Life, Death and Suffering.

As usual we have been very busy over the last few weeks.

At the moment we have lots of young people that we are always spending time with. Of course with the tailoring class and boys classes there are many youth here. But often on days off, we seem to have at least a few young people hanging around our house, whether practicing their tailoring skills or playing ludo.
A lot of the time it is a bit of a safe haven for them.

We are also developing the YSU block, and things are looking great. We have been leveling the whole compound and planting some trees and grass. Since there is lots of work to do, it is always great to give an opportunity to some of our boys to do some labor. With this money they can then go and pay some of their schools fees. So both parties are happy at the end of the day.

We are currently starting to build a slab for a big chicken coop on the YSU block. This is being prepared by some of the builders so that the July team can build on top of it as a project they will be involved in here.

We plan to use this chicken coop as a way to train up young men in poultry care, as well as use it to make a bit of an income for YSU and to be a bit more sustainable in paying our bills!

We have also had the team just leave, who were able to visit us and spend some time seeing some of YSU's work! We also have Ken and Nicole who are still here and have been helping us out with a number of programs! The other day they put on a very exciting game of bingo for the tailoring girls, who were so full of energy and laughter during it all.

Farouk and I also went for a bit of an adventure a few weeks back. We recently got some cheap tents, and so we loaded up our bikes and went for a camp at the top of this big hill. That night a huge thunderstorm came through, and we felt very exposed on the top of the mountain. Our tents didn't hold up too well, and a small lake formed in one half of my tent by about 4.30 am. I was praying that the lightning wouldn't hit me as well.
If you want to see our full adventure you can watch our little video we made here.

https://vimeo.com/128780069

We have also been running drug and alcohol information sessions here with young men and women. We particularly focused on Alcohol abuse last Wednesday. I am still taken aback by the dangerous lack of education you can find here. One of the young women said that she had always been told that drinking wairagi (incredibly strong home made bootleg liquor) while your pregnant will help develop your baby.
So I had to go through why it is incredibly dangerous to be drinking alcohol like this while pregnant.

I was reminded again about the dangers of drinking this local brew (which 70% of drinkers in Uganda drink) when I walked past a dead body (unknowingly) with Farouk yesterday.

Near the YSU block is a bit of a slum community. Our next door neighbor has an older son who had become a bit mentally ill from drinking so much. We had walked by him when he was passed out on the ground yesterday. This is a common thing you see, and the fact that many people were casually around him, not seeming to give him particular attention, led us to not think anything was wrong.

We found out yesterday night that he was actually dead from drinking too much alcohol. When they tried to wake him up to bring him back home, he had gone stiff.
Just another reminder about the seriousness of alcohol abuse in Uganda. Someone can be laying dead on the ground in the middle of the community, with people walking past them and not even knowing.

We have also had some tragic news the past week.

If you read my last blog post you would of been familiar about the story I told of one of our tailoring girls who had an extremely sick child. She was being kept by the man who impregnated her, in his village, and he was refusing to give the child medical care (even though we pleaded with her to come back to Wairaka so we could help) .. if you want the full backstory, just go back and read my previous blog.

Sadly, last week during one of our tailoring classes, someone from the community came to tell our girls that the baby to this young woman had died that morning.

The class was full of tears, as all the girls were friends with their fellow classmate. The baby had been a common little guest in our house, and so all the girls were very upset.

The fact that it was a needless death, and that medical care had been offered to the child, but the Muslim husband was refusing help from any 'modern hospital' or 'christian organisation' also was a stab to the heart to all the girls, who knew the baby could of survived.

We spent some time praying together as a group, and for the mother of this child. We then provided transport for the tailoring girls to be able to take a bus that was leaving Wairaka for the funeral, because Muslim families here bury their dead on the day they die. The bus was provided by the young woman's family who still live here in Wairaka.

Since the young woman's family has also been very harsh and abusive to the girl, we wanted to send our tailoring girls, with Beatrice and Agnes, to go as support for the young woman. We don't think she gets much loving support in her life.

So Agnes and our tailoring girls all went to the burial of the child.

Agnes later explained the story to me of what happened when they reached the village where the woman was staying.

It was quite a horrific situation. The young woman was sitting alone in a very small, dark hut, with the dead body of the child. The place she was forced to stay was in a horrible condition.

The young woman was also incredibly skinny and sick as well.

What had happened, was the young man and his family were keeping the young woman there as a sort of slave. She was forced to do hard labor and dig in their garden, while her child was dying. The man had also taken the young woman again as 'his wife' (as he called her) yet they had never married. The young man had only gotten the girl pregnant and then abandoned her, and now he thought he had a claim over this woman.

All of this was happening to her, while her child had been dying.

I can't imagine the trauma she must of gone through.

During the burial, the young woman's family, and all the people who came from Wairaka, had surrounded her, and were refusing the man and his family to come near her.

They were actually planning a rescue to get her out of the village, and they didn't want the mans family to know in case things got violent. 

Straight after the child was buried, the people from Wairaka asked this young woman if she wanted to get out of this village and escape this man. She instantly said yes and ran towards the bus.

All of the people from Wairaka got up to quickly leave the place and hop onto the bus, including Agnes and the tailoring girls.

This is when things got violent. The man was screaming at them to 'give him back his wife'. And many of the mans family where trying to get on the bus to grab the young woman and bring her back to them. Agnes later told me that it was likely they were upset that the person they were using for hard labor was now being taken away.

Agnes had called me at this point on my phone, all distressed and asking for prayers, as the situation was getting crazy. I could hear lots of screaming and yelling over the phone, so I was praying for her that she would be kept safe.

In Uganda, mob justice rules, and things get out of control very easily. I have often heard of beatings that have lead to death, people being set on fire and more, simply because a mob of people got angry.

Amazingly, Agnes told me later that it was the big old Mammas from Wairaka who were putting themselves in between this young woman, and the angry man and his family.

A protective African Mamma is not someone you want to mess around with, and from what Agnes told me, it sounds like some of them got a few jabs in on the mans face.

Thankfully all the people from Wairaka managed to get on the bus and they escaped, while the man and his family threw rocks at the bus as it sped away.

