Re-entry and Reflection, Part 1

Friday - Saturday, April 27-28

We return home safe and sound and.... tired. We've been traveling for nearly 36 hours straight. The closer we got to home the more homesick we became. Embrace of the rest of the family was sweet. It's good to be away and it's better to be home - good mattress, cool pillow, and no mosquito netting.

Even though it's only two weeks, it seems a lot has changed. Our worldviews are rocked, are passion for the world increased, and our appreciation of family and friends multiplied.

Friday brings the barrage of unopened mail. Then the e-mail program finally works - 216 messages greet me. Most are the usual items, but tucked here and there are updates from Trinity that keep us tied in. And then, there is one that grabs me hard - a notice that Dr. Lyle Vander Werff has died. I rejoice that he is in heaven but grieve with Phyllis and with her children - David, Kristyn, and Kathy - all of whom were in church together on Easter.

Lyle was my first college professor - the first period of the first day of my college experience. I'll never forget it. In OT Faith he gave me the words "Biblical Worldview." He taught us what a worldview is, what a Christian worldview is, and why it matters. He taught a class on world religions and how Christ's claims were unique and exclusive and worthy of making known to the ends of the world. He taught a class on personal evangelism, the books of which still are useful in my library. His passion for international students and concern for the lost was contagious. His teaching was a key step in God turning my heart to ministry and I am so grateful for his life and witness.

And there is culture shock. Two weeks among the poor will do that. Lauren and I laugh at the suggestion that we "need" the A/C on in the car. At the store we marvel at our selection and wonder why we should be so blessed and others truly struggle for their daily bread. We travel to Sioux City - 45 miles in 40 minutes - when the same journey a week ago took us 2 hours. And while it is much better to be with family than away, we desperately miss our new friends - will Bright e-mail us? Will Titus and Steven and Charity remember us? What are they doing right now? When can we go back?

Lauren is making plans to move. OK, maybe not just yet, but at least to take a semester of Study Abroad.

Uganda Days 10-12 - R&R

Monday to Wednesday, April 23-25

After more than week of observing and participating in mission and ministry, Lauren and I head north about 400 kilometers to Murchison Falls National Park where we stayed at Paraa Safari Lodge, a place Ernest Hemmingway made famous when his plane crashed near here and he stayed for some time.

On the way we have special treat - a meeting with Trinity Church's own Megan Reinders! Megan is on a 2-year stint with the Peace Corps. She was in Luwero for training, which was directly in our path. We spent only a little while together, as she was in language class and we had a ferry to catch, but it was very nice. We dropped off some gifts from her family and a card from the bilingual knitting group she was part of, shot a little video tape of her, and headed off to the north.

Paraa Lodge is an amazing place, given the remoteness of the setting. Think Blue Mountain Passport Club and you get small picture of it. We visited in what is the "off" season, and there were never more than three groups on site. This meant the wildlife was more accessible. In fact, we were able to see every significant mammal species in the reserve with the exception of the leopards and the male lions.

Rather than talk about it, enjoy some of the 200+ pictures we took of our guide Ally, the lodge, and the sights we saw. Click on any picture to see a bigger image.

Uganda Day 9 - Preach-till-you-drop :)

Sunday, April 22

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..... he as given us new birth into a living hope... (1 Peter 1:3)

I returned to the Seeta congregation (St. Luke's) to preach the three morning services. Their schedule is 7:00 - 8:30, 8:30-10:30, and 10:30-12:30. That's right - no break for coffee between services! As one group leaves the main door, the next group of worshipers enters through side doors. Sunday school is during the 8:30-10:30 service. The 7:00 a.m. service is English and the others are in Luganda.

Lauren has now heard my message on 1 Peter 1:3-9 at least 5 times! She could probably preach it. So, after the 7:00 a.m. English worship service, she grabbed a taxi with a new friend to take the short drive back to the guest house. Taxis in Uganda are 15 passenger mini-buses known for sudden stops and wild drivers. Thankfully, her drive was uneventful.

As with last Sunday, the church is nearly full each service and people are joyfully praising the Lord. Seeta church has a part of the service during the offering when people come to the alter area and pray prayers of praise as part of their offering, and a prayer time that lasts about 30 minutes.

The pastor also warmly welcomes guests, whom he asks to come to the front. He prays for them and gives them a big hug - not exactly seeker sensitive in the US, but in Uganda people love the attention.

As part of worship, the pastor asks the church to give a little extra for the church's next purchase to help their ministry. This church has limited infrastructure, no rest rooms, no kitchen, no fellowship area, and limited electricity (we start the 7:00 a.m. service with a generator because the city has turned off the power to save energy).



So, what does the pastor say the church is saving for? No, not a bathroom or a kitchen, but --- a computer, a projector, and a screen :-).


I also noticed what looked like green cloth pouches that resembled our mail boxes. When I asked what they were, I was told they were offering envelopes. Each pouch is numbered, parishoners put their gift in the sack, place the sack in the offering, and the gift is recorded. Then a church volunteer puts the sack back on the rack - a reusable offering envelope!



