Putting it all into Focus

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9:6-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I want to start this reflection by thanking those who supported me going on this trip. You are the suppliers of seed and food in the above verse. Because of your generous donations, I was able to participate in an incredible ministry. Your contribution enabled me to bless of the people of Uganda and enabled me to be richly blessed by them. I will never know all of the results of this trip, but you can be assured that God used our team in powerful ways this week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that opportunity. I hope to speak with you personally and have the ability to share the specifics of the good work done as a result of your generosity.

As I sit on the plane flying towards Washington DC, it is difficult to articulate the ways God worked on my heart this week. I saw so many incredibly joyful and incredibly difficult things while in Uganda. Reflecting on this week will not take days but rather weeks or months. It will take a long time to process all of the lessons God taught me on this trip. However, at this point I can share a few of the recurring themes the team experienced throughout the week. As we debriefed each day our stories focused on the ideas of story, purpose, relationships. I have to thank our fearless leader, Chase for having the insight to extract these themes from our experiences.

Several times throughout the week we discussed the importance of sharing a story. This story took various forms. We used our personal stories to strengthen and encourage the Ugandan people’s relationship with God. We also had the opportunity to utilize Jesus’ ministry strategy of parables. Jesus often used a story reveal a message to his audience in a relatable way. We responded to that same call this week. Some of us used our personal stories to relate to the struggle of the people of Uganda. Some of us used stories of familiar objects in the Ugandan culture to reveal a truth about God and his kingdom. Craig did an excellent job of this by sharing a story about a clay pot. Either way we learned the importance of story. As a team we also learned the importance of sharing the stories of others. We learned about the heart and struggles of the Ugandan people this week. Our hearts were both filled and wrecked by their stories. It is now our responsibility to share these stories. The physical work we did while in Uganda will only last a short while and admittedly had a limited impact. However, sharing the stories of the people we met and sharing the work God is doing in Uganda can having a much greater and lasting influence. As we share these stories with you and ask that you, in turn, share their stories.

This week also taught the team about relationships. Sports Outreach is a very relational ministry. They do not focus on only meeting the physical needs of a community, but rather they focus on creating lasting relationships within the communities in order to provide sustainable support. Sustainability is the keystone of the work Sports Outreach does in Uganda. We were given the ability to help strengthen the relationship between the people of Uganda and Sports Outreach by providing meals, teaching children, making bricks, teaching music and dance, playing soccer and chess, leading devotionals, and conducting home visits. Deeper than that, we got to build relationships with the staff of Sports Outreach. While we were there to support their ministry, we also were able to support the ministers by providing encouragement. Our ability to provide this encouragement came from the strength of the relationships built within the team. The majority of the team had not interacted much before the trip, but through the providence of God, strong relationships developed quickly. Several of the staff members we interacted with commented that our joyful group dynamic both blessed and encouraged them. God had ordained this message for the team as early in the week, as our fearless leader, Chase shared a word God had placed on his heart. He shared that God places specific people in our lives at specific points to either minster to us or allow us to minister to them. This idea continued to motivate our actions as God had a plan for the relationships built this week.

Each of these themes continually worked on my heart this week and taught me lessons about my relationship with God and His people. However, this week God had some very specific messages for me. The most powerful way God dealt with me this week involved sharing my story. As a typical American Christian girl that grew up in the Church, I struggled with how my story could relate with the Ugandan people. God placed on my heart the most painful part of my story to share with the people. Three years ago in March one of my oldest and closest friends died in a car accident. Through this experience, God taught me a lot about His plan and His intent to work all things for good. As I shared this story several times throughout the week, I always included the hope that God can provide even in the darkest of times. I encouraged them to draw closer to God in the hard times and not blame Him for their pain. Even while I shared this message, I still doubted what good could possibly come from the loss of my friend. However, each devotional time in which I shared this story ended with people making commitments to Christ. That realization hit me like a truck. God was able to use my pain to bring more people into His kingdom. I can't fully explain the peace that realization brought. While I will never see my friend’s death as a good thing, it is incredibly amazing that God was still able to use it for good.

As if that wasn't enough, I am so humbled to share that God was able to use me in another powerful way this week. We had the opportunity to attend the church service held at the Sports Outreach ministry center in Gulu on Sunday. After a joyful worship experience, the pastor brought the team before the church for an introduction. He then asked each of us to explain the way we serve the church in America. My first thought was “how on earth do I explain to this church via translator that I work the slide presentations and lights for my church?” But then God prompted me that I do not only serve the church on Sunday morning, but I am able to demonstrate God’s love to my students as a high school teacher. So I opened with the words “The Church is not a building, the Church is the actions we carry out everyday.” Well wouldn't you know, that this is theme for this congregation this year. The pastor used my used my words to prompt the church to live holy lives everyday of the week and not just on Sunday. Our local trip coordinator Sam, told me this was a message the people of the area desperately needed to hear. I was and still am so overwhelmed and honored that God choose to prompt this message from me. I also was instantly convicted by the thought of how many times I have missed an opportunity to be used this way, because I was uncomfortable sharing what God was placing on my heart. How many times have I a missed serving someone because it was awkward or inconvenient? I realized that God has a purpose for us EVERY day. He places opportunities for us to minister or to be ministered to before us every day. But I often miss these opportunities because I am focused on fulfilling MY schedule or purpose for the day. This experience convicted me to be more sensitive for these opportunities and to be bold in pursuing them.