Agnes said the whole time this was going on, the young woman was just crouched on the bus with her head in her hands crying.
Again, I can't imagine the trauma this girl has gone through.

So she managed to escape the bondage she was in at this mans village, and she is now back in Wairaka. But not without the loss of her one year old baby girl. May the little girls soul rest in peace.

This young woman has actually spent most of this week here at our house. Again, the situation here in Wairaka, where she lives with her family, is not the best either. We have heard it is quite abusive towards her. And to be honest, I feel like our tailoring girls and YSU are the only friends she has at the moment.

We are in private talks with her at the moment, the possibility of her staying with us may also come up. As she has asked us in the past if she could please stay with us, and the fact that the family she is staying with don't want her, we may make room for her here with us.

We certainly want to show the love of God to her during this tough time.

We also would love to create a stable environment for to be able to spend time at.
It was only yesterday that I saw her smile for the first time, and I am very proud of our tailoring girls who have taken her under their wing, just to show her love and friendship.

Every Tuesday, we have been running small devotion classes for our girls. These have been voluntary, and we don't make it compulsory for the class to have to attend. This is purely because our class has some Muslims in it, and I don't like the idea of them being pressured to do something that may be conflicting to their religion. I firmly believe in this being something that is done out of their free will.

This lesson I had prepared something small on the topic of suffering, since it had been a hard week for them all.

The young woman whose child died, has never attended one of these classes, since the father to her child was a Muslim, and she had also been influenced by the Islamic faith. She has often been quite scared to be involved in anything Christian, because of the influence of this man over her.

So I was shocked to see her attend the bible study class this last Tuesday. And not only attend, but be one of the first ones in the class, sitting and waiting for it to begin, and singing along to some of the worship songs.

It was actually her and the other Muslim girl who were the first in the class waiting to here what the bible had to say.

You can imagine the pressure I all of a sudden felt. I was not prepared for this, and my heart started beating fast, as I thought I was going to talk about suffering from a biblical perspective, to a group of already Christian young women.

I am a firm believer in not needing to give 'all the answers' during someones suffering. I often think the best form of counseling during someones suffering, is to be silent, to serve them and love them, and just offer support.

All of these things we have been offering to this young woman this week. We haven't felt like we need to rush into counseling, and the young woman knows that she can talk with Agnes anytime she wants (she has actually organized a time today to speak with Agnes).
But here she was, in our bible study class, on her own free will, wanting to hear what we had to say.

I started going over my material, getting worried if I had things in there that were too heavy. In the end I gave it back over to God. I believe He is sovereign. I believe he had planned the message I was going to give, and he had planned the young woman to come there, for the first time, on this particular day.

So I gave the message I had prepared.

I had never planned to go into abstract philosophical reasons for suffering, nor had I planned to go into deep theological concepts.

I simply had planned to point out that no other God in any other religion, stepped into and entered our suffering like Jesus. 

That only Christ, with all His Power and Glory, became a weak man, who was beaten and mocked and shamed and betrayed and crucified for us.

That we may struggle deeply when we suffer, but that we have a God who cares deeply. So deeply that He was willing to enter right into the middle of our sufferings with us.

I pray that this young woman will be able to feel the love and light of God. And I pray that we at YSU will able to be Christ's hands and feet in the situation. Serving her, loving her and being a friend.

I am so proud of Agnes and the tailoring girls, and how they have rallied around to support this young woman

We will continue to pray for her, and I ask that you also do the same, as now more then ever, she is open to the Gospel because of the deep pain that has shaken her world.

I will leave you with the words of John Stott, talking about the uniqueness of a God who suffers with us and for us.
These words run deep, and I believe reflect a truth we can hold onto when suffering.

"I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.'
In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world.
But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness.
That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us.
Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering.
"The cross of Christ ... is God's only self justification in such a world" as ours ... 'The other gods were strong; but thou was weak; they rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone."

May

The last few weeks have been very busy, often I set a time to write my blog, but it slips past me as more ‘things’ come up.

The Empower Trauma Rehabilitation Program was a success, and we heard beautiful testimonies at the end of it all.

Many of the young women who went through it, spoke of being able to let go of life long bitterness towards certain people in their past.
Some of them were able to extend forgiveness towards people who had hurt and abused them. Many of them forgiving each other for grievances still held over the long years.

One thing that struck me during the program, was realizing how great it is for helping lead people into opening up.

Many of the girls expressed to Agnes and Rachel on the counselling days, that they were telling them things that they had never told anyone else in their lives.
This is not due to the lack of available people for counselling in their new lives. And it is not because Agnes and Rachel are super counselors over anyone else. But the program really helps lead people into the beginning process of opening up, and seeing the benefits of opening up.

Many girls found this part of the program a tremendous release.

Of course, creating a safe environment helps the girls. They know we all take a confidentiality agreement before they share their stories. Some things were made public by the girls, other things they have requested to keep just to the person they have shared with. If this thing they keep private is not a direct threat to the girl or someone else, then we always honor that agreement. There are things they told Agnes that I will not ask or inquire about. To build that trust, it means you need to keep your word and show you are trustworthy. I know many of these girls have felt betrayed in their lives when they have shared things and they have been gossiped about.
So a safe environment has also been a great help.

Agnes and Rachel do a great job together! I hope that Rachel will be able to continue using these skills in her work context at Jinja Christian School in the future.
For us, we are looking at putting together a YSU team that could run Empower. Obviously Agnes and I would lead rather ‘male’ or ‘female’ groups. But we want to run a leaders Empower for a select few individuals who we see as people we can use whenever we need. This would include Farouk, as well as perhaps another man and another woman.

We have also had the team come and visit us this past week. Of course all the tailoring girls were excited, and has practiced their song and their skit for hours on the previous day, in anticipation.

When it came time for the visiting, they were rather unorganized, and even I was confused at what was going on.
This was all put aside though when the girls shared some of their testimonies to the team. Although she is not the only, one in particular spoke about how she was a Muslim before coming to this class, but it was YSU that introduced her to Christ, who she now follows and desires to know more of.
In the end, this makes everything worth it. A changed financial situation is fantastic, and we aim to see people out of poverty. But a changed heart is far more valuable, and for us the end goal and the reason we do what we do.

