Uganda Day 4 (2nd Try…No internet service last night)

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Today did not begin as poetically as yesterday.  The night was very rough again and a screaming child and barking dogs took the place of praises in song.  We knew today was going to be a challenge.

We did get a good breakfast again.  Each day is a treat.  The management of the guest house sees fit to provide freshly made food each morning.  The mini-bananas and toast and tea (Danielle and I are Uganda tea buddies…she is invited over for tea any time!) are the best way to start the day.  Unless you are DeAndra and get french toast made specially for your breakfast.

Anyway, many Americans were staying inside their housing compounds due to the mayoral election in Kampala.  There was enough violence and ballot-box stuffing that the electoral commission canceled the last election midway through the day, so this was attempt number two.

We did not stay inside.  We went to another slum.  We were told it was not as bad as Namuwongo, but we agree unanimously it was worse.  The area is more organized and the “houses” better built, but the stench and trash and press of people was of a more extreme measure in our opinion.  The experience was intensified by rain.  Uganda’s soil is like the red clay of North Georgia or Oklahoma and when it is wet it is slimy.

We know God’s people were praying today.  The spiritual warfare was evident, but God’s power all the more.  We welcomed two Aishas, Ida, Sarah, Cissy, Betty, Jacqueline, Eva, Hawa, Miriam, Medina, Joseph, Judith, Shamim and Hadija into the family of God.  We also started two “house churches.”  I had the privilege of meeting with five people for Bible study we announced in the morning we were going to conduct in the afternoon  and Leslie and DeAndra met with about fifteen (show offs).

I had the privilege of leading Joseph to Jesus.  I have seen this many times before, but remembered once again the forces allied against Christ.  Joseph was nearing the time to make a choice whether or not to follow Christ.  All the sudden the perfectly calm and quiet child he held started screaming for no apparent reason, some fellow showed up behind me and started yelling something and a crowd started to bustle noisily by.  Joseph would not be dissuaded, however, he weathered the distractions and firmly stated his desire to become a follower of Jesus.

We also had opportunity to speak with Amena.  Amena is Muslim but disconnected from her faith.  She feels like Allah abandoned her since her husband was disabled in a traffic accident and then she suffered a home fire in which she lost everything she owned.  Amena wanted to know what kind of gospel we came to preach.  Uganda seems to be overrun by the “wealth” gospel we so often preach in the United States.

You may be familiar with this preaching:  God wants you to be happy and wealthy.  If you will give to my “ministry” as an act of faith then God will repay you with interest.  Amena is intelligent enough to know there is something radically wrong with this kind of teaching.  It was joy to explain the simplicity of the love of God delivered through the suffering of Jesus.  Amena is considering the claims of a Biblical presentation of following Jesus.  I believe she will be a powerful woman of God because of it.  Rather than blindly assenting to a different thing than she has heard, she will know its true before following.  Amena attended the afternoon “house church.”  We employed a simple inductive means of exploring the Scripture.  All but Amena claimed to be “born again” but it was Amena who answered the most difficult questions and demonstrated the best understanding of the teachings of Jesus.  I expect for the Holy Spirit to do extraordinary things.

The mosquitoes are awful this year.  These bugs are winged ninjas.  Unlike the fat, noisy American versions, Ugandan mosquitoes are in and out without the victim’s knowledge.  We have tried to be careful with the US Army approved repellent, but the intelligence officers of this enemy force adroitly found places we neglected to attend.  Only the small red welts serve as testimony each one of us has been tagged. [Yes Mom(s), we are all faithfully taking the anti-malarial medicines].

Posted in International Travel | 7 Comments

Uganda Day 3

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Today was an early day.  I had a short and restless night’s sleep (no jet lag, just late to bed, a lot of noise and an unfamiliar place).  I needed to be sharp for today’s activities so I did my best to be prepared to teach the congregation in Namuwongo as well as play host to for the love feast.

So I drank three cups of fine Ugandan tea.

I may have needed four.

I started the day under the thatched hut in the back of the guest house.  It was early but Sundays must begin even earlier for the Ugandan servants of Christ for praises wafted up the hill as I sat listening to the tropical birds call back and forth their morning greetings.  It is a joy to read the Word while being serenaded not by a radio, but by hundreds of intermingling voices lifted up giving praise to the Most High and nature joining in reply.

We shared a wonderful breakfast with some families who are in-country for adoption.  The food was so good and it is a joy to see new families coming into being.

