Sometime back, we got the chance to explore Sipi Falls, just two hours from our home in Soroti. We hiked through the foothills of Mount Elgon to explore 3 different waterfalls. Not only were the waterfalls spectacular and worth the trip, but hiking through the valleys seemed almost magical... as we walked through coffee fields and along ridges boasting the view of banana plantations and various farming practices.
Enjoy the pictures!
Ben and Christine... visiting from the States
Our cozy cabin where we stayed the night... not the best sleep in the world (who knew that a bird could get stuck in a roof the whole night??)
Women washing clothes at the top of one of the falls... a common sight in this country
I was invited to go with Geoffrey Auma, a Kenyan discipler of pastors, to a village 17 kilometers outside of Soroti town. Here’s how the day went.
7:10 - Arrive at pastor George’s house/hut, meet Geoffrey, and have breakfast.Breakfast is g-nut paste (natural peanut butter) on white bread, with African tea (mostly boiled milk with tea flakes added- very tasty!)
7:45 - walk to main road, hop onto boda-boda’s (bike taxis), and head into town where we are to take public transport to Katine.
8:45 – Still waiting at taxi stand for a vehicle to take us to our destination.Behind me there is a chipati cook (oil-fried pita/tortillas) shoe-cleaner, and many men sitting around talking. We decide to relocate to the road from which we will leave to try to catch a taxi there.
10:15 – Having spent the last hour and a half of waiting and waving at cars and trucks, still no transport.I am getting frustrated and quite impatient, but reminding myself where I am…We then decide to head back to the taxi stand.
10:30 – We finally hop into a matatu (taxi) which is headed to where we are going, but because the 14 passenger vehicle is not full we have to roam (driving down the streets trying to solicit more passengers via the driver and conductor yelling the destination to people standing on the road).We soon discover that this taxi isn’t going anywhere soon, and return to the taxi stand, hoping to catch a bus this time.
11:15 – We finally get on a bus that will head our way.Again, we roam; while waiting near the local park, teenaged venders enter into the bus to try to sell sodas, samosas, and many other items.Also, a young man dressed in shirt and tie, starts preaching in Swahili from the front.After a while here we finally head out.Time being 11:45.
12:20 – We arrive near our location and the three men with me locate the place, but being in the village there aren’t any signs or other identifying postings.We go to meet our hosts.We hoped to immediately head to the center and begin teaching but they insist on lunch first.Hungry and left with no other option, we agree but remind them that we want to make the most of what remains of the day.
1:20 – Lunch is served, and a good one it is- cooked chicken and pork, chipatis, rice, and cabbage.It really hits the spot but combined with the heat makes us really tired.Afterwards, we finally head to the center, (a mud-bricked building, with a steel-sheeted roof, with wooden benches for seats and a blackboard at the front) and Geoffrey begins to teach.
5:00 - After two hours of excellent teaching, we exit the center and prepare to leave.I am taken back to the main road on a motorcycle.We now try to flag down a vehicle to take us back to Soroti.We hope for a matatu but will settle for anything with four wheels.
5:45 – We finally get a vehicle to stop for us – a soda-bottle transport truck.It has walls on the sides and bars on the top, filled with cases of bottles.Already, there are 4 guys up top- we join them.There are quick to offer us one of the many sodas, and they open the bottles using the side of a crate.The ride is windy but the scenery amazing.Tonnes of palm trees, village huts, children dressed in bright colors and cattle grazing.
6:30 - We are dropped off in town, and take a boda-boda back home.
We had the chance to visit Western Ugandan's refugee camp, Kyangwali. It looked more like a permanent town than a temporary camp. Many challenges are presented here. We thought we'd share with you some of the children we met and the joy they brought us.
A child gets excited by our arrival. This is the place where the new arrivals from Congo are digging so that they can grow some food. The difficulty with the new ones coming in is that they are using the land that the others used to use... now those who have been there for many years do not have land to dig.
They like to get right up in your face... especially when you have a camera!
One of the classrooms. The students were so excited about getting pencils from one of the camera men we travelled with.
A child sucking on sugar cane... a typical sight here
The orphange. The room was charged with energy just waiting to wake up!
