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.