News from Houston

I arrived in Houston, Texas on Monday for the World Assembly of the Federation of Methodust and Uniting Church women and the World Methodist Council which are running in parallel.  It's amazing to be here with people from all over the world, to meet new people and catch up with people I've met before.  The programme is busy and full on but already I have enjoyed some wonderful experiences and feel privileged to be here.  My official induction will take place on Friday evening and then my new role officially begins...at last!  After 20 months of waiting and shadowing my time has come!  Here are a few photos...

View from the hotel roof

A group of ladies from Singapore sharing a dance.

I ran into Yonette, a lady I knew from Guyana! Amazing! 

A large group from Zimbabwe leading us in singing

Comparing cultures...wasting water

Last night, Mark and I did our turn volunteering on the rota for the Youth for Christ bus which we take onto the quay in Kingsbridge to be a safe presence for the young people hanging around the town. 

When it's cold we usually serve hot chocolate but last night we had some bottles of water in case anyone needed one.  Two young lads asked for a bottle and we gave them one each.  Shortly afterwards, we saw them tipping the contents of the bottles onto the ground and then throwing the bottles. 

I can't begin to say how angry and sad it made me when I compared this act with what we have recently seen and experienced in Uganda.  There, the children and young people spend much of their free time walking long distances to fetch water (sometimes not very potable) for their families and every drop is precious.  Here, the youngsters are so blasé about water that they can just take free bottles that someone else has provided and waste it, then litter the ground with the containers. 

I pray that none of us will ever take clean drinking water for granted and will realise how precious it is and that one day those boys will understand how blessed they really are. 

Narrowly avoiding arrest!!

We stopped at the Ugandan equator on our way to our session at Masaka in the West of the country.  It was a long journey, made more gruelling for me as I had an upset tummy and toilets (such as they are!) are few and far between.  I felt poorly all day but was determined not to let it stop me doing anything! 

Always be nice to a man with a gun!  This was a friendly guard at the equator not the mean one who hassled us at the Nile.

On our way to Jinja we drove across the River Nile and although the sign on the bridge said no photography we still took a couple of pictures and thought it would be ok.  How wrong we were!  As we got to the other side of the bridge, some men in uniform with very large guns stopped our car and started to shout at us about our photographs.  They demanded we hand over my camera and I was worried they would either delete all my precious photos or worse, confiscate my camera completely.  The men made Lazarus get out of the front seat and a man with a large gun got in the front and told our driver to take us to their station.  They said we could either go to the police or pay a fine. 

It was a bit scary as they were all speaking Luganda and we didn’t know what was going on.  We all prayed fervently that God would intervene for us.  Mark said he wanted them to take us to their boss to explain our mistake, but they didn’t want to do that and we realised that by ‘fine’ they actually meant ‘bribe’ and we had to pay the ‘fine’ of about £7 and delete the photos of the river to be allowed to move on.  There was of course no receipt and no paperwork and I guess that this is a nice little earner when foreign visitors pass over the bridge.  It was a little unnerving but we were thankful to God that we didn’t get into big trouble or lose my camera.  An important lesson learned to obey signs in Africa! 

After our visit to the church in Jinja we went to visit the source of the Nile – it begins from Lake Victoria and it was awesome to see where such a great river actually begins.  We thought they were missing a trick there as there was no decent road to it and it could be a real tourist magnet with a bit of investment.  It was so beautiful and peaceful there and the scene looked as though nothing had changed for centuries…men in wooden fishing boats and women washing and drying clothes by the edge of the water.  We felt privileged to see this as it is probably something not many have seen.  On the way home we stopped and Lazarus bought us some ‘rolex’ – not the watch but chapattis rolled up with omelette in the middle – as we hadn’t been given any lunch at Jinja these were most welcome and very tasty!

The locals drying their washing in the sun.

The source of the Nile...a beautiful spot at the edge of Lake Victoria.

Men fishing as they probably have for centuries.

Josiah having his first paddle - we renamed him Josiah Moses!

On our final day, on the way to the airport we stopped at a zoo close to Entebbe.  We had to laugh when we saw the admission prices…1000 shillings for Ugandans, 2000 shillings for foreigners residing in Uganda and 3000 shillings for foreigners visiting!  We explained to Lazarus that this would never be allowed in the UK as it would be racist to discriminate against foreigners. 

