Marriage preparations and Easter celebrations.

Our marriage preparations are truly on the way!

Its been great having my friends wanting to chip in and help in all the running around and shopping required. Wilson, a friend of mine, helped drive Agnes and I around yesterday to do the shopping for the food that will be used in the introduction ceremony.
It is only a few weeks to go now, and I think a few of my friends were realizing I was doing a lot of these tasks by my own, and so they insisted they needed to help me.
And now that they have been helping, I am so glad I have them! I actually realize now that I couldn't do lots of this stuff without them.
Aggie and I have spent a lot of the last few weeks in town, preparing for everything, paying deposits on things and doing lots of shopping.
We really want to get most things done and out of the way for when my family comes in less then two weeks, so we can spend quality time with them without being too stressed.

We do get to spend a few times here and there having a nice lunch out eating pork! (And making ninja masks using straw wrappers)

With only a few weeks to go I have been reflecting/reading/studying on marriage. Agnes and I really are excited! We can't wait to start a life together.
I was thinking about if I had any fears or doubts about entering into a life long covenant. I have to say I am fully ready to embrace all of it! And can't wait. I think I have a realistic view of marriage from all the input I have had from people/books over the months, but I also have a firm believe in placing trust in God to carry us through.

The only fear that I seem to have, is a rather new emotion.  I realize now I have this great treasure and gift, and this new treasure I have comes with the realization that it can be lost in the reality of a world with death.
That may sound a bit grim .. but it is a genuine new emotion of fear that I have entering into this marriage.
I guess it may be the same feeling that a parent could have the first time they have a child.

When you are given a gift so great, the thought of it ever being lost can be scary.

But the reality in my life that the greatest treasure of Jesus can never be lost, and is eternally secure, is the hope and joy that carries you through the fears of life.

I once heard a quote that said "In the end everything will be alright, and if it is not alright, then it is not the end"

How true that rings when faith is put in the Creator! So Aggie and I enter into this marriage with all its hopes, expectations, anticipations and concerns with a trust and hope that is held together by God.

Last Sunday I had the lovely privilege of joining in the the village of hope for their Easter lunch.
We had an amazing meal of chicken, beef, chapatis, potatoes, matoke, rice and pineapples. I watched as formerly destitute and broken children danced, laughed, ate and played.
Sometimes when you are exposed constantly to life over here, some of the miracles and beautiful changed lives can become the norm, and not effect you as they did when you first came.
How strange that the heart can become dull and numb sometimes. And its never something that you realize has just happened one day, it creeps up on you slowly.
But how beautiful when God allows you a little insight and reflection on the reality of a broken life being made whole, and His beauty and light pierces your heart.
As I looked around at the many little lives in the process of being made whole, I had to give thanks to God. These are just a few lives that would not be where they are today if it wasn't for Christ like love. What a God we have who holds a special place in His heart for the destitute, broken, poor and oppressed and then chooses to use His children to show and spread that love.

What a special way to spend Easter.

God bless

Ponderings on the spiritual state and future of the church.

It is an interesting thing to dwell on “The spiritual state and future of the church” in the country you have been called to be a missionary in. 

But having a fond interest in society, history and its repeated cycles (especially in the context of Christianity) I can’t help but wonder aloud at where Uganda’s church may be headed.

I write this with tired eyes after being kept awake all night by the local Anglican church (which has more of a charismatic feel to it) who ran an ‘Easter special’ overnight prayer and worship service.

I once read an article that said in the Congo, brothels where calling up the police and complaining about local churches making too much noise all night. The article was showing an ironic twist that in Africa the church has more passion and fun during the night then the brothels. Although living next to many churches I can see a different side to it, and although I do not advocate for brothels in anyway, perhaps I can feel a little bit of their pain.

I noticed the Anglican Church setting up around 6.00 pm on Friday. They had hired some great big monstrous speakers for their overnight affair. I felt a pang of worry as I saw them set the giant speakers up outside, facing towards the community, instead of inside towards the church.

As expected it was impossible to sleep during the night, as the loud speakers pulsated their singing, chanting and strange wild animal noises (the charismatic flavor to the Anglican Church) right across the local village, and right into my bedroom.

I had wrote a rather sarcastic comment on my facebook page early this morning about “representing Jesus in the quest to love your neighbor as yourself” .. But after pondering on the fact that the post was written in a spirit of smugness and some sort of ineffective revenge, I had to remove it.

Sometimes the self-conviction of being a follower of Jesus can be hard.

But the issue still remains. Overnight prayer meetings are fantastic for sure! But the attitude of “you’re going to hear us worship all night whether you like it or not” towards the outside community has you wondering ‘what spirit of Christ is this?’

