Northern Uganda, where I have spent the past month, is an absolutely gorgeous area in the African bush, inhabited mostly by the Acholi people. These people have suffered greatly over the past 20-30 years, as the Lords Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, burned villages and abducted children who were forced to fight for the LRA as child soldiers. One of the burned villages was called Lukodi, which is where I have been working with an amazing organization called Childvoice International.
Childvoice is a Christian organization which provides counseling and skills training for young women, many of whom had been child soldiers. Some of these women were forced to be brides to the men in the army, but even many of these men were abducted and forced to become child soldiers at one point as well, so it is a complicated issue. Other women at the center grew up in camps for internally displaced people. All of this generation was extremely affected by the war- they did not have the childhood they should have. The women (and girls) are anywhere from 15-24 and most have children from newborns up to age 9.
CVI is an awesome, sustainable organization helping these women get counseling for everything they’ve been through and teaching them skills so that after 18 months in the program they can graduate and make a life for themselves and their children. CVI also focuses heavily on spiritual formation and has an amazing group of Christian staff who help teach and mentor the girls. From being at the center for a month and hearing some of their stories, my team and I learned more than we could ever imagine from the Acholi people.
Lessons the Acholi People Taught Me
1. Faith can get you through anything, even the unimaginable. We got to hear one amazing staff member’s story about her experience during the war. The LRA was burning villages nearby and wanting to arrest her husband. He refused to stop going to church and kept pushing his wife to pray and have faith. One day he was captured by the LRA. His wife walked 20 or so miles to find him, and when she did she approached the army, but they refused to release her husband. He did get to talk to her and told her just to keep her faith and raise their children well (she was prenant). She ended up finding out her husband was killed. She was in her early 20s, and as a widow she gave birth to her triplets. She continued raising her kids through the war, often with no or very little food and water, but she relied on God and he always provided. Today she is on staff at CVI as a nurse and early childhood teacher, but also as a kind of “house mom” who can really relate to the girls at the center and encourage them in their faith. She actually ended her story by encouraging my team and I to always keep faith and rely in God for everything. She is an amazing example of a woman shining a light for Christ after experiencing some of the worst darkness in this world.
2. Spiritual warfare is real, but Jesus always has the power to overcome. Blog on this to follow, but short story: Out first weekend at the center we were told one of the girls was suffering from demonic attacks. All she wanted was to go back to her village (where her parents would take her to the witch doctor), and she was mute the entire day. Eventually CVI decided to drive her back to her village, but on the way there they began praying over here and she ended up crying out to Jesus. She gave her life to Him right then and there and the demons were cast away.
3. No matter what our circumstances, we can always be filled with joy. I saw this in the girls who we worked with each day. They had been through more than I could ever imagine… Some abducted and forced to kill, others raped, others seeing their parents killed. The list could go on and on. But these girls were joyful in all they did. Whether it was bathing their children, washing laundry or carrying water to and from the well 4 times a day on their heads, they always had smiles on their faces. And their worship. Oh my, do they know how to joyfully worship the Lord! 🙂
4. Language doesn’t have to be a barrier. I was not sure exactly how to communicate with the girls when we got to CVI, since many of them don’t speak English. However, as the days and weeks went on, and especially as I saw them interact with the American interns, I realized that there is so much more to communicating than speaking, We learned that it’s not always what you say that impacts a person, but it’s what you do and sometimes that’s just sitting with a girl in silent braiding hair, and other times it’s praying for her, even in a language she may not know.
5. You can be (and may even be more) truly happy when you have very little. The girls and kids at the center did not have a lot of material possessions. Most of the girls don’t know how to work a computer, and the kids don’t have “toys” as kids in America would. However, the kids are creative and make their own toys, such as dressing an old water bottle up as a baby doll (if they aren’t carrying a live baby on their back), tying a baby bird to a string (their version of a pet), or tying up a bunch of bandanas to make a homemade hammock between the trees. I truly believe after being at CVI that the less you have, the more happy you will be. The girls get excited about the little things, like getting a coke and cookies for a special celebration like our “last supper.” They also tend to understand better what is truly important in life (refer to lesson #1) and they live relentlessly relying on God.
It’s been a sad day, leaving Lukodi, but we are so thankful for an amazing first month of ministry. More blogs will follow soon! If you want to learn more about CVI you should check out their website at childvoiceintl.org 🙂 They are awesome!
