Our last night in Uganda. Slightly blurry, but no tripod!
My team is in Moshi, Tanzania, a town at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Every morning if I took a short walk, I could see the sunrise over Mt. Kilimanjaro, and every evening its setting. We are working with a church called Agape on the outskirts of town. Mostly, we're doing door-to-door evangelism and encouraging church members. It's some of the hardest ministry to do, often because of the awkwardness that can be so prevelant when you walk into someone's house and just start teaching the word.
When we first got here, we planting trees is a ceremonial breaking of the ground. Moreover, it symbolized the seeds we were planting and the roots that are taking hold. In Kenya, we did something similar, one tree sapling for each team member, but in Tanzania, we planted about 30. In the rock hard ground is any indication of what ministry in Tanzania will be like, we have our work cut out for us. It was good to do some manual labor, it's become clear how out of shape I am. I imagine my first month or two back in the States are going to be sweaty as try to get healthy again.
The mountain looms; a 300mm lens helps.
Pastor Costa of Agape church.
We've had the opportunity to meet some great people. The rest of this blog is dedicated to one of those people. One morning we were doing door-to-door evangelism and encouragement and had just finished at a house. As we were leaving, we heard worship music blaring from next door. Pastor led us to the house, and we met Paul, a 21-year-old facing a difficult circumstance.
The music that led us to him was more than coincidence, in Paul's eyes. He had been praying for someone to advise him and pour into his life for some time. Pastor Costa had been reaching out to him, helping him as best he could, but within two minutes of speaking with Paul, you could tell he was on the verge of depression. We were a lamp to help light his path.
Formerly Islamic, and formerly with a different name, Paul heard God's voice telling him he should change his name shortly after choosing Christianity over Islam. Given the accolades that can be attributed to his namesake, I imagine we can expect great things from Paul.
In the beginning, his life seemed better. He felt like he had made the right decision and that he was walking down a great path. His parents are divorced, and he evangelized his mother and sister and brought both to Christ. His father, on the other hand, remained with the Islamic faith. Any attempt from Paul to reach out to his father is met with scorn, and always devolves into an argument.
Recent events has made his path considerably more rocky. He lives with his mother, and they fight all the time. He is accosted by old friends who try and pull him back down into drugs and alcohol. He has little money, but they urge him to sell his computer and buy them drugs and alcohol. The Christians in the neighboring community, in his opinion, are liars and hypocrites, and not the sort that would benefit a new, struggling Christian. He feels alone and confronted on all sides.
I spoke to him about Psalm 73, which summarizes a situation where evil seems to have no troubles, yet following Christianity is rife with them. The writer eventually remembers how faithful God is, and leans back into God. Kayla and Thomas, our squad leaders, also spoke to him, and we all have plans to continue pouring into him over the coming weeks. Luckily, he has a strong community of Christians at our contact, and it is my hope that he will utilize that resource.
He called us a gift from God. If that didn't make my day, I don't know what could. While God clearly put him in our path, and we've been given an incredible opportunity to ministry and grow his faith, we have to be cautious and continually turn him toward God and Pastor Costa. Without that vital step, any comfort and growth he may gain by our ministry could easily lead to a reversion to depression when we leave.
