Life As A Foolish, Weak, Lowly Vessel of God

Elisa, John, Kazibwe, and I lovin the church-wide fellowship.

Matoke, beans, rice, greens, and posho. Servin it up Ugandan style.

Anette, a teacher at our primary school was baptized at our 4 year anniversary.

We made a mail run today. By we I am not including myself. It would be more accurate to say that we sent for the mail. You see, there is no mailbox here in the village. The mail comes to the post office in Luwero, the nearest town about 35 minutes from Kubamitwe, and it sits in our PO Box until we send for it and a boda man brings the whole lot of letters and packages, sans junk mail because paper isn't wasted here in Uganda on super saver coupons.

The rambling about our means of mail delivery is to say that today was a very special mail delivery day because it brought me three sweet letters from three special people. Two were from aunts of mine just writing about how they are praying for me and all that the Lord is doing in their lives back home in Georgia, complete with some much appreciated VIA Packets. The other was from one of my dearest friends, Lizzie Griffith. We had agreed before I left that we would write each other while I was gone, the old fashioned way. I'm pretty sure the agreement was based on our mutual love for adorable stationary, but a deal is a deal, and I am much appreciative of this said agreement.

I opened the letter with a smile on my face because if it was nearly as funny as our text messages that I have been missing dearly, then I knew that it was going to be a good read. And the letter didn't disappoint. I will admit, it made me miss home a bit, but the end of the letter was the best part. The Lord had used 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 to encourage Lizzie recently and she was inspired by the Spirit to share it with me, so I have chosen to share it once more, probably the millionth time it has been shared since Paul was inspired to write it to the Corinthians hundreds of years ago:

"For consider your calling brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"

This encouragement could not have come at a better time. Much of what I have been doing the past few weeks is considering my calling. I am going to be honest and admit that there have been more than a few times that I have asked myself, "What am I doing here?" and "How am I supposed to make any sort of difference when there is so much to be done?". I am not the most talented, I am not the smartest, I am flawed, I am easily discouraged, and there are more times than I can count that my faith is not strong, but rather it falters and I choose to turn to myself rather than the Lord.

This verse was exactly what I needed to read when I opened one of my first letters here in Uganda. Consider your calling…consider that God has chosen what is weak to shame the strong, consider that God has chosen what is low and despised so that we will not boast. He gave us Christ Jesus, who became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. What more do we need? There is no requirement that I be the best communicator, that I know how to handle every interpersonal situation that arises, or that I have the ability to review all conversations and relationships with perfect discernment. The requirement is that I proclaim salvation that comes through Jesus Christ and allow the Lord to work through me so that all of my boasting and bragging can be on the things that God is doing through me and the people I get to serve with here at SOS Ministries.

Speaking of bragging…

We just had the privilege of hosting a team from Placerita Baptist Church and Legacy Christian Academy in Santa Clarita, CA for a week and with their help we were able to plant over 200 fruit bearing trees at the houses of the students that attend our primary school here so that they can grow, harvest, and share some of the fruit with the school to supplement the students' lunches. We built a kitchen for a mother in a neighboring village so that she can provide food for her children even when it is raining outside, avoiding cooking over an open fire in the pouring rain. A full size soccer field was built enabling SOS to host the local villages' soccer games and use them as an opportunity to share the gospel with the athletes. There was  a date night at the church for 35 married couples who had most likely never been on a date before talking about how marriages are created by God to represent Christ and the Church and couples are to complete one another and help each other love Jesus more. We celebrated the 4 year anniversary of Community Bible Church of Kubamitwe, serving a celebratory lunch to over 500 people from the surrounding villages. And lastly, witnessed 14 baptisms from different believers in the church who had recently accepted Christ as their Savior or had chosen to make their profession of faith public after many years of salvation.

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. He has been so kind to the ministry of SOS here in Kubamitwe, the surrounding villages, and in the churches all over Uganda. Many meetings have been taking place between SOS and the leaders of the Baptist Union of Uganda which oversees over 1500 churches all over the country. God is at work here in Uganda. He is calling the Church back to himself and using many men and women to bring truth to churches that are lacking anything similar to that.

Please be in prayer for the people of Uganda, for the Baptist Union, for the people of Kubamitwe and the villages that surround it, and for all of us here at SOS. Pray that we can have love for all that we come in contact with, that we aren't overwhelmed by the need, and that we can find our strength from the Lord when our bodies and minds are tired.

I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 again and praise God for his kindness in using those who are broken and incapable for the advancement of his Kingdom, and pray that he will show you how you can be used to further his Kingdom wherever he has you today.

Work Visa. Bed Bugs. Stolen iPhone. Rejoice. Repeat.

Learning to trust the Lord and see evidences of his grace in unwelcome situations is a lesson I seldom pray to learn. I understand the passages in the Bible that talk about rejoicing in your suffering, but I have never been inclined to pray for suffering. The last month here in Uganda hasn’t been what I would call “suffering” because I have been loving it so much and enjoying the time that I have here. But, I will say that the past two weeks have seen some very unwelcome situations.

