Be warned, this blog post will not be something you can skim through before going to bed or over your morning coffee. This post will require you to intentionally sit down and spend more than a few minutes to read about our adventure. However, I promise, if you give us the time you will be blessed by what we learned and did in Gulu today. The best part of this post is that it incorporates the words of several of the team members. Everybody had a different story from today and instead of summarizing their words, a few members chose to tell their story themselves. Today you will get to see many perspectives of the same picture. If you are short on time, feel free to skip to the team members' story you are most interested in.
First, a quick summary of yesterday. We travelled from Kampala in the south part of Uganda up to Gulu in the very north part. We spent seven hours together on a bus. We had plenty of jam sessions to each other’s favorite genres of music, which began with the very fitting Lion King soundtrack. Extreme amounts of team bonding occurred on this journey, including getting to experience a very African bathroom. Picture a literal hole in the ground and you will be fairly close. Also we had the opportunity to walk across a bridge over the NILE RIVER. Yes, that Nile River. Also on this walk we got to meet some wild baboons. They were just chilling on the side of the road, like you would see a deer in the states. They proceeded to climb on our bus and had to be shooed away by our rockstar bus driver Wilfred! Shortly after that experience we arrived in Gulu. We toured the Koro Farm run by Sports Outreach. This place is incredible. Basically the people at this farm have made it their mission to meet every imaginable need in the communities surrounding Gulu. However, as we toured this amazing facility, we had no idea the depth of ministry we would experience here, which brings us to today.
The Nile
Alex here, adding to the blog for the first time since we arrived in Africa. Friday was a full day of ministry in Gulu, on and off the Koro Farm property that is the hub of all things Sports Outreach (SO) in Northern Uganda. The day started off with a time of devotional, filled with singing praise songs and some guy sharing a brief message from the book of Acts...oh wait, that was me who was sharing. I had the unique experience of sharing Acts 2:42-47, encouraging the SO staff and volunteers that they are walking in God’s favor, and that numbers of people being saved, confessing Christ as their savior, will be growing daily. I’m not bold enough to call it “preaching”, but taking some brief time to talk about the Bible with these incredible people was an honor.
You’ll surely be reading or already have read about different parts of this jam-packed day, but I want to share briefly about two parts that stuck out to me. First, a word about the women of Uganda. As with most African countries, Ugandan women are asked to carry much, if not all of the burden of daily cooking, cleaning, and raising of children, while not receiving much credit. Despite the implicit slights, Ugandan women are tough as nails, caring as could be, and all around interesting people. Our Gulu guide, Brenda, is challenging to describe without falling into non-stop hyperbole. She is joyful, she is wise, she is passionate. She is quick to share about some of the horrors of her past, living in Northern Uganda, and quick to follow it up with a praise of God for how she was delivered from the violence that has passed in the past several decades. She is fantastic at her job, and has a heart to serve her people tirelessly. It’s not just Brenda though. We heard from Esther, the pastor’s wife here at the Koro Farm, who leads the “Christine’s House” ministry that helps girls from the area who have been abused. We had the privilege to watch three young female teachers lead a classroom of almost 40 kindergarten aged children with skill, dedication, and love. We watched and learned as some of the cooks showed their culinary expertise as they prepare food for around 70 people at lunch time (oh my gosh, the food here is INCREDIBLY GOOD!). Sweeping, making bricks, leading by example In everything they do...the women of Uganda rock. #girlpower
Another experience today that left a profound impact was our visit to a home for troubled children in Gulu. This wasn’t a prison, but it was one step away from jail as we know it. Twenty-six children live at this home, ranging in age from 10 to 18. The emotional roller coaster in the several hours we spent here was rolling up and down constantly. We started by meeting the children, singing a song with them, and then breaking up into smaller groups to share our stories of how we all arrived at this place. The “munus” or “white people” went first, sharing some of our testimonies, and giving encouragement to these young boys and one girl who found themselves here. Then they started sharing; Vincent went first. Rapist. A three year old girl. He’s a 14 year old boy. Barbara went next. A thief. Stole money from her house and her neighbors. Morris went last. Wrongly accused. Innocent. Unable to find council to support his story. Forced into “accepting his crime” and getting a “light sentence” of a year or so in this home.
