Before reading this blog, I would like to direct you to my teammate Hannah's blog, "You Know You're On the World Race When…Ugandan Edition"! It's a list of many of the funny things that happened to us during the month of Uganda…especially when it involved cross-cultural oddities and awkward situations. Read it and I'm sure it'll make you smile!
So, on to the blog…
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A few times on the Race during feedback, my teammates have said to me that I have the gift of a servant’s heart. But it wasn’t until I observed the hearts of Mama Freida and Pastor Joseph at work that I truly understood what a real servant’s heart looked like. These are two of the instances where I have caught a glimpse of the hearts behind their blossoming ministry.
5:00am.
One night, as we were all hanging out in the back alley-way behind the house (sort of like a back porch), I asked Mama Freida when she was waking up in the morning, because I noticed that she awoke rather early to cook every morning. To my astonishment, she replied, 5:00am! She needed to wake up that early in order to make the fried dough balls that are sold for food at the school every morning. I marvelled that she would wake up that early in order to serve the kids, and decided to wake up early too to see what it would be like.
At 5:00am the next morning, I woke before the sun was up in order to help Mama cook. To my surprise, the normally lax-about-time African woman was already up and moving about. When it came to her kids, Mama was on the ball.
We headed out to start our work, and to my surprise (though why I should be surprised, I don't know) she said we should pray before starting our work. So, I closed my eyes, and she prayed. "Father God, thank You for today and the gift of life. Thank You for this opportunity to cook and serve the kids. Give us the strength to do Your work and fill us with Your Holy Spirit and Your Love. In Jesus's Name, Amen." Wow!! I was struck in my heart by her prayer. She didn't even begrudge the fact that she had to work so hard for the kids, even though she was a pastor's wife. She wasn't serving because she had to; she was thankful for the opportunity to serve. It was incredible.
The cooking took 2.5 hours, until it was finally finished by 8:00am. I then asked her what time she went to sleep. 1:00am! Why, I asked. Because she had stayed up mixing the dough for the dough balls. There was absolutely no resentment in her; she simply prayed for God to grant her the strength to do her work. "I will sleep in the afternoon," she said.
Besides Mama, I also observe greatly in Pastor Joseph an equally humble, servant heart. Although he is the pastor, he does not consider it beneath himself to drive 4 hours a day in order to take kindergarteners to and from school. He wakes up at 5:30am, before the sunrise, and drives a 2 hour route in order to pick up 43 kids to go to school. As he drives by their house, all the kids yell, "Daddy! Daddy!" The kids absolutely love him. One of the kids even cried when he thought 'Daddy' wouldn't be driving him to school anymore (Pastor was thinking of hiring a driver). Later, at 1:00pm, he also drives the kids home again from school.
Mama Freida and Pastor Joseph may be the heads of the church and the school, but they find no task too menial for them, even if it is cooking or driving for hours a day. Even their “spiritual children”, children and youths they have taken in, are trained to wake up and serve as hard as they do. How many times have I served, but with a reluctant heart? How much have I grumbled against my circumstances? Yet these people serve cheerfully each day, repetitive, time-consuming, and thankless though it may be. They truly show me the meaning of what it means to have a servant's heart.
