today is thanksgiving, and although its an american holiday, and they dont celebrate it here, i was able to have an amazing dinner with my friends over at Come Lets Dance. they prepared an incredible american style thanksgiving dinner, turkey and all, and we all shared in it together, about twenty five of us, westerners and ugandans, and a kenyan, all around the same table. it was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, united despite where we come from, our cultures and differences, together because of the love of God. and a good time to reflect on my time here, and what i am thankful for. so this year, here is my testimony of thanks.
i am thankful to God for my friends and family and community. He has blessed me beyond what i could ever ask for, and taught me so much about what it means to be the body of Christ. i eagerly await the day when i will return home and be reunited with my loved ones back home.
at the same time, i give thanks to God for my friends and family and community here, across the world. He has blessed me so much, and as i look around me, i count myself rich. who am i to deserve these wonderful people i count as family, brothers and sisters, friends and fellow sojourners. though i have just met them, and at most have been in fellowship a few months, i am knit together with them, soul to soul.
that is the power of Christ. that is the power of love. that, though strangers, we are bound together, and celebrate as brothers the redeeming and freeing work of Jesus.
after i finish this post, we are heading out to the streets of kampala to minister to the kids who live there. God has blessed our ministry with them, and we have been able to build some really encouraging relationships. at times, it is frustrating that we cant do more, but for now, we can rejoice in God's provision and the doors He has opened.
so off we go, back to the streets. and to be honest, there is no other place i would rather spend my thanksgiving. with these kids, who have nothing, we can at least give them a reason to be thankful, a reason to hope. but not us, Christ in us. may He shine ever brighter. may He remind us daily of all we have been forgiven, from all we have been set free. He gives us beauty for ashes, He gives freedom to captives. and we were all slaves once.
happy thanksgiving
jon
Thursday, November 26
day seventy eight: island hopping
as my time in uganda is coming to an end, i thought it appropriate to take a little brake from the day to day life. too much, even of a good thing, is wearing. and so this weekend, a short vacation.
there is a small group of islands off the southern coast of uganda in lake victoria called the Ssese islands. apart from boasting the best beaches in uganda(which isnt hard) ronnie used to live and work on one of the islands, so still has many friends and family on it. so it was pack the bags and hit the road this last friday for ronnie and i.
the first two days we spent on the major island- just a three hour ferry trip from the mainland. i love the water, and it was great to be on it again. nothing quite beats watching the sun sink to be swallowed by lake victoria while speeding along with the wind in your face to a place youve never been. for me, thats a picture no camera can capture, one that will live only in the mind, and the memory.
so we found a cheap hotel up off the beaten path. the large island is crawling with resorts and tourists. but we did well to avoid the expensive beachside cabins and tourist traps. still, we took advantage of them. and posing as a rich tourist, we made our way through the resort beaches, just "taking a look around" and "seeing what they have to offer." otherwise translated as trespassing on private beaches : ). good enough for a few hours and a bit of a sunburn- my first in africa. all in all, it was a much needed time of relaxation and enjoying each others company. we took in a few football games, a few sunsets, and spent some time talking to the local fishermen, watching them work.
sunday, we headed off to a much smaller island, far from anything you could call touristy. i dont think there was one hotel on the whole island. but, after some time on a fishing boat, paddeling our way through the wetlands, we arrived to a warm welcome from some of ronnies long lost friends. we rented a motorcycle for self drive and went off exploring the island- riding through fields and fields of pineapple, sugar cane, and other crops, mostly ronnie showing me the sights, visiting his old haunts, and catching up with family.
the motorcycle was an adventure in itself. it had seen better days. something with the choke was messed up, so you had to pull on a wire the whole time driving to prevent it from stalling out. during one particularly long climb, it even overheated and gave up on us! but, God was with us, and we were able to coast down to the bottom, and to safety. and while leaving, we were given a pineapple, fresh from the island(pineapples are the main cash crop there). we broke it open on the fishing boat and ate it on the trip back to the mainland. hands down, without a doubt, the best single peice of fruit i have ever tasted. ever. i am afraid of taking fruit again, for fear that it will forever taint my memory of the perfect pineapple. it was beyond words.
the trip was good, and without knowing it, much needed. somewhere in the day to day routine, some things get lost. i found myself thinking too much of ministry, putting too much of a stress on it. i think that, in my mind, ronnie and i were becoming partners, like in a business sence. we work together, and are friends because of it-as in, work has brought us together. but this trip helped to reorganize my priorities. it put us back in the right order, where we are friends frist, and can serve God together only out of that bond.
