Christian Commodities

Roadside Matooke Sale, mmm...

Last Sunday, I decided to attend services at a place called Gospel Light Baptist Church. It was the third church I had visited in as many weeks. A couple of things were really appealing to me about it. One, it was just down the street from where I live. A five minute walk and I'm there - beats the 45 minute walk to get to the other churches I had previously visited. Two, the service was quite familiar and comfortable - recognizable hymns, nice building, comfy seats, white Pastor, and an essentially biblical message which was easy to follow. Furthermore, they had a ministry structure that made it convenient for everyone to get involved (which by the way was emphatically promoted). However, to my distaste, it seemed to lack indigenousness and national ownership, both of which I believe are crucial in a sustainable church. I got the vibe that things were sort of forced, if you know what I mean.

I'm thinking it is time I ought to be getting plugged into a local body. As I made my critiques of the various churches, a realization came to me. Sadly, it seems consumerism has really become so ingrained in my mentality that that's what seems to be driving my decision most. Instead of considering how I can serve and contribute to the edification of the body, I'm wrapped up in how the church can meet my needs (and more importantly of course, my wants). I ought to approach the decision asking, where can I be the greatest blessing as opposed to where can I receive the greatest blessing (and in doing so, the latter is more likely to happen anyway). I'm not saying I should ignore stuff like biblical and cultural integrity, but there's a lot more to the equation than finding a church that satisfies my taste buds. Pray that I would make a wise decision, and that I really can be a blessing to whatever local fellowship I join.

My PE class has grown to include two more grade levels for a total of at least 150 kids now. Yeah, chaos is probably the best way to describe it. Not much has gone according to plan, but hey, this is Africa, what did I expect? Having said that, things went surprisingly well. I mean, at least to my knowledge, none have gotten lost or trampled or speared by one of the two longhorns which happened to be grazing in the recreation field. Not too shabby...

After my second class of cluelessness, it occurred to me that I had been calling them by using the gesture reserved for calling dogs and other pets... whoops (here, the calling motion for kids is done with the palm down rather than the palm up). I guess that would explain the lack of compliance, or maybe part of it. If getting an invitation to teach (more like supervise) another class constitutes as success, then I guess it hasn't been a complete failure. Looks like I'll be doing P1-P7 now - fun!"Net ball" (which resembles basketball) is popular among Primary School girls

One thing God has really been laying on my heart this week is "compassion." Basically, I'm discovering how much I lack it. During on of our morning devotions this week, someone read the story of the Good Samaritan, and followed it by recounting a recent example of a such a thing being carried out. One of eMi's clients boldly defied human nature and took it upon himself to rescue a girl (with whom he had no prior affiliation) who was in need of critical medical attention. In a situation where he could have made thousands of excuses to rationalize the role of the Levite or Priest, he instead acted out of compassion. Sure, I often feel my heart swelling with compassion (or perhaps it's merely guilt) when I see desperate needs (which are abundant here). The problem is I rarely act on that basis. Somehow, I'm not convinced that throwing my loose change at a beggar on the street (whose limbs are either so frail or so swollen that they are completely immobilized) constitutes as the mercy Jesus talked about. How can I be so stingy? How can I be so calloused? Do I have nothing more to offer than a few coins? Why then, don't I do more? Well, that would be too radical, too uncomfortable, to selfless, too ... Christlike. Oh, yeah. Isn't that whom I'm supposed to be following? I don't know, I'm just spilling my convictions in hopes that sharing will help lead to change in my life. Pardon the rambling.

So, work this week was spent preparing for my project trip which commences on Monday. We'll be going to Eastern Uganda try to figure out what we're actually doing. Yeah, at this point you could say that everything is in pencil, and we've got plenty of scrolling erasers to make modifications. The info quest of the past couple of weeks has yielded some results, one of them being personal development in the fields of patience and public relations.

Eight other volunteers will be joining Janet (staff team leader here in Kampala), Greg (another intern) and myself making for a team of 11 which will be traveling to Ngenge (phonics just won't cut it here but the g sort of plays the role of the Spanish ñ, I think). We'll be out on our field trip for about 10 days, during which I probably won't be connected to the internet (oh heaven!) I'm really excited for this trip and I'm looking forward to unique experiences, but most of all I'm eager to see how we can be a blessing to the local communities. Sun setting over tranquil Kansanga accompanied by a soft breeze and a pina colada (just kidding)