I believe it stems from a deeper issue within the church here in Uganda. One that follows rules, customs and actions that say “I am a good Christian, can’t you see”. Yet it can sometimes seem like a church culture very devoid of the Christ shown in scriptures.

And believe me, as a youth worker here, I can see it is something the next generation are starting to pick up on.

Often history repeats itself and I can’t help but see similarities with what has happened to the church (or Christendom for that matter) in the west, or mainly the U.S, and what may slowly happen here.

Uganda's church could be compared to the church in the west a few decades ago. It’s rather easy to be a Christian in Uganda. Pastors are still held with a high level of respect, even above others (which I must say dangerously leads to people aiming to be a pastor for the wrong reasons). No one will mock you or ridicule you on your Christian beliefs of salvation, sexuality, or the afterlife. And the name of Jesus would most likely be heard more than once during the day (and not in a swear word may I add).

Yet as often, this highly Christianized state can be lacking in Christ like mindedness.

Just like in the 90’s in America, the prosperity gospel is rampant! I have so often heard pastors claiming things like
“If you just place your hand on your chest, and declare prosperity, health and wealth over your life, In Jesus name, all your hearts desires will be granted to you by God”

Where such teaching can be found in the scriptures, I am still struggling to find.

The incredibly dangerous thing about this gospel, that perhaps wrecks more havoc here in Africa then in America, is the fact that people are living in abject poverty. Everyone wants to hear the prosperity gospel here! The lie that if you just accept Jesus, everything will go the way you want it.
It is a doctrine that encourages idolatry and is sure to disappoint and leave a bitter taste in people’s mouths when they realize that they are still living as the poorest people in the world.

Perhaps they would best be taught the truth of scripture that says “One of the great hopes of this present life in Christ, is not that in following Jesus everything will go your way! But that through your suffering Jesus is enough to sustain you no matter the circumstances”

And more than that, perhaps these great prosperity preachers with their big crusades and flashy cars may best represent Jesus by laying down their life for the poor, instead of exploiting them.

I have to keep in mind that it is always easy to judge others, without first looking at your own heart and trying to clean up the selfish greed and mess within oneself.

But still, it can’t help but be noticed (especially by the younger generation) that this movement of charismatic prosperity churches are rife with sexual and financial scandals. Whether a pastor has impregnated ten young girls in his church, or has stolen money from the widows fund, I have heard it all.

And lastly, the one which really pushes away the youth, is the self-righteous legalism that runs rampant. If you are a sinner (that includes anyone who drinks, smokes, listens to secular music or has sex) you will be vilified and humiliated by the 'oh so righteous' pharisees whose sins are swept under the carpet (which include greed for money and power, self-righteousness, hypocrisy and harsh judgement)

I can’t help but see the similarities to what has happened in the church in the west, to what may happen in the future of Uganda.

The west has shaken loose its shackles of Christendom (and I do not necessarily think this is a bad thing) and many people, fed up with the behaviors they have seen, have walked away from the church and Christianity with ‘justified’ frustration. But tragically they have walked away from the eternal life giving hope of Jesus, all in the supposed name of liberation. And perhaps we as the church have some serious explaining to do as a result of this.

Recently I saw a humorous (yet a bit dark) quote on facebook that said “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it”

Is that what will happen with the church in Uganda? Will the same thing happen with the next generation? Especially when they become more and more westernized and are influenced by outside ideas.

This post has a large negative stream to it, but I believe there is still hope. Of course that is what the Christian life thrives on.

Hope.

Jesus said two thousand years ago that he was going to build his church “and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”.
The Christendom church here may eventually grow weaker, but in doing so, a purging and purifying act may happen.

It may make the Christians left, more Christ-like then before.

Although I do see many dissatisfied youth with the church as they have experienced it, I still see a deep longing and desire for God.

I run a bible study class here every second Sunday, and so often it gets filled with passionate youth yearning to learn what the bible has to teach. I don’t provide any bowls of snacks, or soft drinks, or fun activities to start the session of with, just pure solid teaching touching on some of the heavier and deeper topics of faith. And yet they come! How different to the seeker sensitive youth culture of the west.

I see young people who are desperate for the truth of Christ in scriptures, who want a life that is wholly submitted to him, instead of some outside appearance of a good Christian girl or boy.

Instead they want Jesus as their treasure! They want heart transformation, not trivial behavioral alignment.

They want the meat of scripture, not continuous distorted milk being fed to them.

And then I see a handful of faithful pastors of truth and integrity. Men who may have nothing to offer by the worlds standards, but have a deep passion to teach what is right, and to live by what is right.

I see Christ centered NGO's and schools, that conduct themselves with honesty, love and compassion.

