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While the
jury’s still out on how I feel/think about our time in Lodwar, Kenya, I’m
really in lovein like with Uganda. Granted, perhaps God is just being gracious in placing team Dunamis and
Judah just 10-15 minutes outside of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Or relative to the desert, our current
location is bliss – a guesthouse (hotel) with electricity and indoor plumbing
(toilets, hurray!), and borrowed wireless. What’s not to like?
Aside
from the plentiful amenities – yes, even the darling mosquitoes that have
nibbled on me quite a bit – I’m glad to be here. Don’t get me wrong about Kenya, I’ve met some
great people and I’ve been so encouraged by their passion for worship and
evangelism and the Lord Himself and amazed at their stamina in the former
things. We ate tasty food in Kenya, too
– chai, chapatti, mandazi. . . [drool]. . .
Where was
I going with all this, ah yes. . . I have been pleasantly surprised by Uganda
thus far. I wasn’t sure what kind of
month to expect here; I had been bracing myself for another uneasy month in
Africa. So far, even the
non-expectations I’ve had have been exceeded.
We were
to lodge in a dorm setting for the month, but alas, such plans didn’t work out,
so we were parked at our guesthouse – African hospitality and amazing food and
the floating internet. We were told that
the church we’re partnering with is very Spirit-filled but stepped into a
worship service steeped in liturgy; however, after hearing from the assistant
bishop of the diocese to which this church belongs, I learned that I can’t
judge the character of a church by their style of worship.
The more
I’ve grown to know the young men and women of the church we’re primarily
working with, even though it’s been a couple of days only, the more I’m reminded of
friends from home. Impact fellowship, as
well as another fellowship group at Church of the Resurrection, Bugolobi,
comprises mostly of students and young professionals. Despite the different cultural background and
countries and skin color, I see a lot more similarities than I had thought.
This
church is also a “church on the move”, a phrase that was quite familiar to me
the past year while I was at ODPC. This
church started reaching out to the flats (apartment buildings) right across the
street from their recently completed (a couple years?) building. It’s been over a year since ODPC started our
community care outreach to the Hispanic immigrant community.
The two
are both very much excited each to be a missional church. The one difference I do notice between home
and here is the openness to the working of the Holy Spirit. There is a remnant of people at home who are
very much open and available and “walking in” (egad, more World Race lingo, ah
well) the Spirit, but the remnant here is much bigger.
It’s
still a bit early (but not really – time goes by in a weird way here, by the
way, the month seems to start slow but it’s already over before you realize),
but I’m excited for what God’s doing in us and through all of us. Today, we had the chance to knock on people’s
doors and chat about Jesus. I got to
meet a Pakistani, Muslim woman who only heard Jesus’s name but doesn’t know
him, and tell her how much He loves her.
God
willing, I’ll get to see her love Him back. In the meantime, as we spread the word, and minister to one another, I’m
really hopeful for my church back home. I know we want to extend grace as far as we can, and stretch ourselves
and be the new wineskins, ready to be filled and stretched by the Holy Spirit. It’s easy to chalk it up to other things,
like, “oh, that’s jus t the spiritual climate in Africa,” or, “poverty has a
way of forcing you to depend radically on God.”
That may
apply here, to most of Uganda. But when
I meet these brothers and sisters, it’s like I see my African counterparts. By God’s grace, they don’t seem poor to me;
frankly, they dress much better than we Racers do (though, they attribute it to
their office jobs). I dunno why I’ve
been thinking all this lately; perhaps this is a preview of His answer to my
prayer for home. . .
