Hello everyone! It’s been great to hear from you in email, on facebook, in blog comments, and by phone. And thank you for all of the prayers and thoughts and the coming packages. I am so far a away from home, but one of the coolest parts of this experience is to realize that no matter how far I travel, I am not disconnected from my friends and family at home, that God’s family is global, and prayer reaches to the ends of earth.
In Uganda, when a Christian asks you for your testimony, they don’t want to hear the story of how you came to Christ. There is a time and place for that, of course, and there is powerful witness in those stories, but in Uganda when someone asks for a testimony, they want to hear how God is acting HERE and NOW in your life. They want the story of this past week, yesterday, today. Africans believe in the power of presence. It is easy for them to sit in silence with one another, because a friendship does not have to be built on conversation. So to them, God is ever-present, regardless of his seeming silence—God is present and active in everyday life. I am learning how to see God in this way, how to see Him in small moments of my day to day life as well as the mountain-top moments of spiritual clarity, which are rarer. It takes discernment and practice to search for God constantly, but what a great discipline to develop—the act of sharing in God’s presence even in what seems to be the monotonous routines of my average days. And isn’t this true friendship? When you have a friend that doesn’t only come to share your good times, but is present in all your times, a friend who doesn’t necessarily come with advice or a helping hand (although those are nice), but who often comes just to sit and commune with you in silence?
So that’s a bit of insight on the spiritual journey I am pursuing in Uganda right now. I am trying not to form such a dichotomy between my spiritual and physical life. Classes are going very well right now. I am beginning to adjust to the work load and figure out the Ugandan system of doing things. It doesn’t aggravate me so much to go on scavenger hunts through various libraries to find books or to travel to printing offices for each assignment I need printed. I am hopefully coming to learn the African concept of time and simply going with the flow. Things become less aggravating when you aren’t running on such a tight schedule. When time is flexible, we have more time to meet obstacles and obstacles aren’t so daunting when you accept the fact that they are simply a part of life and when they come it isn’t a sin to stop and take the time to experience them fully. Interruptions aren’t much of an issue here—society is relationally based, so saying hi to my friend who I pass on the road is far more important than being on time to class. People trump schedules always. It’s been challenging for me to slow down. Sometimes the time here drives me nuts and I have what I like to call “mini culture rages” on the inside, but these instances are becoming fewer I think. Case and point:
On this past Friday I thought I was going to have a free day (which means no class!). But when I informed Mama Joyce of my free day, she thought that was excellent because we had been invited to a “party.” Now I have learned already to be skeptical of how Ugandan’s use the word party. It generally isn’t the same thing as the US version. And of course, it wasn’t in this case either. The party was an Anglican church service for all of the priests and clergy in the area, as well as special guests, presided over by the Anglican Bishop of the area (sound like a rocking party yet?). The church service began 45 minutes late and lasted 2.5 hours and was in Luganda to boot. I followed the liturgy of the service to some extent, but 2.5 hours in a foreign language is a long time to sit still. After the church service, there was supposed to be entertainment and food, so we all trooped over to the Bishop’s back yard. The entertainment was a highschoolish band of about 15 young people that seemed to play the same song over and over again, or a variety of songs that were nearly the same, and some songs sang by the wives of the clergy and Bishop (who had organized the party). So we all sat in chairs outside listening to this entertainment, and waited for food for over two hours (though the food could have been served immediately). So I had somewhere to be on campus at 4:00pm, and I didn’t even get food until almost 3:30, and the party had started at 10:20, when Mama Joyce and arrived for the church service, which didn’t start until 11:15 (though scheduled for 10). Sound frustrating to all of you Americans out there? It was for me. But here is the Ugandan way of seeing it: how awesome it is to get to worship with other believers for 2.5 hours—what better kind of party could Christians attend? And the entertainment was great because who doesn’t like music? And besides, we were all sitting together outside for more than two hours, which was lots of time to share in conversation and community with our friends. I was really interested in the food, and my stomach isn’t used to waiting, but patience here is a virtue, and food wasn’t the main point of the party.
This week is shaping up to be a good one, and I am looking forward to this weekend, when we are travelling to an area called Rackai (likely spelled wrong). It’s a rural area where the students interested in missions and ministry are going to meet some missionaries and see what kinds of things they are doing. It should be a fun trip, and hopefully I won’t cap it off with a case of food poisoning like I did our Jinja trip. This means persons interested in phoning me this week should probably wait until 8-9 on Sunday night (my time, which is like 12-2 your time) to call me, because the rest of the weekend will be spent on the bus/in Rackai, and I won’t have too much time to talk.
Some prayer requests: firstly, that I find my glasses. They’ve been lost in the chaos of a huge family party we had this past weekend (check out the pics on facebook), and they are either in a really strange place at home or not at home at all. So just pray that I find them or that they are returned to me. Also, just my fellow students, that we are all adjusting well to Uganda and learning and not getting homesick…etc.
Well, time to jump off here and go to lunch. Love you all and am looking forward to hearing from you!
--Danielle
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