Saturday
morning started with a trip back to Buloba to visit Hawa for her bug killing
day. By the time we arrived all of her
things had been removed from her home and the fumigation had taken place. People in the village had described Hawa as
stubborn and we soon had to deal with it.
When a fire was built with the intent of burning some of the worst
infected items such as clothing, mattress, etc that might still carry eggs or
the bugs themselves she told us no. In
her culture, the only time people burn their belongings is when they die – Hawa
didn’t feel comfortable with that.
Pastor Robert had to bring in the village chairman to talk some sense
into Hawa and let her know that we would be replacing items for her with new
clean things. She didn’t have much of an
option and agreed as the fire was started.
With her things in the daylight now, we took a closer look at her wooden
bed frame. Disgusting is a nice word to
describe it. Mold and tons of bugs and
bug eggs. We told her grandson that he’d
have to scrap it all off and be sure not to inhale anything. Meanwhile, Hawa sat at a distance with her
clothes and other belongings around her on the ground. Unfortunately, while all the bugs on her
furniture and in her house were now dead, the bugs on Hawa herself and in her
clothes were still alive. We broke the
news to her that she’d have to take her clothes off put on new ones and we were
going to burn them. She reluctantly complied
and when she stood up fresh blood was found on her mat from fresh bug bites
living off of her. Oh my goodness. We
prayed with her, told her how to take care of herself and clean her body
frequently. By the end of our visit she
was more open to our involvement as we presented her new bed sheets, new
blanket, and a new mosquito net. We also
gave the Buloba Pastor money to buy her clothes and follow-up with her. Stubborn or not, she’s now a sister in Christ
and that’s what matters.
Leaving Hawa’s
village we headed back to clean up, put on nice clothes and head to a special
wedding. Special because it is the
wedding of our Uganda ministry Treasurer, Uganda Board Member, and an important
part of our Fountain of Hope Ministries – Bosco Tabula. I’ve known Bosco for eight years and was so
excited to be able to attend his wedding.
When you’re wondering who keeps track of the money we send to Uganda it’s
Bosco – he’s the business man of our ministry.
He’s also actively involved in the church ministry and heads up the
youth program at the Bukeeka church. In
Uganda culture, the couples have an introduction ceremony that is actually more
important and bigger than the wedding when the couples officially introduce
each other to their parents. The introduction
ceremony had already happened but we were able to attend the church wedding and
reception. I soon found out that
weddings are a big deal in Uganda and especially for the brides. Bride and Groom magazine just celebrated its
10th anniversary in Uganda and I flipped through its pages while watching
Pastor Robert get his wedding haircut.
Amazingly, I read that a cheap wedding in Uganda is $3,000 and the
midrange was about $8,000 with high end being anything you want. Remember this is a country where many people
make $100 to $300 a month. Bosco’s
wedding, and most Uganda weddings, follow a traditional American wedding agenda
with the bride in a white gown, men in tuxedo’s, exchanging of vows, Pastor
talk, rings, flower girls, maid of honor, best man, videographer, photographer,
etc. The reception is where the African
style started to kick in. Approximately
300 people sat outside in the church grounds while music played and dinner was
catered for everyone. The bridal party
arrived and danced their way to their special seats. Family members gave speeches of which the
most comically comments concerned advice to the bride and groom such as “this
is not the time to abstain” and “Joy (wife) is a beautiful flower, Bosco now is
the time to pollinate the flower so we can have more small flowers!” The crowd would yell African style in
support. Speeches were given and then
came the time to cut the cake. Wow, this
was definitely not an American cake cutting as they put sparklers in the cake and
shot off fireworks spraying the cake and those around it! Overall, the music was awesome, everyone just
danced wherever they were and the evening was wonderful. Until, one of our team members realized that
someone had stole her bag, camera, and money.
Once it became dark it was hard to control who came in and someone from
outside the party must have snuck in and stolen the foreigner’s bag. Lessons learned while in Africa.
Today,
Sunday, we traveled to Bukeeka to enjoy church in the original and first church
that started the entire ministry. I
remember being here 8 years ago when the church met outside under a reed thatched
roof behind the rented school building. Back
then about ten people came to the service and Sara Sityo, Pastor’s wife, was
our choir. How things change in eight
years. Because of the love the
congregation has shown to the village, the impact of the school, and the love
of everyone involved in GGI from sponsors to mission teams, the village of
Bukeeka has become alive to Jesus. As we
parked at the new church building – they no longer have to worship in the
school – I was blown away by the scene I walked into. 500+ people filled the large new building
praising God loud as ever. 500+ people I
couldn’t believe it. I was also happy to
see many Fountain of Hope students in attendance. Our team member Miles gave a great Bible
Study sermon while Martha, Ahnika, Hannah, and Eli took all the children under
10 years of age outside and did a children’s Bible Study. An hour later we joined together and held the
church service. I gave a short talk
encouraging them to love one another and continue to reach out to others in
love while Pastor Ken gave the official sermon on Abraham and how God continues
to work to perfect us in our faith.
After a
fulfilling lunch across the street at Fountain of Hope School we all went down
to the Nile River for a baptism ceremony.
Similar to previous years, over a hundred people came. Three stations of two people each were
stationed out in the river and people gave their name to the Pastor and where
then escorted to a baptism station in the river. After confessing Jesus as Savior they were
dunked under water and then led back ashore.
About six people had to be carried back to shore when the spiritual
experience suddenly became a physical one due to demon possession. The first was carried out of the water screaming
and jerking and taken to the pastors who were praying with each person. Each of the six could not stand on their own
and often fell shaking, or stiff, or totally limp on to the ground. I joined the Pastors in praying in the name
of Jesus and commanding the spirits to leave the person and praying the blood
of Jesus over their bodies. One woman
started to convulse when I prayed the blood of Jesus over her and continued for
30 seconds until finally settling down.
Another seemed to be okay until I asked her to confess Jesus name and as
soon as she did she complained of chest pain and that something was in her
chest. We prayed more and Pastor told
her to come back to the church on Wednesday when we could meet with her
one-on-one. For most, the baptism was a
final climax of their decision to follow Christ and afterwards we gave out new
Bibles to everyone.
Everyone day
is full of work, encouragement, fulfillment, and exhaustion. It’s great being
here and letting my focus come back to the reality that we all live in a
spiritual realm and that our physical worries shouldn’t be taken so seriously
in light of the spiritual battle going on all around us. I’m sure that a few months from now, I’ll be
busy worrying about work, paying bills, keeping on schedule, etc but I hope I
never forget that there’s a bigger agenda that I need to pay attention to –
eternal life and what God is calling me to do here on earth. For now I continue to press on giving my time
and talents to Grace Giving International and the overseas ministries we
support. Come Lord Jesus.
John Kimsey
Photos: Bosco and Joy, Bukeeka Church, Miles baptizing new believers, Pastor Robert praying over demon possessed woman.
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