Uganda T -7 days
As of 8:30am this morning, I am officially done with my semester. It feels good. I spent the day doing things that are strangely enjoyable to me -- like cleaning the fridge and the rest of the kitchen and just doing around the house things. I also took an hour long nap, which was nice.
I spent some time today reading some Ugandan newspapers online in preparation for our trip (which is only 7 days away!!!!) It was very interesting. In some ways, the newspapers are very Western and very "modern." There's a health and beauty section, an entertainment section and all of the stuff we're used to. The health and beauty section even had expert columnists responding to questions. A lot of the articles about HIV were really interesting. There was one about a group of people who are working with men on issues of fidelity because 60% of new HIV cases this year were among married people. It was really interesting to read about the initiatives that are being taken to stop the spread.
A few things stuck out that made the paper very non-Western. One was an article about the president of Uganda urging Christians to act more like Jesus. Another was a very disturbing opinion piece in which a man explained why so many women are beaten by their partners. Basically he said that it is their fault and if they don't want to be beaten, they need to stop instigating their men by asking where they've been, why they were out so late and when they are going to make more money because they need to buy food. It was astounding. The bottom line of the article was basically, if you don't want to be beaten, stop being a nag. So amazing from our Western perspective. I refrained from being outraged because I realize that we cannot expect others to adhere to our standards of women's rights, etc. Even though I think that domestic violence is absolutely wrong in all times and all cultures, I understand that the reality is not that simple. I don't know what it would take for other cultures to modernize their gender perspectives to the same extent we have. But, it probably won't happen for a really long time.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading the newspapers and am getting excited to experience this place. I'm also getting really nervous. But, I love my team and feel like I'm ready to do this thing that the six of us have been planning for since July! I'm really excited when I think about sitting on a plane with them next week, heading to Africa. (Tomorrow, I will be terrified. And it will keep oscillating like that, even until I get home!)
5 comments:
What do you tell a women with two black eyes?
Nothing! You already told her twice!
No, no, I'm just kidding... I find that joke horribly offensive.
By the way, my confirmation word was bdkuku, and I'm pretty sure that's the capital of Uganda.
Mair,
I remember when I went to Brazil on my mini-mission trip. It was quite a learning experience; both culturally and spiritually. Rio Di Genaro (spelling?) was split in 2 classes. On one side of the street there were white sand beaches with high rises and beautiful people, then on the other side were people living under the freeway bridges and in little 8x8 cardboard shack houses. Then it got worse. Sao Paulo was covered in a grey pollution cloud. So bad that my nostrils burned while there. There were shack villages for miles. When you told people about "Jesus" they really couldn't relate because their next door neighbors kid was named Jesus.
The spiritual warfare was amazing. We were there for a purpose to tell about and show Jesus, and the enemy knew it. Every day I had to make sure the full armor of God was on and tied securely.
The best part was 10 days later when the plane took off heading home for the USA.
The experiece of a lifetime still sticks with me to this day. I am sure you will be enriched by your mission trip as well.
Do you remember the Chapels at GCC where they would have someone from a missions trip talk about it and the theme always went like this:
"I went to X and I couldn't believe how poor the people were. I mean, I knew they were poor, but I didn't think they were this poor. Yadda, yadda, we converted some people."
And it always kind of bothered me in the same way that sayings like "God be with you" and some of the other hokey spirituality at GCC did.
With the exclusion of you (who I've talked to and am pretty convinced that the motivation for the trip is out of a genuine motivation to make a difference) is a lot of Christian missions more like "Field Trips W/ Jesus: How Ten days in El Salvador Made Me Feel Less Guilty"? Because that's how I've kind of always viewed them, and I'm wondering if I'm the only person who has this aversion to them...
Hey Jack,
Interesting post-post. The main reason people go on mini-missions trips is that God has birthed something in their heart and impressed upon them to go. Only God knows why a person is going; many times the person who has answered the call has no idea why they are going, they are just responding to their heart's call. I can tell you that "10 Days in El Salvador" will basically do little to make a difference in the world.
God may have called someone, myself, Mair, or you, to go to a 10 day trip and "convert some people" because YOU may be the only person that will ever convert that person. Obedience is the key.
Now, I agree with you on the "God be with you" statement. How about the one in James where someone says, "be warm and be filled." Yet they do not give the person anything to be warm with or be filled with. Empty words is all. 1 John 3:17: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (18) Dear children,... let us love with actions and truth."
So on to the mission field for 10 days, bringing with you the material possessions and the love of God to spread the love of Jesus and maybe, if God so blesses you, to convert some people and store some treasures in heaven.
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