It was nice to take a step back and see what an impact YSU has had on these girls. It is really a collective achievement. With YSU workers, visitors and supporters all contributing towards the vision.

Other times we can have struggles though, especially when it involves some of the girls we are close to.

One young woman in particular has not been with us in the tailoring class for about a month. Her baby is extremely sick, and we heard close to death. They took her to a dodgy hospital that could not give a diagnosis, so the ex husband (who is now back on the scene, because he found out his former partner is being educated, which means she may be able to make money for him) has demanded she return the child to his village.
We sent an advocate to go and speak to the young woman when we found out. The advocate told us that the child was extremely sick, and they are treating the baby with any herbs they can find, mixed up with witch craft.
We tried to persuade the young woman that she bring the baby back to Wairaka and that we would cover the costs of taking her to a good hospital.
The problem is the ex husband refused, not trusting us one bit, and demanded the child stay in the village (where she is getting no medical care)
The young woman is in quite a bondage to this man. It is very difficult as he is a village man, steeped up in Islam and a mix of local spirituality. So he is very weary of anything that is ‘western’ or ‘modern’.

This is at the cost of the child’s health, and possibly life.

Please pray about the situation, we are still trying to convince the woman to come back so we can offer proper treatment for the child at a hospital.
In the end, you cannot force the will of a person, you can only extend the hand of help, and pray that they reach out.

Farouk and I have been very busy down on the block of land, preparing it for when the team comes in June. We hope that we will have some projects they can work on.
We spend a lot of time going to and from the property, and a big part of our time in organizing work down there.
Although we spend a lot of money on boda boda transport, and are thinking we may need to invest in getting our own motorbike one time, to reduce the costs on transport that we are using.

I continue to do classes for boys. We had a great session the other day when teaching about gender equality. Many of the boys wanted to know a biblical world view on men and women. So it was fun to challenge misguided beliefs. This especially included what does it actually mean to be a leader. Many men here feel that it means, you get to call the shots and boss around others to get what you want. Biblically, a leader is the first to take the brunt of responsibility, whether it financial, emotional, spiritual or physical. It means leading in showing what it looks like to be like Christ.
Or if I can paraphrase C.S Lewis “A true king (or leader) is the first into battle, the last one to retreat, and dresses the most splendid and laughs the most loudest while eating the scantiest of meals when there is famine across the land”

This is a real challenge to many of the boys world view, and I like to challenge people with a method I often see Christ do in the Gospels. By asking them many questions to get them to think.
I could stand back and condemn and tell them “this is how it is really is”. But it is much more rewarding to poke with questions, and get them to start reaching the conclusions on their own.

Our bible study classes have also been a blessing. Recently a young man has come to me explaining that he used to be in the Baha'i faith for a large portion of his life. The religion he comes from is an offshoot of Islam that has many aspects of Eastern philosophy and mysticism in it.
He said that he was one of the main youth leaders that helped convert many to this religion. After a while he fell into a group of young Christians at his school, that he just couldn't seem to convert. In the end they got the better of him and he gave his life to Christ, finding the joy and hope that can be found only in him.
What is fascinating, is he came to me one time, having heard about me from a friend, and basically asked me to teach him everything I know. He feels his calling is to now go back to his old friends and try and reach them.

He is quite deep, and especially loves talking about Christian philosophy and apologetics. He was also blown away when introduced to reformed theology for the first time. The giddy excitement on his face and in his tone is quite contagious. And it is things like this that encourage me and motivate me.

Agnes and I were also blessed to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary in style last Sunday. Thanks to a wonderful couple back in Australia who contributed some money 'to be spent on our marriage', we were able to go away to a place called the haven, on the river Nile.
The food and scenery was amazing, and it was a precious time to unwind, reflect and plan goals for the next year or marriage.

It has been wonderful so far, marriage is a fantastic gift.
It is in no way easy, and often you can find yourself being stretched in ways you could never of imagined, as God sanctifies you in a way that only a marriage can. But it is precious none the less, and I wouldn't trade it in for anything else. We are very blessed in our marriage so far ... trials and all!

Lastly, if you could all pray for my Visa situation. My visa is currently being processed after using an agent to do most of the work for me. It seems pretty good that I will get a visa, but we are hoping for a two year working visa, instead of the one year working visa.

If I only get one year, it may be awkward as I will have to reapply during elections next year, which is really not a stable time in the government and might cause some issues.

Otherwise, I thank you for all the support and love. Your prayers and your financial support are always a blessing, and we cannot do what we do without you.

Much love and God bless.

Update

Just a quick update for those following.

All things are moving along well! The tailoring girls are improving everyday.
We have now transitioned the co/op girls to start their own small businesses, and the new tailoring girls will be integrated into the co/op once they are finished.

I was so pleased to know that three of our old girls have found employment in small local garment shops, using their tailoring skills.
These girls mentioned to us that the only reason they now have a full time job is because we trained them with tailoring skills and the know how to help them.
This is a great success in the developmental area. To have girls working for themselves, or for someone else, and to have them find employment because we spent the time to invest in them and train them with a bunch of holistic skills, really gives us joy.
This is what we aimed for from the very start, and you almost feel like a proud parent to see these girls now living on their own, and supporting themselves.

As C.S Lewis once wrote: The proper aim of giving is to put the recipient in a state in where he no longer needs our gift. We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching. Thus a heavy task is laid upon Gift-love. It must work towards its own abdication. We must aim at making ourselves superfluous. The hour when we can say 'They need me no longer' should be our reward.

How very true that is.

At the moment I am currently in the process of getting an NGO volunteering visa. I am paying an agent to do most of the work, as doing things yourself here seems to be futile. Please pray that I get that visa in the next few weeks.
Agnes and I will also start on the long process of getting her a partner visa to live in Australia. This also takes a lot of work and documentation that needs to be provided.

