Wherever the Road Leads

2 and a half months ago, Collin met a high school student at the cathedral where we attended a church service. Today, after visiting 2 primary schools and 3 wells, I bounced around in the bed of a pickup truck headed for the Congo, having to stop on our way home to let herds of elephants cross the road. To anyone else, these 2 events might seem like random snapshots of my life in Africa. But to me, and 5 of my teammates, the chain connecting the two were so clearly and undeniably orchestrated by God, to lead us exactly where we needed to be, at exactly the right time.

Though our story had its beginning sometime back in January, I didn't come on the scene until several weeks later, when I was walking home from ministry and got stopped by a man asking where "Collins" was. This exchange continued every couple of days for awhile, and I soon came to know the man as "John from Rukungiri High School". Over the course of the last 2 months, Collin has begun to build a solid relationship with John, visiting him at school and learning bits and pieces of his story.

What little I know about him is heartbreakingly beautiful. After entering high school, John was disowned by his mother, who told him she would rather he be dead. He had no way of paying his school fees, no source of income and nowhere to go until he was taken in by an organization called LADA, the Literacy Action Development Agency. Despite having first turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with his situation, over the course of his time at LADA, John surrendered his life to following the Lord and began turning his situation around. The John I know now is a crazy, joyful, passionate follower of Christ, who lives a powerful testimony and encourages everyone he meets.

For a week or two, John had been inviting us to come visit the LADA offices, see where he stays and works, and learn about what they do. Last Friday, Collin and I took him up on his offer, having (as usual) no idea what to expect. I knew from the first few minutes I spent inside the office that something was different about LADA, something special.

We spent most of the afternoon talking with Rebecca, the program coordinator, about the agency's many different facets. Besides sponsoring 60 orphans and vulnerable children with school fees, medical care and other basic needs, LADA runs literacy, sanitation and HIV/AIDS awareness programs, digs wells and water tanks, builds latrines, kitchens and energy saving stoves, plants trees and gardens, and establishes savings and small business loan groups in rural communities. Needless to say, our conversation sparked an interest to see all of these things firsthand, to learn in more detail about each project, to see the places and meet the people changed for the better by their work.

So Tuesday morning, Collin and I headed back to LADA with Sarah Ann, Ashley, Amy and Garrett in tow, again having no idea what to expect. After learning that we would be touring 2 primary schools, 3 different types of wells, and meeting a community group, we piled into pickup trucks intended, in typical African style, to carry fewer people than we were traveling with.

We set out first for a primary school in a neighboring town, where LADA sponsors children, many of whom are HIV positive. Our experience there taught me that all you need at primary schools in Africa is white skin and the ability to sing and dance to "Making Melodies" and you're good to go. Looking out at a sea of black faces and bright white smiles, my heart was filled with their contagious joy at the same time that it was broken for the kids that weren't there, all of the orphans and vulnerable children that LADA can't help.

Standing in the middle of hordes of precious children, I started to understand what Jesus meant when He said "let the little children come to Me" As much as my heart breaks for these kids, His breaks infinitely more. He loves them with a love I can't even fathom, one that will continue without fail where mine will shortly come to an end. He is holding them all in His mighty hand and outstretched arm, and in the midst of the brokenness around me I can trust that He will never let them go.

I knew if God could teach me all of this before 10 am, there would be plenty more in store for the rest of the day. And sure enough, as we left the school and headed to a rural community where a well was under construction, I saw God everywhere I looked. For starters, this country is breathtakingly beautiful and there were countless moments today, and nearly every day since I've been here, that I just had to stop and stand in awe of my surroundings. For the millionth time, I was reminded that God alone is the God of this country, that He spoke every inch of it into existence and He is working here whether I ever see the fruit or not.

But as we continued on to the community where the well was being constructed, I had the chance to see firsthand the fruit of real and tangible change breaking through the hopelessness that defines so much of this country. Though LADA works to find the source of clean water and provides the necessary resources, the community is responsible for actually building the well, encouraging them to work together and take ownership of the project.

Meeting the members of the community was incredible not only for the fact that so many of them were women who have been able to gain positions of respect and authority in a society that is inherently dominated by men, but for the picture it was of the body of Christ working together to care for and meet one another's needs. As I thought about the incredible change and improved quality of life that this community would experience after their well is completed, I realized that having their physical thirst quenched is nothing compared to what happens when their spiritual thirst is met in Jesus.

Before I moved here, I assumed that Africa would bring me face to face with the countless physical needs associated with this continent. And as many times as my heart has been broken by the circumstances of people I have met, I've been overwhelmed by the understanding that this world desperately needs to know its Savior, above all else.

As I saw more of this beautiful country, met more of these beautiful people, and learned more about beautiful opportunities to serve this place, I felt God tugging at my heart, whispering that I am not done here. I will leave Uganda in 2 weeks, but I think I've always known I would be back. I have no idea when or what that looks like, but today I glimpsed a little piece of all the work there still is to be done here, and began to see how I could fit into that, for good.

In the same way that I spent most of the day having no idea where the roads we were traveling on would lead, I will probably never understand all of God's reasons for introducing me to LADA. But one thing I know for sure is that this group of people, passionately committed to bringing lasting change to people that many others overlook, reenergized me in ways I didn't know I was weary, and gave me hope in ways I didn't know I was discouraged.

Rebecca, Solomon, Willy and Arthur are some of the craziest, most joyful and passionate group of Africans I've met thus far, and as I stared out the window from the back of that cramped pickup truck, surrounded by these people I met just a few days ago, as branches slapped the outside and we bounced down the narrowest jungle roads, I felt at home like I never have before. And like I've done just about every day since being here, I praised the God who is wholly in control over every aspect of my life, the only One who could have fit all the details and puzzle pieces together to bring me to this place, to teach me what I didn't even know I needed to learn, and to show me what I never knew I needed to see.