As I stood outside of the home we were staying at in northern Uganda, I noticed that I was being watched. Not by a lion, but by a group of children. It was almost midnight, and there was a group of over five kids watching me brush my teeth. Forty-nine percent of northern Uganda’s population is made up of children, most without parents or any relatives left after the war. In many of the villages in the north there exists a strange world ruled by kids under the age of fifteen. Most of these kids have experienced things hard to imagine, and upon first hearing their stories you struggle to believe them.
So as I share some of the stories we heard I will open by stating the same thing that our contact would before telling us of these kid’s lives. “I am sorry to tell you this”, but there are children in northern Uganda who have seen their parents killed before them, and then been forced to eat them after they were chopped to pieces and cooked. There are children who have been forced to kill their neighbors and even their friends. These children had not only their childhood taken from them, but their humanity as well.
Hearing these stories multiple times a day and meeting those people who had been directly affected by the war, makes it hard to maintain a mentality of hope. As I often do when met with suffering in the world, I blamed God. I asked why did He let all this happen (choosing to forget about free-will momentarily) and why doesn’t He care about these people. I am pretty sure He just asked me the same question in return.
However, as the month neared its conclusion this was the hope that I clung to, that Christ has called us to be His hands and feet in the world, and that we are empowered to make a difference, through living out the love that Christ displayed for us in His life. This is a way that is far from easy, and more often than not doesn’t have us sitting in pews or holding picket signs about how things should be different. As Jesus said we often have to put our hands to the plow and not look back. We can justify why we live the way we do all day, but that doesn’t lead to much change in our world, or in the lives of these children.
I’m there too, I have spent so much of my life saying I may be able to save a kid’s life with just a dollar to pay for his malaria meds, but I would rather go to Starbucks and drop about five bucks on a drink. Coffee isn’t evil, neither is Starbucks, but how I spent my money in the past with blatant disregard to the rest of the world’s needs is pretty bad. However, we are NOT called to feel guilty. We aren’t even called to have pity on the people suffering throughout the world. We are instead called to love them, and when you love someone, you want the best for them, and are willing to sacrifice yourself to see that change take place.
I say all this not to sadden you, or even instill within you a sense of guilt. Instead it is an invitation, a love letter of sorts. This love letter is written between us and those suffering throughout the world, and they aren’t just in Africa. If you’re willing give this relationship a shot, go out of your way to meet someone you may have normally passed by who is in need. Learn their story, share yours, and I promise you will find yourself doing things you never thought you would, and experiencing God in a way that will change you forever.
Thanks folks, I appreciate all that you guys have done. I am almost Fully Funded. I have$2,500 dollars to go. I need your help to stay on the race and to continue serving in these countries. If you feel led to donate, you can do so by clicking the “support me” link on the left side of this page, or contacting me directly. As always feel free to leave a comment or to repost this blog. Thanks.
Garrett
[email protected]
