Weeks 7-8

           The past couple of weeks have been a time of learning.  Simply learning about God’s love, poverty, the stories of the lives with the family I have been living with, and about some of the organizations here in Mukono, Uganda. 

            My family members have really opened up to me and have shared many testimonies.  And because of this, every moment with them has been filled with joy.  We have had fun playing board games, card games, listening to Enya, the Temptations, etc…, and watching The Adventures of TinTin.  Bonding over dinner, household chores and those things that pertain to daily living has brought me some unforgettable moments.

            I have also been doing some volunteer work in the community.  A lot of the volunteer work involves working with the children.  I have been going to the middle school, called Mukono Bishop Central.  And what I do is aid in teaching physical education.  I pretty much do jumping jacks, play duck duck goose, and simon says.  No matter what we are doing the every child has a smile on their face.  All 50 of them, so thrilled to be participating in school, engaged in a game and eager to learn.

            I have also been volunteering in town nearby called Seeta.  The organization is called the Child Development Center and it is with Compassion International.  The organization takes children in at young age, between the ages of 3-5, and educates them up until the age of 22.  The children are very smart, hard working, and are super funny.  I spend most of my time there talking and drawing pictures with the children.  The most moving aspect of volunteering at the center is being greeted with hugs by MANY children.  I have never physically seen as much compassion in anybody as I have seen in the children at this center.  It has brought many tears to my eyes and every time I have to leave the center it becomes an emotional challenge. 

            The discussion of poverty has many facets that when correctly and thoroughly explored gives me a headache.  But to put it simply there is poverty here in Uganda.  The spiritual and physical poverty here leaves many problems for the community and family.  At times it is hard to look at and witness.  But the truth of the matter is that there is so much poverty back home in Philadelphia as well.  The poverty in Philadelphia compared to that in Mukono, Uganda can be looked at as having the same detrimental effects, such as: broken families, people having to live on the street, anger, resentment, blame and the works.  

            The one thing that I have noticed to be the solution to the poverty here in Uganda is love.  Love restores all those things that have been broken by any kind of poverty.  Back home in Philadelphia there is more physical wealth, here in Uganda there is more land to live off of, but wealth without love and land with love will ultimately lead to poverty and suffering.  There is much more to say on this subject matter, but that is my simple answer. 

            I have been learning so much about the love of God through the children.  Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragment offering and sacrifice.”  Love can be as simple as the smile on a child’s face. 

On a more deeper level, Colossians 3:12-17 says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him.”

            Understanding the deep-seated features of love has put a yearning in me to be lead to times of worship. 

Week 6

            WOW!  The past 10 days I had the opportunity to live with a Ugandan family in a Ugandan rural setting.  The drive was around 7 hours and we were taken to the village of Serere. We spent the first night at Margaret’s, our cohort leader’s house.  Her house was right near a school, so when we arrived the school was just letting the kids finish up.  We arrived, set up the tents, and waited for the children to come.  There had to be at least a hundred children there.  We played games.  We danced.  We sang.  We hung out by a campfire.  It was incredible seeing and talking with the children.  The joy in their hearts was expressed in every one of their smiles and hugs.  This was a great way to start off the week.  The next day all the students were dropped off to their homes. 

We arrived Saturday afternoon.  As soon as I got there the family fed me so much.  There was a Toto (mom), Papa (father), grandmom, brother and sister living at the house.  The father had 8 children in all.  Most of his children had gone to college and they were all scattered throughout all of Africa.  The area where I was living was filled with huts, which were super nice and comfortable and there was no electricity.  There were lots of hens, roosters and little chicks running around the compound.  There were 5 cows, 4 pigs, 6 goats, including two baby goats, and one sheep.  There were 3 huts, an outside kitchen, and a building which was being worked on.  There was a well right near our house.  Plants of papaya, mangos, oranges, hot peppers and guava, filled our fields and compound. 

The Sunday we went to church and the service was the language of Atesso, but toto was able to translate most of it.  After the service everyone tithed.  The money and food that was brought was given to the community right there on the spot.  The ushers and pastor were paid and member who needed money were given it.  Members who needed food were also given it.  The way church was done reminded very much of the book of Acts where the food and money was given to the community as needed and everyone thrived. 

