Our greetings to our friends all over the world! Ingrid here :-)
We are finally at a place in our schedule to have a couple of days to process and contemplate the last couple of weeks and to put some of those thoughts down to share with you where our hearts are right now.
Transition seems to be the continuing theme of our lives right now. We have been given the gift of loving Christians opening their homes to us while we are stationed in Kampala. We spent our first 3 weeks here with a wonderful couple who originate from Pennsylvania. Two weeks ago, we moved into a home that was vacated with the couple returning to the USA for the holidays. We spent one night there and then headed up to New Hope Uganda to reconnect with family and friends there before they scattered to their home villages for the two month holiday that is traditional here in Uganda. Then we headed up to Karamoja with a group of short term missionaries and one long term missionary, Julie, who has become a great friend to us. We picked up a young man we had become friends with at NHU, who wanted to see Karamoja and has an interest in joining us someday in ministry there. So as a group of 8 we slowly made our way north in two vehicles.
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| Thanksgiving was overlooking the Nile River |
The trip I feel was characterized by the word hospitality. We were given hospitality and accommodations the first night by a missionary couple with AIM in Jinja. Lyle, Julie, and I were able to attend a Thanksgiving feast on the Nile, put on by another missionary organization. It was so kind of them to include us and we three gave an impromptu performance to break up the awkwardness of the MC asking for skits. After seeing our effort, the consensus was that anyone could sing or do a skit. So there were several others that entertained after us.
After the town of Jinja, we spent the next night, north of Mbale, in the home of a Bishop in the Church of Uganda. The kindness and generosity shown to strangers was very touching and blessed us so much. They had met Julie before and she was going to do a training for Sunday School teachers about opening up Sunday School classes to special needs children. They accomodated all 8 of us very graciously. The following morning we were escorted to the church where we each had a part in the presentation of how and why special needs children should be included in Sunday School and how that could be possible in their churches. It was a full day with the teachers wanting all the training before having any mid-day food because we had a huge rain storm and many of them were concerned about their long walks home in the bad weather. So while the day was long, the receptivity to our message was very encouraging.
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| Sisiye Falls in the background |
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| Great place for quiet time with our Lord |
Late that afternoon we left the Bishop's home and headed to Sisiye Falls to sleep in tents at the foot of the falls. It was a wonderful setting to process the day and the wonders of a God Who makes no mistakes; that all His people are how He desires them to enter the world. Whether we have disabilities that are noticeable or whether they are hidden in our spirits, we all have special needs.
We left the next day to head to another missionary's home in southern Karamoja. We met them on the road as they had picked up their children from boarding school in Kenya and we were going to caravan up to their home together. We met and greeted and Lyle and I smelled something hot in our car, and when Lyle shut the car off, it would not start again and the windows wouldn't work! So Lyle and Bob, the missionary, got under the hood and started problem solving. In Uganda, the norm is that anything one is doing outside is an invitation for a large audience to gather and watch and comment on the proceedings. Needless to say we had a large audience as the "mechanics" tried to figure out what had happened. The air conditioner melted and blew a fuse in the process, which is why the starter and the windows quit working. This model comes with spare fuses!!! yeaaaaa So a new one was put in and off we went, with natural air conditioning, windows down. The breeze was great, but the dust was tough. To reach these people's home, we had to go through a game preserve, and I guess part to the preservation is no upkeep on the roads. I thought we were on a roller coaster for hours, with driving through water to the top of the tires and trying to avoid deep pits and mud was our reality. So this family who had just gotten their children, opened their home to us for the night and we had a great time of fellowship there.
