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Though it has been a long time coming, I finally found a few minutes to write a few observations about the experience Dustin and I had in Uganda this summer.  It was actually good to have a little while to  think about the experience before trying to write about it.  I hope that this summary give you some insight into the Midland Bible Church short-term mission trip to Uganda, July 16-27, 2009, as well as a few of the lessons God had in store for us and for me particularly.

A Death in the Family

It is not uncommon for challenges to come along that work against mission trips like ours.  It can appear, and it could well be, that Satan himself would distract us from the task at hand, to make us ineffective in our pursuit to spread the Gospel.  This year, my family had several distractions immediately leading up to the Uganda mission, including but not limited to an expensive car repair.  I am thankful that this time I was at least not up to my knees in dirt and concrete fixing a slab leak.

Despite the obstacles impeding my immediate family, making it more difficult for Dustin and I to leave, in the end we were okay.  We were, in fact healthy through the entirety of the trip (praise God!)   There were three other Midland Bible Church team members who had to stay behind due to illness of two of our team.  For one, what appeared to be stomach bug ended up needing a hospital stay and bigger problems than expected, yet she will be okay.

For the other two, this would ultimately be much more.   Issac Woupio was advised to stay behind, as a precaution, by a team doctor.  His wife decided to stay at home with him, though the illness he had been recently diagnosed with was expected to be treatable.  It was Sunday evening, July 19th, during dinner that the elders broke the news to us that Isaac, 35, had unexpectedly died overnight.  Isaac was very well liked, so the news cast a dark shadow over our first days.

Nevertheless, we knew that Isaac was with the Lord now, so he no longer had pain though his immediate family (his wife and three children) and his church would miss him.  Though uncomfortable and a bit emotional about talking about his passing so soon, I chose to allow him to be in Uganda with us, as he had planned months ago, by using his story during a visit with Scripture Union to Alliance High School in Soroti.  I was able to share that because of Isaac’s faith, he was in Heaven and his family could be assured of this.  His passing also illustrated how the decision to believe was of imminent importance.  As he planned for the trip he would never have guessed his fate, but with his decision to believe having been made, his salvation was assured.  Several believed at Alliance, and I am certain that God worked even Isaac’s death for good in Uganda.

Hopeless Bosco

One of the most moving experiences in Uganda was meeting Bosco, a 14-year old boy.  I met him on Tuesday, July 21st, while sitting in the new Soroti Presbyterian Church.  He spoke well and had one idea after another about how he could come home with me to the United States.  He had already tried this approach with others.  At some point, as he exhausted his last hopes, he appeared be be suddenly crushed by the reality that he would not be able to leave with us.  Despite sharing the degree of encouragement that I could, relying on Biblical inspiration, he was greatly distraught. Nevertheless, he stuck around for the afternoon “crusade”, during which he and a few other boys remained close by, not only that first day but through the week.  That evening, Bosco and his brother Peter also came to know Dustin during the children’s program, during the crusade sermon.

Over the next several days, I talked with Bosco during crusade times, coming to know his situation and continuing to share words of encouragement.  His mother had died, apparently in violence in northern Uganda.  A bomb exploded outside his house, killing his mother.   He was knocked out but was okay.  He and his mother were believers in Jesus already, and Bosco said that Jesus saved him, in the here and now as well as eternity.  His father remarried, but his stepmother was abusive.  She had planted the idea of going home with a “mzungu” (one of us).  It was for this reason that he felt hopeless, though he did have faith.  With maturity, he will be able to use his experience to God’s glory.

Bearing Fruit

A few years ago, one Midland Bible Church Uganda missionary, Tom Beard, witnessed to a young Muslim man.  I met that man at Soroti Church during this trip.  After Tom shared the Gospel with this man, he chose to trust Jesus and his name became Joseph.  At that point, this teen was rejected by his family because of his belief.  But Joseph immediately came to have joy.  He had not known joy in his life before he had the assurance of forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus.  His faith and knowledge of Jesus continued to grow over the last few years, and now he was attending the Presbyterian seminary in Mbale.