I see many passionate people who may be vulnerable to being led astray, yet if taught with truth and love, will have the seed of spiritual growth nurtured and watered in their hearts.

As tattered as the church may be, there is always hope.

I once heard Tony Campolo give a controversial quote. He said “The church is a whore, but she is my mother”

With all her faults and unfaithfulness the church is still the one that has carried this glorious message of the gospel throughout the generations.

We may do well to look into our own hearts, and see the religious self-righteousness that dwells in all of us, and that must be fought daily with scripture, prayer and acts of love and grace.

After all, the body is made up of a people on this side of glory. We will still sin and make mistakes. And that is why we need the Gospel, that is why we need the blood of Jesus to purify us. Not one of us is without sin, and so we strive for truth and love as we recognize our own salvation and rescue from our sinful hearts and the deserving punishment.

The church, to some on the outside world, may look like she is wearing the garments of a whore, but because of the blood of Christ, He will cloth her with His righteous robes. He will prepare His bride to be the glory and splendor that He has been working on since the beginning of man.

Civil marriage and a new pooch.

So this might sound strange but I am legally married right now.

Even though Agnes and I are getting wedded in a church in a few weeks time, last week we went to do our civil service in the government house in Jinja.

This civil service basically means we are internationally recognized as legally married. 

This will make things a lot easier for Agnes and I seeing as we are both from different countries. That might mean being able to get her to come and visit oz, or getting a visa or even duel citizenship for me here in Uganda (I have to wait three years before I can apply)

It was a bit of a process, we had lots of paper work to fill out, including a certificate of no impediment to marriage from Australia to say that I could legally marry. After lodging our forms, a public notice was then stuck on the town hall in Jinja with our names on it, and if no one raised an issue, after 21 days we could legally get married.

So after the 21 days, and no one raising an issue, we gathered our witnesses for the civil service (I got Robert K, and Agnes brought her uncle along) and then we went to the lawyers office to be married.
It was really an interesting affair because the government official/lawyer who was to marry us was an interesting man, to say the least.
We had already found some issues with this guy, because he kept threatening me with jail if I was not genuine and if I was doing an illegal marriage.
I didn't know if he just didn't trust me, or didn't like me, but he was really trying to play a power game over me when we had approached him to organize a time to do the service.
Basically he was a big fat government man, and like most big fat government men, they are on a bit of a power trip, and like to try and intimidate you.

I remember I had arched up a bit, because he struck a nerve by trying to suggest our relationship wasn't genuine. Luckily Agnes kept me humble, otherwise I really need to learn to chill with these big government officials ... perhaps its just the defensive man inside me rising up haha.
Luckily Agnes foster uncle (who was her witness) had talked to him for a bit before the civil service started. Her uncle Steven is the mayor of a local town here, and most likely in a higher position politically then this man, so it worked in our favor.
Still the government lawyer started the service by threatening me with jail if I was not being legitimate, and that he didn't like my documents I had provided (never mind I had done everything by the book and handed in everything they asked for)
After listening to him go on like this for 10 minutes, and being very ready to start talking back and defending myself, he all of a sudden said "Lets do the ceremony then".

I think these guys just like to make you sweat.

Agnes and I then did our exchanging of rings, repeated the necessary words, and signed our new internationally recognized marriage certificate.
The government man all of sudden become so cheery and happy, and congratulated us. He then proceeded to give us some marriage advice (which was the worst advice Agnes and I have ever heard) basically telling us that if we ever have any problems in our marriage, we should leave it in the bedroom, don't tell anyone about it, and walk around in public with a smile pretending that nothing is wrong.
We just nodded our heads and said yes sir haha.
So we are now legally married! Which feels really strange, because it certainly doesn't feel like we are married.

Agnes and I will not be living as man and wife until we get married in the church. We really value a ceremony done before a community of family and believers, making our oaths before God.
That is when we believe our marriage begins and we become one! We both see a lot of beauty and benefit in holding onto traditional values. We really believe in aiming to follow the biblical views of marriage and relationships! I know a lot of people think this is a really crazy view, and it is very unpopular and counter culture these days to wait until you are married before you live together. 

But we don't feel we can pick and chose what we like, and don't like, from the bible. We want to submit wholly to God, believing and trusting that His way is actually the best way. So we don't want to live as married people right now, and we will wait for all the 'benefits' of marriage till after our wedding in the church haha. This is in no way judgement on people who do/or have done differently, but just myself expressing my views and values, and the way Agnes and I are going about things.