Our hosts picked us up and transported us to worship at Namuwongo.  The church was excited about the love feast and decorated the alley we gathered in with balloons and toilet paper.  It was a deep honor to be so graciously received.

Worship was hot and long (three hours) and all together delightful.  We sang and jumped and danced together.  I taught about the meaning of the love feast from Acts 2.42-47.  From the very beginning, Christians gathered as the church and shared food.  I also spoke a little about what is happening in the United States.  It is my belief that God allowed our financial meltdown to occur so we may find a new vision of how to spend our great wealth.  For two generations we Americans have pampered ourselves to the extreme and felt dissatisfied we could not do more to self-entertain and self-comfort.  Our wealth is challenged now from within and without.  It is our time to share with those who have nothing, whose lives would be rich to eat twice a day.  I asked our Ugandan family to pray for us to be able to see that we have plenty to share and to obey God’s command to sacrifice of our own comforts for the sake of the expansion of the good news about Jesus.  I am so glad my friends at Main Street are beginning to catch the joy of the call to exchange the temporal for the eternal.

At the conclusion of worship we lined up behind the “head duck” and ascended out of the slum to a small cafe above the area.  Many of the children had not been privileged to move this far from their environs and the joy of seeing orphans and teens and adults eating and sharing fellowship together is heaven itself.

Our host had errands to run and when he returned he patiently waited for us to complete the meal.  There was a mighty discussion about the bill which took about forty minutes to calculate.  We fed approximately 70 men, women and children a fine meal (with colas) for $170.

The ladies supported some of the local artisans by purchasing hand-made bead necklaces.  We then joined our host who was a bit out of sorts.  We discovered the source of his dismay to be that he suffered theft just a few minutes earlier.  His phone and GPS and backpack were taken and his vehicle suffered some damage from pry-bars and screwdrivers used to break in.  He was gracious enough, however, to run us to a suburb of Kampala so I could visit two of our adopted family at their businesses.  This was far and away an extraordinary gift for which I am deeply grateful.

We stopped first at Isaac’s internet cafe.  It was a trick to find the place and Isaac had to ride a boda boda (hired motorcycle) to meet us so he could direct us how to find the place along the narrow dirt roads off the main boulevard.  The ladies got on Facebook and uploaded a few pictures.  The internet connection was slow so the number of uploaded photos were limited.  We then visited Penny at her hair salon (they call it a saloon…which makes me smile every time).  Penny wanted me to see her apartment so we went there as well.  One room, maybe 12 by 14, no indoor plumbing but painted and bright and comfortable for her.

Our host returned us to the guest house exhausted but happy.  It was another good day in Uganda.

Posted in International Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Uganda Day 2

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Robert Franklin

This is my third trip to Uganda and I am so impressed with all three teams who came.  I am particularly proud of the three women I am working alongside this trip.  Two are young enough to be my daughter and one looks like she could be, so I am now “father” to all three.  More than one person along the way has asked about Leslie, DeAndra and Danielle assuming they are daughters of mine.  One man told another in my hearing that I needed special courtesy since I was traveling with my three daughters.  I think it was a compliment, but I am not for sure.

These women have undergone some interesting travel for long hours with joy.  They are interacting with a culture we have no connection to in our home.  They are sharing the hope that resides in their hearts without reservation.  On the flight from Dulles to Addis Ababa, Danielle and DeAndra were occupied attending to an ancient woman who could not speak English, but who needed consistent help or attention during the twelve-hour flight.  It was humbling to witness to collegiates so naturally step up to serve a stranger, on a strange airline, en route to a strange land.

[Fact break:  On Ethiopia Airlines after the meal is served, ambulatory individuals are invited to the galley to serve themselves whatever they wish.  If some water is needed, get up and retrieve it.  Beer, wine, sandwich?  The same; you may ask for directions, but the flight attendants are only expected to point and verbally direct.  It was kind of fun to have the run of the kitchen on a Boeing 777]

We visited a friend today in Namuwongo, a poor neighborhood in Kampala.  Most of the town is a slum beyond description.  Not even pictures or video do justice to the poverty.  The confluence of open sewage, homemade alcohol (“hooch”), burning garbage and charcoal braziers is not an awful smell, it is just a completely unfamiliar and often confusing odor.