i am learning, God doesnt work like a business. we arent united because of a goal, or work, or what we do. we are brought together because of who we are, and moreover, who God is in us. we are united in love. without love, we have nothing. we strive, and are destined to fail. if it is not love in us and through us, binding us together, spuring us onward, it is not of God. because God is love, and it is by love, because of it, that the world will know us. we might as well be any other NGO or non profit, merely doing a good work. it is that love that seperates us, sets us apart, lets us proclaim Him with our whole lives.
may i learn to walk more fully in Christ and in love, and come to know that they are one in the same.
together in Him
jon
there is a small group of islands off the southern coast of uganda in lake victoria called the Ssese islands. apart from boasting the best beaches in uganda(which isnt hard) ronnie used to live and work on one of the islands, so still has many friends and family on it. so it was pack the bags and hit the road this last friday for ronnie and i.
the first two days we spent on the major island- just a three hour ferry trip from the mainland. i love the water, and it was great to be on it again. nothing quite beats watching the sun sink to be swallowed by lake victoria while speeding along with the wind in your face to a place youve never been. for me, thats a picture no camera can capture, one that will live only in the mind, and the memory.
so we found a cheap hotel up off the beaten path. the large island is crawling with resorts and tourists. but we did well to avoid the expensive beachside cabins and tourist traps. still, we took advantage of them. and posing as a rich tourist, we made our way through the resort beaches, just "taking a look around" and "seeing what they have to offer." otherwise translated as trespassing on private beaches : ). good enough for a few hours and a bit of a sunburn- my first in africa. all in all, it was a much needed time of relaxation and enjoying each others company. we took in a few football games, a few sunsets, and spent some time talking to the local fishermen, watching them work.
sunday, we headed off to a much smaller island, far from anything you could call touristy. i dont think there was one hotel on the whole island. but, after some time on a fishing boat, paddeling our way through the wetlands, we arrived to a warm welcome from some of ronnies long lost friends. we rented a motorcycle for self drive and went off exploring the island- riding through fields and fields of pineapple, sugar cane, and other crops, mostly ronnie showing me the sights, visiting his old haunts, and catching up with family.
the motorcycle was an adventure in itself. it had seen better days. something with the choke was messed up, so you had to pull on a wire the whole time driving to prevent it from stalling out. during one particularly long climb, it even overheated and gave up on us! but, God was with us, and we were able to coast down to the bottom, and to safety. and while leaving, we were given a pineapple, fresh from the island(pineapples are the main cash crop there). we broke it open on the fishing boat and ate it on the trip back to the mainland. hands down, without a doubt, the best single peice of fruit i have ever tasted. ever. i am afraid of taking fruit again, for fear that it will forever taint my memory of the perfect pineapple. it was beyond words.
the trip was good, and without knowing it, much needed. somewhere in the day to day routine, some things get lost. i found myself thinking too much of ministry, putting too much of a stress on it. i think that, in my mind, ronnie and i were becoming partners, like in a business sence. we work together, and are friends because of it-as in, work has brought us together. but this trip helped to reorganize my priorities. it put us back in the right order, where we are friends frist, and can serve God together only out of that bond.
i am learning, God doesnt work like a business. we arent united because of a goal, or work, or what we do. we are brought together because of who we are, and moreover, who God is in us. we are united in love. without love, we have nothing. we strive, and are destined to fail. if it is not love in us and through us, binding us together, spuring us onward, it is not of God. because God is love, and it is by love, because of it, that the world will know us. we might as well be any other NGO or non profit, merely doing a good work. it is that love that seperates us, sets us apart, lets us proclaim Him with our whole lives.
may i learn to walk more fully in Christ and in love, and come to know that they are one in the same.
together in Him
jon
Saturday, November 14
day sixty six: back from the source of the nile
ah, a week past and it feels good to curl up beneath my city's sky at night. the familiar sights and sounds flood my senses like nostalgia, and leave me feeling warm. ive spent a week away, just a few hours west, in jinja. and though in truth it is so close, it is another world over there.
this was my second time in jinja. if you remember, a few months ago, tyler and i stopped over for a few days on our journey from kenya. as the time before, this was one of much needed refreshement. it is amazing how a simple change of pace for a short time can reawaken your mind to the true value of things. my time away made me appreciate so much more, the relationships i have here.
i think i just have a tendency to take God's goodness for granted. i wish it wasnt so, but i am grateful that He also sees it fit to re-open my eyes to the world around me every once in a while. i got back in the afternoon yesterday, and was expecting to arrive to a full house. instead, it was quiet. so i set down my things, and took a seat, a bit disappointed.