I had mentioned in a facebook post the other day how one of the top local Muslim leaders here came up to me while I was standing on the street, and gave me a friendly slap on the back requesting that "Mr Luka you should come over to Islam"
I had responded to him and said "I could never, Yesu is the way the truth and the light". The Muslim man laughed and said that Islam better, to which I replied it was him to come over to Yesu.
During all of this we laughed and smiled!
It was nice to acknowledge that we could totally disagree with each other, with completely contrasting world views, yet find common ground in our humanity.
I am well aware that right now in the world there is a global genocide against Christians, and I do not want to take away from that. I recognize that a huge majority of this oppression is coming from Islam. From both Islamic governments and from Islamic communities, both extremists and also moderates.
But because of this, my little experience shined a little brighter, on how it is possible for opposite religions to cohabit. Uganda has done very well compared to other African nations, with its Christian and Muslim relations.

It is also an example to the west, in which the new age of tolerance seems to dictate that any one who disagrees or does not publicly endorse a certain belief, is a bigot and intolerant.
This happens all across the spectrum, to arguments around halal, to so called same sex marriage, to indigenous issues, abortion, immigration and more. Often no one wants to hear the unpopular sides to these arguments, because a majority disagrees with them. They claim that to have a different opinion around these issues means one is intolerant and a bigot.
This never made much sense to me. Intolerance and bigotry is determined by the way you treat the person with an opposing view, not because of the view itself that you hold. By claiming and shouting 'intolerance', or 'bigotry' at the slightest hint of a different viewpoint, you shut down genuine discussion and understanding.

This is where we can learn from peoples who totally disagree with each other, but respect each other as fellow human beings.

What is interesting in Christian and Muslim relations here, is that I run a general teachings class with a mixed group of boys on all different topics including human rights, drugs and alcohol, sexual abuse and so forth.

This group has a mixture of non Christians, Muslims, and some who claim Christianity as just a title. These boys themselves asked if I could run some extra classes for them, specifically on the bible and what it teaches.

Oh how I would be honored.

Often building relationships and trust, while developing friendships, can open up doors for the Gospel to be shared!
As Christians we do not propagate our faith by force, but we attract people to come and listen. Free will is a major component of Christianity, and we attract people with our lives so we can share with them the Gospel. Unlike many of the forced conversions to Islam you see in Africa and the middle east .. the foot of the oppressor is placed on the necks of Christians and other religious minorities, to force them to convert away from their faith.

I do believe this is something that attracts many in the Muslim community over here to the Gospel.

So I will be glad to add some extra biblical classes to these new friends of mine.

Otherwise we have started another Empower course today! Agnes, Rachel from Jinja Christian School, and myself are all running a trauma rehabilitation program for eight girls from the Village of Hope.
We look forward to this next week as we go through the empower program, and hope to see healing from past traumas.

Agnes also turned 30 the other week! So we were blessed by a loved one in Australia with some money to go out for a fancy meal! We took Agnes' younger brother along and all enjoyed pizza and chicken at two friends.

Thanks again to all those people who have been praying for us, as well as financially supporting us. It means a lot.

Cynicism, C.S Lewis and Celebrations

I have recently been struck by my own personal revelations, ones that have helped me see my own self and the people around me.

I could say that in the last few months I have been struck again by my own cynicism towards those who think differently to me, especially those with different theologies or doctrines that I disagree with.
My attitude towards such people can often be frustration, cynicism and a certain lack of love and joy.

I am obviously (and write-fully so) frustrated at the amount of works righteousness and devastating prosperity gospel thinking that is rampant here. But I have noticed that I can often let these overtly gross distortions effect my attitude towards smaller secondary and third issues. Any hint of something that may point to a different way of thinking, or towards some of the things I have mentioned, has me looking down at it with disapproval. Not to mention my own personal sneers at those I think do not have it right.
Yes I know .. what a horrendous attitude to have. But when you are constantly surrounded by these false gospels that are on a continuum of outright obvious to more soft and hidden, you can begin to be someone who is sniffing out any sign of something wrong. This can creep up on you, and it has been a constant battle to remain humble and remind myself that I do not have it all worked out.
Reading the scriptures daily helps, because I am constantly confronted with something in the word that does not always fit nicely into my 'system of thinking'.

Recently I have been struck by something I have looked at incorrectly, and although I carelessly had thoughts that I had it right, I have been struck by joy and a revelation on how wrong I can get things.

The local church that Agnes and I go to, has been getting together to organize a big gathering at their compound in a few Sundays to come. All the church's belonging to the abundant life church's of Uganda gather once a year and hold a big celebration, where singing, dancing, preaching, fellowship and eating are all enjoyed. This year the local church Agnes and I go to has been nominated to host the event.
Nothing wrong with that I can hear you say! Why would I not be keen on such a thing. Well my judgement begun with the fact that the church is very small, and although the other abundant life church's have been able to host the event in their building, our local church needs to rent and hire big tents and lots of seats to be able to host everyone. Of course this costs quite a lot of money to do, and along with raising all the money for equipment and food for the day, the church is is up for a lot of expenses.

As a result each Sunday they have been gathering together to try and desperately raise this large amount of money that seems way over the top.
So in my western, logical and efficient mind (as I try to kid myself) I see a church of very poor people spending money on a one day celebration, and I start to question them, thinking it is very irresponsible. What about using all that money to help the poor, or the sick! How can they use their own money on such a thing, when they can barely pay for food and medicine for their own families. How irresponsible!
And just like Judas getting upset at the woman who poured perfume over Jesus' head, and claimed that it could of been sold and given to the poor, I too put my nose up at the idea. I was even thinking that if they want to waste the money, I wasn't going to contribute towards it! I would rather help people by spending my money on things like long term sponsorship's and medical costs for sick people! Not one day celebrations where the money disappears and is gone all at once.
Yes .. what an ugly attitude. As I said, you would be surprised at how easily cynicism can catch up on you, and to be honest it almost feels like cynicism is the spirit of our age, especially in our western culture, where we critic everything.

But thank God, that He sends messages and guidance to his children in many different forms, to help soften their hearts and open their eyes.

