We Are Never Alone

This week I was given a new perspective on frustration over injustice and suffering. Many times my ignorance can blind me from seeing what is really going on around me or to doubt that God is really present. This last Thursday we watched the movie Shooting Dogs, which I recommend to everybody. It is a difficult movie to watch, but very powerful. It is about the Rwanda genocide and the difficult things that happened during that time. At one point in the movie this young British missionary who has just seen mutilated bodies, and one of his friends with a bloody machete, ask “where is God?” I confess that I too ask this question sometimes. When hungry children are always knocking at my door, when I hear the stories of children dying at the health center, when the poor is stealing from the poor… Later in the movie when this British missionary and a British priest have to make the decision of whether to stay or go, the priest answers the young man’s question by saying that God is right here, hurting and suffering right along with His children and He will never leave them. Sometimes I cry out to God either for myself or for others thinking He is this far away God who doesn’t understand the pain. But he understands pain and suffering far greater than I or anyone else ever could. He weeps and mourns with those hurting and grieving more than I ever could, He faces rejection more than I ever will, and He cries out for His children who are hungry. I think at times I believe that if I think this way about God, it somehow belittles him, but really it makes Him even greater. We serve a God who not only protects us, but also suffers and cries with us, and understands on a far greater level all that we see and feel.

A few pics from the week

This last week at St. Padre Pio one of the interns and I took some time to sit with the students during their break time. Each day they are given about a 30 min. break to eat porage and rest. I enjoyed just being surrounded by the students and their bright curious faces.

A couple of days a week I have been going out into the villages to conduct a survey on primary education. These children were at one of the homes that I stopped at last week, and it was the first time they had ever seen a digital camera. I sometimes wonder what must go through someone's head when they see themselves on the little screen. These children could not stop laughing and jumping.

This last Saturday some of us went on a hike up the mountains. We ended up getting caught in a rain storm, which felt good at first and then a little miserable after a short time. Although it is a pretty strenuous hike and I am still stiff and sore, it is worth every step. I can't even begin to describe the beauty of walking in the forest, looking accross the valleys towards the other mountains in Congo, looking down at the villages, and at one point being surrounded by bamboo.

Unconditional Love

These children are holding a portrait that they drew of themselves and at the top it says "I am loved by God."

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.” Psalm 89:1-2
Today at St. Padre Pio I taught a lesson about God’s unconditional love. I started out by asking them to think about the word love and what it means to them. Some of the students put up their hand and gave some sentences using the word love. Some examples were; “I love my father because he pays school fees.” Or “I love my parents because they buy me books.” All of the sentences that were shared used the word because followed by a condition. I found this very interesting and convicting because too often do I love only conditionally. I love a person only when they act the way that I want them to or according to the way a person loves and treats me. But God’s word clearly says we are to love even our enemies. I transitioned our discussion to asking about God’s love for us. I asked if there was anything we could do that could change the way the Lord loves us. Does God love me more when I am good? Many students responded with yes. How often do I think the same way? Our human nature sometimes wants to limit God’s love, but it is not possible.
If then I truly believe that God’s love is unconditional, that there is nothing I can do that will change the way He loves me, how then should this truth impact the way that I love others? The Lord was speaking to my heart today, just as much as He was to the children’s. Often times I lack this kind of love. I miss opportunities to show God’s unconditional love and His never ending outpouring of grace. I pray the students were also challenged to think about the love of God in a new way. And that they would truly see examples of His unconditional love in their lives.

Ready Set Go!

As one of the priests always says, “It brings warmth to the heart to see children having a good time.” What a true statement. Playing games with the children at school is one of my favorite things. Today one of the interns and I played some games with two of the classes at St. Padre Pio. We started with a game of crab football (soccer). The kids really seemed to get a kick out of this game (no pun intendedJ). Because the grass had just been slashed they were kicking dead grass up along with the ball. The game sadly had to end after a bit when the ball lost its air after the seal somehow came out. We spent a little time looking for the small seal, but it was literally like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Later with another class, we played the game red light green light. However, these children have never seen a stop light and therefore couldn’t associate the colors with go, stop, and slow. They still enjoyed the game though, and it was quite amusing to watch them. Even when games don’t turn out the way I expect, the kids always have a good time and that is all that matters.