In other news I got myself a new best friend.
My very own pooch! She is still young, about 8 months old. I picked her up from a friend of mine here who wanted to get rid of her.
I have always wanted to have a dog of my own, who will follow me everywhere and be my mate. I have called her 'Rafiki', because she looks like the baboon from the lion king, and it means 'friend' in Swahili.
It is a bit hard getting her used to our house and property, as we don't have fences here. So instead she will be on a chain for about a week or two, as we feed her and she gets used to us as her new masters.
She is just a local breed, which is basically a mongrel dingo looking dog. But I have aimed to maker her the best, well trained, cleanest local dog around.
I have already taught her to sit and to shake, she is a smart dog and I think she will catch on quickly.

She is having problems with the chain though, she has been a free dog, hunting her food, for the last 5 or so months, so being chained is stressing her a bit.
The first night I had attached her chain onto a long rope so she had a bit of freedom, but she ended up chewing through the rope and running back to where she came from.
So in the morning my friend brought her back on the chain for me.
I have decided to let her sleep on my upstairs balcony at night. This has worked well the last two nights, she quite happily sleeps on my outside couch all night without making a sound.
And in the morning when I check on her, the balcony is clean. She doesn't go to the toilet untill I take her out onto the grass in the morning.
So she is already impressing us!
The aim is to get her so used to us, that like most dogs around here, she will be able to roam free off the chain. And hopefully because she is so used to this place being her home, she will want to hang around here and sleep here at night as well.
It's fun having a new dog to train. I have always grown up with well trained dogs, so I have got a good idea on how it works!
Most Africans find it funny how I treat Rafiki. Most people take two approaches with dogs. Rather they let them do whatever they want, roam free, with no discipline at all. The other way is to give absolutely no love, chain the dog up, beat it when it does something wrong, and watch it grow crazy and wild over time.
So when people see me giving rafiki lots and lots of love, but being pretty tough and disciplined as well, they think I am crazy.

But no doubt they will be surprised when I have the greatest, most well trained dog in Wairaka following me around.

Otherwise the tailoring class girls are their last month. We have got the class some really nice material so they can make themselves some nice dresses to finish on. They also made me a gift, a brand new African styled shirt.

My sickness has really improved as well. Even though I still had my diseases when I went for my check up last week, and I am on another two weeks of medication, I really feel the difference the last few days. I don't wake up feeling sick, and I can actually go out and do stuff all day without getting tired.
So thanks for all your prayers people.

My family come here in less then a month, and Agnes and I are still preparing for our wedding, but we really look forward to being here with my family as we lead up to our big day.

Beast in the water.

I thought I would write up a short blog post seeing as something that got me very excited happened recently.

If you remember a few blogs back I wrote about how I went swimming in lake Victoria and felt a bit uneasy because I was thinking about crocs.
What I didn't elaborate on was that I had gone swimming by myself (except for a few kids in the shallows) and I had decided to swim out deep. I was feeling good, and reassured because many people had told me it is safe to swim.
But I remember all of a sudden getting a deep sense of danger, the feeling you get when a predator is around. I remember not feeling good in the water at all, and decided to swim to shore because I couldn't get the thought of crocodiles out of my head.
The only other times I have had those feelings, includes a few times while surfing in Australia. One particular time after a wave broke I felt that deep sense of tension, as if some predator was swimming underneath me. Well thirty minutes later a surfer spotted a shark and everyone swam to shore.
It was the same feeling I had swimming at this spot. I didn't think anything of it, and even went swimming at another spot a week or so later.

But here is the crazy part!

Just two weeks ago a fisherman got taken by a giant croc and eaten, at this very spot I had been swimming!
Then just last week, after a four day hunt, the Ugandan Wild Life Authorities captured this giant of a beast, man eating, Nile croc.
They captured this beast literally at the very spot I had been swimming and got the heeby jeebie feelings from.
Farouk was actually there when they pulled it in, as the croc was captured right near the YSU agriculture garden.
I have included some pictures I got from Ugandan news sites.
Apparently it has eaten 6 people in the local area, and one of the places it ate someone from was Wairaka beach, a place I have swam at a few times.
The croc weighed one tonne and was apparently 47 kgs shy of the worlds heaviest captured croc, and they reckon it was around 80 years old.
They got him alive, and were going to transport him to a national park up north.

No one bothered to tell me there were giant crocs in the lake here. Often I have asked if it is safe to swim and if crocodiles were a problem, only to have people respond to me that it is fine to swim.
Think I'll just stay out of the water from now on.
I find it interesting I had those feelings a few months before this man got taken, at the very spot I was swimming.
Is it all just superstition? or maybe there was some primal sixth sense kicking in and the monster was nearby.

I guess I will never know.

And to be honest, I'm kind of glad that's how it is.

Never a dull moment in Africa.