We (remember "we" means mostly Briana especially since I am with the mothers now) have been doing school in the slums. We don't have an official building. We gather in a shack. Pretty normal for them, abnormal for me. It is hard coming from the "Land of Opportunity" and working in the slums. Hard to be around poverty of every kind. It feels so suppressive. It becomes natural for me to look at what we don't have instead of what we do. I continue to dream and press on toward the big picture forgetting small details along the way. If we did live in a fairy tale, I would wave my magical wand; I would build a boarding school for these children. One where they get great education, and are taken from the toxic environment. I wanted to move forward in this direction.
God has stopped me in my tracks. It didn't come with one defining moment but little whisperings along the way. One of these whisperings came last week when we were able to meet with a well respected Karamojong man to get his opinion on the issue of the Karamojong migrating to Kampala. One of the things he pointed out was that we don't want to have something that draws them here from their homes in Karamoja. That gives them a reason to put their kid on the street or move to Kampala. His suggestion is that if we wanted to do a school then maybe we could build one in Karamoja.
Another whispering came last Friday when I saw the response of the children with Briana. They wait for her with gleams in their eyes. They love her, and she loves them. Will they learn Calculus? Not while we are there. Will they even learn fractions? Probably not, but they will learn how to read and write, they will learn how to wash their hands properly and best of all they will learn love. They will learn about their Heavenly Father that loves them and what He has done for their people through Bible stories. This is enough. This I am thankful for and hold tightly to. I forget the small things. To serve God there. Jesus said in Matthew 10:42, "And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” It is freeing knowing that all we have to do is build relationships with the Karamojong. All we have to do is show up. All we have to do is small. God does the rest and turns it into something beautiful and better than we could imagine. For that I am thankful. Pretty sure I would screw it up anyway. Thanks God for knowing what you are doing! Now for the fun part of sitting back and watching Him work!
This is the school (12 ft. by 12 ft.) and students/teachers.
This is John who is from the community and is now helping to teach the children. A huge answer to prayer!
