despised etc, are forms of rejections for various reasons. I have discovered that rejection is one of the major factors leading to youths and adults not realizing their dreams. Due to the compounded effect of rejection, so many people get themselves self- imprisoned. A prison is a facility in which inmates are forcibly confined and denied freedom under the authority of the state. Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime committed under which convicted people are to remain in prison either for the rest of their natural lives or until pardoned, paroled or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. In this case a prison can be classified as; Physical prison, Financial prison, Social prison, Emotional prison, Mental prison, Spiritual prison.
The pain of this imprisonment results in low self-esteem, passion, dreams and vision. Creating a state of confusion, regret, bitterness, anger and jealousy. Promoting domestic violence, poor health, separation and divorce, depression, suicide and murder. Creating dysfunctional societies with high crime rates. When I now look back at the rejection i went through and the impact it has had on my life and how I overcame, I have no doubt that there is hope for everyone and help is available to overcome its negative impact.
My books offer practical solutions to rejection, heartbreak and depression in homes, school, place of work, relationships, marriage etc., and teaches you how to; make the shift from simply surviving to thriving, and release blocks that may have been holding you back from breakthrough to greatness. It also helps the reader discover his true genius gifts to fulfill their purpose and calling, attract a romantic partner who is a true equal or transforms your present relationship, become authentically confident, be supported, loved, and valued by all the people close to you. When I decided to publish my books, I tried many publishing companies in Uganda but they didn’t see the potential in my book and also charged me money that I could not afford. I then decided to have an online class with Chandler Bolt and Rob Kosberg on Facebook for self-publishing! It worked! I then followed the entire process and self- published my books.
I faced some challenges especially financially to have the entire process done. Many people didn’t believe in my dream of becoming an author as a result they were not ready to invest or lend me money to accomplish my dream. I am glad I didn’t listen to their negative and discouraging voices. Apart from writing, I love teaching, coaching, counseling, music dance and drama, networking, speaking, helping others and having quality time with my family.
The most surprising things I learned in writing my book is commitment and determination. I didn’t know that I was very committed and determined until My wife made that comment one day that if I could do every other thing like the way I do the books, I would be very far with life! I had sleepless nights in that the classes were running in the morning and afternoon in the United States of America that is late in the night here in Uganda. I had to do the assignments in time. Thankfully it was during our total lockdown in Uganda.
My suggestions to other authors in Africa is that Its possible to cause impact and transform lives through our experiences in books. Lets embrace the art of writing and preferably self-publishing. Africa has the best natural talent and resources from the diverse cultures. Lets embrace it, nurture it and develop it. Together we can.
