Bar Alimo

Sorry for the delay everyone! Things got busy, but now I'm ready to share all about my day trip to the village:)

Sarah and I went with Richard (our friend and guard at ZP) on bodas to his village to meet his family and see what life is like there. It was a bumpy hour and a half there on the bodas. We even had the bodas cross a sketchy bridge without us on them because it didn't look safe. Pictured left is Richard crossing the bridge. After a harrowing ride, we finally arrived at a clearing that had a few huts his family owns and lives in. The "village" was different than I thought it would be because I envisioned it being a bunch of huts all close together like in the IDP camps. But it was nice and quiet, so that was good:)

As we met some of Richard's brothers and sisters (he has 9 total), we were promptly given a bottle of soda (That would be our first of three during the day. We were swimming in Mountain Dew up to our eyeballs by 4:00pm Wonderful hospitality). Then Richard took us to see his bee-hive pots that he made. (Sarah and I posing for the camera in front of one hehe) He also took us on an educational tour of all the various types of food that his family grows on their land. Some of it just looked like a tangle of weeds and sticks to me, but if they can grow food from it, more power to em! Check out this field for growing cassava (a very popular root eaten here).

After our extensive walking tour in the hot sun, we decided to rest. Richard's brothers were busy slaughtering a goat for us (which is a huge honor). I know you want to see the picture of that, so here it is! And for breakfast they served us goat liver (which looked and even tasted like steak tips with more flavor Yum!) They left us alone to eat because we were the guests of honor.


We also used this machine to shuck g-nuts (kinda like our peanuts). You put all the nuts inside, and then pull the handle back and forth, so it separates the nuts from the shells and collects them in a basket underneath. Pretty cool!

After some time of thanking all the family members that had gathered round and sharing as best we could (Richard translated into Luo for us), it was time for lunch! This time, we made everyone eat with us:) Let me tell you... it was a FEAST! We had goat of course and potatoes, cassava, three different types of cooked greens, sim sim paste, millet and sorgum (both types of "bread" that feel like play-doh in your hands). Here's the visual:

After lunch we retired to one of the huts for more soda and fellowship time. I knew that if God wanted to do something, this would be the time. So as I was silently praying, I saw that one of Richard's sisters had on a necklace with the colors of Africa (black, red, yellow, green) which also happen to be the colors to explain the gospel. So I was able to share the entire gospel message, and everyone listened. All but three of Richard's family members are yet-to-be-saved, but God is working on them:) No one gave their life to Jesus on this day, but they said they would soon. They first want to participate in the traditional funeral rites of their deceased father. Please pray for them to come to know Jesus and for the plans of the enemy to be cancelled in their lives, especially at this funeral rite (March 19th), which involves witchcraft. God gave Sarah a scripture to speak truth to the lie that they can wait to come to Jesus until later (about letting the dead bury their own dead). It was powerful!

One of Richard's brothers' wives is saved, and we were able to lay hands on her and pray for healing for her stomach ulcers. Praise Jesus! We believe it is finished!

All in all it was a great day. We are planning on returning (at which time one of the sisters is planning to show us a traditional dance with her dance troup). Thanks for coming with me to Bar Alimo.

Totowonana (until next time!)

SOON TO COME!

Pics and stories of my first village experience since I came in Oct 2010... You won't want to miss it so check back soon:)

A THANKFUL HEART

God has been reminding me lately that the cure for a bad attitude in ministry is making the choice to be thankful.... SO I thought I'd share a few praises of what God has been up to here in Gulu, and hopefully when I see them all in one place it will encourage me (and you too)!