In the week I spent most of my time talking to my 67 year old Papa, named John Robert who was community development organizer.  This man was in such physical shape.  We went on evening walks almost every night and I could barely keep up with him.  All we talked about was community development…I was fed with so much knowledge.  I also spent the week working.  I brought the cattle back and forth to fields, milked them, did some hoe work in the fields, de-husked corn, peeled g-nuts, swept the compound, and fetched water from the well.  I walked around the village, got to meet many great people.  My brother Robert, cut my hair for me, being a barber…Yes the name Robert is very prevalent in Uganda. 

But the major highlight of the rural home stay was the evening fellowships.  Before dinner, everyday we sung praises to God and prayed.  How BEAUTIFUL!  The family was so filled with thanksgiving and prayers to God; it was an honor to be with them.  They had explained to me that, “We do this every night and you are welcome to join in.”  Oh and I joined in with JOY.  My participation in the evening fellowships really strengthened my view of praise within the family setting. 

After spending the week with this family the USP group took a ride over to the Sipi Waterfalls.  The time there was supposed to be a time to debrief and relax.  We debriefed the first night and the next day went on a hike.  The hike lasted the entire day, and was amazing.  The waterfalls were beautiful, the view of the valleys caused me to be awestruck, the hike was enduring and all in all the whole day I was drawn to the sublimity of God’s beauty and power in creation. 

Isaiah 40:1-8 says, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lords’s hand double for all her sins.  A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.  A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?”  All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” 

The Lord has drawn me to his beauty in family and creation and He has left me speechless.  With a loss of words I have been lead to times of worship.

Week 5

Week 5, has been really great!  I made pasta and garlic bread for my host family this week.  Everyone gathered for the event.  There were about 12 plates in all served, and I’m surprised that what I made was sufficient for everyone.   So something I have been learning about in my classes is the effects of culture shock.  And all that has been described in the classroom and what I have read in books are not what I have experienced while here.  And I have come to understand why...

According to wikipedia, “Culture Shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation, or anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.”  Now, I may be in a new culture, and YES the Ugandan culture is much different than anything I have ever experienced, but this is not the first time I have been in a new culture.  Although I have never left the United States before I have experienced this culture shock.  The culture shock I’m talking about is the culture of Christianity.  Not American Christianity, but the truth that is found in the word of God…that Christianity.  It is a submission to the truth of the spirit.

Here is a poem I wrote for one of my classes:

The Ultimate Culture Shock: Submission to the Holy Spirit

I lie here thinking to myself, where is this Ugandan culture shock?

I’m not going through this…Howcome?!

I have read about this in books, talked about it in the classroom…AHH!  Then the clues begin to unlock.

Hmm…Culture shock I have experienced this before!  But it was back at home.

It did not take a different country, but…YES, a different culture.

The submission to the Spirit was what brought me out of my culture and comfort zone.

This submission was what brought me do to things that were unsure.

I learned that through this submission I was not alone.

When we submit to the Spirit, live by the law of the Lord, and act out our faith, we will be living in a   different culture.

Every encounter we have with our neighbor allows for us to experience this.

It does not matter whether that is across the world, family, a friend, or even as close as next door.

When we submit to the Spirit, in any environment, a culture shock is hard to miss.

Uganda is no different than home.

Because everyday the Spirit draws me near.

I could be as far as the city Rome.

But in Him, through every culture shock, pilgrimage is set in gear.

For the next 10 days I will be in the district of Siroti.  This is also nicknamed “Siroasti,” because of the intensity of the heat.  This part of the USP program is called the rural home stay.  Where we are going, there may not be electricity for extended period of times, there is the possibility of living at a farm, and there are some really nice waterfalls nearby (Sipi Falls).  While there I will not have internet or much contact with anyone, besides those who I will live with.  Friends and family, please pray for safety, a fun time, the intervention of the Spirit, and for me to be lead to times of worship.

