Diogo Jota: You'll Never Walk Alone.

Diogo Jota… how many of us ever imagined that he would leave us just like that? It feels like a cruel joke, a story someone made up, but it's the painful reality. He’s gone. Just like that. And the weight of that truth is heavy on our hearts.

There are moments in life that knock the air out of us, moments that make us question everything, even our faith. This is one of those moments. Moments like this make us hate the fragility of life, the suddenness with which it can all change. We are left in disbelief, struggling to accept that someone so full of life, love, and promise is no longer with us.

If only we knew when our time would come, maybe then we would live differently. We would prepare. We would say goodbye. We would hold on tighter to the people we love. But we don’t know, and perhaps that’s what hurts the most. One minute he was here, smiling, loving, living... and now, he’s gone.

As I sit here in Uganda, thousands of miles away, I find my heart breaking in silence. I think of his wife, his beautiful, newly wedded bride. How does she carry this weight? If those of us who barely knew him or saw him from afar are shattered, how much more is she hurting? What about the children who will grow up without their father's voice? What about his parents, who once held him as a baby, watched him grow, and are now forced to bury him?

To his wife, to the one he loved with all his heart, I want you to know: you are not alone. Your pain is shared. Your tears fall into a river of collective sorrow. Your children are our children now. Your loss is our loss. And your strength, when it returns, will be a light to all of us.

Yes, life is unfair. And sometimes, it is impossible to understand why these things happen, why the good are taken too soon, why joy is cut short. But even in this darkness, I urge you to hold on to one truth: love does not die. It changes form, but it never disappears. Diogo loved you. He loved his family. That love remains.

Tell your children, when they ask where their papa is, tell them he has gone ahead to prepare a new home, a home where pain and sorrow do not exist, where you will all be together again one day. A place where laughter is eternal and tears are no more.

And until that day comes, we promise you this: you will never walk alone. In your darkest nights, we will be there. In your silence, we will pray. In your grief, we will grieve with you. And when joy returns, even if slowly, we will dance beside you. Asia, Africa, Europe, North And South America, we’re all standing with you.

Diogo may be gone from this world, but he lives on, in every memory, every lesson he taught, every heart he touched. He has not died; he has merely gone ahead.

May God, hold you close in His embrace, may He mend the shattered pieces of your heart, and may you find strength in knowing that this earth is not our home, Heaven is. And in Heaven, there are no goodbyes.

Rest in peace, Diogo Jota. You were loved. You are loved. And you will never be forgotten. YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.