* I prayed for the sister of one of my boda driver friends named Anna. She had her intestines removed due to wounds inside her stomach and had a colostomy bag (the opening for the bag looked painful). We both felt a lot of heat when I prayed, and I left believing she was healed. A little while later, my boda friend told me that God healed her wounds so they could put her intestines back in! The surgery went well, and she is recovering nicely:)


* A couple weeks ago two ZP visitors from the States preached the gospel message at the army barracks prison in Gulu. There were 32 men who attended and 30 of those got saved that day! The next day 15 of them were released from prison, and later that week several more were released. So virtually all those who were set free spiritually were also set free physically. The visitors saw them on the street giving praise to God for their freedom WOW


* A couple months ago, a short-termer named Matt was able to lead an ex-LRA member to the Lord in our neighborhood. Alexander (pictured right), then came to Gulu Bible Community Church (GBCC) to testify that God saved him, set him free from fear of walking in the light, and even brought forgiveness and reconciliation between him and a family of one of the people he killed while in the LRA. The family even cooked a chicken for him! He is continually being more set free from fear, and is actively attending GBCC. This past week he brought his yet-to-be-saved wife with him to church (She was given to him as his wife in the LRA) along with two of her friends (one of which was delivered and got saved on Sunday). He is also praying for two more of his ex- LRA friends who are afraid and lost just like he used to be. Praise the Lord!


* The presidential elections passed peacefully here in Gulu (only a couple minor issues in Kampala) Thank you Jesus!


* God provided the finances and resources to get the ZP nursery started. We have the giant tent up (pictured right), and the mud floor is almost finished. We have also been blessed to have sturdy wooden, miniature tables and chairs for all the little ones and more toys and learning materials.


* God has given us discernment and direction about which girls to accept into the ZP Girls' Home, so now we have two new girls in the family with more to come in this next month :)


* God has answered my prayer for a mentor, and even exceeded my request by giving me a whole spiritual family! Baba Ron and Mama Joy (as they are affectionately called) are the pastors of the Swahili service at GBCC and have taken me under their wing as one of their spiritual daughters. I have found so much love and acceptance and freedom to be me when I visit their home. It is so healing...


These are just a few... there is so much to be thankful to God for!

Grace Like Rain

Have you ever truly experienced the grace of God? All my life I have heard that it is by grace I am saved, but in this season of my life, as I have left the security of all I’ve known and allowed God to expose all the darkness and frailty in me, I can say for the first time, that I am beginning to understand this grace that is saving me moment by moment.


Before coming to Africa, I pretty much thought I was perfect. Oh, I knew that I sinned here and there, but who doesn’t? I really believed that I was a good person and that my own determination to please God would be enough. I prided myself on my amazing ability to be holy while judging others whom I deemed “less holy” than me. When they didn’t meet my expectations, I would condemn them in my mind.


I brought this prideful mindset with me when I came to Gulu, Uganda, but life in Africa smacked me in the face with the reality of my very-present weakness and sin. So instead of being proud, I condemned myself until I repented. Then I went back to thinking I had it all together until I was once again confronted with my sin, and the cycle went round and round…


It’s like Brennan Manning talks about in his book "The Ragamuffin Gospel":

“We fluctuate between castigating ourselves and congratulating ourselves because we are deluded into thinking we save ourselves. We develop a false sense of security from our good works… Our halo gets too tight and a carefully disguised attitude of moral superiority results. Or we are appalled by our own inconsistency, devastated that we haven’t lived up to our lofty expectations of ourselves. The rollercoaster ride of elation and depression continues.”

And that’s just it. I did think that I saved myself through my good works and repentance. Before, when I sinned, I would repent and then force myself to try harder to not sin the next time. But I have realized my effort just doesn’t get the job done. In “trying harder” I am not any different than the Hindus or Muslims, or any other religion for that matter, because they are all based on works. I even viewed repentance as a good work to earn God's forgiveness, when in actuality repentance is a response to the truth that I am already forgiven! As a Christian, I am not saved by my works, but by the GRACE OF GOD. Jesus already did all that was necessary for me to be forgiven and walk in victory when he died on the cross! This all sounds very clique if you’re like me and have been a Christian your whole life, but let me tell you, it’s so different when you actually experience God’s grace.

