What a Surprise!

The container arrived on Monday full of shoes, clothes, school supplies, bikes, backpacks, JIF peanut butter (love that!), medical supplies, and so many other great things. I will continue to post pictures on facebook and update the blog but wanted to first let everybody know that it has arrived!

Also, I want to thank everybody who helped with this project. If you think about how many people worked on this project it is pretty amazing. And then you think about how many people are going to benefit from this and that is incredible!!!!

I didn't know exactly what to expect when the container arrived. I only knew that lots of shoes and clothes were coming and I knew that my mom and her friends put in hundreds of hours into packing boxes and collecting the items. But as I go through the boxes, I am in awe of the love and care that went into this. It is clear that it was more than just people donating old shoes and clothes, putting them in boxes and sending them. I unpacked shoes that were stuffed with packets of Kool-Aid, new pairs of socks, toothbrushes, soap and candy!!! I opened boxes to find the clothes neatly folded and in bags with labels. I found water bottles stuffed with candy and backpacks filled with school supplies. Can you imagine???? I found clothes and shoes that are brand new, darling shoes for precious little girls, sports jerseys that boys will love and children's books that are in perfect condition.

Call me weird, that's fine but I am loving this. I love going through and organizing the boxes and I love thinking about all the children and Ugandans that are going to feel loved by these gifts. I will keep you all posted as the project continues. I suppose to some degree it is just starting on this end.

Thanks again to everybody that poured in time, money, love and care into this. Please know that it is truly appreciated. I only wish some of you were here to help on this end and experience the joy of blessing people with these amazing gifts.

Katakwi Visit - January 2011

Katakwi Report – January 2011

Gospel Sharing

In both villages, Alelesi and Appeleun, I shared on Exodus 14 and 16, the story of how God freed the Israelites out of Egypt, led them across the Red Sea and how He provided for them time and time again. However, as we see through Exodus the Israelites continue to doubt God and at times wish they had never left Egypt. I talked about how many people give their life to Christ but when difficult times come they quickly doubt God and resort to complaining and other ways of dealing with the situation. Witchcraft and worship of ancestral spirits and culture are very common in Africa and I encouraged them to look at the Israelites and check their hearts. We don’t want a faith that is an inch deep but a faith that goes deep. We want to put all of our faith and trust in God alone.

We ought to not judge the Israelites but take the time to check our faith and assess if we turn to God during the tough times or if we complain and resort to other means. The people of both Alelesi and Appeleun spent upwards of 40 years living in camps because of the violence and attacks from the Karamonjog people. Despite the current difficult situations I encouraged them to look back on how God has provided for them and turn to Him in their current situations. Many people are returning back to the villages, starting gardens and living without fear, the very thing they wanted for years. God provided a borehole in each community that has allowed them to build homes and has improved their health drastically.

I also talked about how God provided for the Israelites out of love. He did not provide for them out of obligation or because the Israelites deserved it, he did it because he loved them. We also looked at Luke 12 about how God provides for the ravens and how much more God loves us than birds.

A message we continue to share when we go to these villages is that we come out of love and we feel the most important thing we can bring is the Word of God. We continue to encourage them to come together as a community and worship, pray and read the Word together.

Below are a few details on our visit to each village.

Alelesi

The people of Alelesi seem to be doing well. When we first visited this community about 200 people had returned to the villages and now that number is up to almost 600. It is a great sign that people are leaving the camps, rebuilding their homes and starting to plant crops again.

We heard from many people how the bibles and borehole have really impacted the community. We heard stories from the community how many people have started going to church and both the local Catholic and Pentecostal churches are starting to construct more permanent buildings.

We also heard how the overall health of the community has improved drastically b/c of the borehole. They said that there are very few cases of diarrhea and skin rashes. They also said that they are able to accomplish a lot more during their days since they spend less time fetching water. We heard from one woman that her health has drastically improved with the new borehole b/c she is living with AIDS and previously the long distance to fetch water would make her extremely tired and she would have stop several times on the long trip. She is so grateful that with the clean water and easy access she is in much better health. We also heard from many people that abuse in the homes has decreased since the time it takes to fetch water has decreased. The several hours that it would take before would cause fights in the homes between husbands and wives and there would also be fights at the boreholes due to the amount of people waiting to get water.

We gave the community the bicycle that was donated and they were very excited. They are going to elect a committee to oversee the maintenance and operations of the bike. Since the bike will be available for the entire community to rent at a very small cost, the committee will oversee the scheduling and collection of money. We told the community that the purpose of the bike was 1) for emergency situations when somebody got sick and needed to go to the clinic and 2) for people to rent, as they need to go to town for the markets to either sell their crops or buy supplies. They were very receptive to this and the committee will put together rules and regulations for the use of the bicycle.

