Before arriving in Kachungwa, those of us who hadn’t been to Kachungwa yet had been asking Ken & Renee what to expect. All we could get out of them was “you’ll just have to experience it for yourselves”. Not really what we wanted to hear, but it was all we were going to get from them.
As it turns out, nothing that they could have told us would have, or could have prepared us. As we drove progressively further away from Mubende (the town we are staying in), the poorer the conditions got. As we got close to Kachungwa, there were mud shacks, children with no clothes on playing in the mud and the roads were hardly passable by car. Seeing the buildings people are living in are hard to describe. I will try to get some pictures up in the next couple of days. My stomach was really beginning to hurt as we passed by progressively smaller and more run down “houses”.
Finally, we saw the sign that said “Welcome to Kachungwa Child Development Program”. We have probably all seen the video that was posted and shared that walks us through the school and heart of the villiage. Well, that’s about what it looks like. But more on that in just a minute.
As our van drove up to the church building, children and adults came streaming from the building and from other buildings around the facility. They came to the bus to greet us. It was at this point that I understood what Ken & Renee were telling us. There IS nothing that they could have told us that could have come close to possibly describing what we experienced. In my mind, I imagined that this is what it must be like when we are finally welcomed into heaven. We could not hardly get out of the van the mob was so big. They were cheering, hugging us, waving, singing…I am honestly not sure what all happened, but what I do know is that God’s love for Canby Christian Church was unleashed through the smiling faces of children, men, grandmothers, mothers, pastors – I am convinced that Jesus was standing in the midst of us smiling!
I couldn’t see for the hugs and mob around me. I remember one grandmother grabbing my face in her hands, crying and saying “God has blessed us” then giving me a huge hug leaving her tears of love on my shoulder. It is just impossible to describe - there is no way you could understand because you weren’t here. I looked around and saw Ralph’s head once in a while, but other than that, the others on the team were likewise being swarmed by a generous, loving people showing their love in a powerful way. Below is a picture of Pastor Sylvar and some of the children.
Here is a picture of some of the women who came to greet us.
After feeling the love of a loving people of God, we spent some time with them in worship, praise, prayer and a message from Rose (the social worker at Kachungwa) and Pastor Sylvar. We then had the very great honor of participating in the graduation ceremony of 4 students from the school. This was a very important milestone in these young people’s lives. For graduation gifts, each of the young women was given a brand new Singer sewing machine and table and the young man was given tools enough to become a carpenter. See their picture below (though we will have some better ones) – they are the four on the left. We were honored to stand up front with the pastor and congratulate each of the graduates, followed by Ken giving them a blessing to start their new lives. It was humbling to be here in Uganda honoring the efforts of these young people starting out as Uganda’s next generation of leaders.
We spent the next hour (only seemed like about 5 minutes though) mingling with the people of the village. The children loved having their pictures taken and then getting to see them on the camera. I was swarmed by smiling children. I could ramble on for a long time about this, but it’s late here and we have a long day ahead.
Today it rained in Kachungwa – in fact right now it is pouring rain with a lightning and thunder storm outside. For over two months, they have had hot weather and no rain. You may recall that the last time a team from Canby Christian Church visited Kachungwa, it rained. The people view this as a blessing from God – and the timing isn’t coincidental. When Pastor Sylvar was welcoming us with the church, we noticed that the church now has a cement floor. We saw a new, very nice playground as well, and were told that financial donations by Canby Christian Church had paid for both of these amazing things for Kachungwa. The people couldn’t thank us enough – though we all recognize that we are just being stewards of what God has given us, helping where he has lead us and give all of the glory and honor to Him!
Let me just close by saying that there is much good here, but there is also much evil. When we arrived back at the hotel, we found that the “opposition party'” rally held just a few blocks from the hotel had developed into a full blown riot. As we got out of the van, the air was thick with tear gas and sounds of cannisters being launched into the air. The wind was blowing the gas right over our hotel as the rioters ran past. The power was out and the situation was uncertain. As we sat in the dark hotel restaurant, we did the only thing we could do – pray! And did we pray. Before praying, Renee was having a horrible time with the tear gas affecting here eyes and nose – as were the rest of us. Within just a few minutes, though, the tear gas was gone and the riot had basically ended. We can only thank God for His comfort (none of us were afraid) and His protection. Above is a picture of the opposition rally that ultimately resulted in the riot.
Thanks to God for our safety and thank you for all of your prayers. I will say that none of us could have seen this coming and I am confident that your faithful prayers provided protection for us. Please keep praying for us and the work God has us doing as we spend the next 5 days worshipping with and witnessing to the people of Kachungwa.
We have learned a new way to close in prayer while we have been here:
“In the name of Jesus, we pray and we believe, amen.”
Dave
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