Speaking the same language from the heart....

One of the most common questions we get asked of our trips to Africa is:
Do they speak English? ... can you communicate with them?


Most of the time (in Uganda) the answer has been - yes.  Many of the children there speak some English - if they are in school.  But sometimes you have to improvise.  It is amazing to me how well we seem to be able to communicate many time without words... or at least without words we are able to understand with our ears.  God has a way of breaking down those 'language barriers' that we as humans tend to see as an obstacle.  I think God sees them as an opportunity to demonstrate His love and glory!


We had one such experience as we had the honor and privilege of spending a morning in the village and homes of several ladies in the Karamojong tribe outside of Jinja, Uganda.   This tribe is considered to be the poorest of the poor... the outcast.  They live on government land and pay rent for their very small mud huts.  We divided our team into groups of 8 and went with an interpreter from one of the local churches.  Our mission was to love on, fellowship with and teach these ladies a new craft that could be a source of income for their families.

I am convinced that God walked before us that day.  He had prepared the way, as well as the time that we would spend with these precious women.  We met a group of about ten ladies as they were sitting on mats under a large shade tree weaving baskets.  

They greeted us and immediately welcomed us into one of their small mud 'homes'.  

The room was probably no larger than 10'X10' with a single door opening and no windows.  It was constructed of mud and sticks with a tin roof.  The temperature inside the hut was upwards of 90+ degrees and the humidity was off the charts that day!  They were so excited to have us come.  We were told they had been waiting and preparing for our visit.  "Honored" is the word they used... we were the ones truly 'honored' and 'humbled' to be welcomed into this small home.  There was a bunk bed along one wall and a small wooden sofa type of bench.  They had white fabric pieces laid out for us to sit on.  Imagine (if you can) 8 american women crammed into this tiny hut sitting around the edge of the room on the lower bunk and wooden sofa.  There was a small 4x5' floor area in the middle of where we were sitting.  Two of the older ladies began to sing and dance for us.  Back and forth they danced in that small 4x5 area.  The more we clapped and yelled... the more excited they became and danced and sang.  I sat there marveling at the joy and excitement in their eyes as they 'welcomed' us to their home.  Was I really sitting in a mud hut, sweat dripping down my back, somewhere in the middle of Uganda, Africa... listening to the joyful song of someone who was honored at my presence?  REALLY?  And how often do I make a noise even remotely similar as I welcome and enjoy the presence of my Lord?  hmmm.....

We spent the next hour under the tree outside (so much cooler - relatively speaking) as these amazing women told about their group.  They call themselves the 'Widows and Needy'.  For you see of the 54 in their group only 6 are men.  The rest are widows or those ladies who have never married.  When we asked how many children, they laughed and said - "too many to count!"  

Their greatest desire is to purchase land of their own and build homes so that they will no longer have to pay rent.  They have a hard time making enough money to pay their children's school fees and therefore some can only go for one term and then return home the next.  They make crafts of baskets, woven mats, purses, necklaces, etc. to earn a small income by which they try to live.  

They are extremely poor and have very little.  Many of their children are not fully clothed and at times go hungry, yet these women are strong.  They work hard and press forward.  

 

They showed us how they weave baskets using the 'reed' from the inside of large banana leaves.  Pride showed on their faces as they brought out all the items they had to sell.  Our team raved and started 'jockying' for baskets and mats!  They got quite a 'kick' out of our love for their products.  We were then able to share with them a craft that we had brought with us.  

Liz and I demonstrated making two different types of 'friendship bracelets'.  They watched with great interest and then tried their hand at tying them.  We presented them with two large bags full of thousands of skeins of embroidery thread, scissors and bobbins that so many of our friends and family in the USA had donated for us to take to Uganda.  They were overwhelmed with our gift and beyond thankful.  They hugged that bags as if they were great treasures.  

These ladies are very smart, creative and driven!  I am confident that they will be designing very intricate patterns for their friendship bracelets very soon!  Hopefully this will be another source of income for them as they try to sell them in the market.


