God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind. There exists aperfect love that surpasses all fear.
The slums are where those who have nowhere else to go end up. In the past decade, drugs have become a more prominent issue. Airports sell used gasoline to the people of Kampala. The people then in turn sell it to the boys living in the slums. The boys soak rags in the fuel and put them in the bottom of water or soda bottles. They inhale constantly to stay high to curb hunger. This is what we are greeted with. RUHU does slum ministry and has a safe house of sorts that boys who are clean can live at. The eventual hope is to get these boys to Village of Hope. Every Tuesday and Thursday we help with the Safe House feeding program. We first meet the boys near an abandoned building off of the street. They run up to us and hug us, bottles in hand. One or two kids grab each of our hands as we then walk about 10 minutes to the Safe House. Once there, we perform rudimentary medical tasks: Band-Aids, alcohol swabs, ace bandages, etc. Some of us “help” cook the food (really we just talk to the boys). We give a small sermon or skit, sing some songs, wash hands and then help to pass out the plates of rice. The boys are rough but loving. So many of them didn’t choose this life and are inherently sweet. Our purpose through all of this isn’t just to help serve rice but to show them that someone cares. Someone sees them and cares enough to hug rather than ignore or beat them.
Next month the Pope is coming to Uganda. While this seems completely irrelevant, it was the cause for our hardest time at the slums yet. When we arrived, our host Patrick immediately pulled us aside and told us to get going with the boys to the safe house. He told us that the police had already arrested 100 boys and sent them to children’s prison; there they are experimented on and treated like lab rats. The city is trying to clear the streets of filth for the Pope. This heart breaking measure is contradictory to everything that the Pope, Catholicism and Christianity stand for.
This news has been my hardest struggle on the race yet. We can pray for those taken away and those who remain. In every smile, handshake and hug that we give those boys, may they see Jesus in us; that is the hope that keeps us going.
Thank you for reading and please continue to keep my team in your prayers as we finish up our time in Uganda!
Katie