At around 1 p.m., the preach-a-thon is finished. I'm tired but full of joy. The faith of the people is absolutely a blessing. I am energized by their passion for the gospel, their love for Jesus, and their concern for the lost. And, if Trinity needs to add a third service, I'm prepared!

After worship and lunch, the time has come for good-byes to our Ugandan friends. The week of ministry is over, many people came forward at evangelistic services, and Words of Hope Uganda has been launched. It has been a great privilege to witness and participate in this great week.

Rev. David Bast heads back to the airport for the 10:30 p.m. flight to Amsterdam and Detroit. Lauren and I head to Kampala for a night in a hotel before heading out to the north for a few days on a safari.


We stay in view of Lake Victoria and spend an evening meal with CRC missionaries Jim and Josephine Zylstra (friends of Orange City resident, Rod DeBoer). They welcomed us in their home and we enjoyed a meal at an Italian restaurant - our first without beans and rice in more than a week. We learned about the work that CRWRC is doing in Uganda and how missionaries experience life in Uganda.

Lauren asks, "Can we call our Uganda friends. I miss them already."

Uganda Day 8 - A Tale of Two Pearls

Saturday, April 21

[Please Note: I am publishing this and the balance of posts for Uganda after returning on April 26. Power outages and lack of Internet access prevented updates in the last several days.]

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.

When he found one of great value,

he went away and sold everything he had

and bought it.

Matthew 13:45-46

A Tale of Two Pearls

Saturday saw a great contrast in experiences from morning to afternoon.

We accomplished in a short time on Saturday morning what we had hoped to get done on Friday. We exchanged some dollars for shillings (1705 to 1), we picked up a camera battery charger (PTL!), and we stopped at a new shopping district to pick up a few supplies.

Our Ugandan friend, Bright, was so pleased to show us around his Uganda. He is up to date on all things technological (iPhones, computers, and HDTV – which he wants even though Uganda doesn’t broadcast in HDTV).

Bright was especially keen to show us the new stores – a supermarket and a discount store – think Super WalMart with a Starbucks-type coffee place thrown in for good measure. Inside were all kinds of foods (processed with filtered water), products (made mostly in China), and people (all rushing after the latest thing). It was fun for a little while.

Then it hit me: will the developing world run after globalization and worship the gods of materialism like so much of the developed world? What will become of the 1,000s of little stands that families depend on for their only income? What does it mean to be truly "developed?"

What pearls is the world chasing after? What pearls am I chasing after?

Saturday afternoon brought into view a better Pearl.

A few hundred people showed up to march for Jesus and celebrate the beginning of Words of Hope Uganda’s gospel ministry. School children in their uniforms, choirs and praise teams from area churches, and many parishoners showed up to walk through the streets of Seeta’s markets, neighborhoods, and even the main road to Jinja to celebrate Jesus.

The march was led by the diocese’s boys brigade band. The leader, Davis, is on fire for leading youth ministry in the area, and he is a band leader with passion. We took home a list of brass instruments he would love to have. If you have a brass instrument you’d like to give, let me know and we’ll see if we can make a dream come true.

After the march, the people gathered in the hot sun and sang and prayed and listened to preaching to bless the ministry. The bishop also led a beautiful prayer for the gospel to reach the unreached. The day ended with a soccer match featuring Christian players from the national soccer program. They shared the gospel during timeouts and many young people came out for the event.

Here’s what I learned from this gathering of people: From their joyful determination to proclaim Christ, their absolute joy in the Lord, and their delight in making Christ known at every opportunity, they are showing to the world that they have found the Pearl of Great Price.

It is said that Uganda is “The Pearl of Africa,” but it is clear that for the Christians in Mukono Diocese that Jesus is their Pearl of Great Price.

As a post script, I want to share that one of the children’s groups was a Compassion Children’s Choir. The local church partners with Compassion International in their school program. I know that many families at Trinity support a child through Compassion. From what I witnessed, I can share with confidence and joy that Compassion is doing a great work.

Uganda Day 7 - Sabbath Friday

Friday, April 20

A relatively down day, catching up on sleep and enjoying the scenery of Uganda Christian University. It was a potpourri of experiences:

First, a walk around campus and fresh-brewed cup of Caribou Coffee (we have a travel-size French press along). The campus is beautiful! Many flowers and trees and green all the time.

The morning ended with a meeting of Words of Hope Uganda and Vice Chancellor (the equivalent of University President) Stephen Noll. Dr. Noll is a brilliant man with a grand vision for Christian Higher Education in Uganda. Under his leadership the university has added dorms and class room space and grown from 120 students to over 6,000 in ten years. They have a new association with the CCCU schools in the US and they do a Study Abroad program with 40 CCCU students. In fact, we met a Northwestern College student. She is having a great time and is sad to be returning in a little while.

