This week has been one of my top weeks so far on the race. I have felt God's presence so strongly in this area, and been blessed by so many opportunities to serve. I am continuously amazed at the little ways I see how God has been preparing me for this trip for a LONG time. I am currently living in Lira, Uganda and working with a large church called Victory Outreach Ministries. This church is ON FIRE for missions and outreach. The staff is all Ugandan, and they work 9-5 every day in many different departments. They have outreach programs for HIV/AIDS, Agriculture – Farming/Training, 285 sponsored Compassion International kids, Finance/Loans for small business starters, they have founded two Christian primary schools, and they do TV broadcasting and newsletters. My team and I are scattered throughout all of the different ministries, wherever we feel like we are needed or have some experience.
I started out last week working in the Compassion International office, filling out child profiles and updating their case studies and files. It is so cool to see this side of such a large organization and to see how well they do things. They keep great up to date information on the children, their family, and their schooling. They also host the children all day on Saturdays for classes, bible study, worship, lunch, and to give them gifts such as soap and laundry detergent to take back to their families.
This week I have been asked to help build a website for two of the elementary schools that the church founded. Little did they know, they've got quite the duo for this job! I'm partnering on the project with my squad leader Scott.. an extremely talented videographer and web designer. It has been such a joy to work with him on these projects.
The first step to building the websites is to go and visit the schools, interview the staff, and photograph what we can to give people an idea of what the school is all about. So on Tuesday, Scott and I loaded into a jeep and headed about 20 minutes out some red dirt roads to Fountain Boarding Primary School. We were greeted by hundreds of hesitant faces, as a blonde haired white girl and an asian guy hopped out of the jeep and made our way through the recess area and into the administration offices. We sat down with one of the workers and she began telling us how the school started and what their vision is.
She explained that many of the children are former child soldiers who were abducted from their homes and taken out to live in the bush. Some of the children are from Sudan, and the pastor had to go to their families and pay them at first so that they would be willing to allow their children to go to school. Now, after 5 years of the schools existance, Sudan has a contract with them and there is a waiting list of families willing to pay for their children to come to the school. They are getting a great education here, and it is all built on Christian values and raising up strong leaders for these struggling communities.
The second school that we will be working with, Fountain Primary – Barlonyo, is located in Barlonyo, Uganda, about a 45 minute ride out into the bush from town. (look it up) This is a community that was greatly affected by the LRA just 8-9 years ago. The area was a site of one of the largest camps where the LRA housed people like animals, crammed into tiny mud huts. There were no businesses, farming, or schools around.. simply people trying to survive. The LRA was named most brutal and violent people group. These people have seen the worst of the worst of any humans on the earth. The LRA would randomly choose people from the crowds, kill them brutally in front of the people, chop them up, boil the body, and force the people watching to eat it. Babies were yanked out of their mothers arms by their feet and their heads beaten against rocks until dead. Over 100 men, women, and children were killed at one time and thrown into a large mass grave there. It is so hard to believe that such things happened so recently here.
The people who are still living in the area are the ones who chose not to return to their villages after the LRA left. Many stayed there because their villages had been completely burnt down and destroyed, and many had no family left to return to. The school that we are working with was started two years ago, and now has over 100 students from 4-12 years old. It is bringing a new hope to the area in many ways. My team and I were able to go there on Friday and play games, do crafts, and worship with the children.
On Sunday, I helped teach the children's Sunday School. There were around 50 children in my classroom from ages 4-9. I quietly walked in and sat in the back to observe and see where their usual teachers wanted me to step in. The class began with the teacher asking if one of the children would like to pray. Dozens of hands immediately shot up volunteering, and a 7 year old girl was chosen. She prayed one of the most passionate and powerful prayers that I have ever heard. Next, the teacher asked if a few of them would come to the front and lead worship. Again, children were jumping at the opportunity. Four girls who were around 7-9 years old went to the front, and one of them began to lead accapella worship time. She would clap and sing a verse and all of the children would repeat it. She sang five different songs without skipping a beat, and the rest of the children were 100% engaged and singing straight from the heart. I want to see this passion and leadership in the kids in America. When I am teaching Sunday school at home, I never have kids jumping out of their seats at the chance to pray or lead worship. We don't give them enough credit, which causes them to be shy and timid. The children in these other countries are bold and confident, because that confidence is instilled in them from birth, and they have strong relationships with God. The pastor prayed over the children in the sanctuary before they exited to go to their classes and one thing that he said was, 'God, we praise you for blessing us with this strong group of young leaders! We pray that you would continue to grow a passion in them for your name, so that they will grow our community and our country.'
As their teacher started the lesson, she was talking about miracles. At one point, she asked the children to raise their hands if they had ever suffered from Malaria. EVERY hand shot up. Reality check number 1. She then asked if any of them had ever seen a dead person. I thought 'Well, that's not the most appropriate question to ask a class of 4-9 year olds..' Dozens of hands shot up. The 8 year old girl next to me, Patricia, leaned over and whispered to me: "I have seen. My mother died, and even my father. My mother was given medicine from a witchdoctor, and she died. My father fell from a motor bike, and he died. I now live with my Auntie, and she pays my school fees.' Reality check number 2. This is normal conversation for the children here, and yet they are so strong and full of joy and hope.
Please pray for the area of Barlonyo, and the children at both of the schools. Pray that they would have hope for the future, and see how much God has planned for each one of their lives. Also pray for the children of Victory Outreach church, that this passion would stay burning in them. They are going to bring so much to their communities as they grow up! Pray for my team as we continue to minister to these children. Today we will be leading programs for the primary school, and on Thursday we will lead programs for 500 secondary school students. God is doing amazing things in the restoration of Uganda.
Thanks and God Bless! -MK