The zoo was reasonably well kept though we did worry about some of the animals which were in small crates apparently waiting to be taken to an exhibition but with no sign of how long they had been sitting there already or how much longer they would have to wait.  I guess in a country where many people live in unpleasant or unsanitary conditions, the fate of the animals is not a great concern. 

An ostrich in a crate ready for transportation.

There were several large groups of school children in the zoo stampeding around and it sounded like we were about to be trampled by herds of buffalo!   Just before we left we had a little photo shoot by Lake Victoria and Mark asked one of the teachers if he could speak a few words to the group of kids there which he gladly allowed.  After that all the kids wanted their photos taken with us and we nearly got trampled again!!

By Lake Victoria.

It was with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to Lazarus and Alice at the airport and we are sure that it won’t be the last time we see them.  We were invited to Uganda to give the people the word of God and some teaching and although they think we have given them so much, we have actually received so much more.  We pray that the enthusiasm, faith and commitment of our African brothers and sisters will stay in our own hearts and that we might bring some of their zest for life, passion for Jesus and joyful celebration back with us to our own churches.  

What is poverty?

Lazarus came to England a few years ago to volunteer for a year at a Christian retreat centre on the Isle of Wight.  I asked him about his experiences from that time.  He said that when he arrived he didn’t know where to go to catch a bus so went to a café and asked a lady sitting there.  She apparently shouted at him to go away which he found really upsetting as that was the first English person he had spoken to and not a good welcome to our land.  He then approached a black man who turned out to be from Ghana, who let him use his phone to call his UK contact and helped him find a bus.  We could only apologise on behalf of that lady whoever she was for being so rude but it made us sad too.  L   He said he was shocked when he was in England that every home had running water and electricity, that people had two cars each and could eat whatever they wanted.  He found it hard going back and getting into his life in African again after being here amongst such plenty for a year. 

Visiting Lazarus and his family at their home.

Lazarus has started a small business with chickens.

Lazarus's daughters were delighted with their little bags of goodies!

A remarkable and beautiful family - we are so honoured to call them our friends.

We had the honour of visiting Lazarus and his family in their home and like everyone we met in Uganda, they showed us great generosity of hospitality.  There is so much need in places like this that it can be a bit overwhelming.  The material need is great but there is such wealth in other ways that we don’t have here in the affluent west.  When we lived in Guyana I wrote a blog on ‘What makes a person poor?’ and thought it was a good time to revisit it.   It was based on thoughts from a book I read called ‘When Helping Hurts.’

The book talked about four different kinds of poverty:

Poverty of spirituality is to do with our relationship with God.  It occurs when we try to live our lives without God and make it on our own.  We are meant to be in a relationship with God and when we ignore him or reject him, we suffer a lack of spiritual intimacy in our lives. 

Poverty of being is to do with our relationship with ourselves.  If we have too high an opinion of ourselves we can become proud and insufferable but if we have too low opinion of ourselves we can suffer poor self-esteem so we need a healthy balance. 

Poverty of community is to do with our relationships with others.  Sometimes our relationships break down or we don’t make time for people who are important to us and when that happens we suffer a lack of community.

Poverty of stewardship is to do with our relationship with creation – the world around us.  When people suffer from lack of material goods through their own fault or because of corrupt, unjust or oppressive systems.

The premise of the book is that when you look at different types of poverty we discover that actually all of us are poor in one way or another.  We in the West often think of the poor people in the third world who need material goods but forget that we are often poor when it comes to building relationships, in the ways we view ourselves or in our relationship with God, so there is no ground for us to feel superior in any way.

 

This ingenious boy made a car out of old bottles - an engineer in the making!

In Africa, as in other parts of the world, we have seen the most dreadful material poverty and yet a richness in relationships both within communities and in the deep rooted faith of the people.  Conversely we have seen people in our own country who have everything money can buy materially but are poor in their relationships, community, self-esteem or faith.   

I close today’s blog with a story from Heidi Baker who works in Mozambique and has seen God move in many miraculous ways amongst her people:

‘One time a preacher visited our tribe. He was not from Africa and did not know what to expect. He had prepared to preach on the story of the lost coin in Luke 15:8–10. As part of his talk, he asked if anyone had a coin he could use as a visual aid. Not one hand went up. He turned around and asked the senior pastors on our team for a coin, but not one of them had a coin.

