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~ Visiting with church leaders in Amudat Town ~ Amudat is a region north of Mt. Elgon in the east of Uganda. It's probably the furthest east you can get since Uganda bulges into Kenya at that point. Like many borders drawn by the British, the Uganda border is fairly arbitrarily drawn. Consequently, it divides the Pokot people, with the majority being on the Kenya side although this people group does tend to be nomadic as pastoralists so they wander back and forth completely ignoring the artificial border. They primarily tend cattle, sheep, and camels. Their diet is heavy on milk and light on vegetables.
I set out for the long journey to Amudat with Pastor Charles Bameka, Pastor Mark, Ron, and Jane who represents the women on the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda's (LCMU) Board of Directors. As the Women's Representative, Jane has a great responsibility in Uganda and an exceptionally difficult task. Most Board Members represent a function (treasurer, secretary, etc.) or at the most a limited geographical area (SouthWest Representative, etc.). Jane represents the Lutheran women in the entire country - with no travel budget. As soon as Jane heard that I'd be making a trip to Amudat she asked if she could accompany me and have some time with the women as Pastor Mark and Ron met with Pastor Moses and the elders. Of course I was overjoyed to be able to provide such an opportunity.;)
~ Visiting together at one of the village churches ~ If there had been any doubt among the RLC Advance Team about the need for my over-built truck, it was laid quickly to rest on the journey to Amudat. Only about half the journey is conducted on paved roads. Amudat itself is a good 2 hours beyond the pavement by my truck, which can easily go twice as fast as a pickup truck, van, or car on rough roads. According to custom, we stopped in Mbale to purchase rice, sugar, and fresh vegetables as prices for these items are often doubled in Amudat itself. We don't want our visit to be a financial burden on congregations who want to provide a meal, so we bring these expensive foods with us and turn them over to Pastor Moses first thing when we arrive.
We had been expecting to do some home-stays because the only lodging in Amudat is a guest house that is in the process of being turned over to the government to be made into the district headquarters office. We were pleased to hear this very week that the building has not yet be turned over and is still functioning as the only guest house in Amudat. For your $4 you get a comfy bed with clean sheets and a mosquito net in a private room. There's a pit latrine out back and there's a rain barrel to collect water for bathing and washing hands. Although the guest house is wired for electricity, their solar system hasn't worked in years and no one with any experience has looked at it. It could be something as simple as a fuse - but if you don't know what you're looking for a simple fix is just as debilitating. The second night we were at the guest house the proprietor brought over a generator and hooked up the lights for us - a real treat! Then when we were checking out we were astonished to hear that the price had increased considerably! While I suspect the price increase was related to purchasing the fuel for the generator, the excuse the proprietor gave was, "the price of sugar has gone up." Mind you the guest house isn't a bed-and-breakfast place, so we didn't consume any sugar. But we paid $5 per night instead of $4 because of the cost of sugar - of course.
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~ Pastor Moses and Ron enjoying (yet another) cup of African Tea ~ We visited only a few congregations in Amudat but spent a considerable amount of time sitting and visiting with the church leaders, many of whom had traveled to Amudat Town to see us. As a result, we got to spend time visiting and laughing together and learning about each other. Taking time like this is something I've learned over my year here to really value. Often we visit 3 or 4 congregations in a day, celebrating a worship service at each one. While that is nice and equitable to the congregations in the area, it also keeps us from just sitting together and really visiting. In Amudat this trip we got to enjoy a ministry of presence - sitting and visiting together, a time of Christian fellowship and brotherhood. In my opinion, it was one of the best trips upcountry I've ever enjoyed. 'Course you have to have tea every time you sit to visit and I really like the African Tea they serve in Amudat, so it worked out great for me.
Pastor Mark and Ron had brought some elastic bracelets - the Resurrection Story bracelets - that use colors to tell the story of Christ. It was a great gift for the people here because both men and women enjoy ornamenting themselves with bracelets and necklaces. Most of their accessories are made from beads and women can often be seen doing beadwork as they sit together. After giving the people these colorful bracelets we asked if they could make them out of beads - of course they can. For the people of Amudat, finding a market for their beadwork is always difficult, so Pastor Mark and Ron bought some of their beadwork to take back to the States and promised that they would buy many of the Christ Story bracelets if the people made them. This is one of the best ways to provide social uplift - better than projects and far better than handouts. Find something the people do, some skill or gift or resource they have, and connect them to a market - it is hard work and an entrepenurial spirit that really provide meaningful lasting social uplift.
One of my great joys on this trip was when I asked a rather direct question (which you seldom do in Uganda). Knowing that Pastor Mark and Ron wouldn't quite be so sure how to go about it, I asked Pastor Moses,
Pastor, I am so happy to have brought my friends to come and visit with you and the Christians here. But our visit is too short. I wonder if next year I was to return and bring more friends like these with me, even 8 or 10 friends, and we were able to stay with you for a full week or even 10 days, what would you have us do?
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~ Visiting together under a tree in Amudat Town ~ Pastor Moses gave me the best possible answer I could have hoped for. He got excited at the prospect and quickly formulated a plan. First, we would take the team to the furthest village that has a congregation (about 50km away, roughly 2 hours by truck). We would arrive in the morning and spend some time with the congregation. Then we would split up the visitors and partner them with the Christians of that congregation with translators and each small team of maybe 4 people would go out for door-to-door evangelism. That night the team would stay in the village and worship together either that night or the next morning. Then we would come to the next closest village, working our way day by day back to Amudat, doing door-to-door evangelism in each place. Pastor Moses didn't say anything about projects or funding for buildings or what could happen if only the team brought money with them. Instead, he got excited about spending time together, about walking side by side, about spreading the Gospel message. He knows that one thing a visitor brings just by nature of being someone from outside the community is a legitimacy and an endorsement of whatever group of people he's there to visit. Moses identified that the greatest need in his community is one that is perhaps the hardest for Americans to understand - the need for a ministry of presence.
While Pastor Mark and Ron did identify some good old-fashioned "do-something" bricks and mortar type needs as well, I still hold firmly to what Pastor Moses identified himself - a ministry of presence. For most of Uganda I assert it's the best possible thing you could do - better than building buildings or distributing eyeglasses or handing out money or giving people motorcycles - any of which may have their own place in the important goal of providing social uplift to people in need. The ministry of presence is a hard sell in the States but it's the best model I've ever heard of for short-term missions. What would I have you do? Simply come and be with us. -Shauen