Week 4

This past weekend, most of the USP group went to Jinja to go rafting on the Nile.  We went with this group called Adrift.  Rafting down the Nile was an adventure.  There was one specific area of the trip, called the “bad place.”  Our raft did everything in our capacity and strength to avoid this area.  But our efforts were meaningless.  We slowly drifted into this swirling whirlpool of water that towered the raft in about six feet. Our raft folded in half and the 9 people that were in the raft flew in different directions.  I was tossed into a whirling wave and went under the water.  I was tossed to and fro, up and down for about a good minute.  I came above the water about 8-10 times, searching for a breath of air, but was immediately tossed back into the water.  Another raft came to our rescue and I was pulled into the raft.  This was probably the worst of the rafting experience.  After surviving the "bad place", all the other rapids we faced did not toss our raft.  We conquered the four other rapids we faced after the “bad place.”  After the rapid adventure, we went back to the rooms we were staying at and we spent the night resting.  The next morning was bungee jumping.  What fun!  It was an exhilarating experience.  The scariest part of the bungee jump was the standing off of the ledge.  But once I jumped, the anxiety left, and I was reminded of the faith and control God has in our lives.  It took some faith to jump, but when I did; I had no control, and I was in for the ride of my life.  The leap of faith was worth it.

         
This past week, I have been learning so much the discipline of simplicity.  The lifestyle, idea of possessions, and mentality of the where I’m living feed off of a simple way of life.  I bring home hot sauce, jelly for bread, or any of the pens and pencils I have at home are for the entire household.  Even when, my brothers will bring something home, it is meant for the entire house and is communally shared.  According to Richard Foster, in his book Celebrations of Discipline, he says, “We cling to our possessions rather than sharing them because we are anxious about tomorrow.  But if we truly believe that God is who Jesus says he is, then we do not need to be afraid.  When we come to see God as the almighty creator and our loving Father, we can share because we know he will care for us.”  That does not mean that we should be giving and sharing everything we have…there needs to be an essence of common sense involved.  But when we seek first the Kingdom of God, anxiety truly does not have a role in our lives, and we realize that the things we have were never ours to begin with.  In this simple lifestyle, I have been lead to times of worship.  

Week 3...Part 3

This past week was a roller coaster.  I was sick for a couple of days with a running stomach.  I will let all of you figure out what a running stomach is.    Maama’s care and hospitality was incredible.  She would always hover over me and would be constantly giving me herbal medicines for healing.  With about 20 or so trips to the toilet I have become a master in the art of going to the bathroom.   But while I was sick I could not help but smile.  Taata said, “I don’t understand this.  You say you are sick, but yet you are smiling.”  I could not explain it to him.  The joy of the Lord has been so captivated in my heart that I could not help but smile. 

            This past weekend I went to Kampala with my Taata to see Trevor who was sick in the hospital.  When we got off of the Taxi, Taata had explained to me that his pants were torn.  We immediately found a tailor and then went to Mulago hospital.  Trevor was not well and was suffering.  We gave Trevor’s Mom some money and then left.  On our way home we stopped at my Aunt Miriam’s house.  To my surprise Rebecca, Joseph and Andrew were there.  It was great to see them all.  We headed back home and I rested.  Sunday I went to church with Robert.  Then I spent some time alone up at the top of a place called monkey hill.  I spent some time praying and meditating.  It was very peaceful.  I also met some great people up there, who will be good brothers and sisters in Christ in this journey.            

            This past Monday morning when I woke up Taata came in my room.  He started off by saying, “I did not sleep well last night.”  I said, “Why Taata?”  He said, “Trevor went on.”  I was shocked and did not know how to respond.  So I did not respond.  The rest of the day was filled with sorrow and weeping.  I had an 8AM class that morning.  I went, but I did not want to be there.  After class I went back up to monkey hill.  I finally had time to process what happened and I was able to mourn.  So I did.  I cried…And cried.  Afterwards I went home.  Maama was surprisingly smiling, she was glad to see me.  I gave her a hug and told her I was tired.  So then I went to bed.  I woke up a few hours later and my friend Jordan, an intern from USP, was there to see our family.  He gave his condolences and explained that if we wanted a vehicle for the funeral they would provide.  Maama was thrilled and gave Jordan a lot sugar cane and a live chicken before he left.  Jordan and I smirked at each other because of Maama’s amazing generosity.