For me this came in the form of one of my favorite Christian writers of all time, C.S Lewis.
I have been reading Lewis' apologetic works for a while now, but last Christmas I was given his fantasy novels in the full set of the Chronicles of Narnia.
Yesterday I finished the last of the seven books 'The last battle'. Oh how glorious it has been to get lost in the adventures of Narnia, which are so full of wisdom and reflections on real life and the Christian faith.

One of the beautiful aspects of Lewis' writings is the way he captures joy in the Christian life. This is not a cheap 'chipper' joy that is often found in prosperity sermons and based around having no problems. So often his characters are put through trials and sufferings by Aslan (the Christ figure in Narnia) to help them grow in character. And the warnings of being attached to the riches of this world are all throughout the chronicles of Narnia.
But the overwhelming sense that Lewis gives throughout the Narnia books, is that despite the hardships there is great joy to be had in this life! This is not a picture of a sacrificial Christian life where one has to be somber all the time due to the great need in the world.
No, the characters enjoy great feasts, fellowship, times of exciting adventure in Narnia's nature, laughter around a table and the enjoyment of friends and companionship ... all with the blessing of Aslan.
These times of joy and enjoying great feasts and celebrations are often dotted throughout and in between the trials and suffering. What a true reflection of the faith walk. As John Piper says about the Christian life, while reflecting on Paul's writings, we are 'sorrowful but always rejoicing'.

Another defining aspect of Lewis' work, is his ability to create wonder and imagination of the possibilities of heaven and the new earth. He helps you see reflections of heaven in the everyday! The joy which awaits us in the new creation is enough to make you burst when you imagine it.

And if you have trouble imagining it, then I suggest you read Revelation 21, followed by the Chronicles of Narnia.

Often my reformed theology can lead me to great love towards God, as I wrestle with meaty questions and deep philosophical concepts. A systematic reformed theology has often helped me in the part of 'loving your God with all your mind'.

But oh how deadly indwelling sin is! How like sin it is to take something good and twist it into something prideful. And how true has this been for those of us in the reformed camp, and those who think they have 'good, correct theology'. So often because of my studying and knowledge, if I see something that seems less intelligible, or not inline with what I think is biblical, I can be fast to throw it out or condemn it in my heart. But a closer and more careful look may have me realizing that it is perhaps 'I' who is wrong, and there is much still for me to learn.

And although there are beliefs that Lewis had that I may not hold onto, and might question (his views on creation/evolution, the atonement, and hinting at the possibilities of some people outside the faith still being justified) and that I also do not want to hold him up as infallible, he has still helped me greatly in seeing the beauty and joy in life.

If reformed theology has been a great help in 'loving God with all your mind', then Lewis has also contributed towards 'loving God with all your heart and soul'

And so now I bring this all back to the celebration service at the church, with new Narnia colored glasses on.

These people want to celebrate with their brothers and sisters in Christ and worship God together. They feel honored to be able to host the other church's, even if it means they all need to come together and sacrifice to contribute towards the celebration. These are not wealthy people spending huge amounts of money on themselves with no care for others. This a community of very poor believers, who often sacrifice for each other and the needs of their brothers and sisters. But this is a community of very poor believers who are saying "Right now we are looking forward to a time of joy and celebration"

And who am I to question them and say that it is unwise to spend the money this way. Who am I can to hold an attitude of cynicism at those who think differently to me.

And do we not gather as a people of Christ, to worship, sing, eat and laugh, all to point towards a greater picture of something that is coming.
Isn't this a picture of the final great wedding banquet, when us poor beggars, who would give anything to join in that final celebration and joyous occasion, finally sing and listen and share and laugh and feast and shout in bursts of joy. When every tear is wiped away, every pain is gone, all poverty is replaced with riches and blessings and where Christ Himself sits and feasts with us. And to realize that it is all by grace that we are there! That no one at the great banquet table deserves to be there, but that everyone who is seated is greatly valued because of the great love of God. And that every single soul at that table was chosen to be seated there since before the foundation of the world.

Why, the thought of that is just about enough to take away any cynicism.

life, visa problems and Easter.

It has been a while since I last wrote in this blog.
Life has been the usual her with our programs continuing to run, with a few other things added into the mix over the last two weeks as well.

We continue to work in the community, trying to encourage and bring hope to who we can. We have been running special classes every Wednesday for both boys and girls in the community, which tackles different social issues.  We were given a pleasant surprise the other day as one of the mothers, and an aunt, of one of the girls who joins us for these programs came and visited us.  She simply wanted to come and show her appreciation for creating a place where her girl can come and feel safe, as well as learn new topics. She said that we are well known in the community and people speak very fondly of us now.  It seems that people in the community see us as an honest, reliable and helpful place that are reaching out to the youth.
It was encouraging to hear this mother speak, as she simply wanted to appreciate us. Sometimes the hard slog of trying to work in the community can blind you to the actual impact on people you are making, so to be told that we are appreciated is always refreshing.

The tailoring girls are also doing well, and are very committed. They can't miss a class these days, and are always around YSU even when class is not on.  Often you can find a very passionate game of ludo being played by a group of the tailoring girls on their free days, usually out the front in our garden.

We continue to run bible studies for them every Tuesday morning before their tailoring class. These bible studies are not compulsory, seeing as we have a few Muslim girls in the class.  We do not want to be forcing them, or using the tailoring class to manipulate them, but we would rather offer them the chance to come and hear about the gospel on their own free will. Sometimes the Muslim girls will sit outside, in the tailoring class, and practice their tailoring. Other times they come and join in and have a listen. We believe this is the best way to do it, when it is not done in compulsion but free will. We pray that we will be able to speak into their lives .. and that they see we are here to love them regardless of their faith.