but then in the door walks eddie, all in new clothes, with this little smile on his face(and i promise now i wont spend the whole time talking about eddie, though i suspect hes grown in the week ive been gone) and he quick-walks on over to me to be scooped up. i just held him and played with him, talking back and forth with my broken Lugandan, for an hour or two. and it was so awesome. and even now, i feel so blessed, beyond what i could ask or hope for.
i spent my time away in a small town called masese, just outside of jinja, with an organization called Serving His Children. SHC is bacially started and run by a twenty year old girl named Renee Bach. She has been in Uganda off an on for long periods of time since she was eighteen, serving with Light Gives Heat, Amani Childrens Home, and now, her own NGO- Serving His Children. She is a really great girl, who has completely let the Ugandan people capture her heart, and completely surrendered her life to God, for Him to use it as He will.
Renee, along with any volunteers on hand at the time, rents a house in masese, which is one of, if not the, poorest areas in/around jinja. it is basically a slum. from that house, she runs a bi weekly feeding ministry, open to any children who come. it serves upwards of one thousand kids, i think. i didnt ask, but i heard some numbers thrown around, and from what i saw, it had to be at least a thousand. also, she runs a small clinic from out of her kitchen. again, it is free to anyone who comes knocking at the door. obviously, services are limited, but she provides medicine and advice to all whom she can help, or else sends them to a nearby clinic. for special cases, she will arrange to take them to the main hospital in entebbe.
as if those two werent enough, and there were infinite hours in the day, she takes in severly sick/malnourished kids, and over a course of time, nurses them back to health. many of these kids have been failed by the overcrowed, understaffed hospitals, many of their families dont have the means to care for them, and many live with HIV/AIDS. while it is not a permanent solution, it has made a world of difference for these kids, and they will return to their families(if applicable) with a much better chance of living a happy, healthy life.
most of my time in jinja, i spent lending an extra set of hands around the many projects at the SHC home. there was never a quiet moment, and i loved it. some of you know that my heart is in medicine, and eventually i want to study for a degree in it. so this was just perfect, and reminded me a lot of my time spent in the Dominican Republic. as i said before, rest and refreshment doesnt always have to look like relaxation. oftern, it can be as simple as a change of pace.
i did get to spend some time on my own. i took a day and visited old friends at the Light Gives Heat house. we went and paid some visits to the Suubi ladies, and i made my first paper bead necklace! then, as the day drew on, and everyone had places to be, i made my way alone to a quiet cafe off the main street in jinja, and had the best iced americano ive had in months! it was heaven. seriously. that glass held all the relaxation i needed : ) that night was back at the LGH house, spending some more time with friends till the wee hours.
one downside is, i got sick for the first time in Africa! i think its been building up, waiting for a good time to strike. and strike it did, with a vengeance. i had pretty much every symptom way bad for a twenty four hour period. after which, most died off, and im now reduced to a normal stomach bug, though i still feel dizzy when im move to fast. not quite sure what it is, although i got a malaria test when i was still at the clinic. negative. im getting better though. i popped some pills yesterday that should kill anything going on in my stomach that shouldnt. no trouble yet, just a little continued uneasiness. we'll see though. it was bound to happen sooner or later, im actually surprised it took so long!
my time here is winding down. i realized a few weeks ago that the halfway point has passed, now it feels like ive got not time at all. yep, before i know it, ill be back in snowy, freezing, chicago. im kinda torn about it : )
with the world, in His hands
jon
this was my second time in jinja. if you remember, a few months ago, tyler and i stopped over for a few days on our journey from kenya. as the time before, this was one of much needed refreshement. it is amazing how a simple change of pace for a short time can reawaken your mind to the true value of things. my time away made me appreciate so much more, the relationships i have here.
i think i just have a tendency to take God's goodness for granted. i wish it wasnt so, but i am grateful that He also sees it fit to re-open my eyes to the world around me every once in a while. i got back in the afternoon yesterday, and was expecting to arrive to a full house. instead, it was quiet. so i set down my things, and took a seat, a bit disappointed.
but then in the door walks eddie, all in new clothes, with this little smile on his face(and i promise now i wont spend the whole time talking about eddie, though i suspect hes grown in the week ive been gone) and he quick-walks on over to me to be scooped up. i just held him and played with him, talking back and forth with my broken Lugandan, for an hour or two. and it was so awesome. and even now, i feel so blessed, beyond what i could ask or hope for.
i spent my time away in a small town called masese, just outside of jinja, with an organization called Serving His Children. SHC is bacially started and run by a twenty year old girl named Renee Bach. She has been in Uganda off an on for long periods of time since she was eighteen, serving with Light Gives Heat, Amani Childrens Home, and now, her own NGO- Serving His Children. She is a really great girl, who has completely let the Ugandan people capture her heart, and completely surrendered her life to God, for Him to use it as He will.
