Saturday, August 2, 2008

unspeakable

There is little like sharing God's word with people who are truly hopeless by the world's standards. Somewhere in that pain can be found the truth of what we're all searching for, that God truly is in the brokeness and loss.

I've been spending a lot of time with Serge, the Congolese refugee we met at Namirembe before we went to the Congo. He's an incredible man of God and I've been sharing much time with him and his fellow refugees at interaid, really close to the house here in Mengo. Interaid is the Ugandan refugee agency, and it's probably one of the worst agency's in existence. UNHCR handed over the refugees in its care to the Ugandan government (very corrupt) and the refugees haven't eaten since. food comes, but they don't give it out to anyone, so the rwandan, congolese, and somali refugees literally don't eat. They aren't even allowed to stay at the camp, they have to roam the streets. Many of the kids have turned to the streets...

Today I shared with them psalm 37 in its entirety, and then we prayed, for a long time. Sometimes we eat together, sometimes we laugh, but we always pray. And man, did we pray... and then at the end, one of the 3 pastors there prayed for me, and for how I have been a blessing to them.... little ole' me, dan, from Kansas... i don't feel like a blessing, i feel like one who is not worthy of spending time with these raped women, and husbands of raped women, and aliens, and small innocent children. The least of these... I'm not worthy to be in their presence... and yet they with joy and tears plead with God, not for food, not for safety, but for their "captors" in Uganda and for me... that God would bless me abundantly. He already had. I literally don't know what to do with that sometimes. This is but a glimpse. tmw i will be giving some word at "church", of the least of these, about Moses, one of my favorite stories ever.... pray for me, no, pray for them... they're starving in a nation overflowing with food....

I'm hoping to find a way to get Serge to the United States... one of these days I will share with you his story... one of the most horrific, and yet, redemptive stories I've even known... and he loves Jesus... everything else is just details....

Oh, Congo....

MORE later.... pray for Abby as she heads to Kenya tmw and please read her blog ! it's amazing!
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1 comment:

Shannon said...

Hey Dan, I've loved reading your blogs, you are truly gifted with words. This post reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Anne Lamott, so I thought I would share it with you..

"This is the most profound spiritual truth I know: that even when we're most sure that love can't conquer all, it seems to anyway. It goes down into the rat hole with us, in the guise of our friends, and there it swells and comforts. It gives us second winds, third winds, hundredth winds. It struck me that I have spent so much time trying to pump my way into feeling the solace I used to feel in my parents' arms. But pumping always fails you in the end. The truth is that your spirits don’t rise until you get way down. Maybe that's because this-the mud, the bottom-is where it all rises from. Maybe without it, whatever rises would fly off or evaporate before you could even be with it for a moment. But when someone enters that valley with you, that mud, it somehow saves you again."

August 7, 2008 at 6:39 PM

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