Even the Christian girls have a lot to learn about the Christian faith! I am always taken aback by how little knowledge the christian girls can have of the Gospel.  Often we keep going back to the doctrines of grace and trying to explain it very clearly. Many of the girls still believe that Christianity is about being 'good' to get to heaven, and they are often scared of messing up and failing. This is a very clear works righteousness view, and we try to use different analogies to get through this type of thinking. We ask them if they would prefer their own children to obey them because they are scared of them and don't want to get into trouble, or if they want their children to obey them because they love their mother for all she has done for them.
There is a difference between obeying God out of works righteousness and fear, and obeying God out of grace and joy.
Every other belief system says that you must obey to be accepted. We teach that you are accepted and therefore have the freedom and power to obey.
Explaining the difference between good advice and good news also helps as well. An analogy we often use is of a battle that is raging outside of a city. The city sends out a messenger to the battle ground to get information to send back to the city. Good advice would be the messenger coming back to the city and explaining that the battle will soon be upon the city, that they should put defenses up, store up supplies and hide the women and children. Good news would be the messenger coming back to the city and proclaiming that the battle has been won! they are liberated.

Religion is trying to give good advice.

The Gospel is proclaiming good news.

We will continue to serve and teach among the young people, both proclaiming the good news and serving the poor. We believe these must go hand in hand, and we cannot commit to one while ignoring the other.  I understand that one is socially acceptable in our culture, and even commended as honorable, while the other is often looked down upon, and viewed as imposing your religion on someone else and is often ridiculed in our culture. But I believe that the Gospel both attracts and offends people, and we don't want to bow down to culture and be ashamed of the parts of the Gospel that our culture rejects.  We take it all in and obey all. Both the parts that make you look good in the worlds eyes, and the parts that make you look bad.

We have also been struggling in moving forward with our boy with the bad heart. Farouk got in contact with his father a while back, and it seems the boy has his own secrets and issues. The father confirmed that the boy has a serious heart condition, and the father even explained that he had tried to spend a lot of money to help the boy with an operation. It seems that the father is claiming that the boy has been to difficult for him to handle, stealing money and doing drugs on the street. It seems there has been quite a lot of conflict between the boy and the father.
The father seems to want nothing to do with the boy, and even said that we should just wait till the boy dies, and then call him to pick up the body.
The father was actually fairly civil with us, thanking us for doing what we can, but proclaiming he will not give the medical documents over to us, because his boy has stolen so much money from him.

We tried to have a long chat with the boy, but he denied a lot of these accusations. So both the father and the boy are blaming each other and refusing to budge from their position. Farouk and I have a feeling that both have played their own part to this very strained relationship.
The next move is to contact the boys uncle, and have a big talk with him. Perhaps the boy has stolen lots of money from the family, and if the uncle confirms this we are willing to set up some sort of reconciliation process. The boy works for us, and we could try to set up a system where some of his salary goes back to the family, to try and begin a reconciliation process that would be very important (if he agrees).
If the uncle says the boy is guilt free and the father is lying and unreliable, than we can move forward to trying to seek out options for an operation on the boys heart.

Right now with these family tensions, we cannot start the medical procedures. We could get ourselves in trouble if there was no family blessing, and we think it is incredibly important to have the family involved or have their blessing, seeing as the boy has both a father and a mother who is alive.

Please pray for us as we navigate through this difficult situation.

Agnes and I also spent a frustrating two days in Kampala trying to go for a partner visa for me. Again we were shut down and did not get this visa. It is quite frustrating because we are told information from one official source, and then rejected and told something else by the immigration officer we have to go to when applying.
We were supposed to meet someone in Kampala early on Wednesday morning to introduce us to someone who could help us. It had been arranged on Monday night, so Agnes and I traveled into Kampala to stay the night on Tuesday. When we called on Tuesday night to confirm, we were told that the person had a meeting and had to make it now on Thursday morning. This was quite frustrating because it meant extra money on transport, food and accommodation.
But we decided to stay.
On Tuesday night we stayed in the dodgiest place that we had been referred to from another hotel we tried to get, but was booked. The place we stayed in was smack back in the city, on top of a busy market. The whole place was very dimly light (you could barely see in our small room) and it could of looked like a brothel or a drug den. That night we did not sleep, as seedy people were yelling and screaming in the foyer all night, while drunk girls stumbling to their room would accidentally try and open our door. The room was pretty dirty as well, we think the bed had bed bugs which made us both itchy, plus there were used hair shavers in the bathrooms (with hair in it) and egg shells in the wardrobe (don't ask) ... needless to say we raced to a better hotel the next night, and got a much better sleep.
We did enjoy our day on Wednesday though, while trying to kill time. We went to Entebee zoo where Agnes has a friend who works there, and she managed to get us in for cheap.
I was impressed with the quality of the zoo! Check out some of the pics.

Back to the visa situation. Basically we got told that there is no way I can get a dependent partner visa, because I am a white male. They could not understand that a man would live in the woman's country, for them the woman was supposed to go and live with the man. These were the top immigration officers, and their cultural views were very strong that there was no way around it. They at least gave us some advice and told us the best way it will work for me, is if I get an NGO volunteering visa for two years. In two years time Agnes and I will have been married for three years, which means I am applicable to go for a resident visa here. But the immigration officer explained there is no way I will get that resident visa in Uganda unless Agnes has a resident visa in Australia first.
Their justification was "If Australia has not given your wife a resident visa, why should we give you one" .. I am not sure if that is in their constitution, but when dealing with authorities, there is no way to get around it.
It is just frustrating because you get different information from different people. We were told the dependent visa is possible if we have bank statements with sufficient funds, and when I went for the NGO visa last year, the NGO board told me that if I am married to a Ugandan I should just get the dependent visa.
All so confusing and frustrating.

Thankfully Agnes and I were not as shattered as we were the last time we got rejected. This time we went with no high expectations, and had prayed to God that whatever shall be shall be, and that we will be peaceful about it.

So I am still hopeful about getting an NGO volunteering visa, getting Agnes a resident visa in Australia, which would be mean in two years time I could get resident status here.
And if it doesn't work out that easy, we will accept what God wills.

Your prayers would be appreciated for the situation.

Lastly, we had a wonderful Easter here at our household. Agnes was very excited because she had spent the Saturday with her sisters (who came home for Easter) decorating the church. Agnes also led worship for the first time in church on Easter Sunday, and she did a great job (even though she was very nervous)

We had a great meal after the service at our house. This included Agnes' brother, her sisters, Farouk and Beatrice and their family, some of the girls who are living with us, and of course all the little children here as well.