White Teeth

I realized after it was already placed there, that White Teeth is a very appropriate book to use as a weight for this orange basin. It was the gnawing sound of white teeth that woke me from a peaceful sleep last night and kept me awake for 2 hours. If you haven’t guessed already the white teeth belong to a pesky rat that has decided to find shelter in our house. My half awake, half asleep state kept me from tearing my room apart to try and find the pesky creature. And the fact that I really didn’t want the thing scurrying over my bare feet. I did finally fall back to sleep and woke up pretty sure that it was no longer hiding out in one of my drawers, but still rather annoyed.
This evening our new found pesky friend came out again. One of my roommates encountered it as she went down the hall, gave a little scream and ran back out to our front room as the rat darted down the hall in the opposite direction. At first we didn’t know where it went, but then it was spotted in one of the bedrooms. We all grabbed out necessary weapons (2 golf clubs, a very heavy and thick pounding stick, and an orange basin) and shut ourselves in the room. The question then remained; did we really know what we were doing? None of us really had the gumption to give it a deadly whack. So instead it became a game of shooing the rat around to try and get it to an open space where the orange basin could be thrown on top of it. After about 20 minutes of chasing the rat around the room, we finally succeeded with the basin. What next? Still no gumption for the kill. The rat now remains under the basin, with the heavy books weighing it down, over some powdered rat poison. Yes, we are pretty ridiculous. How we will tell when it dies, I am not quite sure.

Food and Faith

Thursday was a Kwejuna distribution. This is where mothers with HIV come and after a day of weighing, testing, shot giving, and a message from Scott, they are given a HUGE bag of beans along with 3 liters of oil and two bags of salt. A very exciting day for all who come including those who help. The interns and I had the privilege of participating. While two of the interns helped weigh and measure the mothers and their children, I and another intern met with small groups of women to hear their prayer requests and pray for them. As each request was being translated for me to understand, it became a very sobering experience. These women are some of the most courageous women. Not only are they trying to care for themselves, but they are still trying their best to care for their family. Many women shared that they are always feeling weak and tired, but still have to work. They are struggling to provide for the needs of their children. My heart broke with each request. The path that these women are walking down is a path that I can’t even begin to relate to and here they were sharing their struggles with me. These women are not only living with this virus, which has no cure, but they could also be living in very poor conditions, no home, sometimes ostracized from their families because of the stigma still connected with HIV/AIDS, and because their immune system is weakening there are susceptible to so many other sicknesses. My biggest prayer for all of these women is that they would continue to believe that the Lord loves them even as they walk this very difficult path.
I also had a turn weighing mothers and children. Many of the infants do not like being placed in the weighing basket, which to them must have felt very insecure and unsafe. I also got to hold many of these precious babies as the mothers were weighed. Once everyone went through each station there was a time of waiting as all the food was brought in. Scott spoke to the women using the story of Job and how he never gave up even after everything was taken from him and he never lost faith. From the reactions of the women I could tell that they were relating to the story being told. Please pray that they would continue to have faith that the Lord is always present and His love never changes.

A Wet Arrival

As a team we were so excited for the interns to arrive that we were willing to stand in the pouring rain. There were many delays throughout the morning that postponed their arrival, mainly weather, that they did not arrive until around 1:30pm. We really thought that because of the weather they would not be able to land on our airstrip, but the bold and courageous pilot braved the rain and cloud cover and landed with no problems. The interns along with a returning team member exited the plane with smiles on their faces and excited to finally be here. We all ran up to them and gave them big WET hugs.

Reuniting

Friday was a day of reuniting. First, I went and greeted the two schools that I taught in the last few months I was in Bundibugyo. As I came up to the first school the children were taking their break. When they saw me they started jumping up and down. This of course made me smile and I waved to them all before I entered the staff room to surprise the teachers. Only a couple of teachers I knew from before were there along with a couple of new ones. I sat with them as we went around and shared how life has been the last 4 or so months. When the students were back in their classrooms I went around and greeted them all. When I asked them if they remember me they a kind of ah huh sound that means yes. When I asked them what my name was they called out Madam Kim (or some say Kimi or Kimu). Praise God for special times like these. St. Padre Pio has developed a lot of improvements and really brings much excitement to my heart because it has the potential of being an amazing primary school.
I was also warmly greeted by the staff at St. Mercy. Before leaving Uganda I met with these teachers each week for teacher training. I was happy to see that most of the staff was still present and teaching. They told me that they were looking forward to talking with me more about how they have been applying the things we talked about in the fall and showing me how they have been using the materials I left. I was very encouraged by both school visits. The Lord is really moving in both places. Teachers are learning how to create safe and better learning environments. I also really felt like they cared deeply about the success and growth of their students. I anticipate many more visits over the summer and look forward to how the Lord will teach us all through these times.
Another exciting reunion was with the pottery house. We were almost to the house when we met some of our pottery friends on the road returning home. It is fun to catch people by surprise and to see their excited expressions. We walked together the rest of the way. As we walked up to the house I saw the woman I had the deepest friendship with, her back to me beginning to fire the pots. When she heard the commotion of us coming she turned around, noticed it was me, threw her hands in the air, and yelled eeeeeeeeeeeeehh. She ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug. They quickly got us chairs and one by one came up to greet. Everyone, including myself couldn’t stop smiling.
This day was a reminder to me that even with cultural and language barriers relationships are possible. Although it is easier to build relationships with people we have things in common with, we learn so much more from one another through our differences.