Renee, along with any volunteers on hand at the time, rents a house in masese, which is one of, if not the, poorest areas in/around jinja. it is basically a slum. from that house, she runs a bi weekly feeding ministry, open to any children who come. it serves upwards of one thousand kids, i think. i didnt ask, but i heard some numbers thrown around, and from what i saw, it had to be at least a thousand. also, she runs a small clinic from out of her kitchen. again, it is free to anyone who comes knocking at the door. obviously, services are limited, but she provides medicine and advice to all whom she can help, or else sends them to a nearby clinic. for special cases, she will arrange to take them to the main hospital in entebbe.
as if those two werent enough, and there were infinite hours in the day, she takes in severly sick/malnourished kids, and over a course of time, nurses them back to health. many of these kids have been failed by the overcrowed, understaffed hospitals, many of their families dont have the means to care for them, and many live with HIV/AIDS. while it is not a permanent solution, it has made a world of difference for these kids, and they will return to their families(if applicable) with a much better chance of living a happy, healthy life.
most of my time in jinja, i spent lending an extra set of hands around the many projects at the SHC home. there was never a quiet moment, and i loved it. some of you know that my heart is in medicine, and eventually i want to study for a degree in it. so this was just perfect, and reminded me a lot of my time spent in the Dominican Republic. as i said before, rest and refreshment doesnt always have to look like relaxation. oftern, it can be as simple as a change of pace.
i did get to spend some time on my own. i took a day and visited old friends at the Light Gives Heat house. we went and paid some visits to the Suubi ladies, and i made my first paper bead necklace! then, as the day drew on, and everyone had places to be, i made my way alone to a quiet cafe off the main street in jinja, and had the best iced americano ive had in months! it was heaven. seriously. that glass held all the relaxation i needed : ) that night was back at the LGH house, spending some more time with friends till the wee hours.
one downside is, i got sick for the first time in Africa! i think its been building up, waiting for a good time to strike. and strike it did, with a vengeance. i had pretty much every symptom way bad for a twenty four hour period. after which, most died off, and im now reduced to a normal stomach bug, though i still feel dizzy when im move to fast. not quite sure what it is, although i got a malaria test when i was still at the clinic. negative. im getting better though. i popped some pills yesterday that should kill anything going on in my stomach that shouldnt. no trouble yet, just a little continued uneasiness. we'll see though. it was bound to happen sooner or later, im actually surprised it took so long!
my time here is winding down. i realized a few weeks ago that the halfway point has passed, now it feels like ive got not time at all. yep, before i know it, ill be back in snowy, freezing, chicago. im kinda torn about it : )
with the world, in His hands
jon
Sunday, November 8
day sixty: grace and redemption
i am convinced that a child's smile is one of the most redeeming things on earth. when God made us, He put more of Himself in this majical expression of joy, and saved it, only giving it to us when we are young. you can be having the worst day, and everything can be turned upside down when a kid bestows this gift on you. its like, your heart remembers what love is, what joy is, and you live in that moment for the rest of the day.
i never knew that joy until eddy. maybe its because i have invested so much of myself into him, that when i see him happy, it makes all the difference in the world. in truth, i dont know why, but it lifts my heart heavenward.
its amazing what a few short weeks can do, the difference that can be seen in them. ive already written about the state eddy was in at first. sick with way too heavy a burden for anyone, let alone a child, malnourished to the point of starvation, unresponsive, uncaring, just taking each day as it comes, waiting for death.
three days after, the light in his eyes was returning. i heard the sound of his voice for the first time- its so sweet. i still smile every time i hear it. i got my first glimpse of a smile, heard the first fragments of a laugh. two weeks later, eddy is a different person. if he isnt babling away about something, shuffeling around, or sitting contentidly with a smile across his face, you know something is wrong. no longer does he just sit and wait. he is not content with being ignored. and if he is feeling it, you know it : )
he is becoming more confident in himself. if ronnie, mom, or myself, are around, he will tell us when he needs anything. i love when he asks me for anything, even if i dont always understand him, and if at all i can, i love getting him what he asks. sometimes, im worried we are spoiling him, and we probably are, but after four years of neglect and witholding of love, i think a little excess is in order.
when ronnie or i come home, he comes running to us from wherever he is, or at least, as shuffling along as quickly as he can. its adorable. and theres nothing better than scooping him up and while he laughs gleefully.