I had one such encounter last week. In the past couple months I have really been confronted with the wickedness of my own heart. I was very discouraged on this particular day because I could not get my eyes off my own sinfulness and depravity. I just cried out of sheer self-hatred. But God, in his gentle way, lifted my eyes up to see Him through a series of worship songs. He revealed His love through the death of Jesus on the cross to me in a brand new way. I could just feel Him washing me clean of all my sin, wrapping me in His arms of grace. God showed me that my sin, although not good in and of itself, is being used to make me aware of my desperate need for Him. And that is a very, very good thing:) He is making me what the Bible calls “poor in spirit,” realizing that I am nothing without Him and His amazing grace on my life.

Before I viewed myself as an angel with her halo perfectly in place, but now I am realizing that I am a saved sinner. My halo’s a little tilted… and that’s ok.

“The tilted halo of the saved sinner is worn loosely and with easy grace. We have discovered that the cross accomplished far more than revealing the love of God. The blood of the Lamb points to the truth of grace: What we cannot do for ourselves, God has done for us… Jesus Christ bore our sins and bore them away. We cannot wash away the stain of our sins, but He is the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world.” - The Ragamuffin Gospel

“Hallelujah, Grace like rain pours down on me… Hallelujah, all my stains have been washed away, they’re washed away!”


And this is the gospel of Jesus- Grace.

Richard's Story

Richard Kakanyero is one of our guards at Zion Project. Here is his story [my paraphrase].



“In 2002 I was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from my village in northern Uganda. I had been abducted by them several times before this, but each of those times I was able to escape within one or two hours of being captured. This time was different. Before the last time I was abducted, my mother had given me a piece of tree bark as a witchcraft amulet to bring me protection. I kept it on me at all times. Little did I know that it would not protect me but rather cause me to remain in bondage.

Life in the LRA was hard. I missed home all the time, and because of the poor food (and lack of it), my body was wasting away to nothing. I was extremely skinny and weak. The man in charge of me was disgusted with me and wanted me to be killed on more than one occasion. One time he told me that I had three days to improve, and if on the third day I was not better, I would be killed. I was very worried, and it was at that time that God spoke to me so clearly and said “Why don’t you try trusting Me?” Then I decided to throw away my amulet that I had been secretly keeping, and I made a deal with God. I knew that missing home was making me very weak, so I told God that if he took my thoughts of home away from me, I would live for Him. I also said that the day that God brought my thoughts of home back to me, would be the day that I would escape from the LRA. Until that time I would be a “good soldier.” So God took all thoughts of home away from me at that moment, and right there I surrendered my life to God. The third day came, and my condition had not improved at all. But I had put myself in God’s hands. It just so happened that on the day I was supposed to be killed, some of our enemies (a group of Government Soldiers) attacked us, and everyone was so busy running and fighting that by the time everything settled down days later, they had forgotten to kill me!


Another time there were a couple of boys that tried to escape from our LRA group. They ran away, but were quickly tracked down and brought back to camp. The consequence for anyone who tried to escape and was caught was death. The boys were about to be killed, but before they were, the commander asked them who their parents were so they could give word to them that their children had died. One of the boys said his father’s name, and the officer in charge of me found out that the boy was his relative! So he suggested that those boys be spared and that I be killed in their place because I was of no use to them. I was unaware that any of this was going on. The commander wanted justice and was arguing with this officer, but the officer threatened to start a riot if those boys were killed. The commander knew that the officer was a strong, fighting man, who would cause a lot of problems among them, so he agreed to let the boys go. Then the commander told the officer that if he didn’t want me anymore, he would take me. So the commander took me under his wing, fed me better than I had eaten before, and my body started to get healthier and stronger. Looking back, I can see now that this was God’s hand on my life.


Months passed, and I was gradually trusted more and more by the commander and the other officers. I was strong, and they thought that I was on their side completely. One day I was chosen, along with a handful of other soldiers from our group to go to the border of Sudan and welcome Joseph Kony ( the leader of the LRA). After that I was given a gun and a lot more freedom. I could walk around with my gun and no one would follow me. So one evening God brought back my thoughts of home. It was on that day, seven months after I had been abducted, that I just walked away from camp, with my gun in hand, into my freedom! They didn’t even realize I was gone until the next morning, but by then it was too late to catch me.


