Walking The Path in Uganda

Picture this: Finally we got power hooked up to our house. I was anticipating a hot shower at 4:30 a.m. before the radio program. I got up, flipped the switch to my potential ecstasy and nothing happened but a click of the switch. No light, no power anywhere. I heated up some water on the gas stove so as not to shock my naked system and add to my mounting disappointment. My new phone sounded
its unfamiliar tune and it showed a message I didn’t know how to rectify. Then the phone battery went off and of course there was no power to charge my phone to see what the caller wanted. No power to
use my hair dryer. I needed to be at the station in 10 minutes. I power up my computer to make sure it is working to play a song for the program and a bat invades my face space right between me and my
computer. My son Thad would have been so proud of his mother as she did not even holler or scrunch down as in the past. Now none of this was so bad, really. My life was not in danger. I was simply finding life inconvenient.

Now picture this: An old woman was walking down the highway. I watched her as she passed by my office window. She walked with a bend in her back and neck. An old crooked stick was her stable companion. She had a limp in her stride and her sagging breasts swayed from side to side. The back of her faded dress had a large hole exposing the next layer of clothing. Where was she going? The evidence was in her hand…a hoe. She was headed to the field to dig up her meal for the day, I think. It is dry and dusty season now so whatever is in the garden is dry, very dry. The heat of the day was well over 105 F.

The comparison of her life and mine? And I think I am inconvenienced when I can’t dry my hair? My old passerby has to pack her water. I just turn on the faucet. She most likely lives in the dark at night
with maybe a small candle. I flip a switch. Phone? Why does she need a phone? I have two in case one goes off for some reason here. Yes, I am spoiled with so many of life’s luxuries.

Can you imagine how glorious it will be for people who have lived like this to enter their rightful place in glory? Talk about a culture shock! Let me not complain for my lot in life.

Back to the bat and bugs…It always amazes me how much I have changed here. When we first came, if I saw an ant in my food, I would say, “Augh! There’s an ant in my food!” Now I watch my food before I eat it to make sure nothing is moving. If there is movement then I take the whole lot of cereal and bake it for a few minutes and enjoy the added protein. Or I knock off the hungry alien and continue without a comment. After all ants and grasshoppers are delicacies in this place.

When are you all coming for a visit?

This week we were interviewing for teachers for our new Comprehensive Secondary School.

We were interviewing for a catering teacher. He was telling us what all he was teaching in his current position, nutrition being one of his subjects. All during this man’s interviews he was telling us things we knew were not true. The panel was being quite amused. I asked him how vitamin A benefited the body. He made up a strange answer. I asked him the same question about vitamin C. Another strange answer. I asked him if he knew the following terms, gluten, leavening agent, and finally protein. He had never heard of these terms. That is like asking a chemist if he had ever heard of a test tube.

The panel was laughing and being quite entertained by this guy. He was so serious in all his replies. I said, “Are you a comedian?” And he very seriously responded, “No, I’m not a comedian, I’m a human being.”

You know sometimes when you repeat something that was very funny, when telling it to someone not in the situation, it doesn’t seem very funny. I hope you could picture the scenario. Anyway, we have found 6 very bright-eyed and mature-appearing teachers. Did we hire the comedian? Guess! We believe we have the potential to have a very strong beginning of our new school. This first year we will begin with Senior One and Senior Two. (9th and 10th grades) And the enrollment will be about 30-35 students.

As you know beginning a new school takes many items. Maybe your favorite subject was Biology in high school. For Christmas would you consider buying a couple of Biology books for an orphan to learn about houseflies and the economic impact it has. (That’s what our new biology teacher taught for his practical interview.) Or maybe you’d like to buy a couple of History books so the students can learn about the colonization of East Africa. Each of the books will cost about $20 each. Or maybe someone would like to totally buy the books for the first year. And that would be? Yes, about $5000.

Students here are used to not even having one book to read from. The teacher writes all the info on the blackboard and they take notes. Can you imagine the impact we could have on these kids if each kid has his own book in every subject? That is what we have done in the primary school and in four years we have become 2nd in scholastic achievement in the district of over 200 schools.

We have other needs such as tables, desks and chairs. Any help you can give us to have a solid beginning of the new school year in February would be a tremendous boost. And as Builder Bob says, “Can we do it? Yes, we can!”

- Bob and Carol in the trenches with all the other human beings in East Africa

Four weeks ago the Spokane Team was with us and as part of their activities we held an outreach crusade at a local village home not far from Otino Waa.  We wanted them to experience an outreach in village atmosphere.  Douglas had
gone with sound equipment and some of the Otino Waa mothers and kids.  After the singing from those present, our first preacher was mom Rebecca, House #18.  She stood there with great confidence and preached in Luo with command of her words.  She was followed by Rose Anyati, Pastor Dickens wife, who is usually a bit shy.  She spoke so boldly, it was amazing.
There was more singing and dancing, circling the area.  Such exuberance!  During this time several were prayed for and were delivered from demons and evil spirits.  These people came to their senses exhibiting a touch from a working Savior.

After we took the ladies back to Otino Waa there was a very unusual happening at the crusade home.  The people saw a tree at the edge of the compound where the main huts were that was smoking, but not burning.  It was a very tall tree, even a nearby hut was smoking with no fire.  It was like a reverse of Moses and the burning bush.  Here there was smoke at the top of the tree but no fire.  The people marched around the tree exhorting evil spirits to leave.  It seems to have been a territorial spirit lingering in the  area from a sorceress who previously had lived in a hut under that  very tree.  The word of God and the praises of His people were just too much for the evil spirits to endure.  This was the manifestation they observed.And now this morning, four weeks later it was reported by testimony that very tree has lost all its leaves and is standing there as a lifeless tree.  It reminded me of the fig tree that had no fruit and Jesus cursed it and it withered and died.  This was all so dramatic that many of us went to see the tree. There it was standing devoid of all leaves.  The residence of the area reported that before the outreach they were troubled at night by sounds like a chick peeping around the huts.  There were some lights like glow worms here and there.  Since that time of the smoking tree, these things have not occurred.  It was so faith building to see visible evidence of the hand of the Lord working in behalf of the Christians in our area.

Before the sermon this morning Pastor Douglas called for one man to give testimony of this event.  Douglas then asked for people to come forward for salvation.  The people poured down to the front.  There were some adults but most were children.  Then after the  sermons there were more that came for salvation as well as prayer for other issues.  Again the people came in a great number.  When all was recorded there were 22 people that asked Jesus to be their boss.

We are truly in awe to see such a move of the Lord in the life of our little church.  It is just the barefoot peasants who have seen signs and wonders from a God who loves even the least of these.  We are truly blessed to be part of what God is doing in Uganda.  And that was our morning at church in the village.

Bob and Carol