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| Young Karamojong warrior herding some of his cows |
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| When the taxi is full, use the roof |
We set out the next day for Kangole (it is sort of pronounced like Canole) which is about 20 minutes from Moroto. We crossed 3 large streams in the process; the road just stops at the water's edge and starts up on the other side. On one of them, Julie got out and wadded through it to make sure there were no surprises before we drove through. Our new normal. We reached our destination and met Mama Esther, the wife of the minster of this church, which is part of the Church of Uganda. We were graciously received here and spend 3 nights on their compound. We spent two of our days meeting with special needs families in Kangole, and one day in Moroto. While in Moroto we were able to meet with the Bishop of southern Karamoja. The Mbale Bishop had passed on to us his phone information as they are very good friends, and Lyle and I really connected with the Mbale Bishop and his wife.
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| Shallow water crossing |
We did not know what to expect when we met with the Bishop in Moroto. The Church of Uganda is Anglican and apparently each District might have a bit of a different philosophy. This Bishop, after conversing for a little while, apparently felt comfortable enough to share his heart for the Karamajong people and a bit of cultural history. The first missionaries to Karamoja were Catholic and they engaged the Karamajong people by giving them things to lesson the ferocity of the tribe. The Bishop says that from that time on, his people have taken an attitude of wanting a hand out and that the spirit of poverty has blinded them. It has not helped that the world humanitarian agencies have been affirming that same mindset for at least 40 years in Karamoja. So there are many generations of people who feel that begging is their source of interaction with those who seem to have resources. The Bishop experiences this as well. We felt so much a similar philosophy with him and he was very open to our desire for discipleship. We have heard from him by email since our meeting and he will be extending an invitation to us to join all the ministers and their wives for a 5 day conference in Moroto in mid-February. That should be our first full week up there full time, so we are encouraged and amazed at how God is already orchestrating us getting to know brothers and sisters in Christ in our new home. We also were able to meet with a young Pastor we had met last year while visiting Moroto. He is excited for us to come up and we were able to meet his fiancee. He has a home for orphan boys and when we went there to try to find him, one of the boys remembered me and threw his arms around me in greeting. I am excited to be able to get to know these precious boys better. There are 10 of them ranging in age of 3 years old to high teens.
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| Hand crafted lorry made with scrap cardboard and sap as glue |
We were able to use our Karamajong language lots while we were there and even added some words to our limited vocabulary. Mama Esther told Julie that her "elder" friends were going to do well in Karamoja because we were willing to try the language. I believe she is right. The people were so willing to help us and correct us gently. It was great.
It was hard to climb in the car and leave, we were both so excited to have a glimpse of what our future holds. We were able to look at several places with self contained units, bedroom/bath. So hopefully we will find an opening when we finally make the move mid-February. We continue to feel that we are to remain open-minded for how and what God wants us to do initially, so we are not forming any plans or agendas; that I think is the toughest thing. In my quiet time today, God reminded me that Jesus walked that same way while on earth in a human body. In 1 Peter 2:21 He tells us: For God called you to do good even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example and you must follow in His steps. I felt the Holy Spirit open my eyes to the reality that Jesus had a home, he had routine and knew where he was going to sleep at night and where his food was coming from for 30 years. And then, God told him to leave all that and live doing only what the Father told Him to do without routine or known agenda. So my dearest Lord Jesus knows what we are living and while it might not fit the definition of suffering, it is definitely tough to do day after day, month after month, all the while watching our heavenly Father provide the best accommodations for us day after day, month after month. And so we patiently wait, and live for Him alone each moment as best we can, until He makes clear His purpose for us in Moroto.
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| Listening to the Bible in Karamojong on the Proclaimer |
For each of you who have prayed for us, we sincerely thank you!! Your love and support are rich in our souls and spirits. We feel the body of Christ, both here in Uganda and around the world, loving us and supporting us as we endeavor to serve our Lord and spend ourselves where He has called us.
As we approach the time of year, that Christians around the world reflect on the timeless, priceless gift of Jesus Christ coming into the world to be our sacrifice Lamb Slain before the beginning of time, for our sins, to set us free from the power of sin, may He truly be our treasure - Him alone.
Our deepest love to you all.
Ingrid and Lyle