We were privileged to go out into the neighborhood, weaving our way through the narrow alleyways and sharing the love of God through Jesus with those who would allow us to speak to them.  We had the privilege of witnessing Esther, Edison and Betty become  followers of Jesus and we had two more first-time additions to the Namuwongo congregation.

We were especially encouraged that our dear Pastor Thomas is moved out of the slum area.  His family now lives in a modest three room apartment that most Americans would consider a poor excuse for a garage.  He pays his rent in full and on time, but his landlord often does not pay the electric bill so Pastor Thomas’ family goes without the three lights and two outlets in the home.  Yet Pastor Thomas is happy to be away from the constant bacteria transmitted by the open sewer and the malaria transmitted by the mosquitoes breeding literally less than 50 feet away from his old apartment.

John, who I believe to be Pastor Thomas’ youngest son, sang for us all when we went to visit.  He performed several sacred selections and then sang a song about food.

Without food we can not grow,

Without food we can not sleep,

Without food we can not play,

Without food we can not sing,

Without food we can not stand,

Without food we can not learn…

It was beautifully done, complete with supporting song-motions.  These are the moments when I am barely able to be present.  He was a five-year old child, small by American standards, a discarded infant “onesie” for his shirt singing earnestly about the simple importance of food.  I know for a fact this child has experienced hunger even though his father is a righteous man, working two jobs.

I was also challenged by Pastor Thomas’ welcome into his home.  He introduced himself as if we all didn’t already know him.  He insisted we each introduce ourselves, then he proceeded to welcome us in a prayer-song, then a prayer.  If we did not already know he was a servant of Jesus, we knew it after “hello” was said.  It got me to wondering if anyone would ever visit me at my home if I did the same.  I asked the team, they agreed such behavior would seem crazy in America.  I think they are correct, yet my heart wants my guest to be equally warmly received and challenged by the magnificent love of Jesus.

Tomorrow is worship in Namuwongo again followed by a love-feast.*  This ought to be good!

*The love feast is an ancient Christian practice of celebrating the Lord’s table in the context of a meal.  It would be during the regular partaking of something akin to a “potluck” that the pastor or elder or bishop of the church would celebrate “communion” with the parishioners and all would go home well-fed.  We will be doing something vaguely resembling that practice.

Posted in Bible Study | 5 Comments

Uganda, Day 1

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Our Uganda adventure began in Cincinnati one day early and eight tickets short. When we arrived at the Delta ticket counter ready for our new flight schedule we immediately received two unwelcome items of news. First, the itinerary with which Ethiopia Airlines replaced our original itinerary with was not “active,” AND second the Delta flight we were supposed to take to Dulles airport had been cancelled. Rather than a direct flight to the Washington D.C. area, our route would be Cincinnati to Detroit (layover) and then to Dulles. Our new arrival time would be four hours later than planned.

We then stood at the ticket counter for a full 65 minutes while new tickets and a new itinerary were created. Even though our new flight was to leave 30 minutes after our original flight, it took so long to not solve our itinerary problem that we literally had to run to catch our flight. At least that is what we were told. Although the very pleasant ticket agent told us the Detroit flight was on time, our exasperated group arrived at the gate a full hour before the late plane was to leave the airport. We had plenty of time to cool off, I suppose.

Detroit was uneventful. We ate courtesy of Delta airlines and took off late from there as well. When we retrieved our luggage from the Dulles baggage carousel, we went out into the midnight wind and rain to wait for the promised hotel shuttle. Lest it seem like a complaint, I will only say it took about 40 minutes to get a shuttle that would deliver us to the hotel about one mile away. We were to arrive at our overnight lodging about 8pm Wednesday night, we arrived 1am Thursday morning.

We agreed that showing up at Dulles airport well ahead of the required two-hour-prior international check-in time would be a good idea. It was. Ethiopia Airlines did not reissue our tickets even though the international desk agent for Delta spent an hour on the phone with them “fixing the problem” not more than sixteen hours prior. The lovely Ethiopian Airlines ticket agent assured me it was no problem, instructed me to put our 8 pieces of luggage out of the way and to take a seat across the terminal. One hour later, we finally had our tickets in hand.

The flight from there to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was good. The Addis airport is something akin to a Greyhound bus station. If you have never been to a Greyhound bus station, then I don’t know exactly what to compare the experience. Suffice it to say, it was a little confusing, but we moved from one place to another via overpopulated people movers (buses) and found our way to our connecting flight to Entebbe, Uganda.

