From surviving persecution and assassination attempts to becoming a living testimony that a pastor’s marriage can still endure in an age of scandal
For more than five decades, Bishop Dr. Zachariah Sserwadda has lived a life in which faith, courage, family and service have been inseparably intertwined, and his story is therefore much more than the story of a preacher who has stood behind a pulpit for many years.
It is the story of a man whose ministry was forged in some of Uganda’s darkest and most dangerous political seasons, including the brutal reign of President Idi Amin when thousands of Ugandans were killed, disappeared or forced into exile, and yet he refused to abandon his calling even when his commitment to the Gospel placed his own life in direct danger.
On Saturday 29th August 2026, Bishop Sserwadda and his wife, Mama Robinah Sserwadda, will mark a remarkable 50 years of marriage, alongside more than five decades of his ministry, and their Golden Jubilee is therefore not simply a celebration of a wedding anniversary but a celebration of perseverance, faithfulness and a lifetime of service that has touched thousands.
Bishop Sserwadda’s journey in ministry began during the 1970s, which remain among the most painful years in Uganda’s modern history, when religious leaders and ordinary citizens alike lived under constant fear and uncertainty, and according to accounts of his life and testimony, his boldness in preaching placed him in serious danger and he survived several attempts on his life by forces associated with the regime.
These experiences became the foundation of his later message of resilience, a message that a man can be pressed on every side but not crushed, and that theme is now powerfully captured in one of the books being released during his Golden Jubilee celebrations titled “Pressed Down But Not Crushed,” which reflects a life that has passed through adversity, danger and uncertainty while continuing to move forward in faith.
The threats to Bishop Sserwadda’s life were not confined to the political violence of Uganda’s past, because on 17th May 2010 he was reportedly ambushed at Mbiko along the Jinja Highway when gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets from different directions, according to a report by Morning Star News, and yet he survived the attack and rather than retreat from public ministry, he continued his work with even greater resolve.
Based at his Oboja road Church in Jinja City, Bishop Sserwadda has become a prominent figure in Uganda’s Pentecostal and Born-Again Christian community, serving as a leader within Evangel Churches and as overseer of Evangel Churches in East Africa, while also being associated with ministry work extending through Operation Phillip Radio and Operation Phillip Crusades that have taken the Gospel beyond church buildings into communities.
His ministry has also placed considerable emphasis on developing other Christian leaders, and one account of his work notes that he has brought together more than 2,000 pastors for ministry training, fellowship and spiritual equipping, illustrating the scale of his influence in raising a new generation of ministers who now serve across Uganda and the East African region.
Although Jinja has remained an important center of his ministry, his influence has extended beyond the city through preaching, church leadership, ministerial training, evangelistic campaigns and Christian fellowship, and his work has attracted international Christian partners and visitors who have collaborated with Evangel Church in areas including marriage ministry and leadership development.
At the heart of Bishop Sserwadda’s story, however, is not only ministry but family, because for 50 years he and Mama Robinah Sserwadda have walked together in marriage through ministry pressures, family responsibilities, difficult seasons and public service, and in an era when many marriages struggle to survive, a 50-year marriage provides its own powerful testimony.
Their Golden Jubilee is therefore significant because it celebrates two intertwined legacies at once, namely the ministry of a preacher who endured persecution and the partnership of a husband and wife who refused to give up on each other, and Mama Robinah has been part of that journey, sharing the responsibilities, challenges and joys that come with a life devoted to Christian service.
The 50th wedding anniversary will also provide an opportunity to preserve the couple’s story for future generations through two books, the first being “50 Years of Love and Grace” which documents the journey of their marriage and family life, and the second being “Pressed Down but Not Crushed” which reflects the extraordinary trials that Bishop Sserwadda has faced during his journey of faith and ministry.
Why A Stable Marriage for A Pastor Matters in This Era Of Scandals.
In this modern era, the importance of a stable pastoral marriage cannot be overstated, because the Church around the world is witnessing an alarming rise in sex scandals, divorces and separations even among prominent men of God whose fall has wounded congregations, disillusioned young believers and given critics reason to mock the Gospel.
When a pastor’s marriage collapses, the damage extends far beyond the couple, because it shakes the confidence of the congregation, it creates confusion for children who looked up to the pastor’s family as a model, it opens the door for lawsuits, property battles and public shame that often follow high-profile divorces, and it weakens the moral authority of the preacher when he calls families to fidelity.
A stable marriage, therefore, is not just a private blessing for the pastor but a public credential of his ministry, because it proves that what he preaches on Sunday about love, forgiveness, patience and commitment is actually being lived on Monday at home, and in an age of social media where every scandal is instantly amplified, a faithful marriage becomes a rare and compelling apologetic for the power of the Gospel to transform character.
For Bishop Sserwadda and Mama Robinah to stand together for 50 years in full-time ministry, through persecution under Amin, through an armed ambush at Mbiko, through seasons of scarcity and seasons of growth, is a counter-cultural testimony that long-term faithfulness is still possible, that divorce is not inevitable, and that a man of God can still finish his race without disqualifying himself through moral failure.
What The Bible Says About Marriage & Pastoral Faithfulness.
The Bible places marriage at the very center of God’s design for human flourishing, beginning from Genesis where God declared that it is not good for man to be alone and created marriage as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman, intended to reflect the faithful covenant love between Christ and His Church.
Jesus Himself affirmed the permanence of marriage when He said in Matthew 19:6 that what God has joined together, let no man separate, and the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:25-33 presents marriage as a profound mystery that mirrors Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church, where the husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and the wife is called to respect and walk alongside her husband.
For those who aspire to church leadership, Scripture sets an even higher standard, because 1 Timothy 3:2-5 explicitly states that an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable and able to manage his own household well, for if a man cannot manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church, and Titus 1:5-6 repeats the same qualification.
The book of Malachi 2:14-16 reminds us that God is a witness to the marriage covenant and that He hates divorce because it does violence to the very garment of faithfulness that He desires His people to wear, while Hebrews 13:4 commands that marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Proverbs also warns that a man who commits adultery lacks judgment and destroys his own soul, and the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 urges believers to flee from sexual immorality because their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, which is a standard that is even more urgent for those who carry the title of pastor, bishop or apostle.
When a pastor therefore honors his marriage for 50 years, he is not merely being a good husband, he is fulfilling a biblical qualification for ministry, he is protecting his congregation from scandal, he is modelling for young couples that love can endure beyond feelings and seasons, and he is preaching without words that God’s grace is sufficient to keep two imperfect people together for a lifetime.
On Saturday, 29th August 2026, family, friends, church leaders, ministers, community leaders and well-wishers will gather in Jinja to celebrate this enduring legacy, beginning with a Thanksgiving Service at Evangel Church in Jinja at 10:00 a.m., followed by a procession through Jinja City and a reception at the Civil Service College, Jinja, at approximately 12:30 p.m., with the Guest of Honour expected to be Uganda’s Prime Minister, Rt Hon Robinah Nabbanja, according to Peter Ogik, a member of the top organizing committee.
The occasion will also provide an opportunity to celebrate and document a remarkable life journey through the launch of the two books, “50 Years of Love and Grace” and “Pressed Down But Not Crushed,” and for a man who has lived through persecution, survived attempts on his life, built a ministry and remained committed to his family and calling, the Golden Jubilee represents much more than an anniversary, because it is a moment to pause and declare that here is a life that endured, here is a marriage that stood, here is a ministry that continued, and here is a legacy that lives on.