It was beautiful to sit with this mix of people, some of them who have literally been plucked out of homelessness and brought into our house to share in hope and joy. We all reflected on the meaning of new life in Christ, and I am sure the concept of new life was something real and tangible to many of these people who have gone through so much, but have been brought into the love of God.

Update

Just a quick update on life here on the ground.

It is still very very hot, and it has not rained for at least 3 weeks now. I often find myself waking up with a headache, I think because it is always so muggy at night.
I can’t wait till it rains, and it cools down a bit.  It makes for good swimming weather though, but since we don’t have very close access to places for swimming (the lake near us has crocodiles in it) we don’t get to go much.

We did get to go out to the Nile gardens hotel with Andrew and the Brits before Andrew left. The hotel has a pool where we could cool down, and Agnes learnt to swim by herself for the first time (well she learnt how to float and kick herself forward with a doggy paddle for about 6 seconds … but a new record for her)

We continue to run our programs here! It interesting how much YSU has turned into a bit of a shelter for many of these tailoring girls. Often they don’t go home till very late, and very often they are here on days that class is not on. Usually they are just practicing their skills, but often you can find out the front of our house a very loud game of cards or ludo being played by a big group of them.

Every Tuesday morning is a time for praise, prayer and devotions for the girls. Agnes and I run these with the tailoring girls, and we give them something simple for their week to think about. The girls seem to love these little devotions, and it is interesting to see all girls from different backgrounds, some of them Muslim, come to our morning devotions, wanting to learn more about the gospel.

We also have our boys coming every Thursday for games evening. This includes many African styled games, cards and darts. It is a great way to build relationships with these guys.

We also ran another drug and alcohol information session with these boys (all of which have sly smiles on the side of their faces which give away that many have sampled most of the substances that we talk about)
This has been great, and the boys have responded positively. In the west we tend to think that everyone knows the dangers of drugs, but over here education is very limited on the topic. Many young guys have absolutely no idea that many of these drugs are actually dangerous. Just recently a young boy, that farouk knows, drunk himself to death, literally choking on his own vomit in a drunken stupor.

So Farouk and I hope we can use these classes to pass on information to them in a non-condemning way. Much of the warnings about drugs has been done in this type of way, a simple ‘don’t do drugs because they are bad and sinful’ is all the boys get. But to be able to sit with them in an environment that lets them ask questions, and doesn't judge them, while giving them information on why and how these substances are leading to negative consequences on their bodies and their communities really helps, as well as exploring with them why this type of selfishness is destructive.

The block of land continues to be developed, with a gate and a nearly completed fence around the block.

Right now we have the young boy I spoke about in my previous blog looking after the block during the day, and staying in the small house on the property.

We have had further contact with the hospital to talk about the boy’s situation. It seems that he has a very bad heart condition, and without any kind of operation it is unlikely for him to reach his early 20’s.

The operation might cost around the $2000 mark, so right now we are planning to take him to the international hospital to gather all the correct information.
Farouk and I will be traveling to this boy’s father’s home sometime soon to try and get more information from the father, and ask him if we can take on the boy’s case and try and help him out.

This is a man who has continually rejected his son, and chased him away from his home. Apparently the father has all the boys medical documentations, and when the father realized how serious the problem was, and that he couldn't afford the operation, instead of taking the boy back to his to care for him, he chased him away.

Hopefully with farouk and my presence, we will be able to convince him to accept.

The boy had actually been getting very sick because he was working for us as a laborer. The medical staff at st benedict’s told us we should not be making him labor. We talked to the boy about this and asked him why he never told us, as that we could never allow him to do heavy work if we had known. The boy responded that he was afraid that once we knew of his condition we would chase him away like everyone else has.

Please pray for us as we make these visits to his father’s house and to the hospital to gather all the correct information we would need before starting to fund raise for an operation for this boy.

Agnes and I have continued to attend the local church and help out with the local youth group. I run a bible study every second Sunday, while Agnes does a young women’s group on the following Sunday.

We have also been looking at mixing it up a bit and attending a different church occasionally. Sometimes I can find it a struggle, as I look for a bit more meat in the teachings. I also miss the type of worship I have been accustomed to.

Don’t get me wrong, the African worship here is amazing, they have passion and they dance and sing, and we could learn a thing or two about them.
But many of the songs are sung in Luganda, and the style of singing even in the English songs are very much about repetition over a long period of time. So a simple phrase like “we are singing in the house of Lord” can be repeated over the course of 5 minutes.
I do miss a good old fashioned hymn, with good strong lyrics and meaning. A bit of “How great though art” or “Amazing grace” always stirs my soul.
But of course, church is not about me, it is about God. And so no matter how I might want the ‘style’ of worship or preaching to be, we know the church is faithful and we want to support them in their mission.

I do get times of great fellowship in smaller gatherings, like at Ron and Anne’s school every Friday night, or with my youth on Saturday nights or Sunday evenings. I feel this is where I get my real fellowship from, and where I can sing and praise God and find joy.
We also have good friends here that we can sit and talk with! Andrew just left, but He spent a lot of time with us while he was here which is always encouraging. And we also had a lovely evening with Ron and Anne, as they came over for a dinner, and of course a long chat into the night.

I have also recently watched a documentary on the persecuted church. Agnes and I watched this film together, and I will be watching it with my group of boys on Saturday night as well. I was blown away by the film. I was deeply moved by the tragedy of the persecution around the world (Christians are the most persecution religious group in the world, and in a human rights context, the Christian community around the world are seeing the greatest persecution) but I was also inspired by the faith of many of these people. To be able to choose death instead of denying Christ is something I pray I would also be able to do.

You can watch the trailer here:
http://lovecostseverything.com/index.php/trailer

And buy a digital download here:
http://lovecostseverything.com/index.php/store

I really recommend it.

Yesterday was my birthday as well. I had lots of love from friends on facebook! My wife made me a breakfast of weetbix and mango. And I was blessed to have my brother in law, Douglas, come over with a cake that he baked.
Everyone in our household then spent some time saying some sort of kind comment about me, which was really nice.

