From Mengo, with love

So, I just beat Eddy at arm wrestling immediately after beating 3 other of the boys… you may think ‘no big deal’, but Eddy is a haus and it was no small feat. Maybe it was the bananas and peanut butter coursing through my veins, who knows. It’s a good end to a good day, an early day, but a day spent, finally, with all my boys here at African Hearts. Today they (the African Hearts brass band) had a “function as they call it, at the Mengo primary school just down the hill from Namirembe guest house, which, if you been to Kampala, you have probably stayed at. Talk about kids, SO MANY kids! We showed up finally around 9ish and then marched all throughout the Mengo district followed by 400+ kids in various colors representing their grades/teams for the sports day and named after various Ugandan National Parks. So many people showed up, to include a VIP, who in typical African fashion showed up really late so that it’d be known that these now-500 people are waiting on one person, and that, yes, he is that important (I think he’s the US equivalent of a director of athletics in a normal school district). The band played a number of times throughout the 9-hr day, and performed their trademark acrobatical antics and had a good time in the process. There were children everywhere and tons of laughter and bright colors, as is the norm here in Kampala.
One of the boys today, Fazir, mentioned that he had a girlfriend, and I said “I want to meet her”, so later on he points at a girl and says “that’s her”, so, believing him, I walk to this girl and start talking to her, and find out that she’s not only not his g/f but she’s not sure she’s ever seen him, or any of the band before, although she admitted to liking them. Now, I told her that if she so desired she could “meet the band” as they are all the rage around here, but she declined, and asked me for my number instead. That’s not my style so I turned down the offer and walked over to Fazir and said “come here buddy” and his nervous smile enveloped his face, so we walked over to her and he stumbled through some small talk as I explained to this girl, Olga, that Fazir is a star trombone player… she didn’t seem overly impressed, and since he was already turning as red as a Ugandan can, we headed back to the joshing of his friends back in the group. He later told me that he wants me to meet his girlfriend, but that we’d have to fail to mention that past episode….
That is but one of the normal incidents of the day with all these wonderful young men and boys. Whether it be talking with deep things with Laurence or logic jokes with Tony, one of the leaders, and a great friend here, there is so much life and joy here to be experienced. When we finally left the function I was exhausted and I hadn’t even performed in the hot equatorial sun. I had learned how to properly say “cabalabaga” though, that’s for sure! Upon returning to the house near Miracle Center church on Rubaga road, I fixed up some various wounds as a father or mother would and then spent time talking to Omar, one of the younger boys who was uncharacteristically quiet that day. We ate Fruit Loops, Smarties (the British ones, like M&M’s), and beef jerky that I had stored up for such a day. We really didn’t talk a whole lot, but I think he felt a lot better just spending that one on one time with me. So many of these boys aren’t technical orphans, but many of them just don’t get that one on one concern and care. Sometimes no one takes the time.
Our amazing interns, Coreen, Hannah, and Sarah, also knew this as they just dove in an got to know the boys so well, taking the time in their 3 weeks to just love the boys and to be a listening ear. Each one of them impacted the lives of those boys… even when I wasn’t in Uganda to see, I know that they left a legacy just by the week at the end I was able to see. They all worked so hard and made sure that they knew, intimately, the lives and struggles of these boys. It was an encouragement to me to see these women continue the legacy of the other Mzungu women who love them so well like Abigail and Jessica. It was just amazing to see. Loving these boys is a way of life and it’s not much like other organizations in the world. Even as I write this in the bedroom overlooking our little valley, with some of the boys playing guitar outside playing songs they’ve written, it’s just different. It’s different than Mexico Missions, COTN Malawi or COTN Uganda, or Congo Initiative in Beni, DRC. It’s different than Lost Boys, Phoenix, or any other African thing I’ve been able to experience. I am not of the opinion that it is so much better or without fault, but it’s simple and real. We experience community together and sometimes there is difficulties, and sometimes we fail one another, and we can still get lonely, and you can go to bed a little hungry because no western-style authority will make sure you have enough food. On the flip side you’re allowed to live in the culture and with the people. Not a lot of pretense, just a lot of honesty and cheap fried food.
This journey to Africa has, for me, already been better than the last two mission trips to this continent. I loved Malawi, and it paved the way, and knowing my friends and Flood Malawi are there is a powerful magnet to the warm heart of Africa. Uganda part one was good, but fractured and overall a harder experience. Congo was amazing, and it was so fulfilling that I can honestly say after that experience that I could not count my life for loss after it. I saw so much redemption that it was unreal. I saw miracles and the Holy Spirit moving despite the weakness of people…. It, as anything in the real world goes, was not without conflict or issue, but God was redeeming everything. He even found a way to redeem my time spent in the military which, as days go by, I’m finding it increasingly hard to justify those 5 years, even though the most obvious redemption of that time occurred in the Congo, something I could have never dreamed when I signed those papers to enlist oh so long ago. And now African Hearts/Uganda part II, which has been even more conflict and issues, but again redemption. I’ve learned so much about myself and my strengths and weaknesses even in my brief time here, than in any other period. I’ve made some bad decisions and some great ones. I stand by my actions, and I see God opening the doors in my life in more ways than one.
I often say I have no idea where God is taking me, but that’s not entirely true. He’s taking me to new heights and trust in Him. I honestly don’t feel stronger about being called “to” Africa, as I more and more shy away from locations associated with callings, and cling to the fact that God is refining me and that He has things for me to do for the kingdom and he needn’t tell me where right now. I love working with kids and being a dad to them. I love watching living as I do in Kampala and having the freedom to do as I please. I also love speaking to people as I’ve been able to speak at a number of churches, Food for the Hungry, and a number of conferences on things as varied as the nature of Missions in the globalized (or is it glocalized?) world and issues of healthy sexuality/Women’s rights. As I pursue my degree in Integrative Studies with an emphasis on Women’s Issues I see my massive amount of experience starting to formulate a worldview based on a Kingdom ethic released from the confines of thinking like a member of empire. Christ brings people together across every single division and line sin, culture, and politics could create. Christ bridges the gap, and I for one, will testify to the necessity for Christians to engage the world, not just their world.

Thanks again for all your love, prayers, and support i love you all!
DAN


Prayer update:
-Heather, the sick girl medivac’d from the DRC is doing well back in the United States!
-The Congo team made it back to the United States intact and with a love for Africa
-As far as I know our 3 AfriHCO interns made it back to the United States safe and sound….

Please pray for:
-Those returning to the US, that they’d assimilate back into life without losing what they’ve learned, and be able to finish crazy amounts of homework in 4 days (wink wink ;-)
-The leadership Team here at African Hearts, Lutaaya, Roscoe, Tony, & Junior, as well as the Mzungus leadership Abby, Jessica, and myself, that we’d continue to be refined in being leaders…
-The boys of African Hearts, that they’d just grow stronger and stronger in the Lord…
-For all the attendees of the conferences in Beni, DRC, that they are applying what they learned…