 |
| The bus and taxi park in Kitgum. The white van with the reds strips on the right is a Toyota Noah. |
My journey began on a very full bus at 6:00 am from Mbale. In fact, it was so full, that the isle of the bus was full of people standing up and luggage. After a stop in Soroti Town, we continued on to Lira Town. Lira is a town in Central Uganda. My end destination was in Kitgum, Northern Uganda, where I was to meet up with Pastor Francis to teach a short version of "When Helping Hurts" in his church. The ride from Lira to Kitgum was not as pleasant. We had 15 people packed in a Noah (mini-van), plus luggage. We traveled for hours on dusty, bumpy roads.
 |
| This is how I move deep into the villages. |
After spending the night in Kitgum, we traveled to Pastor Francis's home village on a motorcycle. It was over an hour outside Kitgum on a dirt road. Often, motorcycle transport is the fastest, and sometimes, the only way to move out in these remote areas.
 |
| The dirt roads connecting the rural villages and towns in Uganda. |
For those of you who are familiar with African history, you may have heard of the Lord's Resistant Army (LRA). The LRA was mainly in Northern Uganda, especially in the Kitgum area. The trading center in the picture below served as a UN camp where 4000 people lived for several years until the LRA moved away.
 |
| Here is a trading center where I spent the night in a guesthouse which costed $5. |
In Uganda, there is a difference between a trading center and the village. A village is spread out and tends to be more of an area, than a group of houses. In northern Uganda, villages are often mud huts with grass roofs. A trading center is more like a very small, primitive town were people do business.
 |
| Myself, Paster Francis, and his wife, Darine |
Pastor Francis is a really great guy. I really appreciated his humble lifestyle and how he treated his wife well. His wife Darine is very resilient person and can ride a bike through the bush like nobody's business.
 |
| Pastor Francis's church where we had the training. |
The church almost felt like an igloo, except that instead of escaping the cold, we were escaping the heat. These mud hut structures are a little dark inside, but it was amazing to me how cool it stayed inside, even at the hottest time of day. Often churches have metal roofs and get quite warm in the afternoons.
 |
| Inside the church. |
 |
| The youth made lunch for all of us. |
Everyone was served a meal of Atapa, rice, and beans cooked by the youth of the church. Atapa is a local staple food made from ground up cassava, sorghum, and millet. It is a very heavy dough substance.
Finally, they showered me with gifts: 3 chickens (which I carried all the way home), pigeon peas and ground nuts. I am always extremely blessed and humbled to have them give me things, and even sometimes a little money as their token of thanks.
 |
| The women giving their gifts of appreciation. |
One of the things I have been doing when I go to villages is teaching "When Helping Hurts". The training was started by my friend, Anthony Systma, who worked with the authors of the book "When Helping Hurts" to come up with a training manual. The training is geared toward church and community leaders. While some of the information may be a little hard for illiterate people to understand, there are parts of the training that really resonate with the people. The prosperity gospel is something that always brings stories from people. At this village, a lady was saying she was trying to convince her neighbor not to go to a certain prosperity gospel crusade. The neighbor went anyway; when the neighbor took her money up front so she could be prayed for, the preacher humiliated her and chased her away because the money she brought was so little. Chapter six is another chapter which always resonates with people, especially up in northern Uganda where the UN took care of people in camps during the time of the LRA insurgency. The class was able to see how long periods of time where people received relief, hampered the development of people in their area. The people no longer wanted to go back to their old ways of life in the village and work because they were used to handouts from the UN and government.
There are 10 chapters in the "When Helping Hurts" training manual:
Name of chapter What the chapter talks about
- Why did Jesus come to Earth? Talks about how God wants Christians to help the poor.
- What is "Poverty". Looks at how broken relationships are often the main cause poverty.
- The Prosperity Gospel. Discusses how the prosperity gospel is false and can hurt people.
- Fighting Poverty through Reconciliation. Tells how to fight poverty through reconciliation.
- Worldview's and Systems. Worldview's effect life perceptions; broken systems add to poverty.
- Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development. Which approach should you use? It depends.
- Asset-Based Community Development. Tells how to start with resources from within.
- Participation of the Community. Talks about the importance of involving people on the ground.
- What causes change in someones's life? How to use situations to bring change in another's life.
- Missionaries and Sponsors. Looks at some cultural challenges both Ugandans and Missionaries face when working together.
Future Plans
I am planning to come back to the US in May of this year. It is hard to believe it is coming up so quickly! In some ways, I feel like my time here is not complete yet. On the other hand I feel like the last year and a half have been good and that now is good time to move on. I would say there is a good chance that I will come back in the future and serve in Uganda. Right now, I am hoping to start grad school in the fall. I am still deciding on which school, but planning to get a masters in Animal Science. For the summer I will be at home helping on our home farm and hopefully reconnecting with all of you! Obviously, all these plans are in the Lord's hands and I want to be flexible to any change God would bring. Please pray with me in this area of life.