I was also blessed by my big sister who gave Agnes and I some money to go out for birthday meal! So we went two friends restaurant and had an awesome meal of pizza and chicken burgers!

Thank you again for all your love and prayers. I also again thank those people who have supported me financially, and continue to do so. You make all of this possible and I am deeply grateful.

God bless.

Catching Mudfish and a boy with a bad heart.

Slowly things have been moving forward.

I have started up small devotion sessions and bible study classes with a few of our groups. This includes our young men's group, the youth from the village of hope, and all our tailoring girls.
This is hopefully a way to disciple these young people, as we saw a need (especially among the tailoring girls) to teach and minister to them.

Farouk has also been reaching out to a group of older boys who love to play soccer. We purchased a soccer ball for this group, which they all appreciated very much. Farouk has been using this opportunity to speak into the lives of these young men.

We have also invited these same young men to an 'open evening' at our house. This basically means they can come and relax, play card games and darts, as we develop relationships with these guys.
We have also opened up our house to different information sessions every second Wednesday evening. These sessions will include information on drugs and alcohol, gender equality issues and even some simple business classes.

We hope we can use this as a platform to speak into these young peoples lives, to raise opportunities to help them in their financial needs, but also their spiritual needs.

It can still be hard here, as you are constantly surrounded by need, and it is hard to choose which people to help. We are sponsoring one of the tailoring girls (who lives with us) little boy. Of course this means that many of the tailoring girls have found out, and they ask us to also sponsor their children. We can't help all of them, but we do try and find creative ways for them to get a bit of assistance, whether that be organizing paid work for them to do around the compound, or to try and provide them with some small business.

Our tailoring girls are still making African styled shoulder bags as well, and a new lot will be coming to Australia in a few weeks time. If you are interested in purchasing one for $20, feel free to email me on ooeeluke@hotmail.com, and I can link you up.

We have also been blessed to have our good friend from the UK, Rachel, come along and volunteer at YSU with her two friends Sarah and Will.
The Brits (as I like to call them) have been running an extra Wednesday class with our tailoring girls. The last class they ran was to help encourage the girls to see themselves as having purpose in this world. Many of the girls have always been beaten down and made to feel like they are worthless (one of the young girls in our class has told us how her sisters family, who she lives with, often spits on her and tells her that she is useless) So it has been great to encourage them and let these girls know that they have purpose and that they are valued and loved by us, but more importantly by God.
They also had fun making bracelets so that they could always look at these and remember what they have learnt.

Farouk and I have also been having a few fishing adventures here and there. We managed to catch a big African lungfish/mudfish in the swamp the other day. This fed a lot of us, and the meat we got off the fish was great to eat, with lots of flesh and barely any bones (the mudfish is more like a big eel)

If you would like to watch my little tutorial on how to catch one, just click below. I've still got some Aussie bushman spirit in me yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8agSpz_jI&feature=youtu.be

The walls to the YSU property are also almost built. The HopeBuilders workers have been laboring away in the hot sun over the last few weeks, so that they can complete our wall. This looks great, and it starts to make the vision of the youth center come to life! The gate was added just yesterday. Next step will be to start building the foundations, once the plans are approved.

Farouk and I have also had some sad news about a young boy that we have been helping out. Farouk found this boy homeless while I was away in Australia. The boy had been sleeping in abandoned buildings and churches, but was chased away and left to sleep in the bush. Farouk had heard about the boy through the local chair person and decided to take him under his wing, since Farouk had a similar lifestyle growing up.
This boy has had a very hard life growing up, after his father married a second women, who hated his mother (the first wife) and convinced the father to chase them away. After a while the boys mother then remarried, but the stepfather didn't want the boy around and chased him away as well. Both the father and stepfather were very abusive from what we have been told.
On top of that, the boy has had to survive by getting paid measly amounts of money to do horrible work, including having to crawl done pit latrines and empty them out with nothing but his hands and a bucket.
While only young (about 14) Farouk set the boy up in the small house which is on the YSU block of land, and the boy was able to stay there and live, while getting some work looking after the property and helping labor for the builders.
Everyone took a liking to him, since he is good kid. Last week he asked if I could take him to the hospital, as he has had a chest problem for a long time now, and when I felt his chest you could feel continual muscle spasms going on.
Farouk and I had plans to take him to the hospital and look into perhaps getting him back to school to finish his primary education. But a few days ago we got a call from him saying that the local catholic hospital (which he had just visited due to knowing some people there) was sending him back to his father, and they were even paying the transport for him to go.
Farouk was a bit confused that he would up and leave like that, but the full story came out later that day. One of the nurses came and visited us and told us that the boy was well known to the hospital, and that he has a serious heart condition. The nurse was explaining that the boy does not have much longer to live without an operation, and even then it would be risky. From what we have gathered, it seems that the hospital is willing to take him on as a special case and try the operation. But they wanted him to get permission from his father first, and that is why they sent him back. The nurse (who was a family friend) suggested that years of abuse from the father has perhaps contributed to the boys condition.
After speaking with him today, Farouk has told me that the boy went to his father, but as soon as he reached his fathers house, he was chased away again. He stayed at his mothers for a little bit, but his stepfather also chased him away.

When it rains it can really seem to pour.

So the boy is now on his way back to wairaka, with no family to take him in.
Farouk is going to meet up with him today, and we will still allow him to stay in the small house on our property. In the next few days Farouk will try and get more information and escort this young boy to the hospital to vouch for him.
We are not quite sure what the outcome of all of this will be, but it seems that God has placed this young boy, oppressed, afflicted an mistreated, with no family that will claim him or support him, while having a serious life threatening condition, into our company right now,
Please pray for us as we try and help deal wisely with this situation. It certainly strikes you and is a fresh reminder of the suffering that people are facing here.
We are called to be hope and light in this world, and so pray for us as we try to help in what ways we can, by whatever means.
Please also pray for the boy ... I am not sure right now if it has to be a prayer for a miracle, but in the following days I am sure we will find out from the doctors what the condition may be.

Pray that God may keep the boy safe, and that we can be His hands and feet where we are able to be.


A prayer from the Psalms.

"Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.

You, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.
The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,"