This morning we left early for the long drive to Nawaikoke
and Kafundakire, a small town and even smaller village in "the
bush." The term is misleading if it raises images of sparsely
populated, arid land overrun with wild animals. Here in eastern Uganda it means
a poor, rural region far from major cities, but still fairly
populated with people, cows, goats, and chickens. The trip took us from a two
lane highway to a one lane paved road to a rocky, red dirt road, passing
beautiful, lush, green fields of corn, sugar cane, sweet potato, and rice, with
banana, jack fruit, and many other flowering and fruiting trees. As we went
along we noticed more and more traditional housing in the form of
round, thatch roofed huts, and as we approached our destination we crossed swamplands
with marsh grass, water lilies, and papyrus. A flatbed truck passed us loaded
with fishermen, indicating our close proximity to Lake Kyoga.
At Nawaikoke we met Pastor Fred and got to see the siding
that our congregation funded to enclose his congregation’s pole structure and
protect them from the elements. Fred had also started a school with forty
students in the building. Martha had stayed home at Njeru with a fever and
headache, so Becca had help from Sarah and Irene as she taught the children . This
was a very quiet group, perhaps because they were much less familiar with
mzungus than other children we have encountered. They had limited English, and
their Lugandan was a different dialect from Sarah’s. Still, they were very
polite: smiling, clapping in unison, and thanking Becca after each section of
the lesson. They especially lit up when Becca brought out the universal
languages of sweets and small toys!
At Kafundafire we waited while people came in from the
fields and served as a novelty for people of the village to watch and discuss.
Our advance team of Bosco, Philip, and Pastor Peter had set up a generator,
sound system, and keyboard in the church building, which turned out to be a
shelter of tree branches lashed together with an old,
holey orange tarp overhead and sides made of sown together flour sacks. Before
long the congregation had gathered and was singing praise songs that could be
heard throughout the village.
After being seated in plastic patio chairs on the packed
dirt platform, we were introduced to the congregation. We also met the young
mayor of the village and Pastor Fred’s father Wycliff, who serves as volunteer
pastor of the congregation, since it is 16km away from Nawaikoke. Pastor Ken
then preached on Elijah and how God strengthens us when we feel we cannot go
on. Pastor Robert translated and followed up, then I preached on how Jesus’
defiance of Herod revealed his courage and care for us. Pastor Robert invited
people forward for prayer, and we were concerned about a woman who brought
forward a very sick baby with skin infections visible on both its face and arm.
Medical help is neither available nor affordable for bush people, so even
Christians are tempted to turn out of desperation to witch doctors, thought their treatments make the situation worse.
Fortunately, we had brought a gift for Pastor Fred: his own
boda-boda, to enable him to travel between his job, the two congregations, and
the homes of his people. Our hope is that it also will allow Fred to meet needs
such as taking people to get medical help. He was completely surprised, and his
congregation was thrilled with the gift.
After the service we were treated to a delicious lunch of
potatoes, sweet potatoes, chapate, chicken, and beef excellently prepared by
the poor congregation. We then piled back into Jawale’s van for the long drive
home under a dramatic, rainy sky.
Tomorrow we will be heading into town to prepare some more
surprise blessings, but first we need sleep! Thanks for your continued prayers,
Kirk and the Surprise Committee
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