I talked with Joseph and came to find out that he would be at Soroti for about six weeks following our departure.  He would be working with the youth.  During our week in Soroti, I shared with Joseph about Bosco and his brother Peter.  Because of his experience with rejection, he was very sympathetic of these two boys.  Joseph committed to working with Bosco.   It was satisfying to introduce Bosco to Joseph.  Though it is hard to know how God has planned to work through this situation, it was gratifying to already see how God had worked with Joseph from his point of despair to his present faith and recognize this meeting as a divine appointment that God had arranged long ago that his great works could be made known.

Value of Encouragement

Even as I experienced doubts that Bosco’s situation could improve or that my encouragement could have any impact on him beyond the week that I knew him, God sent reassurance.  One benefit of this being my second trip to Uganda was that some relationships begun during the first trip could continue, and I could see glimpses of the impact of the previous trip.

In 2007, Denis was my translator.  Between huts and back at the Totokidwe church site we had a lot of time to talk about many things.  He was helping with the youth at that time in Mbale and was concerned about developing leadership skills that would help him work with the youth.  Not being a leadership expert, I shared some thoughts from my own experiences nonetheless, encouraged him in his efforts, and introduced him to John Maxwell (well-published author on Christian leadership principles).  At the time I could only hope that I had done more good than bad in my talks with him and trust that God would make use of Denis as He willed, in his time.

To my surprise, on Friday, July 24th at the Soroti Church, I found Denis listening to a discipleship training session outside the pastor’s house.  He was to be the crusade speaker for the afternoon.  I talked to him a while, finding that had just become the pastor at the new church in Soronki in May.  Much to my surprise, though I am sure my words with him previously had little real impact, Denis remembered me well and in his mind it was clear that my encouragement to him was valuable.   This was driven home to me most when he sought me out personally and asked me to pray with him for the crusade before it began.  Out of the many mzungu friends and other pastors, he chose to honor me by that request.  This was a special moment.

On Saturday, our team drove to Sipi Falls for a restful activity before visiting Lulwanda Children’s Home later in the afternoon.  On the way, we dropped off Denis at nearby Soronki.  Denis was very proud of his church and what he had accomplished, and once again, I was his guest of honor.

Though this was a rewarding moment for me, personally, this experience with Denis demonstrated to me, the impact that kind and encouraging words could be to others, and how God can use those words to achieve His will.  Though I would not see Bosco mature in his faith and trust, I know that having seen God’s work in Joseph and Denis I could trust God.

A Future Hope

Possibly the most memorable moment in Soroti was Sunday morning.  Bosco found me and stood with me at the back of a packed church.  During the service, he asked “will you remember me when you are gone?”  I can certainly say that I will.  Having seen what God has done with others who have been touched during our mission trips in past, I can leave all concern for Bosco and Peter in the hands of God.  It would not surprise me if I returned to Uganda several years from now to find that Bosco continued to trust God and became a youth pastor himself.

Close Call

After the Soroti Church was commissioned on Sunday morning, the team jumped into vans for a long ride back to Entebbe to catch an evening flight to Amsterdam.  It is important to catch flights out from Uganda because you don’t get many chances in a week, and most flights are surprisingly full.  The time it took to get from the front door of the new Soroti Church to our home in Midland was about 41 hours!

In route to Entebbe, two things happened that had not happened before.  The first was that one van was stopped for speeding.  The driver got by with a warning.  It was not much later that the van I was in stopped suddenly, resulting in a short chain-reaction accident.  My van was thankfully lightly hit and suffered no damage.  Another team van hit the car that hit my van, causing more damage to both the car and the second van.  As we had not even made it to Kampala, which tends to have a lot of traffic congestion, I was starting to think that we would not make the flight.

One of our hosts, Aida Ogenga was quick on her feet, helping us through both incidents and getting us on our way.  Though one van had to stay behind, requiring movement of all its luggage and occupants, we arrived at the airport safely in the end with enough time for a quick bite.  God was with use through the entire trip, including the trials of our last day.

There were many more experiences among our team of 35, and I can only focus on a few that resonated with me within a relatively short blog.  There was so much that God has done and is doing in Uganda.  If it is His will for me to return, I will.

I thank everyone who allowed Dustin and me to have this amazing experience.  Your support and your prayers helped make this trip happen!

If you would like to see more photos from our trip, please see our Uganda Gallery!