We arrived at Entebbe, filled out the immigration forms, retrieved ALL our luggage (Praise God from whom all blessings flow…praise him all creatures here below…) We exited the airport and our Ugandan connection was not present. I exchanged some dollars for shillings, purchased a mobile SIM card and minutes and phoned our contact. He had just arrived. His vehicle had been involved in an accident on the way to retrieve us from the airport so he was a few minutes delayed. [By the way, it cost me $13USD to purchase access to the local wireless service and to charge my phone with enough credit to last me most of the week we will be in Uganda]

We travelled to our guest house, took long overdue showers (it had been 20 hours since our last blessed soap and water) and went to dinner with our hosts.

We normally allow our missionary hosts to choose where to eat so we ended going to an Indian restaurant called “Sizzler” where we listened to Phil Collins playing on the radio. It was truly a multicultural experience.

I will post pictures as I am able, our access is very limited to the internet, but I am grateful to be able to update at least periodically.

Today we go to work in the one of the slums of Kampala, sharing Jesus’ love with whoever will listen. Looking forward to what God has in store.

Posted in Bible Study | 1 Comment

The Peter Principle

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Robert Franklin

According to Dr. Laurence Peter,  “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”  If I may put even a finer point to the theory, every institution is doomed to be led and managed by successive levels of unqualified individuals.

Thank God!

I know from personal experience that is frustrating and even demoralizing to be led or managed by someone whose incapability is obvious.  However, if everyone found their level of proficiency and remained staid in that position we would collectively perish of boredom.  No, it is far more interesting to be able to zig, zag, push, pull, step and climb to the highest place possible.  The summit of Everest would remain unexplored if we remained where the air was appropriate.

I believe this proficiency/possibility tension is really a God designed conundrum.  We are created capable and adaptable and insufficient.  It appears evident to me God allows us to be discontent so we have an interior motive to seek him and an interior reason to be humble before him.

In the beginning when the tree of the knowledge of good and evil occupied the center of the garden, God invited his creation to both desire more and to come to Him to fulfill that desire.  Our current sad state of affairs is the direct result of saying to God, “Nope, I got it.  I can do it myself.  I am qualified.”

We are not.

God’s design and invitation remains unchanged.  The promised resource of the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to take even the most inadequate individual up to accomplish extraordinary things again and again.

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. (1 Peter 5.6, NLT)

For the next couple of months, my friends at Main Street will be considering the principles Peter wrote about and attempting together to attain greater heights.

 

Posted in Current Events, Devotional | 4 Comments

The Else Family

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Robert Franklin

The Else family resides in a town not too far from here.  In fact, you may know them as your neighbors.  They are five in number: Pa, Ma, and three teenage sons.  The eldest boy is lanky and possesses one of those voices that is easily heard even in the midst of a noisy crowd.  The middle boy is a studious fellow, of average height and build.  He wears glasses just for show.  He thinks the spectacles make him appear intelligent and serious.  The youngest is pudgy in every way.  Ma hates it when people use that word to describe her son, especially when it is one of the older brothers speaking, but if anyone better fits the picture, he is yet to be found.

Since the boys are more than old enough to be left alone for the day, Ma and Pa often leave for town to do their errands and to purchase the enormous amounts of food necessary to feed their boys.  The young men are left with a list of things to be accomplished around the house.

Pa always says the same thing before he and Ma would climb into their rust-eaten Chevy pickup truck, “Boys, a friend of mine may be dropping by.  Make sure you let him in and treat him to some of Ma’s chess pie.  Tell him we will be back in a little while.  Remember to keep an eye on the property so that no mischief happens.  Do your chores.  Idle hands are the devil’s marketplace.  Keep busy boys.”  The boys rarely said anything in response, but always nodded in respectful assent.

This is an account of one of those days.

No sooner than the truck was out of sight, the three boys began to laze around the house.  Several hours passed, the youngest two had nearly finished watching a second movie on the television and the oldest boy was in a marathon conversation with his girlfriend on the telephone.

It was precisely at this time that Pa’s friend, Mr. Opportunity, came to the Else’s kitchen door.  A polite, gentlemanly fellow who normally walked everywhere he visited,  Opportunity arrived quietly so the boys did not hear him come up the drive.  He knocked on the door glass with his signature, “Rat-a-tat-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.” Pa’s friend waited patiently to be invited inside.