I was prepared for great joy in Gulu. I was prepared for great sadness in Gulu. And then these kids started talking. Kids who could’ve been born anywhere, had anybody as their parents. Had anybody as their teacher. Me as their teacher. But they were born in Northern Uganda, and I want to encourage anybody who hasn’t read the story of turmoil this region has seen to investigate the issue, dating back centuries ago to when British overlords intentionally depressed this region, all the way up until recent history where, until as recently as 2006, Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army snatched innocent children and forced them to fight against their own people in the name of progress and the name of God. When you start to scratch the surface of the raw, awful history here, the contrast of joy and sadness that exists here starts to come into focus.
So we heard the stories, and I shared some of my struggle with lustful, disgusting thoughts that have impacted me for my adult life. And it was hard. I felt awful on the inside. And then we started dancing, and taught these beautiful humans the ‘whip’ and ‘nae nae’. And then the smiles started. Big smiles. Smiles-that-make-you-happy-you’re-alive smiles. And then we played rugby, and these boys started looking like my percussion section boys who run off at every opportunity between rehearsals to play basketball. After a brief shower cry (we’ve all been there, no judging), I opened my bible to Isaiah and I started reading chapter 65, where we hear about the New Heaven and Earth that God is preparing for us. Where “former things will not be remembered, where they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit, and where they will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune.”(Verses 17-25). As we heard the kindergarteners chant today before receiving their porridge: “God is good...all the time...all the time...God is good”.
A word from Craig, who by the way was a rockstar and threw himself whole heartedly into every task today.
Ministry is a choice. We make this choice with everything we do no matter how small the action. For example, today, I had the opportunity to bless the children of the Mango Tree Day Care by serving them their food. Every time I served a plate, I said "For you." These kids were starting to warm up to us by this time and after about 10 plates the kids caught on and helped me with my little phrase. I could have chosen to just go through the motions and not say anything, but instead I decided to take the few seconds I had with every child to try and make a small connection with them. I chose an attitude of love over an attitude of duty. I chose to make every moment count.
The group of preschoolers we ministered to.
And to hear from Nicole, the heart and soul behind this trip.
This is my first time contributing to the blog and I am excited to write as I feel it will be very helpful in helping to process the days here in Uganda. So much has happened. We have seen and experienced so much laughter, so much joy, so much community, so much pain, so much hardship, so much family. When you all ask me how our trip was upon our return, I’ll answer that it was amazing and probably give you a few details (more if you ask, of course!) but I will not ever be able to convey to you the right words to explain how it really was.
As an overview, we’ve visited slums, given out sweets to adorable children in the slums, heard about the ministry of Sports Outreach, toured the facilities and all they are doing and all they plan to do, played soccer with locals (and got our butts whipped but hey, we can say we did it), visited juvenile detention centers, visited young girls who have been rescued from abuse, helped teach a lesson to a pre-school, helped make bricks (57 out of over 2,000 that have to be made but every little bit counts!), cooked a meal for the school, and danced and sung with the locals. In every experience, we are all overwhelmed by the openness of the people and how truly welcome we are. We notice just how genuine each person is. There is nothing but love and acceptance in every person here. And even more so, everything is so appreciated; something we agree as a culture, America certainly lacks. Despite so much hardship, there is so much JOY. And we have all, as a group, laughed our faces off more in a week than we have in a long time! It’s been a blast.
Because of how jam packed our day was today, we are each writing a snapshot of our contributions today. So I will be telling you about our “Vocal Training Class!” One of the coolest things about the Sports Outreach Ministry is that they find your gifting and then find a way to use it. So, yes, I did got to teach SINGING in UGANDA. So cool. First of all, music is just a part of Africa. Because instruments are harder to come by, singing is very much a way of communicating, worshiping, and is done by all. No one seems to worry about how they sound or singing out loud because everybody loves to do it. Everyone’s voice is unique, but when they come together they make one lovely, glorious sound!!!
That being said, I taught a few warm ups and basics about singing techniques because a few choir teachers and choir members were there and I knew they were interested. Then I taught some rounds, which they caught onto very quickly (no surprise there). After that, we taught them an Elevation Worship song. That was so neat to hear across an ocean!!! And then they taught us two worship songs from Uganda. The smiles on everyone’s faces during the singing and the truly beautiful sound coming from that building were so uplifting to everyone in the room. Music is so universal. And it was awesome to see that statement in action.
Grateful to be here, honored to know these new friends, sore from laughing so hard with my team members, and very stinky and smelly from the day's work. Afollo!!! (Goodbye!)