Oh, displaced woman, Your haunting eyes follow me As I walk through your campe. Am I another pair of eyes Who has come to look, To probe – and then just Walk away like so many others? Your eyes question me. Did I bring milk To feed your baby? Do we have seed to plant When the rains begin? Will I stay and be part Of your suffering? I have no answers. I only know that you have Taken hold of my heart, And I will do what I can.
Meet Joseph Epedu. He is the 46 year old pastor of a small village church in Nakatunya, Soroti, Uganda. I sat down with him and listened as he shared his story- one perhaps quite unlike many Western pastors.
He grew up in Amuria District, near Soroti. His mother, one of many wives of her husband had the full responsibility of providing for her children’s needs. This was much to bear so young Joseph helped her out by working in neighbor’s gardens, gleaning what was left from the harvest, saving some for their own sustenance but also selling some at the market.
During his years in school, he continued to help out and provide by gardening, cooking, construction, shepherding, and also selling cattle. It was a very difficult balance of providing for family and earning an education. Often the education suffered, especially in his grade 10 year where he had no time to study for exams because he was busy tending to his uncle’s cattle; he would have to travel distances of up to 90 kilometers to treat the cows. Soon, Karamajong warrior and raiders stole the 150 animals that belonged to this Ateso man.
Later in his high school, he found out that he had tuberculosis; this really weighed heavy on him and he quit going to school, not seeing the point because he was going to die soon. He began taking injections which helped but hope was still dismal. Then one night he had a dream.
When he was in the Church of Uganda, they had taught him a vow and this vow came to mind in his dream. It said something to the effect: “You said that you would never part from the Lord, but now, if you die, as you are sick, what answer will you give the Lord?”
Conviction gripped his soul. Next the voice asked, “Why aren’t you going to church?” It had been one year. He determined that he had to find a way to get back to church. The next day he found his dusty Bible and started on his way towards St. Peter’s Church of Uganda. On his way, a believer came and caught him. He took him by the hand and offered to walk together, for he was also on his way to prayers. As they travelled the way, the brother took Joseph on another route which led into a Pentecostal/Baptist church.
The man who was leading the service was a man that Joseph had harassed at a road block, while he was a security guard in Nakatunya. He and some other guards had demanded money and supplies off him. At this time in his life, he was a drunkard and an absent husband and provider.
Immediately, Joseph was convicted and a bit scared, seeing the man at the front whom he has harassed; Joseph tried to find a seat where he wouldn’t be seen.
The man who had brought Joseph in, left and headed towards the front of the church, where he began to lead worship. Soon in the service, an American missionary began to preach. Conviction filled Joseph’s heart, as the preacher began to weep. In his heart he learned that that the reason the missionary was crying was because of him… “It’s only you that he is crying for. These other people are saved, it’s only you.” He became very broken. He humbled himself, and listened to the voice that told him to tell the preacher that he had accepted Christ.
Then the alter call came. He didn’t waste any time, he was up at the front. Kneeling in tears. The man he had harassed laid his hands on him and prayed for him…
After that, he came out and asked his friend what he should do now, that he was saved. This friend became a great mentor and friend. They would walk together and talk about Scripture and how it applied to their lives. A nephew also helped greatly in his discipleship; he was Joseph’s best teacher, instructing him about many topics and even leading him in experiences of miracles taking place while they were praying.
They continued to work together preaching and evangelizing in the surrounding areas. On one occasion, they attended the service of a nearby Baptist church. The church was a mess, 3 languages were spoken. The pastor who had to borrow a bike also had to travel 15 kilometers to church. When he arrived he was asked to greet the church. Before he sat, they asked for his help with interpretation. At the end of the service, he was asked, “Can you help us? Can you lead this church?”
They knew his testimony and they trusted him. So in 1995, two years after becoming a Christian, Joseph took on the role of pastoring. His training was not in a Western seminary or even a BibleCollege. This man with the equivalent of a grade 10 education began pasturing. His teacher was life experience which taught him that resiliency, courage, hard work, and intensity can get you very far. Also, the time under his nephew and the evangelistic work they did together prepared him for the task. It sounds liked Christ is still calling ‘fisherman’ and ‘tradesmen’ to become leaders in his church, much like the disciples he called.