I walked to the nearest army barracks, and they welcomed me in. They transferred me to the barracks in Gulu, and I stayed there for three weeks. Then I was transferred to the rehabilitation center at World Vision in Gulu. I lived there for two months and then went to live with a relative in Gulu. I couldn’t go back home to my village because the LRA would capture me again. Thankfully, my family received word of where I was and came to see me. I was so happy! I lived in Gulu for five years before I returned to my village. During that time, my mother was killed by the LRA. My father had died of sickness when I was a little child, so now I was without both my parents. I grieved the loss of my mother so much, but God helped me through. I have decided to cling to Jesus no matter what happens to me in life because He saved me.


I went back to live in the village in 2007. My brother wanted me to stay there and be just like him, working the family business, having multiple wives, but I knew that God had a different plan for my life. So I chose to leave my family and return to live in Gulu by myself to see what God has in store for me. Since then, I have been able to continue school, and I recently opened up my own restaurant! This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I am going to use the profit to bless the church and advance the kingdom of God. God has given me a strong passion to preach His word, and I am actively doing so on the streets of Gulu and in my church. I am also involved in bringing Jesus to the students of Gulu through various conferences and events. God has been so good to me, and I want the whole world to know Him like I have come to know Him!”

Cultural Sneak Peek

Hello from Gulu!

I'm not really sure how many people read the blogs that I post on here, so it would be helpful if you could let me know in some way if blogging is the most effective way of communicating . I don't get many comments on the blogs, so that's why I'm thinking maybe people don't see it. Thanks so much!

In past blogs I have talked about events that have happened here in Gulu and about my life, but I want to share a little bit more about the culture that I live in and how it's different than life in America. Being here for a while now, things get commonplace, and I forget that they are still foreign to all of you who don't live here day in and day out:) Also, if you have any specific questions I can answer to give you a clearer picture of life here, don't hesitate to let me know ok?

A Day in My Life:

I wake up to roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing outside my window. I climb out of my mosquito net that I sleep in and start the day with Jesus:) I boil some water in the kitchen and pour it into a basin to take a bucket bath (because there is no running water a lot of days). I make some toast in the frying pan for breakfast. Once I am ready for the day, I walk out my door and greet about 20 women and children with "Habari a sabui?" which means "How is the morning?" and hug each one. Then, even though I am "late" according to American time, I wait around for more women to arrive and we finally get started with devotions about a half hour late or more. Devotions start with us singing loud, energetic songs in Swahili (call and response is how they worship) to the beat of a drum. Then they enter into a time of passionate prayer/spiritual warfare on their hands and knees before God, and it is LOUD. When the praying fizzles out to quietness I (or one of the staff) share a message from the word. Everything is translated into Swahili. We end with a prayer and then it's off to start the day!

When I walk out of the room in which we have devotions, carefully stepping over all the beading women who each have immediately found their place to bead on the porch, all the kids run to hug me at once calling "Teacher!" I teach them "Duck Duck Goose" as we all sit in a circle on the thin woven mat in the dirt. They absolutely love it! They all fight to sit next to me, so it's hard to maintain the circle:) Then they have a time of playing on their own, so I bring out the few scraps of toys that we bought for them to play with. (They tore apart the rattles in two days flat!). Sometimes I have to take toys away from two kids who are pulling on it and hitting each other in order to get it. I say "Osipige!" which means "Don't beat!" These precious children don't speak much English, so I practice my Swahili when I'm with them. The little ones always want to be held, so I hold them, even if they have peed through their clothes and are sopping wet. I can feel their love, as they look into my eyes, and it touches my heart. Then we go into a time of teaching the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. From a dilapitated poster I point to each letter as they scream in unison "A is for Apple, B is for Bird, C is for Cake!..." I am beginning to take them in smaller groups to teach them more effectively (there are 20+ children all sitting on one mat during the holiday).