Following this, we tried very hard to go into Kampala for some time "shopping." This proved absolutely fruitless. With no traffic, we should be about 15 minutes from Kampala. But there is NEVER no traffic. It was the worst, actually, that our driver had seen. A combination of the last day of school and protests in the downtown and construction saw us not moving for 90 minutes! We turned around and enjoyed the rest of the day going for a walk, reading, and enjoying down time together.

Here are some more pictures of life around here: School girls on their last day of school, University students studying together outside, and Lauren with Elisia (the housekeeper at the Guest House).

Uganda Day 6 - Principalities & Powers

Thursday, April 19

A more leisurely morning after a busy Wednesday. By the way, although our schedule may seem quite full, I am finding it wonderfully refreshing and producing in me great energy and joy. We go to bed tired but full of delight.

We might call this day, "Principalities and Powers." We met the most powerful man in the Church of Uganda (and one of the most influential people in the World Anglican Communion's current controversy over homosexuality). We witnessed the growing challenge of Islam in central Africa. And we witnessed the power of the gospel among the poorest of the people.

We traveled to the heart of Kampala - the national capital - to visit with The Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda. He was a most gracious host and a keen observer of the times we all live in. Lauren was included in this historic visit. He had many kind words for her. After visiting about the kind of ministry partnership he hopes to have, he encouraged the local Words of Hope Uganda team to concentrate on the north. "There is a window for the gospel right now. The government has a peace agreement with the Lord's Resistence Army." And then these words: "The government has a disarmament program, but it is the gospel that will truly disarm them." Praise be to God!

On our way through the city we also saw a huge and beautiful Mosque. It was clearly the most visible building in downtown. There are mosques popping in in many places, and we see not a few women wearing Muslim coverings - a sign that Islam is interacting more in places it has not historically been. Even in the evening crusade - in a small village, a Muslim man listened from the edge of the crowd.

The evening saw Lauren and I traveling with Rev. Baraka to a small village up the absolutely craziest road we have ever been on - if you can call it a road. We had to go inside because of rain, and the place was packed. There was no praise band or instruments - only a little canned music over a generator-powered p.a. system. Titus broke out a few favorite choruses and then I preached a short message. Titus took up the alter call in a fervent passion. I knew almost nothing of what was going on. No one outside of Titus spoke English, but it seemed the Lord was at work in beautiful ways. It was a poor place, but the people were eager to hear the gospel and celebrate Jesus. Many unchurched residents were also in attendance.

We are learning so much about the world we live in. We see the beauty of God in everyone we meet, along with the seeming injustice that permeates our world. In a discussion of Visas, Lauren was surprised to learn that we can travel almost anywhere in the world (as US citizens), but the people we are with have an incredibly hard time getting to visit the US for a short time. It costs $100 US to apply for a Visa, and if you don't get the Visa, you don't get your money back.

Uganda Day 5 - T.I.A.

Wednesday, April 18

T.I.A. "This is Africa." A phrase we hear when things don't go according to plan.

The power was out.... again. So I couldn't update you or do much of anything. The darkest dark I've ever been in. I'm writing late in the day on 19th.

But - GOOD NEWS! Half of East Africa showed up today with a camera charger! In Uganda, everyone's family. When someone has a need, everyone tries to help. Our friend Bright (yep, that's his name), the technology savvy videographer helping us, found a relative who worked in an office who had the same model, and our friends at the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee also had one. Praise God for small answers to prayer.

Wednesday morning borought a visit with The Right Reverend Elia Paul LUzinda-Kizito (Bishop of the Mukono Diocese) - Oh these Anglican titles! David Bast worked out details and plans for how Words of Hope can partner with the local church.

At midday we toured the facilities of the Spirit FM, on which the Words of Hope Uganda team broadcasts four programs a week. We learned that there is much response and much potential for growth. The Uganda staff produces among the best quality programs that the station airs.

The afternoon we visited with The Retired Most Reverend Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo (Archbishop of the Province of Uganda and a Primate in the global Anglican Communion) - another title!. He is a champion for getting the gospel to the tribal areas via radio. We visited him in his beautiful gardens where he adopted Lauren and me into his tribe - the Monkey Clan.

The evening brought another crusade. Lauren came along to this one - at St. Luke's parish in Seta township. The same band led worship and testimony. I had the same translator as the last time, and we worked as a better team this time, since she knew where I was going. Once in a while she would whisper to look at the bushes, because some men were hiding there. They didn't want to come into the crowd, but they wanted to hear the gospel.

Afterward, Lauren talked a long time with the translator - Carol. They became good friends and Lauren has a new e-mail to add to her list of friends. It was loud in the background and Lauren missed part of the conversation. She realized later that she agreed to come back to Uganda to lead a conference with Ann to help Carol teach college women about real life!

I don't know if that will happen, but here's why Carol wants a white teenager from Iowa to talk to Ugandan young women: they have American television and think that all American women are sexually active and try to be just like Brittany Spears. The reasoning goes, "America is a Christian nation, Brittany Spears is American, so it must be OK to do what she does."

T.I.A. - "That is America."