              The next morning we had arranged for a vehicle to pick us up to go to Maama’s village for the funeral.  We left around 11AM.  When I got there I was able to meet the entire family.  There were about 200 people in all for the funeral.  Everyone gathered.  The funeral was filled with sadness and joy.  I spent most of my time playing with the children.  We had some head balancing competitions.  The saddest part of the funeral was the burial.  The kids were crying.  When I saw the tears from the children’s eyes I wanted to hug them all and cry with them. 

But I noticed that at this funeral everyone was there for each other in mourning, prayer, encouragement and most importantly love.  The abundance of love at this funeral was overwhelming.  On the ride back home I was crying with joy, because of the love.  I was reminded of the closeness I have with my family back home, but instead of few, there were hundreds.   Through the sadness, sorrows and tears I have been waiting for the Lord.  The end of Psalm 27 talks about this, “Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”  All of Psalm 27 talks about worshipping through difficult times.  But as for now, while I suffer I wait for the Lord.  I will persist through this time of hardship while I mourn the death of my cousin Trevor and will continue to be lead to times of worship.

Week 3...Part 2

I wanted to quickly share a short story:

A while back I dropped my ipod in the toilet.   Let me explain how this happened.  One night, I have been running back and forth to the toilet.  I have been using my headlight for these trips.  The toilet is right outside of our house.  I was in my bedroom preparing myself to go and get ready to use the toilet.  But when I went to turn on my headlight, the light bulb blew. However, during this time I have been listening to my ipod and I knew that it had a light on it.  With pressure gearing me to the toilet and with no other flashlights to be found at this time it was my only option.  I went into the toilet area…did what I had to do.  But as I was finishing up holding my ipod as a light it slipped from my hands.  As the ipod was literally dangling from the ear bud string over the hole, I went to reach for the ipod, but it was too late.  My sudden twitch in an attempt to save the ipod was what caused the downfall.  And yes, the fall was deep…about 50-75 feet to the ground.  It was lost forever, but after it happened there were no sorrows.  As crazy as it might sound, I was more joyful after the incident, than I was before.  I was realizing that although music is great and wonderful to listen too, it is not what gives me pure joy in this world.  It truly comes down to seeking God.  I look back at the situation and laugh.  Even without the music I have been lead to times of worship.

Week 3...Part 1

My sister Rebecca left the house for her teaching job.  But before she left I had an amazing encounter with her.  I was in my room reading when my sister Rebecca came in and apologized for the lateness of the dinner.  I told her not to worry about it.  She began to tell me that she would be leaving soon to go and teach math and science.  I told her that when I was in elementary and high school math and science were my two favorite subjects. I told her that I loved science and math because science shows the beauty of God’s creation and math just makes sense.   Rebecca responded with a, “YES!!  That is why I love science and math too.”  Rebecca then began to tell me about soil erosion and photosynthesis.  Before Rebecca was about to leave she said to me, “Swear that you will not fall asleep because dinner is almost ready.”  I said, very sternly, “Yes, I will not fall asleep.”  She then went on and insisted that I swear.  I said that I will not swear.  She then asked me why I would not swear.  I reached for my Bible on my nightstand…used the concordance in search for the word “swear”…Then found it!  Ahhh ha! I knew it was in here somewhere.  We then read James 5:12 together, "But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation." Then my sister paused for a second.  She said, "hmmm...hmmm...amen!  I knew there was something different about you."  I said, "Thank you." And then I began to praise her servant hood in cooking, and the joy in all her expressions.  She also said, "Thank you." She began to leave the room, but before she closed the door she said with  a smile on her face, "I will see you for dinner."

This week was not an easy week.  I was sick for a little while and lost some personals, but throughout it all, I could not stop smiling because I have been filled with so much joy from seeking the Lord in scripture, prayer and mediation. I will expound on the sickness and lost of personals a little bit later, but for now I will leave you with letting you know that throughout the week, and despite the troubles I have been lead to times of worship.