After nearly seven weeks away, we arrived back in the good old USA last Sunday night. We made a short excursion to see our good friends Iza Rogalska and her fiancé Marcin in Warsaw, Poland. It was a fast three days, but a wonderful visit after their return to Poland three years ago.
Several of you have emailed us to be sure we were alright since its been three weeks from our last post. The reality is that the last 10 days in Uganda were very busy. We met again with World Vision about village sponsorships. We met our friends at Kabalagala Pentecostal Church who are running an AWANA youth program where over 400 children show up each Saturday afternoon, despite very limited supplies and only seven leaders!! We met with the Pastor of a church that sponsors a Christian School in the slums in Kampala about the needs and plans for the school and its children. Roxanne, Medina, Fiona, Josephine, Silver and all of Tukutanta team worked feverishly finishing all the products that were in-process and then packaging and packing them up for Roxanne and Wasswa’s trip to the states this summer, and we both helped Roxanne with some business planning for Tukutana. In the midst of it, Medina joined our family in experiencing a traditional dance and music concert a couple days before we left, which was amazing.
Most importantly, and difficult, was saying goodbye (or farewell) to all the friends we made in Uganda. It struck us that within all the richness of this trip, the people are what made it so incredible. Two nights before we left, the kids had a chance to say goodbye to their new friends. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so we’ll let the photos tell the story. Suffice it to say, the kids loved giving some of their favorite clothes away to those who, in many cases, didn’t have extra clothing, shoes, backpacks, pillows, etc.
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| Junior with Tyler, after happily receiving Tyler's backpack as a gift for school |
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| Brayden gave his pillow-pet to Sarah |
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| Brayden gave Braemond his favorite skate shoes |
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| Lila gave Briget one of her favorite dresses |
Early on, Tyler observed how strange it was that the people with so little could have so much joy. (Luke 12:15 says one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions). Despite all the suffering, and horrific circumstances that so many live in, the faces tell the whole story…
Brayden said that he believed that in the next 200 years, Uganda will probably become the richest country in the world. We asked why, and he said that the Bible says that the poorest will become rich (James 2:7, Proverbs 13:7). We recently discussed whether God meant the poor would become rich in a materialistic way, or rich in a different (spiritual) way. After discussing it, we all agreed that maybe its already happened! Have they found more joy than we have, in our over-programmed, busy lives?
Tyler also made the comment that the people of Uganda had no choice but to have faith, as they have to rely on God to for everything (even food). How different is this from countries where people have large savings and stable, well paying jobs?
The second week we were in Uganda, we had just left the babies home and were talking over dinner. Christi and I asked what the kids would think if we ever adopted a child from Uganda (not a plan, but an interesting idea to discuss). The boys were fairly non-committal, but Lila very clearly wasn’t interested. When asked why, she said she didn’t want someone with dark skin to be in our family. Biting our lips, we fought the urge to politically correct the view of our four year old and and instead tabled the topic. Three weeks later, after visiting the babies home several times since, Lila (and the boys) had each connected with a child. For Lila, it was Steven she adored. Every night (and at meals), Lila prayed for Steven, that he would find a mom and dad who would love him and who would teach him about God. These prayers soon turned into a passionate plea from Lila that we adopt Steven!! We asked Lila why the change from her earlier comment and she said skin color didn’t matter, that even if we have different skin color, we're all the same and what's important is that we’re all friends. (On our last visit to the babies home, Steven had been taken to the hospital with malaria and pneumonia, so we continue to pray for a mom and dad, and for his health).
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| Lila with her favorite child at the Babies home, Steven |