he is still shy around strangers, but he's getting better. we are working at acclimating him, building his confidence in social situations. we bring him to the kids home once or twice a week, though hes still scared of them. who wouldnt be, when you are the size of a toddler, and dozens of kids are towering over you, running every which way? he is becoming fond of the neighbors as well. and when we walk down the road with him, he loves to point out all the different things he knows the names of, while waving to the shouts of all the kids, muzungu, muzungu! (they are calling to me, and muzungu means white person, but he waves anyway)
i think im getting carried away, and im sure most of you have lost interest by now, but what i want to say is this. this kid is a daily reminder of Gods grace, and is teaching me more and more how He loves us, His children. each day that eddy lives, he gets stronger. every breath he takes, every time he laughs, every step he makes, is evidence of God's healing presence in his life. and its a beautiful picture of how He has saved us, brings us to Himself, makes us stronger every day.
apart from that, im going to jinja this next week. ill be working with a girl named renee, who is running a ministry out there, doing a biweekly feeding ministry and also taking in kids, nursing them back to health. i have a few other contacts out there that im looking forward to getting in touch with as well. it should be a good experience, seeing God's hand in another place, with other people.
there is a lot more i would love to say. i waited too long since my last update, and now i dont know where to start. so instead, i just said what was on my heart, and thats eddy. maybe ill be able to do another of these soon. God is working mightily here, and i feel privledged to be a witness to it.
one last thing. we took eddy and charles for HIV/AIDS testing on monday. after a long day of anxious waiting, we got the results that they are both negative(which means aids free)! God is good!
in His arms
jon
i never knew that joy until eddy. maybe its because i have invested so much of myself into him, that when i see him happy, it makes all the difference in the world. in truth, i dont know why, but it lifts my heart heavenward.
its amazing what a few short weeks can do, the difference that can be seen in them. ive already written about the state eddy was in at first. sick with way too heavy a burden for anyone, let alone a child, malnourished to the point of starvation, unresponsive, uncaring, just taking each day as it comes, waiting for death.
three days after, the light in his eyes was returning. i heard the sound of his voice for the first time- its so sweet. i still smile every time i hear it. i got my first glimpse of a smile, heard the first fragments of a laugh. two weeks later, eddy is a different person. if he isnt babling away about something, shuffeling around, or sitting contentidly with a smile across his face, you know something is wrong. no longer does he just sit and wait. he is not content with being ignored. and if he is feeling it, you know it : )
he is becoming more confident in himself. if ronnie, mom, or myself, are around, he will tell us when he needs anything. i love when he asks me for anything, even if i dont always understand him, and if at all i can, i love getting him what he asks. sometimes, im worried we are spoiling him, and we probably are, but after four years of neglect and witholding of love, i think a little excess is in order.
when ronnie or i come home, he comes running to us from wherever he is, or at least, as shuffling along as quickly as he can. its adorable. and theres nothing better than scooping him up and while he laughs gleefully.
he is still shy around strangers, but he's getting better. we are working at acclimating him, building his confidence in social situations. we bring him to the kids home once or twice a week, though hes still scared of them. who wouldnt be, when you are the size of a toddler, and dozens of kids are towering over you, running every which way? he is becoming fond of the neighbors as well. and when we walk down the road with him, he loves to point out all the different things he knows the names of, while waving to the shouts of all the kids, muzungu, muzungu! (they are calling to me, and muzungu means white person, but he waves anyway)
i think im getting carried away, and im sure most of you have lost interest by now, but what i want to say is this. this kid is a daily reminder of Gods grace, and is teaching me more and more how He loves us, His children. each day that eddy lives, he gets stronger. every breath he takes, every time he laughs, every step he makes, is evidence of God's healing presence in his life. and its a beautiful picture of how He has saved us, brings us to Himself, makes us stronger every day.
apart from that, im going to jinja this next week. ill be working with a girl named renee, who is running a ministry out there, doing a biweekly feeding ministry and also taking in kids, nursing them back to health. i have a few other contacts out there that im looking forward to getting in touch with as well. it should be a good experience, seeing God's hand in another place, with other people.
there is a lot more i would love to say. i waited too long since my last update, and now i dont know where to start. so instead, i just said what was on my heart, and thats eddy. maybe ill be able to do another of these soon. God is working mightily here, and i feel privledged to be a witness to it.
one last thing. we took eddy and charles for HIV/AIDS testing on monday. after a long day of anxious waiting, we got the results that they are both negative(which means aids free)! God is good!
in His arms
jon
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