More on the Awesomeness of God and His People

I am in love with the people of Apelleun and Alelesi. I have been home for a few days now and keep thinking about the time I spent with the people there. For several days I spent time with people who have endured extreme hardship for their entire lives yet they continue to press on and rise above all of that. These people have spent upwards of 30 years in IDP camps living in fear, knowing their homes and crops no longer exist. A few years ago the area experienced severe flooding that ruined all their crops and last fall there was a horrific famine that took the lives of many. However, many are starting to return to their land, they are trying to rebuild their homes and plant crops. They may have no shoes or money or lack the basic necessities most of us take for granted but they do not lack courage or strength.

I have seen great change in these villages in the 3 months since I have been visiting them. They have come together. They have elected borehole committees, identified leaders in their communities and worked together to improve their lives. The location of the borehole in Apelleun is on the property of an older gentleman. He has sacrificed his land for his community and made the announcement on Tuesday that he would clear more and for a church for the community. I don’t think we realize how generous this is. This man has very little; the only thing he really has is his land. The people depend on their land for food and possibly to generate a bit of income for their family and this man has sacrificed what he has for his community.

In Alelesi a retired teacher was digging a pit latrine for his family when he came across water. Up until they received their borehole, the entire community used this water. He is in the process of building a big home (by their standards) and told us he plans to use it for protection for the entire community should they face problems. He gave his land for the construction of a pit latrine for the community and now spends all his time improving the lives of the people in his community.

I feel so blessed to be able to know such people but it makes me sad that I know so few people like this. Whether or not they know it, these people are living Biblical lives. They are sharing what they have with others, they are persevering through the difficult times and they are working hard to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

With all that said, I will say that it is extremely difficult for me to spend time with people who truly lack the basic necessities. At our training on Monday in Apelleun, out of 70 people, I saw 4 or 5 people wearing shoes. That is not an exaggeration. I saw little kids feet split open and covered in sores from walking without protection. The results from Amuge’s tests revealed that he is HIV negative and that the only thing he needs is food. Amuge is severly malnourished and I hate that. I hate that we can’t ask other people in the community to help out because most of the children are malnourished and need more food. I hate that Hellen wasn’t able to go to the hospital for her follow-up appointment because they didn’t have money for the transportation or medical bills. Can you imagine what would happen to this little girl had she not come to the training on Monday? She would continue to grow and I assume experience a lot of pain as the skin on her arm would not grow with her. To keep Amuge busy during the training, I took out a pen and paper. I am not exaggerating when I say that he had no idea how to hold a pen and was shocked when it made marks on the paper. I almost cried.

2 Corinthians 8:13-15 states:

“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written, ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’”

I have the Life Application Study Bible and it says that Paul wrote this letter to the church of Corinth and Christians everywhere. While we rarely see this lived out in our society and in this world, it absolutely should not be like this. This letter was written for us. This is the Word of God and it applies just as much today as it did when it was written. This means that Amuge should have a pair of shoes and plenty of food to eat. Equality does not mean that some people get to have 2, 3 or 4 homes while others go without a roof over their head. Equality does not mean that some people get to travel the world and stay in the nicest hotels while others have to walk over 3 miles to get water. Equality is not children in some parts of the world owning 20 pairs of shoes while others walk miles to school in bare feet. Equality is Biblical and as it states in 2 Corinthians, it requires some people giving to others in their excess. And the truth is that there is true joy in this. It may not be easy to give up what we have for the sake of others but it is always worth it. I can’t imagine somebody giving up their weekly manicure appointment for the sake of children eating or going to school and later regretting it. I am 100% confident it would be worth it. I don’t think it would cause too much pain to buy generic brands over expensive brands so somebody can sleep under a mosquito net or own a pair shoes. God rewards those who obey Him, while they may not be earthly rewards or rewards we’ll see in this lifetime, it is His promise and His people are worth it. Every person on this planet that goes a night without food is worth it. Each child that goes to bed hungry or goes to bed with Malaria is worth it. The 26,000 children that die everyday due to hunger or a preventable disease is worth it.

It makes me furious to think of the inequality in this world but for now I am going to pray about it and focus on the joy of the people in Apelleun and Alelesi. They are wonderful people and I cannot wait to go back. In fact, I hope to go back within the next month. It isn’t a cheap trip but it is worth every shilling in my mind. I’m not sure what I will do when I go back but I’m sure it will be wonderful. And maybe next time I’ll be able to bring Amuge back with me :)

Love in Every Language

God is Love. Ateso is a language I didn’t know existed until May. Yesterday over 90 people received the Word of God in Ateso. That is love in every language. Hallelujah!!!

Today is my third day in Katakwi (although this won’t be posted until I have returned back to Entebbe – no internet out here) and I feel like I have so much I want to share but am not sure I’ll be able to express it in words so please forgive me if this is poorly written and way too long.

Last night when I spoke with Ivan on the phone I told him it had been one of my favorite days since I’ve been in Uganda and I wasn’t kidding.