We then had just a short amount of time left before our ride was to pick us up.  We had the incredible privilege of being 'welcomed' into each of these ladies homes.  

They wanted us to come and visit.  To see where they lived and hear their story.  What an honor to be ushered into their 'homes'.  

We took a moment and prayed in each home.  Praying God's blessings of protection and provision on each lady and her family.  Many tears (as well as sweat) flowed as we moved from home to home.  


As our time was fleeing, and we were heading back to the tree to purchase the baskets... it began to pour down rain.  They quickly wrapped up the crafts and scrambled us all back into the original mud hut.  With a pile of 'goods' on the floor in a dark, crowded, hot, muggy, wet mud hut - 8 very white american women went to shopping!  We laughed and laughed as we tried to understand prices and add up our thousands of shillings.  (if only you could have seen the site.... with one of our girls sitting on the bench holding a calculator)  The rain POURED down on that tin roof making it almost impossible to hear.  All I could think, at that moment of utter chaos.... was that God was pouring down tears of joy - tears of love - tears of compassion on this small little group of women who could NOT speak a word of the same language, but had somehow through His love - formed a bond and had found a way to communicate how precious we were to each other.  They had shown us through their actions how much they loved and honored us.  How important and special we had made them feel by our visit.  We had connected with them as they showed us their creative skills at weaving and that opened a door for us to then share our 'craft' and gifts with them.  We told them (through the interpreter) that we wanted them to know that we loved them and that more importantly God loved them.  We sang a song for them about prayer.  "I will pray in Jesus name, and believe things will change.  For I know Jesus hears me when I pray, so I won't worry or be afraid.  I will pray..."  Our mission was to encourage them, and let them know they are NOT forgotten.  That they are loved, not only by us... but most importantly by God.  He does hear and He does care.

Even as I type this post... I am still amazed at how God knitted our hearts together that day.  Without a single word that we could share between us...only through actions from hearts of love.  It's not always about the words that we say... most definitely it is about our actions that speak much louder than any language!
 

And the story begins.....

Our first two days in Uganda found us working at two children's prisons around Kampala. Bret and I visited one of the two on our first trip in March.  You can read about that experience HERE.

We arrived at "M" on Wednesday morning our arms full of cartons of juice, biscuits (shortbread cookies), soccer balls, jump ropes, bubbles, 140 blank t-shirts, and a suitcase full of fabric paints and markers.  We were ready to paint shirts and PLAY!

As we entered the compound, we were led upstairs to 'sign-in'.  I asked the lady in charge HOW MANY children were there that day.  The number changes frequently, and we needed to be sure we had enough t-shirts for all... or we would not be able to do them.  She told me the number was around 130, but that many of the children were off at school and therefore we would only have about 60 to work with.  No problem!  We had PLENTY of shirts!  Thank you, Lord.  She also went on to tell me that they had just done a 'round up' in the city the night before and had brought in 220 children from off the streets.... but, we would not be working with them because they had to be 'processed' (health check, information collected on family, etc.) and would not be up in our area.  WOW!  Amazing that there could be 220 children wandering the streets with no one concerned for their whereabouts!

I told the team the plan for the morning and we headed outside to start passing out biscuits as the kids lined up for their 'breakfast'.  (a bowl of steaming hot porridge - resembling runny cream of wheat)  As the kids finished their breakfast they made their way into the large dining hall area and worship and prayer began.  Our group stood there - almost in a state of shock as we observed these kids PRAISING and WORSHIPING God.  

The feeling and emotion in that room was unbelievable.  As they went into a time of prayer - many dropped to their knees.  All praying out loud - yet individually to the Lord.  Tears fell on the faces of many of our team members.  What an incredible thing to witness.

The time came for us to introduce ourselves and share a word of greeting with them.  We then taught them a couple songs and enjoyed the time as we continued in worship.  The kids were very friendly, open and receptive to us being there.  We had formulated a plan to pass the shirts out according to size, and then have the kids sit at tables all around the room.  Others in our group were armed with lots of fabric paint and markers.  We began showing them how to write, draw and decorate on their shirts.  

 Such concentration and determination!