I asked him about his experience as a pastor- what it is like to lead the Lord’s flock in his church. Here are some of the questions and answers that followed.
What does your average week look like? It is mostly spent looking for ways to provide for my family. I am not a full-time pastor. I have a family of 9 children, 3 of which are orphans which I have adopted. I would not be a good example if I did not take care of my family.
What are the greatest joys facing you as a pastor: For me the most interesting part is fulfilling the goals that God has shown me; especially when I do something that bears fruit in glory to God- to push on with God’s work. I have visions that keep on coming; they come related to God’s work, and they give me a burden to see that they are accomplished. Building the church was such a service. To complete that, was something that others never thought possible.
What are the greatest challenges facing you as a pastor: Many! 1. Lack of training. Most pastors in Uganda and Teso(75%) aren’t trained. Churches survive with pastors who are not trained but have the zeal to lead. 2. Pastors who have no support from their church or outside the church. Support is not there. You have to fight for your family and how you may sustain it. 3. Literacy. Most pastors can access only vernacular Bibles, few pastors have study Bibles, with more information. 4. Transport. When you become a pastor, travelling is a problem, no bicycle. And if God has given you a burden to visit many churches, to deliver a teaching or encouragement, but you can’t get there is is very frustrating.
Who Jesus Christ is to you in one word: Savior
The Word of God: Food (for the spirit)
Suggestion for pastor trainers: Subjects? 1. Pastor’s character- the pastor’s way of life when he is in church, how he presents himself. For he presents God, when he preaches. So that when he stands, he stands as an ambassador of God. 2. The way of writing sermons, to be trained in how to write it, how to bring it, how to be clear; it must go the people the way God wants it. 3. To see that you sustain yourself as a pastor. If you cannot take care of your family, why should God give you a flock to take care of? Often a pastor may go forget his family and claim that he is going to work for God, but when he comes home he is not in a good mood with his family. Then you aren’t ready to help your family’s need.
What are the greatest spiritual strongholds in Soroti: 1. Drunkenness. It makes people really idle, after work they want to drink and do not look out for their families, but only spend money on booze. It develops other problems such as fornication. They end up wasting all resources., and the family suffers. 2. Idleness. Those who don’t drink are also affected by idleness, even pastors. It is the course of poverty, of weakness in the church. 3. Dependency. When missionaries came to Africa, they developed leaders who were dependent on them. Soon, the Africans looked to missionaries to give money, medicine, and any kind of need. To get rid of that is to get people to work for their need, so that they can help themselves and the need around them. 4. Culture. It forbids people to listen to Christ. It overlooks the Bible. As Christians we forbid drinking, but the culture in Teso says that it is ok. Booze is put on a babies tongue at a very young age. Cultural beliefs, such as the demonic are the challenge. Poverty comes from all these things, drinking, idleness…
Advice to pastors to be: 1. Wait for God. If it is God’s calling, one should test if God is calling to be a Pastor or a minister. Often people come to try to work as pastor when they are really a minister. If I am an evangelist and want to become a pastor, and open a church, that it bad. One must test himself, to see if God has really called you. 2. Should be a man who is passionate- completely passionate. For there will come many challenges, many from within the church. He will be blamed, accused, but if you don’t have the courage or standing firm, you will respond badly. 3. Begin with you family, listen to your family. 4. Marriage is a good thing for a pastor, for it is a danger to pastor girls and fall into sin.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Karamoja school... this is where we had church Always lots of children... poking their heads in during the church service
Our translator Betty... along with our American friends Ben, Christina and Jennifer. Aparently when visiting churches, we're expected to either preach or sing. So far we've opted to share songs. :)
Entering the camp...
Sunday is the day for their traditional singing and dancing. They were praising the cows.
The whole they usually gather water from. It's been dry since November.
Ben and Christine... visiting from the States
Our cozy cabin where we stayed the night... not the best sleep in the world (who knew that a bird could get stuck in a roof the whole night??)
Women washing clothes at the top of one of the falls... a common sight in this country
Is this a one way??
View of the falls from our cabin