The borehole committee has collected over 300,000 shillings from monthly collections from the community and is lending out the money to the community, as they need it. Many people have been able to take their sick children to the clinic with this money and some have started small businesses.

Lastly, our relationship with community leaders continues to be positive and we are learning more and more about the community.

Appeleun

The village of Appeleun is doing well and people continue to be relocating to the village from the camps. We saw several new homesteads as we drove through the village and many new gardens growing cassava and greens.

It is clear that the community continues to put forth effort in their new church. As we saw from last time they have constructed a shelter with a grass roof where they meet for church and we learned from some church leaders that they will be making bricks in the near future to construct a more permanent structure. We were able to meet the layperson pastor they have selected as well as a few church leaders and elders. They have also a woman from the community that leads Sunday school for the children and the church has a choir as well. As we arrived we saw many people bring their bibles, which is so encouraging to see.

We gave the church the bicycle that was donated and they were very excited. They were going to elect a committee to oversee the maintenance and operations of the bike. Since the bike will be available for the entire community to rent at a very small cost the committee will oversee the scheduling and collection of money. We told the community that the purpose of the bike was 1) for emergency situations when somebody got sick and needed to go to the clinic and 2) for people to rent, as they need to go to town for the markets to either sell their crops or buy supplies. They were very receptive to this and the committee will put together rules and regulations for the use of the bicycle. We made it very clear that the bicycle was a resource and tool for the church.

The borehole committee has collected over 90,000 shillings from monthly collections from the community and is lending out the money to the community, as they need it. Many people have been able to take their sick children to the clinic with this money.

Lastly, our relationship with community leaders continues to be positive and we are learning more and more about the community.

Prayer Requests

Alelesi - Unification of the community, especially between church leaders in the Pentecostal and Catholic churches

Borehole and Bicycle committees for wisdom and leadership in the community. These committess are responsible for community money and we need to pray that they handle it in a responsible manner.

Good weather conditions for optimal harvesting of crops – appropriate amount of rain is key. With too much rain the crops rot while they are in the ground and with not enough rain the crops fail to grow. Both situations can lead to famine.

Appeleun – wisdom and discernment for the church leaders, continued development of disciples within the church and outreach to the community to bring people to Christ.

Safety from attacks and violence. While we were there 6 cows were stolen and this tends to lead in increase violence when the Karamonjog raid the villages for their cattle.

Increased hope and trust in God, deeper faith and relationships with Christ – that the people would not resort to witchcraft or other cultural traditions that go against God and the Bible

Well Hello 2011

I originally sat down to write this blog about my recent trip to Katakwi. However, as I was reading a book by David Platt tonight on my taxi ride home, I came across a section that has really got me thinking. The truth is that the entire book has me thinking and is awesome (and I’d type it all on this blog but that may not be legal so I’ll just encourage you to purchase it), as are his sermons so I thought it appropriate to share this and the update on Katakwi will have to come later.

Platt asks this question, “Do we believe the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following him?” He then goes through Matthew 10 and lists the risks that Jesus said we would encounter if we did follow him. Matthew 10:8 says, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Jesus is telling his disciples about the kind of people they would be among: the sick, the dying and the diseased. Jesus goes on to say in verse 16, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.” Clearly danger was added to the list of what the disciples could expect. Lastly, Matthew 10: 22-23, “All men will hate you because of me... when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” Jesus said when, not if.

So there you have it: the sick, the dying, the diseased, danger and persecution. I am onboard with going to the sick, the diseased and the dying. I am not sure about how I feel about danger. And I’m definitely not in love with the idea of being persecuted. With that said, I want a faith in which I would do whatever it takes. I want a faith that is so confident of the reward found in Jesus that I knew it was worth the risk at any cost.

It’s funny because on hard days when I think about going home, I think about how much easier things would be. I think about the support of my family and friends, ease of living (hot water, washing machines, street signs) and as of lately the food. But as it turns out, whether it is here or Chicago, the message of Matthew 10 does not say go to the comfortable places with healthy, safe, loving people. Jesus says to bring the gospel to the nations and he tells us what to expect when we do so. Shoot.

As it stands in Uganda, we are free to preach the Word of Christ without worry of danger and persecution but what about the unreached people who live in countries where being a Christian gets you killed? I kind of want to say that I’ll trust others to go there but if I’m honest, and Platt does a great job reminding us of this in the book, we don’t that freedom. The Bible tells us to go and to be prepared for how hard it will be. But the Bible also tells us of the great reward for doing so. As you keep reading Matthew 10 verse 39 says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” So I pray for a faith that leads wherever God commands, be it Mongolia, Indonesia, Somalia or Chicago (although I hope there’s coffee wherever I go).

I’ll end with one more quote from Platt’s book, “This is the unavoidable conclusion of Matthew 10. To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus.”

But to that I say, I don’t want to stay away from Jesus.