My team and I have been in Uganda for two weeks now. Here’s the scary part …. We only have one more week of working with our final ministry until we say goodbye. That’s scary. It’s a lot to think about at the moment. But I don’t want to talk about going home yet. I still have one more blog to write to you about something that happened. It’s a story about a guy we met on Lake Bunyonyi, a huge lake about 30 minutes from the region we are in. This story is worth sharing.
Lake Bunyonyi was a lake worth visiting for us girls. It’s one of the deepest lakes in the World and has some of the most beautiful small islands I’ve seen. But there’s one island every person should see when they visit. Punishment Island has history. History that’s so significant to the lake and its people that it’s still talked about today.
Punishment Island was used in the earlier 1900’s until the late 1950’s. And its name explains exactly what the use of the land was for. You see, back then if a girl became known to be pregnant out of marriage they were instantly looked down upon. They were seen as a whore who was useless, sinful, and who had no future. And for being pregnant, what were the consequences? They were sent to Punishment Island. But it wasn’t just for punishment, it was for death. The island is smack down in the middle of the lake with several other islands quite far away. Almost everyone then didn’t know how to swim. Therefore most girls who were sent to Punishment Island would either die from starvation, attempting to swim to another island, or even suicide from simply jumping into the deep waters of Lake Bunyonyi. It was tragic and ruthless but sadly, it was reality. But I have some other reality to tell you that happened to me and some friends.
Just by searching a little, my friend Michelle met a guy named Tyson. Michelle had been wanting to take a boat tour around the lake to learn some more about the area. And Tyson was the tour guide who was perfect for the job. He owned his own little boat that allowed for five of us girls to go. Tyson knew the lake well because he was born and raised on it. But what I didn’t know at first was Tyson’s story of where he actually came from. Not until Tyson drove us to see Punishment Island did I learn his story.
He said “I’m a product of this island. That’s why I love Punishment Island.” I said “WHAT!? How can you love Punishment Island??” He laughed at me and another friend when we became stunned by what he said. Tyson next told us that his grandmother was one of the women who were taken to the island. She was there for three days. Three days. With no water or food and I’m sure the thought of suicide or attempting to swim the waters. She remained there until a man sneaked onto the island to save her. That man was the man who later chose to marry her and become her husband. Tyson’s grandmother is still alive today and she now has ten grandchildren. Tyson is one of them. He’s the oldest grandchild because his grandmother was pregnant with his father on Punishment Island. When Tyson told us this story of why he so loves Punishment Island, he spoke with a huge grin on his face. And he should.
Tyson is now a swimming teacher for young children on the lake. He wants to stop the cycle of not knowing how to swim with it being a huge threat to so many people’s lives on the lake. He said he started teaching because he is from a story of redemption and wants others to live a life of redemption. Tyson doesn’t live in a poverty mind set like so many of us do. He looks at the enemy in the eye and smiles back. He has no fear because he doesn’t listen to the lie of defeat.
A poverty mind set doesn’t mean you’re actually poor (although Tyson lives closer to poverty than what we’ll ever know). A poverty mind set is when you believe you have nothing else to hold onto. When you believe you can’t handle anymore and you’re the only one going through something hard. It’s when you listen to that lie of defeat. But it’s all crap. Because we’re the product of something good… something REALLY good. It’s our choice of how we look at it. Do I want to look at my horrible situation and say “yeah I deserve this punishment”? Or do I want to look at the enemy in the eye like Tyson does every day as a tour guide and smile back because I know the fruit that has come from the ugliness?
Isaiah 54:17 says “No weapon formed against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” There is a promise in that verse. But there’s also a part in that verse that tells us we will have to take action. To refute anything that comes against us. We have the free will to decide if we do something good with what we are a product of. You know just like I do – it doesn’t matter where we’ve come from but where we are going. There’s been several hard times on the race where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish. But now with leaving the race, I choose to be a product of the fruit that’s come out of those tough times. Tyson has reminded me to be a product of life, not of death. God gives us that free will. Let’s choose to smile at the enemy and give a tour to others of the goodness in our lives!
