Two months ago, I left home to go back to Africa for the second time in the past year. Before I go straight into Uganda, I would like to briefly share about Rwanda, which is just south of Uganda. Last November, I spent time in Rwanda revisiting genocide sites and being exposed to a land and a people that had seen death and destruction at a immeasurable scale. I processed these images for several months because of the impact that would later change the course of my life. The pictures have been burned forever into my memory and I can still become vulnerable at the thought of some of the places. The nation of Rwanda experienced devastation: over one million lives lost in 100 days. These are people like you and me with names, homes, personalities, and families. I think that the person who is not affected by seeing what I saw and hearing what I heard is a person in need of help. Through months of receiving counsel by brothers and sisters in the church, I've since processed these memories and gained a small understanding of why Rwanda has not been easily forgotten. God has placed these thoughts on my mind possibly for the reason that I was to endure through emotional suffering to actually empathize with the very people that I may be counseling one day.
SO, here is where I am reflecting from what happened 2 months ago. I traveled with Brentwood Church, of which is so full of passionate believers, and Sports Outreach Ministries. A group of 27 of us traveled to Uganda, a land war-torn and devastated by a cruel regime of power and hatred. This place is no longer the same place that it once was. It has moved from dangerous and fearful place to a restorative and Christ-filled place. We visited Gulu, a city in Northern Uganda, from which we would travel back and forth to the villages belonging to the Pugwini. Our main objectives in this village was to build a piggery, establish relationships, and further the Gospel. Without going into too many details, this is what we physically did. In addition to these, we visited an Internationally Displaced People (IDP) camp where Ugandan refugees were forced to leave their homes. After twenty years of living in IDP camps, the people are returning to their homelands and Brentwood is aiding in this incredible return. I love their passion for the broken,the oppressed, the children, the poor, and all the others that are of little value according what the world defines as great and of worth.
Oh, how I wish I could be asked, "How did you feel in Uganda?" I felt that this experience was very similar to how I felt in Rwanda. However, I did not feel the same emotions nor did I feel the shock factor. A friend told me that these feelings are not unusual and I should not feel ashamed of not being moved. That friend told me that the people who are not in shock can do the most good because the shock and surprise of seeing the world as it is no longer a distraction. Truth is, I was moved. I felt such a strange connection with my brothers and sisters overseas.
It's clear to me that these trips are not in vain, but rather God is using them for a divine purpose of which I am unable to fully understand. I believe we are all in training for something that God has planned. In the next blog, I will tell a couple stories of 2 or 3 awesome people I met. Two guys named Daniel and Dennis and one woman named Jessica.
Peace and love to you all. -Jeff
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