God also taught me about presence this week. Immediately prior to this trip I experienced the busiest season of my life. Between end of the year remediation at work, directing the musical, and completing my masters degree (YEA), I constantly had things to do. Several times on this trip we weren't “doing things” as we were engaging in the building of relationships. I really struggled with this at first. I came into this trip believing that I could do the most good by doing something for the people I interacted with. However, God quickly showed me that this is not always true. It was a very “Mary and Martha” moment. I have never been under the impression that I am anything but 100% a Martha. I am in a constant state of doing things. I acknowledge that the point of the story is not to identify with Martha, but instead to appreciate the necessity of resting at the feet of God. But for a “Martha” acknowledging that truth and actually doing it are two very different things. However as we conducted a home visit, one women (with a terribly tragic story) crushed my heart with the words, “if God can bring you people here to Gulu to my home, then I know He can do miracles.” Keep in mind, the most we “did” for this women was share our stories and visit her home. Through this interaction, I learned that presence is powerful. Our presence in the remote slums and villages of Uganda provides hope to the people. It demonstrates to the hopeless that a few muzungos or munus (white people in Lugandan and Acholi) cared enough about them to fly halfway around the world just to visit with them. Our presence made them feel special, loved, and cared for. I learned that ministry does not only occur in the doing of things, but I can serve someone by spending intentional time with them. This idea has radically changed by view of what service and ministry has to look like.

I also learned a great deal about the universality of the the church. I fully expected to experience things that were culturally unlike life in the US. I had a very “us and them” idea about the church in America and the church and Uganda. This is SO NOT THE CASE! God smacked me in the face with that realization so many times this week. Participating in devotional times, worship services, listening to sermons, and even playing a game of catch felt so similar to the United States. Do not allow me to give you the impression that Uganda and the US are culturally similar. That would be a super inaccurate impression. However, despite the differences, I was able to connect with the church through these activities. My game of catch with a few teenage girls of a village choir brought this message home. The team broke off into different activities and I simply picked a tennis ball that rolled my way and tossed it to one of the girls. She then threw it back to me. I thought, “ok, I can handle this level of athletic ability.” More and more girls joined in to a little game. The girls spoke very little English and I spoke even less Acholi. However, we were still able to interact. And I noticed that girls laughed, competed, and made fun of my mannerisms in a similar way that my students do in the US. These girls could have so easily been in my class and the interactions would have been identical. This week gave me a tangible picture of the body of Christ. We are not pockets of Christians in different countries, but rather we are one unified Church, who actually have an amazing amount in common. Some things truly are universal.

If I am going to be truly honest, I most looking forward to the time in the safari park. My inner travel bug, totally geeked out over the opportunity to go on an actual safari. However, by the time we got to the end of the week and got to the lodge, I was filled with conviction. We had spent all of the productive ministry time in the slums and villages of Uganda and it felt really wrong to be in an incredibly fancy and luxurious place. I found my heart longing to be back with the people I had done ministry for and with. I never really expected that desire. This is something that my heart has not finished wrestling with. Not only am I convicted by the immense blessings I have in my life compared to the little the Ugandan people have, I struggle with spending any time doing something other than ministry. I accept that I have a life and purpose that I need to return to, but it will feel different. I hope to use my time more intentionally and seek ministry moments in the US. At this moment, I cannot shake the feeling that I am not done Uganda. Not gonna lie, that thought scares me a little. Mostly because I have no idea what that will look like in my life. In the meantime, I hope to more intentional about ministry in every aspect of my life. I will also continue to contribute to the work we have done by sponsoring a child through Sports Outreach. My little girl, Patricia, hopes to be a teacher one day. However, this nine year old struggles with being an outsider in a very large family and struggles with HIV. I humbly ask that you keep Patricia, and all of the amazing people we met in Uganda in your prayers. God is doing great things in Uganda through Sports Outreach. If you feel inspired to continue to support this work, please check out their website : http://www.sportsoutreach.net/

I could probably go on for hours about all things I learned and saw while in Uganda. As I sit here, I keep thinking of all the things I have not shared. However, I respect the time you have given to read these words and I will end here, but I would love the opportunity to share more with you in person.