Koch Chorom and Lujolongole

 

 

Blog post 6/5/15

 

After almost 40 hours of travel, today we finally went out to a couple of villages to be among people. The team was tired of flying and riding, but excited to begin serving. This team is fantastic! Each person is ready to jump in and help, hold a baby, play with kids, pray and engage with the adults, as well as, sing and dance in worship. They have an attitude and spirit of grace, love, and service. It is beautiful to behold.

 

We started out the morning devotion with 1 John 3:18 "Dear Children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth in action." That is what we are doing . Putting the Love of Christ in action. It is easy to say you love someone. People say it all the time; but the real truth is how we show we love. Spending time with people. Holding hands as we walk a trail. Dancing together in worship. So many places we go we hear 'thank you for coming'. It is humbling. The people we get to serve are just excited and honored that we came to be with them. We always want to fix things in America. We see the poverty, need and the hurt and are ready to build something, etc to fix it. But we can't fix it. Not by ourselves. But simple fellowship, worship and being intentional in engaging with people is empowering.

 

Greg also shared from our book about "Team First". It was a great lesson about the body of Christ having many talents and skills. All of them needed to do the will of the father. We humans rank the spiritual gifts by a hierarchy of some sort of importance, but God does not. He sees the value in all as he put them in each of us to be a part of His greater story. Greg has really provided the team with a foundation each day to keep us grounded and encouraged to be ready to serve.

 

First we headed to Koch Chorom. A place I know well. We came here first in 2008 and have done many medical clinics and outreach. We entered the church and got to worship.  Man, I say it every year, but it blows me away every time. Ugandans KNOW how to worship the Lord!  This village was a displacement camp when the war was at its highest. When the government disbanded the camps some people went home and others stayed and formed a village.

Pastor Alphonse is a big man with a huge smile and laugh. He has a warm and loving spirit. He welcomed us with some of the local church leaders. I got to greet the church on behalf of the team followed by introductions. I shared a scripture that came to me on the plane over. Psalm 122: 1, 4a "I rejoiced with those who said, let us go to the house of the Lord, that is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord". Even though there is a tribe of the Lord from Uganda and we are the tribe of the Lord from America we are all still one big tribe of the Lord. One family. That is how the church welcomed us... like family.

Matt shared his testimony about how Christ changed his life. It was so great to see this young man open up about his life and how God changed it. People were encouraged. I love having Matt on the team. He encourages me, too!

 

A small group of the team went with Alphonse and Edward to see the ox plow project. Edward and Alphonse were asking and answering questions back and forth about it. I loved seeing two country men sharing and encouraging one another. This is a project we think can be implemented at the school for a source of jobs and income. It was very inspiring!

 

After some goodbyes, hugs, and prayers we came back to town for lunch. If it tells you how the team is engaged, we all fell asleep and missed lunch! When we awoke it was raining and it looked like we would not be able to go to Lujolongole for the open air crusade. This village has just establish a new Methodist church where Patrick is pastor. They meet under a wood frame structure with a tarp tied to the top. God stopped the rain and the crusade proceeded. When we arrived skies, were clear of rain and the children's choir greeted us with song while the equipment was being set up. We had another incredible, worship time. Kennedy led the kids and crowd in dancing and singing. He is a joy to be around. I told him I cannot move like he can when dancing, so he has promised to teach me tomorrow. I am fearful of pulling a muscle!

 Once again I greeted the crowd and thanked them for welcoming us. Melissa and Matt shared their testimony. It is amazing to see how God can take a story of redemption across cultural lines to

impact another person. Melissa was straight from the heart and had the local pastors hugging her and thanking her for her message. That is the family of God!

 The evening message was provide by Pastor Edward. He was on fire! Some on the team have never gotten to see him bring it like this, and God brought him to preach it! He encouraged the area that the enemy has tried to oppress them through Joseph Kony and the war, but that the light always casts out darkness and that is what God has done in Gulu. Edward told everyone that there was no need to get drunk or go see a witch doctor. Jesus tells us to cast our burdens on Him and take up His yoke. My brother was just fantastic! He had us spread among the crowd so we could pray over people to end the evening. It was special, wonderful and holy. In the middle of the bush, in a clearing in a village under the open skies Ugandans and Americans came together under the banner of Christ. Beautiful!

 As we left it was dark! Night time in Africa is not like anything I have seen at home. No street lights. Only stars and darkness. Beautiful and a little spooky at the same time. And then the wind kicked up just as we had the bus loaded with equipment and people the rains came. God held it off till the work He had for us to do was done. Amazing.

 It was a good day. A day of fellowship and encouragement with worship. It was brothers and sisters together in each other’s presence just being available. What a wonderful time!

 Tomorrow we do the same thing but at Ariaga UMC in the morning, Achwang after lunch and then end with an open air crusade in the village of Opit. More worship, sharing, dancing and fellowship. The church encouraging each other. 

 The team is tired, but doing well. The bus rides are long and bumpy while our bodies just seem to tire in the sun (when it is out it is warm!). That does not stop anyone from jumping out of the bus to engage. Like a family reunion!

Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming. Your family member/ friend is truly being the hands and feet of Christ!

God bless and talk to you tomorrow!

Chris