Seggy and I came back to the Katakwi area on Sunday night to meet with the two villages that recently received boreholes. We hired the Dept. of Water and Sanitation of Katakwi to put on training for each village and we both wanted to join the training and visit with the people. We thought it was extremely important to give the people training on the importance of clean water and how to keep the borehole water safe. The training also included sanitation and borehole maintenance. In addition, we had previously arranged to bring brand new jerry cans for transporting water and Bibles in the local language.

On Monday we started out the day with the Word before we went into the training. I spent 20 minutes sharing with the community and really wanted to stress that the Word of God was far more valuable than the water we brought. I wanted them to know that we didn’t do anything other than pray and obey God. The truth is that without God, we would have never found the tiny, remote village and the community that was in desperate need of water. As I shared from Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep the community cheered and clapped as I told them how precious they are to God. I told them that we had brought Bibles in their language and that they would be available for purchase the next day. Also – let me back up for a minute. On our drive to Katakwi, Seggy and I discussed our concern for each village since neither seemed to have a church. We talked about getting more information when we met with the church leaders. Monday was a huge success and the training was extremely well received.

I tell you all this as background so you will understand why yesterday was so great. Tuesday as we drove up to the training location we were greeted by over 100 people cheering and hollering. I stepped out of the car and immediately hugged two of the cutest old ladies I have ever seen. I couldn’t understand what they were saying but it was clear by the look in their eyes that they were extremely grateful. As we all sat down, one of the community members opened up the day by saying that the very land we were sitting on would soon be turned into a church. The community had met after we left the day before and decided that they needed a church. I couldn’t believe it. It was as though they knew what I had been thinking. God answered our prayers and I felt this huge sense of joy and peace and gratefulness and excitement. I know that water is important but I wanted so badly for these people to have a place to learn about God and worship Him. I wanted to jump for joy as I listened to them. I am almost positive that before this Apelleun didn’t have a church nearby. I think a priest from a neighboring village would come by sometimes to hold mass for them but that was all.

Seggy then shared the Word with them and we finished the training. The Secretary of the Borehole Committee had a list of all the people who had paid for the jerry cans and Bibles so we handed them all over to him and watched as people received their new gifts. While we donated the Bibles and jerry cans, each person paid a small amount for each item. We think it is important to give them a sense of ownership over their new things. In addition, the community will use the money as they see fit, whether it is for farming tools or supplies to build a pit latrine. As people were given their new Bibles, they cheered, they danced, they waved their hands in the air and I felt overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness to be able to witness the wonderful event. I know that the 90 Bibles will do far more than any amount of water. You need to know that some of these people have probably wanted a Bible for years but due to the high cost and difficulty finding one in their local language, they have been unable to get one. I wish I had a video recorder and could share with you all what I saw.

On top of all that I need to tell you about the two little kids I fell in love with (I’m sure this is not a surprise to anybody). In May when I came to this village I took a picture of a little boy and when I saw him I could tell he wasn’t healthy. I went back, posted my pictures on Facebook and my dear friend, Cindy May, immediately emailed me about him. She asked us to follow-up with him the next time we returned so that is what we did. On Monday he was not at the training but we showed his picture to a few people and they made sure he was there on Tuesday. He looked just as I had remembered, only a bit cleaner. He was absolutely terrified of me at first but with a few cookies and the fun of my camera, we were best friends within minutes. He proceeded to follow me around the entire day and I told Seggy I wanted to adopt him (and I’m not kidding). He is an orphan that has lost both of his parents to AIDS and is currently staying with his aunt. He is probably 5 years old and has the cutest smile in the entire world. Check out his many pictures on Facebook – his name is Amuge. Before we left on Tuesday we made arrangements for his aunt and him to meet us in town at the clinic for testing. I almost cried when I had to say good-bye to him Tuesday afternoon.

The other little child that captured my heart was Hellen. I noticed Hellen on Monday within 10 minutes of arriving at the training. She is 4 ½ years old and has severe scarring on her right arm from a burn. The reason I noticed her was because the burn covered her elbow and the skin above the elbow and below the elbow wasn’t stretching enough for her to straighten her arm. I told Seggy we needed to do something (in my mind I wanted to take her back with me to Entebbe but he wasn’t as quick to agree). Again, we made plans for her mom and her to go to a hospital a few hours away for medical review and asked that they let us know what the doctor said. We will work out a deal with them to help pay for her future medical bills.

This may not sound like an amazing day but that is because writing is not my strong point. My pictures on Facebook may do it more justice but you need to believe me when I say it was truly an amazing day. I was able to witness the joy of people as they received Bibles. I saw people rejoicing and laughing. This community has been oppressed and living in camps for the last 30 years because of violence. They are trying to return to their homes and land but it is not easy. They have endured severe flooding a few years ago that ruined their crops and then a horrible famine last fall that killed many people. To know all that and then see their joy and love for each other was a gift from God. We brought water and through God, these people are forever changed. Over 90 people have Bibles and they are starting a church. The village of Apelleun will never be the same. God is so good.