He was getting flustered and incredulous. I watched his face as it suddenly dawned on him. The poverty in that place overwhelmed him. His eyes filled with tears and he wept, right there and then, for the lack he saw in front of him—a lack he had never experienced before, a lack he had never personally been challenged by.

Certainly our tribe is financially poor. No one has anything of monetary value. But that does not stop us from being rich in other ways or making our offerings to God. Our people might not have cash to put in a bucket, but they have a different kind of gift to give to the Lord. They worship Him in dance. Their whole bodies are given over to Him. They might not have money, but they have no shame in dancing as an offering of praise.

They will walk for three days to go to a meeting and dance for God. They will travel through hot and dusty villages, without food or water, to give the only thing they can offer—themselves.

My people are some of the richest on earth. They are some of the most joyful. They do not consider themselves poor. They rejoice that they have been found. They see themselves as blessed and rich and whole. They are full of passion for God, full of His glory and full of His presence. When I look at them I do not see lack, but plenty.

May we all, regardless of our monetary wealth, give all we have to the Lord. May we worship Him with our whole selves, extravagantly, like my people in Africa.’

Hungry

The staple diet in Uganda is a dish made of cooked plantain bananas called matoke.  All the locals seem to love it and devour it in great quantities but we didn’t really like it…I think it must be something you like if you grow up eating it.  We laughed with Lazarus because he told us that when he came to England he didn’t like custard to begin with but by the end of his time here he did so we explained that it must be the same for us with matoke! 

Our lunch table - extravagant generosity.

Bananas used to make matoke - masses of them for sale everywhere.

We lost our appetite while we were there, partly because of the heat and also the unfamiliar food.  We really missed having a cup of tea and it was a bit of a caffeine detox!  The tea they have there is made with hot milk which didn’t taste good to us.  One day we were served mugs of hot milk with a few tea leaves sprinkled on it – it was the day I had a dicky tummy so I wasn’t overly keen!

A first for me...tea made by adding a sprinkle of tea leaves into hot milk.

Smiling through the pain...I was not at ALL well this day.

As well as matoke, the diet there is made up of lots of potatoes, chaphatis, rice, beans and ground nut sauce with very small amounts of meat and lots of delicious, ripe, sweet, fresh fruit.  All cooked from fresh over firewood outside – hardly anyone has a cooker inside as it’s too expensive so cooking is done the way it has been for centuries. 

One of the ideas Lazarus picked up while in England was that of food banks and he is hoping to set up something along similar lines over there to help the poorest of the poor.  There is no social security system over there so when people are unable to work they rely on the support of family and if there is no family they become destitute and the church tries to help those in greatest need. 

As well as being hungry enough to eat large portions of rice etc, the people of Wobulenzi were also hungry for God.  They listened intently to our teaching sessions and all brought Bibles and notebooks along with them to follow the readings and make notes on what we were teaching.  Oh that the church in the UK would be that hungry to learn!   

Mark led some sessions on ‘Blessings and Curses’, we both did a session on marriage, I did a session for women on identity and function while Mark taught the men, Jocelyn did a session for the youth, Mark preached a few sermons and Jocelyn and I shared our testimonies and stories with the children. 

Mark speaking and Lazarus translating.

Part of being hungry for God meant that before we arrived some of the people prayed and fasted about our visit for 10 days – amazing and very humbling.  We offered prayer after each session and every time we had queues of people desperate for a touch from God.  What an honour to be able to pray with so many people.    

Earnest prayer from a young age.

Queuing to receive a touch from God.

This beautiful photo captures the hunger for God in the people.

Queues of people asking for prayer - what a privilege and blessing!

Various people gave testimony about what God had done in their lives and many of them gave thanks for the missionaries that went to Uganda from 1887 and took the gospel to them.   They were so grateful that people were faithful to bring Jesus to them.  They told us that when the missionaries first went apparently local people thought the missionaries were ghosts!!  Judging by the way some of the very young children screamed and ran away crying when they saw us in the villages I am guessing that’s what they thought too!! 

It was another miracle that we were on the go all the time and didn’t feel exhausted at all even in the heat.  Usually I get worn out even after taking one service but we were so thankful that God strengthened and sustained us.