Did I tell you how lovely the house is where I live? We are quiet the family made up of many unique members. A surprise blessing came in the form of John and Jerusha, cousins who are living here with my team working as counselors for COTN. John is a humble hearted musician and an M.F.T. student with an incredible gift of crafting Bob Dylan style songs to God and a passion to see these children’s broken lives put back together. Jerusha is a vibrant woman of God with a bright array of gifts that encourage and inspire our team every day. They are such beautiful souls. Surely our crossed paths in life in this beautiful country are not in vain and we all look forward to the ways that we reconnect in America.
This week our team is focusing on counseling at a primary school (the equivalent to an elementary school). This is no ordinary school, as it is much deeper into the bush and has felt the evils of the rebel movement much heavier than many schools closer to town. Every day requires a 2 hour drive from our house to reach the school where we are greeted by a much anticipated exuberant greeting from the kids. They hardly see Munos (white people) being so far in the bush so we are quiet the sight. Its pretty funny. Its neat though to see how much they appreciate the fact that we came to visit them. It certainly brings love. Once we arrive, Scott, Denis (a Ugandan friend of mine who translates) and I walk the green field to our Acacia tree where we sit and gather with our boys. The stories have been rough. Actually that word is just not adequate. Their stories are terrifying and tragic. I could not imagine that I would ever sit under a perfect sky and a lovely tree (two of my favorite things) to stare into the teary eyes of boys not even over 13 years old who have seen and felt more evil than I may ever experience myself in this world. It was humbling in one moment and terribly hard to swallow in another. Already ready though some of the boys have told us how their haunting dreams have ceased and I’m hoping that more boys will feel some peace as we finish out the week of counseling. Its really a miracle that this program even works. By all western standards you don’t just counsel for a week and expect lasting change. But some of these boys are testament to these miracles, as a few have been through a group last year and have shared the lasting changes in their life with me. I am blessed.
To be honest, there is so much to take in and so much to treasure that every time I experience something good I have the bitter after taste that I have to leave all of this behind eventually. It’s a sour flavor and so I try to stuff it in the back of my mouth and just enjoy what God is blessing me with now. I need to be present in this and I am trying to remember that God brought me back, who knows what is next. For all I know, I may end up back here for a serious amount of time. Come to think of it, that is probably the benefit of that unwanted taste; that I see something inside of me that hungers for an even deeper experience of Uganda and all of its problems, and joys, and pains, and love.
On another note, Im very tired and am ready have a deep sleep. Goodnight world. Goodnight my friends and family. I love you all. Dearly.
- Andrew
p.s. above is a picture attached of some ugandan love from our driver Jimmy. He is an incredible man. More on him later. :)
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