1 July 2010
We have been in this country for three weeks and one day, and things in this country still surprise me. I guess cultural adaptation takes a while! But, I like Uganda a lot. We have been painting the Vicarage (where the Vicar lives, who is about equivalent to a bishop) at St. Andrew’s Church Jinja the last couple of days, and it has been a really fun, team-building experience! Mike even slaughtered a chicken, and I got it on tape! But, it really struck me that these people are true servants; they bring around a basin for us to wash our hands with, serve us tea, then lunch, and afternoon tea (I already loved tea; this just makes me love Uganda! Ha) and thank us for coming to paint by sending us home with a fresh chicken and eggs! Even when we come to serve, we end up being served—it’s beautiful! If I take anything back to the U.S. with me, I’d love to bring back this serving spirit they have. They take the Word to heart when it says in 1 Peter that serving brings God glory, and they serve in love and in honor to their God. What would it look like for us to serve and to love, and to do so joyfully?
Shem, the manager at Hospice Jinja, is a bubbly, 5’1 Ugandan man, always joking and laughing, and when he prays, you feel the Spirit; when he sings, his love for Christ pours out of him. Shem is just one example of the love and joy we’ve seen pour out of the churches and the people we’ve met here in Uganda. I love hearing the choirs sing hymns, English or Lusoga, and I love the passion with which the people pray. They spend a lot of time in prayer in their church services: praying for their country; praying against witch craft and child sacrifice; for their church; for us, their visitors. It is a blessing to be here and to experience this cultural immersion, and to learn what it is to truly live relationally. Sometimes customs are very different (you never know if a Ugandan will arrive on time or not, but that’s their culture) but so far, our group has done pretty well going with the flow.
We have two weeks left before we are back in Houston, and I know God still has a lot in store for us. In those two weeks, we have five work days (trips with the Hospice and to the school in Magamaga), and a “cultural experience” planned for next Friday. Jeremiah’s wife is coming to Uganda for the first time this Sunday, and since she has never been in their four years of marriage, they will have a presentation-of-the-bride huge celebration, with lots of dancing and food! We don’t know what to expect yet, but we are excited to go to Kampala and see what’s in store. Saturday following that, Callina and her father leave, and on Sunday our group is going to spend the night in a nearby rainforest. Hopefully we will get plenty of hiking in, and get to see some African animals! Then we have one day of rest, before we get on the plane to Dubai on Wednesday July 14, and I will try to meet my brother, Matt there! Pray for that opportunity, I haven’t seen him since Christmas, and a miracle may work out for me to see him for one hour when we get to Dubai! The next day we take a seventeen-hour flight, and we will be home. Two weeks seems like a long time right now, but I know it will be here before I know it, so I am soaking up as much as Uganda as possible.
1 Peter 4:9-11 (ESV)
“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace; whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength God supplies—in order than in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Please pray for:
-words from the Spirit to share the Gospel with the street boys/beggars we see every time we go to downtown Jinja
-funding of our trip, so Jeremiah doesn’t go home with a deficit – we know God will provide the $4,000+ we still need
-us to be flexible so God can use us as He wishes
“This World” by Caedmon’s Call (feat. Sandra McCracken)
They start us from a golden rule
and I want to jump from a ship of fools
Show me a place where hope is young
and a people who are not afraid to love
This world has nothing for me
and this world has everything
all that I could want and nothing that I need
This world is making me drunk on the spirits of fear
so when He says, “Who will go?” I am nowhere near
This world has nothing for me
and this world has everything
all that I could want and nothing that I need
And the least of these look like criminals to me
so I leave Christ on the street
This world has held my hand
and has led me into intolerance
And now I’m waking up, and now I’m breaking up
and now I’m making up for lost time
This world has nothing for me
and this world has everything
all that I could want and nothing that I need
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