Just a pair of shoes.
That seems simple to us. I have somewhere around 40 pairs sitting in my closet at home (mind you I almost never throw any out and I used to have a slight addiction to buying them a Ross or Marshall’s) otherwise shoes are not that big a deal to us.
During my time in Uganda the team and I became very close to a family. The father’s name is Sam he is an amazing man of God who leads his family in the way God has asked him to he goes to the hospital to pray with the people who are stuck there…mainly HIV victims. Helen is the mother’s name she prepares rice, cabbage, beans, and sometimes meat for the lunch hour prayer that the church has every day. Sam and Helen are servants to say the least. They have two children Brian and Sharon who stole our heat from the moment we met her. Brian was a little more shy.
While we were there in Lira Sam and his family let us be a part of them. Sam took Priscilla and Sammy out to the hospital everyday to pray over Peter a boy who was dying of AIDS. Helen who spoke little English enjoyed teaching us a couple of words in Lango though we weren’t able to communicate verbally other than hello, how are you? We knew each others heart. The kids came to the church after school everyday at 1 and helped their mom and hung out with us.
You see Sam, Helen, and Sharon all are HIV positive. If that doesn’t break your heart I don’t know what will. As we were living and working with them knowing this just hurt. By the grace of God Brian was not born with the virus. Which in itself is a miracle I am thankful for. Sam, Helen, and Sharon are all on medication and are healthy otherwise.
During this month my teammate Monica and I were able to raise funds for the people with HIV and to buy the “Living Positive” group flour and laundry detergent we were able to get each member of the group a coupe kilos of flour and the soap. With what we had raised we Mon and I were able to ask Helen if we could take the kids out to town for the afternoon. We had noticed Brian was completely splitting through his school shoes (most likely the only pair of shoes he had) and Sharon was needing a new pair as well.
So we took the kids out and started our search for the shoes. Brian and Sharon had no idea what we were doing which was kinda fun to see their surprise. We searched the outdoor market but there weren’t any black shoes, and they have to have black ones for school. A woman in the market noticed we were obviously looking for something and she spoke a little English which was awesome. She took us to a line of shops that had a pile of shoes painted/dyed black so that kids would be able to wear them to school.
The kids realized what we had been looking for and Brian and Sharon totally lit up and were so happy. We dug through the shoes an our hands turned black and purple because of the dye but we found them each a pair and they were so proud walking through town in their new shoes. It was such a blessing to be able to bless these kids and their parents in this way. Its funny how picky I am about things I wear or the shoes I buy and here I met the most amazing kids ever and they love the new shoes they got. It’s yet another reason I am so lucky to be learning the things I am.
On the way back to church we grabbed a chappati and then headed back to see Helen. Sharon was so excited to show her mom the new shoes and Brian couldn’t wait to show Sam. It was just awesome to see. Helen gave us a huge hug and a look that said more than any thanks I’ve ever been privileged to have.
This is just a little story of my time in Uganda one hot humid day in east Africa.
Another reason God has me where I am to learn and be a part of something bigger than myself could have ever imagined.
