Uganda #9: Do Not Be Unduly Dismayed

We should not be unduly dismayed if we find ourselves passing through deeply unsettling periods, in which nothing flows as smoothly as we had expected, and everything we have been led to believe and hope for appears to be taken from us. When the Lord is about to accomplish something special, He allows us to see the difficulties first. But when He is about to do something magnificent, it usually appears completely impossible.
-Robert Weston, “Intimacy and Eternity”

As usual, I have taken too long without updating this blog! Agh, I am so sorry! I know there are many of you have been waiting and wondering what is going on (at least in more detail). I really apologize; there has been a lot going on here and so many changes in the past few months. Without further ado, let me update you on all things Uganda.

I’m not sure which things I’ve included in emails to you all and which I’ve only told to individual people. So, let me summarize it all, and for anything that is repetition for you, I’m sorry! :) On the last blog I mentioned the possibility of ending things with OCA in December. Something crazy and pretty unexpected happened in October that really changed things at the orphanage. I got a call one Sunday afternoon saying that the landlady of the house the kids were living in came over and locked everyone out of the house because they had failed to pay rent and they owed for three months. It wasn’t entirely out of nowhere since the orphanage has struggled the whole time I’ve been in Uganda to do things like pay bills and keep a regular supply of food around. Anthony and I had talked about taking the children back to their families in the village at the end of term in December. That is a longer story, but basically, all of the children have family in nearby villages that are able to take care of them. They were originally moved to Tororo and put in a house in order to meet sponsorship requirements from the US. We thought it would be a better idea to take them back to their homes and thus avoid all the cost it was taking to keep them all together (paying rent, bills, food etc). But unfortunately before we could make any solid decisions about that, the kids were forced to leave their house. It was a very sad situation. It all happened really quickly.

After that happened, I had so many emotions going through my head. I was feeling sad for what happened to the kids. I was feeling helpless and frustrated; what were the last 8 months for? It was a really rough couple of days. I felt purposeless. I wrestled with a lot. What the kids ended up doing is going back to their villages (they mainly come from 2 villages so many of them already knew each other) later that day. There was really no other good option for them. So the entire purpose, essentially, of why I had come to Uganda was suddenly gone from one day to the next. Yes, I was considering leaving OCA in December anyway, but this happened in October, giving me a lot of unexpected free time. I don’t have the answers. I don’t quite know what’s next. Fred and I have been tossing around the idea of starting a ministry of our own. There are a lot of NGOs/non-profits/ministries in Tororo and in neighboring cities that I could probably join up with. I’ve also considered that God may want me focused on other things during this time, since at the time this happened, Fred and I were planning on getting married in February.

There was also a big change with mine and Fred’s plans the same week as the things with the orphanage happened. To make a long story short, we found out that the presidential election in Uganda is taking place on February 18, and we were planning on getting married on the 19th. We knew right away we would have to change the date (this country is still unstable in some ways and nobody knows what will happen around the time of elections) but we had just started discussing alternate dates when Fred and I met with an American couple for counseling. They heard our story and advised us to take things a bit slower; to temporarily remove a wedding date and take that pressure off; to get more counseling; to establish a better friendship and foundation for our marriage; to understand the gravity and seriousness of what we were entering. That advice was very difficult for me to hear at first but it was an easy transition for Fred. He’d already been pretty stressed about our financial situation and was beginning to wonder how he would provide for me once we were married. Fred and I talked things over and we decided that what the couple said made sense; that it wouldn’t hurt to wait longer; and we agreed to take some more time doing the things they had advised (and also it gives Fred more time to find a better job and be more financially stable) and ‘regroup’ in January or February, and from there we will pick a wedding date. So, the wedding is not ‘called off’ by any means, it’s just being postponed a while. We would also like to wait until after the elections anyway and see that things in the country are a bit more settled before we ask my family to fly in internationally for the wedding. It is a complicated situation, but I know my God can handle anything and that His plans are for good and that none of this is outside of His control. That is incredibly comforting in a world that is filled with uncertainty, chaos, and sin. Knowing that Fred and I serve that same God and that He is the One that binds us together is better than anything else I can think of.

So I had some time of everything being up in the air; things with the orphanage and things with Fred and not having a wedding date, and just some difficult times. Then God beautifully provided several things. Rachelle (the wife of the American couple who is counseling us) heard I was looking for somewhere to help during this interim and she introduced me to an American man named Ken who has an orphanage/discipleship program here in town. He has about 30 kids living on his compound in 2 houses. Long story short, I have talked to him and have offered to help him in any way that I can. I am looking at helping out teach music/worship during their school holiday (which has already started and goes until early February) and possibly helping out with some logistics and organizational things. The same week I met Ken (last week), I also went to visit a place here called Smile Africa, which feeds and cares for (and schools, during the academic year) about 400 kids from impoverished situations. A lot of them are orphans or street children. They also take care of some infants and even do classes for widows in things like sewing. They also have a clinic on site. It’s a great organization and I am thinking of helping out with the babies there. I’ve not been there to help out yet, only to see the place and find out more about it from the founder, a lady named Pastor Ruth. So, God really provided some places that are in need of help that are right here in town. Please pray for me as I take the next steps and try to get settled in what I’m doing next. The future is a bit up in the air as far as a specific wedding date, what Fred and I will do for a living, and where we will live :) you know, just minor details. Please keep us in your prayers!

Two side notes and then I’m done. I am almost out of the money that I raised to come here. I have like $20 left in my Paypal account and I’ve just requested the last of the tax-deductible funds that I had raised before I left. And I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, and Fred and I obviously aren’t married yet, and I still need to keep paying for things here like rent for my host family, transportation, and all kinds of random things that come up because I live in Africa. Any help would be appreciated. The orphanage/OCA is also having a Christmas party for the kids who went back to their villages and if you want to donate towards that (they buy the kids food, clothes, school supplies etc) please use Paypal (link on the right hand side of the page) and put a note on your donation that indicates it’s for OCA/Christmas party.

Last side note is a praise: I thought I would have to completely miss out on Thanksgiving festivities and then a few days before Turkey Day, I met that man Ken, who also has a couple living on the same compound who are from New York. They always do a big Thanksgiving thing so they invited me! I got to hang out with Americans and eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, cranberry sauce, and about 6 different fabulous desserts! I felt soooo blessed and undeserving of that! It was wonderful. Now, to see about Christmas….

Love you all. Thanks for continuing to follow up with me. Our God is great :)