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!