They LOVED it!! 

They loved being able to have their OWN shirt, put their OWN name on it, and decorate it however they wanted.  Many wrote something about loving God on their shirt.  

Several minutes into this very chaotic process, I heard my name yelled from some of the team members.  I headed over to where they were passing out shirts to find several of them with a look of fear in their eyes.  I asked what was wrong.  They held up their hands saying, "We are running out of shirts!  We don't have enough!" ... WHAT?  I could not understand HOW we could be out of shirts - we had counted them several times - 140 shirts!  Then I noticed kids continuing to come in through the double doors - and it hit me.  As they street kids were being 'processed', they were being released to come into our gathering.  I looked around... there were kids EVERYWHERE.  All the tables were full and they were now spilling on to the floor - laboring over their shirts.  

Right then, four more boys came through the door.  I went to the lady in charge and told her.  "We can not take any more kids.  We are not going to have enough shirts!"  She promised that would be all.  I looked at the girls on our team and said, "Just start PRAYING!".  There was a line of about 10 kids or more, still waiting to receive their shirts.  I headed to the middle of the room to help with paints and again heard my name YELLED.... as I turned, this time I saw RED faces of my team members with tears flowing down! (I am crying now as I write this...)  They were holding up a huge pile of shirts!  "Diana, LOOK at what we just found!?!?!"  SOMEHOW.... SOMEWAY.... GOD had multiplied those shirts!  I still don't understand the full story.  But when they started checking all the pockets and corners of those suitcases, they found a huge pile of shirts in a pocket of the suitcase holding all the paints and markers!  Whether or not they had been there all along and the girls had just overlooked them... or whether they had just 'appeared'... we will never know - or need to know.  All I do KNOW is that GOD provided in a major way in the dining hall at "M" on that Wednesday morning.  God SHOWED UP to remind us that HIS heart is for the orphan... the lonely... the forgotten... the deserted... the broken child.  HE has NOT forgotten them - because He LOVES them with an everlasting, unfailing LOVE!  And as we told them that day - no matter WHAT they have done, He will always LOVE them and FORGIVE them.

We left a 'mark' on "M" that day... lots of fabric paint and markers on the tables, benches and floor of the dining hall... but the BEST 'mark' of all was the look on their faces and the pride in their eyes as they wore their new shirts.  

A sign of HOPE and LOVE!

As the room was being cleaned up I headed outside.  My heart overflowed as I watched activity EVERYWHERE!  There was a huge group playing 'football' (soccer) with Liz and Rebecca, kids running catching frisbees, and many little ones drawing with chalk or popping bubbles as they floated in the air. 

I stood there remembering just three short months ago the 'eerie' quiet of this place.  

No activity.  Kids just 'existing' with nothing to do.  

Now... I saw only JOY and EXCITEMENT.  

The JOY that we see on our own children's faces when they experience the fun of just being a kid!  I walked across the yard to the wood shop.  In March it was locked up and deserted.  The equipment, we were told was in need of repair and there was no money to purchase supplies.  As I walked through the door... again tears flowed as I watched 5 boys hard at work making furniture, doors and windows.  Each one stopped and 'posed' for me to take his picture - beaming with pride over his handiwork.  

I praised each of them... wishing Bret was there with me to see the progress.  Thank you Lord for giving these boys an outlet.  Thank you for allowing them to use the gifts and abilities YOU have given them to do something productive and feel a sense of value and worth!  

HOPE.... that is the only word to describe the day!

Everywhere I turned I saw HOPE.  These kids desperately NEED someone to CARE.  Someone to show them that there is HOPE in Jesus Christ.  That their lives can be different.  Sixty Feet is doing an amazing job of bringing LIFE, LOVE and HOPE to these remand homes.  I am beyond thankful that they have now partnered with Visiting Orphans to allow our teams to come in and be the 'hands and feet of Jesus' to these very lonely kids.

My heart still breaks as I think of them.

Knowing that everyday is NOT like the day we spent at "M" - but praying that many will GO to pour into their lives and give them a new direction and HOPE in Jesus!