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.