Around 1pm or 2pm it's time for lunch. The children are so hungry, but they all wash their hands in a basin, pray over the food with their hands outstretched, and then sit down in pairs on the mat to hover over heaping bowls of rice and beans as they scoop it into their mouths with their hands. The women each get their own bowl, but they still use their hands to eat as they chatter on in Swahili to one another.

After lunch I decide that I need to go into town to buy a couple things, so I walk out our gate, tell the guard where I am going, pass the goats grazing in the grass alongside the road, and arrive at the closest boda stage (couple blocks or so). There are men waiting there on motorcycles to take me wherever I want to go. The first one who sees me flags me down, as the others look on in disappointment that they weren't faster in getting my attention so they could take me. I tell the boda driver where I want to go for 1000 shillings, hop on the back and speed away, all the while balancing as the driver swerves to avoid large potholes and other people/bodas in his way. He tells me that he knows the place where I want to go, but he really doesn't, so when he starts to go the wrong way, I direct him in the way we need to go. When we finally arrive safely, I say "Afoyo mateck" (Thank you very much in Luo) and pay him.

At the market, I traverse the narrow and bumpy pathways until I get to the food portion of the market. Once there, I feel every eye on me, waiting to see what I will do. As I walk through the aisles, past the mounds of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, green peppers etc, each seller calls out to me and tries to entice me to buy their products. If I stop to look at any one item, they will immediately begin bagging it up for me! I walk up to one seller who is not so eager and buy 1 kilo (8 or so large potatoes) from her for 1,500 shillings (that's about 60 cents). I avoid the fish that have flies swarming around them all the time and stick to just vegetables and fruit. I buy all that I need and hop back on another boda to go home. I stop to buy a soda from a small shack on the roadside for 800 shillings, and I am told that I need to bring the glass bottle back when I am finished with it. I promise to do so. I am very tired and hot from being in the sun, but there is no power, so that means no fan in the house:( I remain hot and sweaty. In the afternoons I either sit in on counseling class at ZP or go to the girls' home.

This evening I go out to do home visits for the church I attend with a church leader named Semplis. We walk to a nearby district called Kasubi (where most of the ZP women live), and children incessantly call out to me, "Munu, how are you? Munu, how are you" (Munu means white person). I say " I am fine, how are you?" and they respond continually with, "Munu, how are you?" until I am out of their sight. Some children are even brave enough to come and shake my hand:) All eyes are on me as I walk in Kasubi, but everyone is friendly. Some drunk guy tries to talk to me, but makes no sense, and we move onward. I try to look forward as I walk, but the way is so uneven, I have to look at the ground so I don't trip and fall. We pass by many huts, and there are tons of people milling about or sitting outside their huts doing nothing. We greet most of them in Luo or Swahili. We hear loud, club-like music coming from a certain wooden shack that holds the only TV in the community.

When we arrive at the designated hut, we sit on the floor or on the bed in the one-room hut. It is semi-dark even in the day-time and hot because there is a charcoal stove burning where the mother is cooking food in one corner of the hut. I share a message from the Word (these people don't have Bibles of their own, and even if they did, most of them cannot read) and pray for their needs. Most of the people are women because their husbands are soldiers off fighting somewhere (if they have husbands at all). They are very grateful that we came, and as we go, we say "Totowonana kwa kanisa!" (see you at church). (On other times of outreach we minister deliverance to people who have been involved with witchcraft. We cut the bracelets and necklaces off them that they have received from the witch doctor (very prevalent here), raise their hands up to Jesus in surrender as they kneel and pray a prayer of salvation. it is a glorious thing to see!)

