UGANDA: A Hug From God

For over 15 years, God entrusted me with the responsibility to share truth with teenagers. At 12 years old, I knew God called me to ministry, and as years went by, God grew in my heart a love for teens.

Somewhere along the road, my eyes were taken off God, and became squarely centered on myself. God allowed me to travel down that path, and ultimately it ended in utter failure and misery. As a result, I was confident that He was done with me. I knew that He would never use me again - especially in the lives of teenagers.

However, on Saturday, August 8 , 2009, God gave me a huge hug and reminded me I was His. I had the distinct pleasure of talking with over 450 teenagers in Uganda, and sharing with them the truth of the Gospel. To make the experience even better, God gave me the privilege of fielding questions about the Bible, America, even Obama. It was a wonderful time of interacting with the age group that God has given me a burden for.

Again I can be used by God to share His love with teenagers. What a blessing!

UGANDA LESSONS: New Cultures are Strange

New Cultures are STRANGE

"How long do your winters last?" The question was posed by a young man at the Bugongi Secondary School. "Well, in America, they differ depending on the region. For instance, the Housers who live in New York and Karen Hawks who lives in Pennsylvania..." I turned to Dean and asked him the question. He replied, "from October through March." "However the Swaydens and the Nederhoff's live in the New Mexico desert, and their winter is..." Again, I turned for guidance. "About 3 months" was Randy's reply. "Our winter in Chattanooga is about the same as theirs." I replied.

The faces on the students were riddled with confusion. One young man spoke up. "Then what do you do for food?" Another asked, "What do you do, do you just sit at home?" As I fielded these questions by talking about shopping markets, inside jobs, snow shovels, snow plows, ranges of snowfall in the US, it dawned on me that other cultures are "strange" to everyone.

In other words, often we step out of our "culture" to investigate another, only to find their patterns, behaviors, food choices, weather, etc. are very different from ours, and think them to be "strange". What we fail to realize is that the "norm" is defined by the culture, and therefore what is normal to one culture is strange to another.

Cultural Differences and Christianity

This fleshes itself out in the culture of Christianity as well. If we surround ourself with the culture of the American church, with the culture of popular Christianity, with Christian youth culture, we develop an understanding of who God is, what God is doing, what God is all about, what Christianity is, etc. The danger is that the "norms" of our culture can begin to define God and Christianity. This is helpful in the fact that we can relate to others within our "culture", but it is harmful when it hinders reaching others from another culture.

Exploring Different Cultures

How do we keep ourselves from being strange to other cultures? Study their culture, and allow yours to be studied by others. Don't put a moral value on differences unless the Bible speaks directly for or against it. Different music styles, different worship methods, different means of relating... Just because it's "strange" to us does not mean it is wrong. It just means it needs to be explored.

For instance... different or wrong

• Ugandan men hold hands walking down the street
  
• The Ugandan church sang a welcome song everytime someone new showed up
• The Ugandan church accepted food as offering - then auctioned it off at the close of worship
• Some Ugandan people "bathe" together in the hot springs
• Ugandan (Anglican) worship was structured in a book - very patterned
• Ugandan worshippers gave gifts to people performing special music in church during their "performance"
  
• Ugandans expect you to take a gift with you when you visit their home

This is just a few of the unusual things I saw in Uganda - but interestingly enough (with the exception of the hand holding) these "strange" occurances were very easy to mold myself to. If I lived there long term though, I wonder if I would be inclined to change their culture to reflect my "norm".

How do you react to new cultures? What can you do to respond positively to "strange" cultures?

Solomy's Miracle

Just 8 months ago, this young lady crawled across the ground - George Miller saw her and had compassion on her. Now she is able to go to school and play with the other children.
It is amazing what God has done through George and AMG Sponsors.

Uganda - New Experiences...

Thank you for your prayers as we travelled to Uganda. God has given me many new experiences on my trip, and I would like to take this opportunity to record just a few...

- Stopping in Dubai - one of the worlds richest places
- 13 hour flight - never been in a plane that long
- Worshiping African Style - with much enthusiasm
- Hand washing my clothes in a tub
- Playing soccer barefoot in Africa
- Experiencing an African roadblock "rebellion"
- Sleeping in Mosquito Nets
- Eating Ugandan food - beans and rice - very bland
- Jogging in Uganda
- Painting using small trees (4-5' long) as roller sticks
- Worshiping in an Anglican Church - African Style
- Visiting people's homes - 1-2 room mud huts
- Ate Goat - cooked African Style
- Spoke to a group of 450+ boarding students
- Saw various animals in their normal habitat
- Preaching to half nude people
- Washing for a week from a knee high faucet - cold water only.

Overall it was a great trip - if you are interested in hearing more about any of the new experiences that I had, feel free to ask - I am sure I will be writing more in the near future.

Uganda - Experiencing African Time

"Hurry up, it's 6:30 and the bus is going to be here soon!" Sound familiar? Getting your children up and ready for school - screaming for them to get their lunch, their shoes, their bookbag, etc and hurry out the door.

Imagine if you would a culture where time is slowed way down. The schedule is determined by the people that have arrived, as opposed to a clock on the wall. Nine O'clock really means some time after nine. "We start at 10" really means " people generally get here around 10 and when everyone arrives we begin."

Yes, this place does exist - actually in many countries of the world! One of those places is Uganda. It was my pleasure to experience a timeless culture. People became a priority, schedules - not so much. Taking time to talk - to look into others eyes and hear what they were saying. Taking time to share - to visit with people and hear their stories.

I realize this cannot happen across the board here in America (at least not any time soon), however, I am determined to bring at least a little of this culture into my world. Why am I so busy? Why does the clock dictate what I do? How is it I waste time doing things that are meaningless and fruitless when people right around me are emotionally, spiritually, relationally wasting away?

Join me in a revolt - okay, maybe let's not take it that far. But turn off your TV. Turn off your computer. Put your cell phone, Ipod, DVD player, etc on hold and take time to relate to the people around you. Look in people's eyes. Hear their stories. Invite people into your home and just hang out with them. Go to other people's homes and spend time with them. We want this. WE NEED THIS!!

You don't have to go to Africa to experience African time - Do it in your home - Try it!!