The first thing I remember from that initial Entebbe to Karuma bus ride was being shocked that everything outside my window was exactly as I had imagined and expected it to be. American television, films, and personal accounts have painted such an accurate picture of the conditions in these African countries and villages that the image of people living in poorly constructed, filthy shacks or huts with thatched roofs, carrying enormous loads for many miles only on bicycles or on their heads, has almost become a platitude. The depiction of small children, half-naked, who are so malnourished their stomachs distend, has nearly sunk to the level of cliché. As an American, it seemed I had become so exposed to this image secondhand that it no longer shocked me in that context; however, seeing it firsthand, experiencing the smells and sounds and sights of Northern Uganda, caused me to be able to be shocked and saddened by all of it the way I am meant to. I was uncomfortable, and that is exactly what I needed to be in order for God to start working.
What I became utterly amazed with and moved by the most on this trip was the people of Uganda’s gracious and giving spirits despite their near abject poverty. The first village we visited to do medical clinic work was perhaps the greatest example of this. At the end of the day, the family of the village cooked for us an absolutely wonderful meal, and insisted we eat to our fill, despite the fact that it meant the wife and children of the family would not get to eat as much that night, or at all. We have all no doubt heard a hundred stories just like this, so much so that it becomes commonplace and unmoving (no matter how much we know it is), but to actually experience that kind of service is heart-wrenching. It was perhaps one of the most humbling moments of my life to be given so much by people who have so little. Michael, one of our team members, who had been playing soccer with the children for a good portion of the day, had his feet covered in red African dirt by the end of it. One of the people in the village brought him a basin and some water to wash his feet. Alex leaned over to me and mused whether any of us could imagine Christ bowing low to wash our feet in that way; I admitted that I could not. To see the villagers humble themselves in such a way was uncomfortable enough; to have my Savior bring himself to serve me would almost seem more than I could bear. I now understand why the disciples protested so vehemently.
Like the gracious and giving spirits, I was also overwhelmed by the Ugandan people’s capacity for joy and capacity for praise, especially the orphan children of Restoration Gateway. Rarely did I hear any Ugandan utter a sentiment or give a speech without appending God’s praise before or after each utterance. Many a time, I watched the orphans break out in praise songs no matter the time and place. I had been playing ball with some of the children in RG’s gym/auditorium when suddenly, they all began to pull up plastic chairs that were sitting around. They brought one for me as well and commanded I sit in the circle they had created. These tiny children began carrying over drums that were the same size as they were, or even larger, and put them in the center of the circle. They began to play the drums and sing spiritual songs; their voices were loud and clear and full of joy as they sang God’s praises. It may perhaps sound overly saccharine, but I have seen many concerts with many musicians, but I truly believe that those ten children, playing drums and singing praises is the most beautiful thing I have heard.
On one of the last days we were at RG, many of us attended the orphans’ and orphan mothers’ devotional and praise session in the auditorium. They alternated between singing songs, and then praying aloud. To hear every child and every mother praying aloud all at once was something I was entirely unused to; what’s more, they all prayed unceasingly for about five to ten minutes straight. What I realized in that moment was that I couldn’t pray aloud that fervently and for that long despite the fact that as an American and as a muzungu (white person), I had so much more to praise God for than these Ugandan orphans did. But that is when I had my moment of most staggering conviction on this trip: the Ugandan people, especially these orphans, don’t need a reason to praise God – they praised God simply because they can praise God and simply because God is their God. I reflected on my own life of praise, and I do not think I have ever offered up such pure and unfiltered praise simply because God is God. At times, I almost forgot that the conditions were so poor and harrowing simply because the people did not behave as though they were. Instead of behaving as a passively downtrodden people, they were as joyful and spirited as any privilege American or European in his day to day activities (perhaps even more so).
I did not just learn from the people of Uganda, though; I had the amazing privilege of learning from each and every member of our team, whether by observing them in their daily work there or through our worship and devotional periods in our pod at the end of the day. Each member had a different story, different pain, different joys, but the same passion for the Lord and His work. Many times, I wondered if I could ever live up to the magnitude of these Christians I worked alongside, but through our talks and our prayers, I learned that we are all children of Christ Jesus – there is no greater or lesser, everyone stumbles and everyone triumphs. I thank God that He led me on this trip. When I initially applied for and planned for this trip, I went into it with the mindset that it was not for me but was for what I could do. I still believe that every person should embark on vision trips not hoping to get anything out of it for themselves, but to serve others in any way possible. However, I have found that spiritual growth is indeed a very prevalent and very beautiful side effect; I didn’t go into the trip necessarily hoping to grow for my own sake, but I absolutely did in spite of myself.
I had the amazing opportunity of teaching in the orphans’ English classes while at RG. Janice McCall, part of the husband and wife team who started the whole organization, allowed me to read to the children and start a small creative writing/composition initiative while in their classes. Dr. Tim McCall mentioned at one point that there are only five books written in Lwo, the native language of Ugandan (despite the fact that English is technically the national language). Northern Ugandan has so many impactful stories to tell, and I wanted the children to start becoming comfortable with and learning how to tell stories so that someday the world may be able to see the lives they and many other have lived and become impacted by it. It was not difficult to start doing this program with the children because everything they do in class is paired with such unmitigated enthusiasm. I started off by reading some picture books to the children, and teaching them various aspects of story depending on their level. For the upper levels, P3 and P4, I began reading them The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. After a couple of days, I had P1 and P2 start writing stories of their own. Many of them are burgeoning little artists (and quite good ones), so I allowed them to illustrate their stories as well. Every time they finished a sentence or a drawing or finished writing a story, they would call me over to look at it and would beam with pride. After an hour, the bell rang to end the class, and I dismissed the children to have their free time. They all remained in their seats and insisted that I continue to teach them and let them keep writing instead of going outside to play. Eventually, I ended up having them go to the front of the class to read their stories and they did a phenomenal job. I believe in time that some truly wonderful writers will come out of RG and that the stories of Northern Ugandan will begin to be told.
Before I left for the trip, a friend of mine wrote out verses on note cards to take with me on the trip. Appropriately, one of the verses was 1 Corinthians 12: 5-6, which says “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” While working with the fabulous team in Uganda, I got to see everyone’s talents and skill sets used to their fullest ability. It was a huge blessing to see Bridget be Super Doctor, to see the nurses and pharmacists be absolutely wonderful at what they do, to see the engineers fixing things and setting everything in order, and to see everyone interact with and bless the lives of the orphans of RG. At one point, during the first day of medical mission work, DeeAndria, Michael and I went out into the villages to see if we could find some medication our little pharmacy did not yet have. We visited about ten or so of the local “drug stores” (which required no scripts, had no counting tables, and were merely bottles and boxes stacked on shelves) and found ourselves coming up empty every time. At the final drug store we visited, DeeAndria spotted the drug we were looking for, just in a different form. Because of her study of pharmaceuticals, and the fact that she works with alternative treatment options at Whole Foods, we were able to get the drug we needed back into the village. Chris, in his great skill and perhaps even greater patience, got so many of the vehicles and various other derelict machinery working which will help the folks of RG begin their agricultural projects and further beautify Restoration Gateway. Not one of us on the team had a skill set that couldn’t be used, and I was just in awe of how talented everyone on the team is. God brought us all there for His purpose and worked through all of us in different, but very necessary ways.
(Written by Katie Arnt – Uganda, May 2012)
Common Ground Vision Trips Blog 