On my walk home, I pass by a very young girl who says, "Munu, you give me money!" I respond by saying "Acholi you give me money!" and she is confused and walks away. The children and even some adults have learned to demand money from the white people. It's very sad:(

When I arrive back home, I ask my housemates how their day went, and we cook supper together. We don't have a stove, so most times we have rice or noodles with some sort of vegetable stir-fry concoction. It's pretty good. I have learned how to make chapati from scratch which is kind of like a tortilla shell. We clean up in the kitchen, all the while fighting the killer ants that don't seem to die from ant traps.

Then in the evening we read or relax ( we go to bed early if there is no power because there is nothing to do). I wash my feet, which have become black from the day's dirt (and they still aren't fully clean even after I wash them). I go to sleep to our neighbor's blaring club music and to a disturbing sound that mimics a dying seal (cats moaning or so I've been told. I've never heard cats make noises like that until I came to Africa). I thank Jesus that He brought me through this day;)

So now you have an idea of what life is like for me here in Gulu. I will try to include more cultural snippets in future blogs. Blessings to you all!

God's Power Through my Weakness

Namnagani rafiki (How are you friend?),

It has been too long since I've updated you all on here... sorry! Still trying to work out all the kinks with using the various technological methods of communication I have LOL. I want to share about the outreaches I've been able to do in the past couple weeks. I hope it encourages your spirit like it has mine.

Outreaches:

Two Fridays ago I was able to go out with some of the Remnant women (women who work on the ZP compound and participate in ZP activities but sew and do t-shirt screen printing instead of beading necklaces). It was a wonderful experience! We talked with Sarah (pictured below on the far left) who used to be a Christian but she backslid when the church wouldn't give her food. She went to the village to work, and now she is back with a lot of food that she grew. We led her in a prayer of re-dedication, and she was so happy that we came to visit her. A pastor had visited her previously, so because we were the second people to visit her and share the gospel, she took it as a sign that God was calling her to come back. Praise God! She also committed to quit drinking alcohol, and we prayed for healing from her HIV.
After that we led a man to the Lord who is a soldier in Central African Republic and was only in Gulu for a few more days! Talk about a divine appointment! On top of that he is the father of one of the girls in the ZP children's home. Thank you Jesus:)

Then during one of the home visits I do during the week for Gulu Bible Community Church (GBCC), I had the immense honor of praying over a little baby boy who was born just 3 days earlier. The family loves the Lord, and they are so precious. God gave me a scripture that went along with a prophecy He gave me for this child concerning the child being a prophet of the Lord all over the world when he gets older. Hallelujah! This was one of my favorite moments so far in Uganda, and I can't exactly tell you why it was so wonderful. Just being able to encourage his parents and confirm the word of God that has already been spoken to them was amazing. Here they are pictured below:
Then this Friday all the women (beading and Remnant) went out to do outreach with me and a couple of the short-term volunteers. We experienced major attack before going, and now I know why! God moved so powerfully in the lives of the people we ministered to. God really did a work of healing in a lady's heart whose unsaved husband leaves her to go drinking all the time and cheats on her. We also got to pray for her daughter who is currently a soldier here in Gulu.
The next houses we went to contained people who were labeled mentally insane, but there was a lot of demonic stuff going on with each of them. Prayed over a young girl who was drooling and unresponsive to us at first, but as we kept praying, I saw a change in her eyes and then she was able to talk and repeat a salvation prayer. Her mother also got saved that day! She wasn't completely healed by the time we left, but she was doing better. Finish the work Lord! Another lady seemed to be possessed by demons because when we prayed for her, she manifested by shaking and throwing herself on the ground. We just took authority and cast them out, and eventually she stood up and was crying because the demons had tormented her but now she is free! All glory goes to God for His incredible touch on these people's lives:)

It blows my mind how God can use me to do such great things for His kingdom while I feel so weak in this season. He keeps reminding me of the scripture where He says, "My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect through your weakness" I am beginning to understand for the first time that this really is true. He can't show Himself strong on my behalf if I don't allow Him to make me weak. He can't receive the glory if I think I am doing it in my own strength. May we always depend completely on our Heavenly Father because we can do NOTHING without Him.