The oldest boy heard the rapping, covered the phone with palm of his hand and yelled to his brother, “Anybody, answer the door!”  Now Anybody Else was a typical middle child and he despised being told what to do.  So he ignored his older brother and the “Rat-a-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat,” sound just a few feet away.  Somebody Else continued to hear the tapping so he yelled more loudly, “Anybody, answer THE DOOR!”

Anybody was unmoved.  He thought to himself, “If the door is to be answered, Nobody is going to have to do it.”  So he kicked his younger brother in the ribs, waking him from his normal stupor.  “See who is at the door,” he barked.

Unfortunately the youngest earned “pudgy” by being consistently slothful.  He took his time meandering to the door.  Even though Nobody’s trip was a short one, Mr. Opportunity had ample time to decide no one was home and to retreat back down the drive.  Nobody opened the door and the porch was empty.  Nobody shrugged and yelled back at the eldest brother, “Hey, there’s no one here.  Stop bugging us, we’re watching a movie.”

Somebody heard what his brother said even over the cooing voice on the other end of the line.  Not known for his deep thinking, Somebody made a mental note to ignore any future knocking sounds.  This would be, of course, a terrible mistake.

Mr. Tragedy was next to visit the Else estate.  Unlike the prior visitor his preferred mode of transportation was a sports car, large of engine and loud in exhaust.  All three of the boys knew another visitor had arrived.  Like Mr. Opportunity, Tragedy came to the kitchen door.  Rather than knock, he banged,   “Thud, thud, thud.”

Somebody ignored the noise, just as he purposed to do.  Nobody rolled over on his back and mumbled to Anybody, “It’s your turn to answer the door. Go see who it is.”  Anybody just turned up the volume on the television.

Tragedy, not being a gentlemen of any sort, turned the door knob and let himself into the Else’s home.  Somebody actually saw Tragedy enter, but didn’t want to tell his girl he had to end their conversation, so he decided that it was Anybody’s problem to deal with the stranger wandering about.  “After all,” Somebody thought, “Pa had told Anybody to make sure mischief wasn’t happening while he was gone.”

True to form, Tragedy made a terrible mess of things.  He knocked Ma’s chess pie onto the kitchen floor, breaking the plate into a hundred pieces.  He took some drain cleaner from under the sink and poured it over Pa’s leather easy chair.  The caustic fluid immediately caused smoke to curl upward toward the ceiling as it ate away on Pa’s chair.

The Else’s were a careful bunch, so linked smoke detectors were located in every room.  It was only a matter of moments before the whole house was full of the distinct screeching of alarm.  The sudden noise scared Somebody senseless and he dropped the phone, breaking the handset.  Next, Somebody smelled the smoke and began to scream nearly incoherently, “Anybody, what’s on fire, what’s on fire, what’s on FIRE?”

Anybody, unmotivated by his older brother’s panic, simply kicked Nobody in the ribs again.  “Go see what’s on fire.”  Nobody rolled over with a grunt, got to his feet and shuffled to the living room.  Tragedy pulled the books off shelves and rummaged through the hall closet.  Nobody cried out, “Anybody, come help quick!”

Anybody chose not to come.

Nobody yelled, “Somebody please come help!”  Somebody heard his brother, but paralyzed by fear, he remained fixed in place.

Since there was no response from either brother, Nobody decided there was nothing to be done about the situation.  He calmly sat down in a nearby chair and watched with fascination as Tragedy continued his nefarious work.

Fortunately, Pa arrived home before Tragedy could do much more damage and chased the villain from his home.  Pa silenced the smoke alarms and quickly surveyed the house for any other dangers.

“What is going on here?” Pa bellowed.  The boys, knowing they were in a load of trouble quickly assembled themselves in a pathetic line, “front and center.”

“Where is Mr. Opportunity? Who let that man in here?  How come nothing is done I told you to do?”

“Well, Pa,” Somebody said sheepishly, “Anybody can tell you exactly what happened.”

Anybody glared at his older brother.  Even though he was famous for his quick wit, he couldn’t conjure any suitable story under the present circumstance, so he did the only thing he could think to do.

“It’s Nobody’s fault,” he said pointing an accusing finger in the face of his brother.  Nobody remained silent, his placid countenance unchanged.

The moral of the story is simple:  When Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody Else are left unattended, Opportunity will knock and not be answered, Tragedy will strike and not be confronted, and even the simplest chores will not be completed.

Posted in Miscellaneous Fiction | Tagged , , | 4 Comments