Since I am going to be staying here for a year I have to apply for a work permit here in Uganda. The good thing is that I am not going to have to worry about applying multiple times while I am here, but the down side is that the process to be granted a work permit is a long one that requires a lot of persistence and patience with the Ugandan government and their employees.

The first step in this process is acquiring a background check, or as they call them, Certificates of Good Report. So, I go to the Interpol office in Kampala – a 3 hour trek from my village on bumpy roads – and wait in line just to get to the front and then find out that the lady has decided to go to lunch, which means that she may or may not come back, it really just depends on her mood for the day.

After learning this I emphatically expressed to the man working in the tent – yes, the office was in a tent – that I was from Luwero, and I had to come a long way to get here, so it would be great if I could be helped.

Well that caught his attention right away. He said he was originally from Luwero as well and he would love to help me. This turned into him running me around from one tent to another and getting all of these different people to weigh in on my situation which resulted in me needing to go to the US Embassy for an American Certificate of Good Behavior, then go to the bank and pay my fees and then come back to Interpol so that they could give me a Ugandan Certificate of Good Behavior.

My mind was spinning at this point. Which I guess he saw as his opportunity to get my number, because he then asked that I put my name and number on a piece of paper and he would contact me. So naturally I thought that it was official business so I took the bait, wrote down my information, and off I went flagging down the first boda man that I could find.

As soon as I arrived at the Embassy and survived the pat down at the gate I was greeted by a man who didn’t speak English – really? – but I continued to proceed to ask how to get my Certificate. He tried to communicate to me, but didn’t know enough English to answer my question, so he just handed me a piece of paper that told me to make an appointment for another day.

Discouragement was setting in pretty hard at this point.

Back on the home front, I am currently dealing with a bed bug situation that steals away hours of my sleep every night. We are waging war against these pests and while I think that we are gaining ground and seeing some progress, it’s still hard to wake up in the middle of the night itching and seeing 1, 2, sometimes 3 hours of sleep just disappear right before your eyes. But that’s the price you pay when you live in the bush and have an open door policy to whoever wants to stop by.

Then there was the trip to Kampala this past Saturday. All of the girls were going in to celebrate Laura’s birthday at a hotel pool then grab dinner. The trip started off with our brakes going out 20 minutes into the 3 hour trip, which meant that we had to drive slowly until we could make it to the mechanic. The Lord was gracious and we made it safely, but instead of waiting for the mechanic to fix the car Laura, Jackie, Bekah, and I decided to grab bodas to the hotel so we could go ahead and swim.

Naturally, my boda man was faster than the rest – I think it was his silky red shirt with the popped collar – and he took me on a route that I had never been before and before I knew it my friends were nowhere in sight. I was certain that he was taking me to some back alley to take all my money and leave me to fend for myself, but it turns out that the robbery wasn’t going to happen on the boda. He just wanted to take me the “beautiful route” by Lake Victoria. So, really it turned out that it was a really enjoyable ride and I arrived at the hotel right when my friends got there and we were all relieved that I hadn’t been abducted.

But soon after arriving at the hotel to swim I realized that sometime between entering and swimming for a bit that my iPhone had been stolen. I have no idea how it happened, and I don’t have the slightest clue as to who could have done it. All I know is that for 3 days now it has been in the hands of someone else and I will never see it again.

I had two options: I could make a big scene and ruin Laura’s birthday for everyone or I could just accept the fact that it was gone and move on. I realize that it’s a huge bummer that the phone is gone, that I can’t text my family and friends anymore, and I can’t Instagram (which is just so much fun), and that’s money that I can’t get back. But, I think that it’s really going to help me focus on my life here and not spend so much time trying to be in two worlds at one time. I think this can be a huge lesson in finding my satisfaction in God and not allowing it to ruin my attitude, upset me, or even worse, have a bad view of Ugandans, viewing them as thieves. But rather I should stay focused on why I am here: to love people and tell them about Jesus, and they don’t require I have an iPhone to do that.

God is good to teach me through things like this. He is good to give me opportunities to trust him. I’m not perfect and I can’t start to count the 1000’s of times I have responded wrongly, but I think God gave me grace in this situation to remember how blessed I am to be here and serve him and the people of Uganda. And that blessing comes with some bad knocks along the way, but not without his grace to press on.

God has given me grace to persevere through the work visa process, grace to wake up after a sleepless night battling with bed bugs and still have energy to face the day with excitement, and grace to remember that my iPhone is not meant to be a source of joy in my life. God’s grace has been evident these past 4 weeks and I am learning more and more how to lean on him and not on myself, in the good or the bad.

Really, losing my iPhone solved a little situation for me because the nice man from Interpol wouldn’t stop calling me and trying to find where I was staying, so now when he calls my number he’s only going to get a message telling him that the number is out of service. Praise the Lord, crisis averted.

God’s grace is sufficient for me; his power is made perfect in my weakness. So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insult, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)