Onto our designated trip mom, Amy:
The morning started off with the normal laughter, jokes, and amazing Ugandan food. We learned many things today, like the eggs here are half white and blue yolks. As we headed to the farm at Gulu, we began the day with devotionals with Alex and singing with the ministry team. We headed over to the future site of the children’s home and health clinic that will help supply schoolwork to the areas’ children with teachings about Christ and His love for them in their lives. Ken was very efficient in beginning our next task of brick making. We learned how they sifted the red dirt, mixed with the cement, and added water until it was the perfect mixture. We then moved toward the equipment that pressed the bricks. We learned very clearly to stay away from the handle when it was swung back our way. We then got to work. Some began with sifting, others joined in a line to move the dried brick from the patio and into the home itself for brick laying.
The joy that we had at simply moving the bricks, laughing and fellowshipping with our Gulu friends, was a great start to a long but rewarding day. Aloysius, Pastor of the Gulu farm, helped us in pressing the brick and challenged us to a competition of 57 bricks in one hour. We are happy to announce we made 58 bricks {Don't ask about the time.} Hilarity ensued when Chase, our fearless leader, attempted to pull down the handle which was a two or three person job. He came off the ground and the brick didn't move.
Overall, the morning started in similar ways to other mornings. There was laughter, joy, fun, and excitement for all that was about to happen. However, I don't think that in the moments while lifting bricks, sifting dirt, or hauling heavy loads of cement, we realized such life altering moments that were in store for us. I can say that even though we were exhausted, dirty, smelly and sunburnt, we left with bigger hearts and better understanding than we could have imagined.
Now, for a moment, I will step out of the trip narrator position and insert myself into the narrative. Here is the official Ali story of the day.
As we toured the farm yesterday, our superwoman Gulu coordinator Brenda, asked if our team would provide a aerobic instruction to the staff in the form of dance. Two things immediately came to my mind. First, that would be so fun and how awesome would it be to put 15 years of dance training to good use. Immediately, followed by, “self are you nuts, you haven't been in a dance class in eight years. Fortunately, the first thought won out when my “when in Rome” mentally kicked in. Physical therapist extraordinaire, Amy helped me come up with a class of stretches and some Zumba moves lovingly ripped off of YouTube. While I was super proud of myself for volunteering to do this and for actually making the plan, I secretly hoped we might “run out of time” for this particular activity. Thanks to Brenda’s superb time management skills, this was not the case. After an already busy morning and an incredible lunch (dubbed as the best meal thus far) we headed to Christine’s House for the dance lesson. Christine’s House is a very special part of Sports Outreach’s Gulu ministry. This place serves as safe house for girls who have been abused or have found themselves in “troubled” circumstances. Sparing you the Uganda history lesson, violent warfare has left no shortage of these women in northern Uganda. We began by listening to staff member and wife of the Gulu visionary, Esther, introduce the girls and the mission of Christine’s house. She explained the importance of knowing each other's names. Names take a story and make it personal. For the girls, these types of introductions can be painful. It's never comfortable to have your past on display. And imagine how uncomfortable it can be to have complete strangers come to hear your story. However, these insanely brave girls welcomed us into their home and allowed us to bring the the joy of dance. We taught them a few moves and then had the privilege of learning a “few” moves from the dance therapy guru of the Gulu farm, Justin. It was a pleasure to serve with him today to share the joy of dance with girls that suffered so much. For a just a little while, these girls had the opportunity to just be young girls and have fun dancing it out with a bunch of “ munus” or white people.
However, the dancing didn't end there. Later in the day we travelled to a juvenile center (see Alex’s post for more details). After some time spent in sharing testimonies, Justin asked if I would teach the boys a popular American dance. You see, I had made the mistake of showing Justin the Whip and Nae Nae earlier in the day. Yes, friends, this classically trained ballerina and nerdy high school teacher taught a group of Ugandan boys the Whip and Nae Nae. My high school students will either be super proud of me or super embarrassed. Either way, it was a blessing to see boys who have lived troubled lives and are one step away from jail enjoy learning an admittedly silly American dance. Today I was able to use dance, a huge part of my life, to bring joy. I was able to be a light in a dark place and I thank God for this opportunity.
As you can see our day was packed. We worshipped with the staff of Sports Outreach, made bricks, taught preschool students about the armor of God and chick fil a (see a future post for that story), made and served lunch, taught dance and singing, and poured into the lives of young men through our stories, dance, and rugby. We returned to the hotel tired, dirty, smelly, but perfectly content that we had served God’s kingdom in a very real way.
No comments:
Post a Comment