Perfect timing

Before I report on the day’s events I want to rewind back to yesterday.  We’d started another long bus ride to a village only eighteen miles away.  I couldn’t help but laugh as David revealed the distance relative to the time it would actually take us.  Two hour… the journey would take us two hours because the conditions of the roads are just that bad.  And we think 1604 and 281 is a mess.

 Thirty or so minutes into our ride a few of the women needed to use the restroom.  This does not mean pulling over to the nearest Valero or Shell station.  When you have to go it means getting out and using the bush.  Remember I wrote earlier that the bush is eight to ten feet tall so while being discreet is not an issue, village people popping out of nowhere with innocent curiosity certainly is. 

 Taking our chances, we jumped out of the bus and made our way to what appeared to be a clearing.  Muffin likes to yell, “Go away!  Go away snakes!” as she walks through the tall grass as if this will cause them to slither away in fear.  So we had Muffin the Snake Charmer traipsing through the bush and Dana following close behind when suddenly we see a very happy man standing in the clear.   I wish all of you could know and travel with Dana Mann.  And I wish all of you could know and travel with Dana Mann in Africa.  Simply put, she is hilarious.  Realizing our restroom mission had temporarily come to a halt Dana lovingly approached the man.  “Hello” she said and began to speak to him as if he knew all the English in the world.  I love this about Dana.  She will speak to anyone and the love that pours forth from her voice miraculously translates into the love of Christ.  Perhaps that’s how we found ourselves standing in this man’s garden admiring his homegrown pineapples, Zinnia’s, Mexican Daisies, lantana, and banana trees with white butterflies floating around as if it were straight from a movie.  Who else but Dana Mann could have a full on conversation (one gardener to another) yet never speak a single word of Acholi? 

Someone brought a mercy bag from the bus and with our precious interpreter, Flavia, in tow the message of Jesus was shared with this man, The Garener.  He is a practicing Muslim and confirmed that yes indeed he did know of Jesus but it did not seem that he had received or accepted him as His Savior.  One thing I love about The Mann’s vision is that they never push or impose.  They just love.  “We just want you to know that Jesus loves you.  He made you and all the beautiful things you see in your garden here.  And we just came to tell you that today.”  And with this Dana and the ladies turned to find a spot in the bush.

The story, however, doesn’t end there.  Thinking we’d simply made a quick pit stop turned out to be a divine encounter.  One man heard about Jesus perhaps for the very first time.  A seed was planted.  Another, a woman, emerged from the bush when she saw the bus stopped on the road.  I am sure she was older than her actual age as the sun and years of work in the fields deceivingly revealed lines around her face and hands.

The woman explained that she had been in a hurry to get back to her hut to take something to eat.  After eating, she needed to go and buy some salt but for some reason the bus caught her attention.  Wondering if someone was hurt she ventured over to have a look.  “So many Mazungu!” she laughed.  And from her perspective this was actually true as sixteen faces peered through their bus windows from the side of the road. 

 I propped my window open to listen.  Tony, such a loving and gentle man, placed his hand on her shoulder as they spoke.  She listened intently to the words he had to say. David asked if she was born again and began to share the message of Jesus and his love.  Through the course of about fifteen minutes the three of them stood huddled on the side of the road. And then they began to pray.  I could tell that this woman had made an important decision as her arms wrapped around the two men. 

David later said she shared that she’d only come to see the bus but was now leaving with salt (what she needed to go buy originally) sugar, and soap.  She also said she knew God was at work because we stopped at her village so she could know more about Him.  Isn’t God’s timing perfect and unique?  And doesn’t he seem to have a sense of humor?  Women always go to the restroom in groups and that afternoon was no different. 

We originally stopped for just moment, but Jesus had a bigger plan.  And because we were in search of a spot, the menfolk found a woman- also a part of God’s bigger plan.  And why is it that this all may have occurred?  Maybe because we showed up and then got off the bus…

June 15, 2012

Today was agriculture day.  This means a bunch of city folk loaded a bus, drove to the bush, lathered our bodies in SPF and prepared for the worst.  Well at least I did. Concy, a young woman’s leader at Gulu Bible Church invited us to spend the day with her clan.  David and Tony have been there before and were excited for us to see how organized, efficient and successful this family is in the area of farming.  Bumping along the orange dirt road we slowed to make a left.  There in the bush stood a precious hand made sign with the words ‘Villages of Hope Welcome.  Turn Here’  followed by the name of their village and district.  I’ll post a photo of the sign but let me just say it was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.  And so were the people waiting just down the road. 

Already hard at work, the clan was out in the hot sun tilling the field and planting beans for the June harvest.  I think it was quite a site for us (The Mazungu) to arrive and offer our services in the area of agriculture.  In the end I am quite sure we made more work for them by doing it all wrong rather than helping them by doing it right (only halfway kidding).  There are actually a few green thumbs on our team and they kept us headed in the right direction.  A few us (myself included) were quickly fired when they realized that someone like me using their tools was actually hindering the process overall.  And so I was handed a baby.  Let me tell you I was not complaining.  Rebecca is one month old and when they strapped her to my back, you might as well have put me in a euphoric state.  The funniest part of the afternoon was looking across the field and seeing Topher bent over while the women placed little Rebecca on his back and swaddled tightly around his back and chest.  The women could not stop laughing.  I couldn’t help but wonder what the first time mother thought about this tall stranger with her baby strapped to this man but she just laughed all the same.  We kept telling him it was good practice for when he and his wife have kids and wondered if he’d consider carrying his own child around like that back in the US?  We received an affirmative no. 

Topher’s baby escaped marked the end of our field day and we headed in for lunch.  The rest of the afternoon was spent hearing from the clan, conversing with the women, passing out a little medicine and my favorite part: playing with the kids and holding babies.  This village was the perfect size and seemed so different from the others.  It was small and they seemed extremely healthy.  There was an authenticity about their rapport with one another and a real familial atmosphere.  There was another cool breeze in the afternoon and clouds began to roll in.  Although it never rained the cloud cover provided a break from the hot sun.  It was another perfect afternoon spent enjoying God’s creation and his people. 

This trip has been nothing but blessing after blessing.  Each person was hand picked to be here and our team has come together in an unimaginable way.  Only I, the writer, can personally share how touched I’ve been to be a part of such an amazing work – all orchestrated by God.  And I know that were the other team members to share they would all feel the same.  There are only a couple of days left in our trip and we are starting to sense it.  But bonds have been made and lives have been changed.  Not just in the people who live here in Acholi-land but in the lives of this group as well.  There is no greater bond than the one we have in Christ Jesus and that is exactly what has brought us together. 

The next few days will fly by especially since the final two are in doing just that.  We will be wheels up and en route to San Antonio in no time at all.  But until then there is still more work to do and we will wake with eagerness in our hearts to see just what God has in store.

Please enjoy these photos from the past couple of days: