Lao Tsu once wrote:
Go to the people
Live with them,
Learn from them,
Love them.
Start with what they know,
Build with what they have,
But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task
Accomplished,
The people will say,
We have done it ourselves
---
Last night, during our mid-week service, several of our college students participated in our Can I Get a Witness? series; discussing their six-week immersion into life in Uganda with the Jinja Mission Team. They told stories, read poems, testified to the difficulty of being American in Africa, bore witness to the love and hope springing forth from poverty and H.I.V. . . . I could not be more proud of these emerging leaders and their commitment to live for the sake of others. "Don't ask what the world needs. Instead, ask what makes you come alive . . . because what the world needs is people who've come alive."
Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uganda. Show all posts
18 September 2008
14 July 2008
Chez Moi
Kara and I just returned home tonight. After a month of being gone (grad school and our time in Uganda) I am at peace knowing I'm home.
The last several days were exciting and stressful. We survived one amazing "lion encounter" during safari (more on that to come), a four hour airport shut down in Paris, and yours truly (moi) dancing with Ugandan tribal dancers (photos forthcoming).
My email inbox says 251 (that's just from last Wednesday). My voicemail if full. My stomach is empty.
I think maybe (as Ugandans love to say) . . . I think maybe I'll just go to bed.
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there,. . . they have to take you in. I should have called it . . . Something you somehow haven't to deserve,"
-Robert Frost.
The last several days were exciting and stressful. We survived one amazing "lion encounter" during safari (more on that to come), a four hour airport shut down in Paris, and yours truly (moi) dancing with Ugandan tribal dancers (photos forthcoming).
My email inbox says 251 (that's just from last Wednesday). My voicemail if full. My stomach is empty.
I think maybe (as Ugandans love to say) . . . I think maybe I'll just go to bed.
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there,. . . they have to take you in. I should have called it . . . Something you somehow haven't to deserve,"
-Robert Frost.
09 July 2008
Christ Plays in Africa and Beyond . . .
WARNING: This blog is a bit esoteric. Coloring books are not available. :)
Understanding the various depictions (translation: christologies) of Jesus in history and culture is one of the most important tasks of the Christian seeker. For instance, I wrote a blog sometime back about different "christologies" in the twentieth century.
In preparation for coming to Uganda and teaching at BBS, I got my hands on Kwame Bediako's Jesus and the Gospel in Africa (thanks to Spencer Bogle for that). I don't have the book with me as I write. However, one thing stands out to me as I write from Jinja/The Source/Manry Estate. Among other images, Bediako describes two images of Christ "playing" (think performing, enacted) in Africa.
*Jesus is the Great Ancestor. He is the One who goes before and and is now among the great "cloud of witnesses" (to borrow from language within Hebrews).
*Jesus is the Physician. He is the One who brings healing to the sick, poor, and suffering . . . especially those with H.I.V. or A.I.D.S. Think the gospel of Luke.
Thinking at the same time about the different ways in which Jesus is "packaged" in America--Buddy Jesus, Best Friend Jesus, Bless Me Jesus, CEO Jesus, Psychologist Jesus--I can't help but wonder which Jesus might get the gospel a truer hearing. The following are six images I'd like to pursue to see if the four gospels match up in any way.
1. Suffering Servant
2. Exposer of Powers
3. Protector of Powerless
4. Parent to the Neglected
5. True Representative of Spirituality
6. Healer of Tribalism
Understanding the various depictions (translation: christologies) of Jesus in history and culture is one of the most important tasks of the Christian seeker. For instance, I wrote a blog sometime back about different "christologies" in the twentieth century.
In preparation for coming to Uganda and teaching at BBS, I got my hands on Kwame Bediako's Jesus and the Gospel in Africa (thanks to Spencer Bogle for that). I don't have the book with me as I write. However, one thing stands out to me as I write from Jinja/The Source/Manry Estate. Among other images, Bediako describes two images of Christ "playing" (think performing, enacted) in Africa.
*Jesus is the Great Ancestor. He is the One who goes before and and is now among the great "cloud of witnesses" (to borrow from language within Hebrews).
*Jesus is the Physician. He is the One who brings healing to the sick, poor, and suffering . . . especially those with H.I.V. or A.I.D.S. Think the gospel of Luke.
Thinking at the same time about the different ways in which Jesus is "packaged" in America--Buddy Jesus, Best Friend Jesus, Bless Me Jesus, CEO Jesus, Psychologist Jesus--I can't help but wonder which Jesus might get the gospel a truer hearing. The following are six images I'd like to pursue to see if the four gospels match up in any way.
1. Suffering Servant
2. Exposer of Powers
3. Protector of Powerless
4. Parent to the Neglected
5. True Representative of Spirituality
6. Healer of Tribalism
08 July 2008
Jinja Wrestling and Church Softball
Today, during one of the course sesssions at the Busoga Bible School, I taught the students about social issues in the first century world of Greco-Roman and Jewish thought. To say my translator (Monda) is good is an understatement.
One of the areas that was most interesting to the students, was the discussion of "honor and shame" in Jesus' ministry--specifically the Gospel of Luke.
The short version goes like this. In Israel, men attempted to gain great honor through education, wealth, friends, skill, accomplishment, family, marriage, etc. The more items on the list, the more honor one would receieve. Thus, Jesus exposes the dangers of culture's built upon honor and shame, by turning everything upside down. He is not formally educated, lives a simple life from the backwoods of Nazareth, associates with the "nobodies" and does very little to promote his family or make important social relationships. Just look at the people Jesus ate with. You get the idea.
I asked what men (not women necessarily for Uganda's culture still sees women as second class, as do some pockets of American culture) do to gain honor. One man, Martin, proceeded to tell me about the wrestling competitions that used to consume life in Jinja. Men from various churches would compete against other men. They would have a tournament of sorts . . . the winner was esteemed as a person of great promise. One more important detail is in order. I asked Martin and another man to demonstrate in the front of the classroom. Their wrestling is much more reliant upon skill and speed as opposed to violence and power.
Martin then, after eloquently explaining this to me, turned the question to me and asked, "Joshua . . . .In America, do your churches ever wrestle against one another?" I thought of some funny answers regarding church polity, doctrinal disputes, etc. but decided not to run down that road. Instead, I simply smiled and said," Martin . . . we have something similiar . . . are you familiar with church softball?"
Never did I think I'd have to explain church softball to a room of Ugandan ministers.
The world can end tonight and I'll be just fine.
One of the areas that was most interesting to the students, was the discussion of "honor and shame" in Jesus' ministry--specifically the Gospel of Luke.
The short version goes like this. In Israel, men attempted to gain great honor through education, wealth, friends, skill, accomplishment, family, marriage, etc. The more items on the list, the more honor one would receieve. Thus, Jesus exposes the dangers of culture's built upon honor and shame, by turning everything upside down. He is not formally educated, lives a simple life from the backwoods of Nazareth, associates with the "nobodies" and does very little to promote his family or make important social relationships. Just look at the people Jesus ate with. You get the idea.
I asked what men (not women necessarily for Uganda's culture still sees women as second class, as do some pockets of American culture) do to gain honor. One man, Martin, proceeded to tell me about the wrestling competitions that used to consume life in Jinja. Men from various churches would compete against other men. They would have a tournament of sorts . . . the winner was esteemed as a person of great promise. One more important detail is in order. I asked Martin and another man to demonstrate in the front of the classroom. Their wrestling is much more reliant upon skill and speed as opposed to violence and power.
Martin then, after eloquently explaining this to me, turned the question to me and asked, "Joshua . . . .In America, do your churches ever wrestle against one another?" I thought of some funny answers regarding church polity, doctrinal disputes, etc. but decided not to run down that road. Instead, I simply smiled and said," Martin . . . we have something similiar . . . are you familiar with church softball?"
Never did I think I'd have to explain church softball to a room of Ugandan ministers.
The world can end tonight and I'll be just fine.
06 July 2008
Jinja pt. 4
Kara and I were able to stay the night last night with Richard and Ida. Richard is the minister for the Jinja Church of Christ, Ida is the "living saint" who ministers and serves in the city and in the villages. When you are around her, you know you are in the presence of holiness.
Aside from the radio blasting all night (Ugandans love to sleep with the radio on, turned up all the way), we slept great. Ida treated us to a feast fit for kings and queens.
This morning, Kara and I joined some of the interns and Sara Barton to worship in Kyabirwa (Cha-beer-a). I preached for about twenty minutes, with a translator. My jokes weren't nearly as funny via translation as they were in my head as I crafted them.
Towards the end of the service, it was mentioned that someone from the church had donated two eggs for the church. Since the "eggs would not fit in the bank" it was proposed that the eggs be auctioned and the proceeds go towards the contribution. Add this to the "things I'd never see in Detroit list."
Two of our students fought tooth and nail over the purchase of the eggs. I believe the eggs went for a handsome sum of twenty thousand shillings.
We are really enjoying our time here . . . not that we ever keep track of it.
Aside from the radio blasting all night (Ugandans love to sleep with the radio on, turned up all the way), we slept great. Ida treated us to a feast fit for kings and queens.
This morning, Kara and I joined some of the interns and Sara Barton to worship in Kyabirwa (Cha-beer-a). I preached for about twenty minutes, with a translator. My jokes weren't nearly as funny via translation as they were in my head as I crafted them.
Towards the end of the service, it was mentioned that someone from the church had donated two eggs for the church. Since the "eggs would not fit in the bank" it was proposed that the eggs be auctioned and the proceeds go towards the contribution. Add this to the "things I'd never see in Detroit list."
Two of our students fought tooth and nail over the purchase of the eggs. I believe the eggs went for a handsome sum of twenty thousand shillings.
We are really enjoying our time here . . . not that we ever keep track of it.
05 July 2008
The Market
Today Mark took me to the market in Jinja (est. pop. 200k).
The sites and sounds were overwhelming. Fish, grains, berries, pineapples, diesel, waste, mixed with sweat, heat, shade, voices, english, Lusoga, buzungu (White persons). You have to always watch where you are walking as a motorcycle might be hiding righ around the way. Trucks come zooming through with a dozen men in the back of the bed.
First glance, it's weird, hectic, chaotic, and downright intimidating.
People on top of people on top of more people.
But then I took the second glance that mystics talk so much about. And then I see him. Over in the corner, I see an older man, hunched over, with creases or crows-feet, around his eyes. He's weaving something together. I imagine myself walking over to him.
"Hello sir."
"Hello."
"How are you?"
"Fine."
"What are you making."
"I'm making tents. My name is Paul. Not here for long. Just here to encourage some friends. Trying to make a little money while I'm here. What can I make for you?"
"Oh," I think to myself. So much more going on than I normally allow myself to see.
"You've already made enough," I stammer walking away trying to dodge the S.U.V. driven by a married couple from Switzerland, on their way to raft the Nile.
The sites and sounds were overwhelming. Fish, grains, berries, pineapples, diesel, waste, mixed with sweat, heat, shade, voices, english, Lusoga, buzungu (White persons). You have to always watch where you are walking as a motorcycle might be hiding righ around the way. Trucks come zooming through with a dozen men in the back of the bed.
First glance, it's weird, hectic, chaotic, and downright intimidating.
People on top of people on top of more people.
But then I took the second glance that mystics talk so much about. And then I see him. Over in the corner, I see an older man, hunched over, with creases or crows-feet, around his eyes. He's weaving something together. I imagine myself walking over to him.
"Hello sir."
"Hello."
"How are you?"
"Fine."
"What are you making."
"I'm making tents. My name is Paul. Not here for long. Just here to encourage some friends. Trying to make a little money while I'm here. What can I make for you?"
"Oh," I think to myself. So much more going on than I normally allow myself to see.
"You've already made enough," I stammer walking away trying to dodge the S.U.V. driven by a married couple from Switzerland, on their way to raft the Nile.
04 July 2008
Jinja Part Two
Kara and I were able to spend today in a village outside of Jinja with Sara Barton. It was interesting to be there as Sara reconnected with old and dear friends. She taught in their new church building. She was truly in her element, speaking lusoga fluently. John and Sara (along with several other couples) came to Jinja (Southern Uganda) in the early 90's to plant churches all over the region. It's incredible to see the fruit of their work some twenty years later: internet cafe, library, Busoga Bible School (training center for ministers and lay leaders), craft store, etc. But the real measure of their work is in the eyes of the people who have been welcomed into a new kind of family; a community built around the stories of Jesus. We've met person after person who talk about "John and Sara Barton, Greg and Jill Taylor, Brent and Heather Abney, Mark and Marnie Moore, Darrin and Becca Smith" as if they were talking about "Paul, Peter, Lydia, Phoebe, James, and John."
---
During lunch, I had a conversation with Alice, a local Ugandan who works with H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. patients. She told me that "Because of the generosity of the United States and other countries, Uganda is one of the few countries in Africa where H.I.V. has been in decline." That was particularly helpful for me to hear as it seems U.S. relations have suffered greatly internationally over the last six years.
---
During lunch, I had a conversation with Alice, a local Ugandan who works with H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. patients. She told me that "Because of the generosity of the United States and other countries, Uganda is one of the few countries in Africa where H.I.V. has been in decline." That was particularly helpful for me to hear as it seems U.S. relations have suffered greatly internationally over the last six years.
02 July 2008
Jinja Part One
Kara, Sara, and I made it to Jinja despite moderate drama (missing luggage, late planes, planes running low on fuel). We're staying with Mark and Lori . . . just enjoyed a great dinner, now engaged in spirited political discussion.
Kara's blog will have photos over the next week or so. Mine will have, big surprise, more words.
Mark's been special to me over the last six years. He and I finished the M.Div. together at Lipscomb in 2005--we've spent many hours talking baseball, postmodernism, history, pipe-smoking, theology, mission, film, and all things Church of Christ. Mark's been a big brother of sorts, offering me priceless wisdom for the task of ministry.
God's world is so much bigger than our lives betray.
Peace.
29 June 2008
Music for the Soul
When you are facing 30 plus hours on the plane (to and from Uganda), you have to pick your music carefully. So, here's what I'm taking with me (my music all-star lineup) . . .
Ray Charles
The Temptations
U2
Bruce
Chris Rice
Maroon 5
What would you take?
NOTE: Wade Hodges . . . I already know you'd take Hall and Oates or however you spell their name . . .
Ray Charles
The Temptations
U2
Bruce
Chris Rice
Maroon 5
What would you take?
NOTE: Wade Hodges . . . I already know you'd take Hall and Oates or however you spell their name . . .
10 December 2007
Uganda on the Horizon
I just got off the phone with my good friend Mark Manry. It's amazing that I can call him on his cell phone in East Africa and talk without missing a beat or connection.
Mark and I went to seminary together at Lipscomb University in the Hazelip School of Theology. Mark is now a missionary, with his wife and family, in Jinja, Uganda.
This summer, I’ll be going to spend time with the Jinja Mission Team to work with the Busoga Bible School, and to encourage the missionaries in their efforts of evangelism, creating avenues for clean water distribution, and reforestation projects. I'm also going with two groups of students (from Rochester College and Rochester Church of Christ). One group will be doing a six week internship while another is doing a survey trip to Gulu to see about the possibilties of starting their own team in the future.
We have not gotten all the details worked out, but we're hoping the most beautiful woman in the world will be joining me on this trip.
I’ll be teaching a class at BBS on “Preaching and Teaching.” I have to admit that I’m intimidated at the prospects of teaching the art of preaching to Africans who think, learn and live very differently. In fact, as many have argued, Most Africans live in a world that is much more akin to the world Jesus entered in the first century world than life as I know it in these United States.
I will have to comb my ideas on preaching and teaching for American/Western metaphors that might not translate: airplanes, advanced technology, individualism, digital information, etc. Instead I need to begin thinking about the role of communal formation, texts, spirits, and the spoken word (over the printed word).
This is not to say that American/Western life is superior by any stretch of the imagination. Rather than asking “which one is better?” I’m interested in asking “how are they different?” And . . . consequently, how might preaching and teaching look differently in Uganda but still be faithful to the preaching and teaching of the New Testament and the witness of the church in history?
In other words: I assume that preaching and teaching will sound, and look altogether different in Africa, not downplaying the role of “Christian colonialism”, for the questions, assumptions, language, and ethical staples are altogether different. I am not interested in teaching African ministers how to preach “white” any more than I trying to be a Hispanic preacher in my own setting of Rochester Hills.
The future belongs to the creatively maladjusted a great preacher once said. I’m hoping my time in Uganda will be an experience of seeing my world upside down.
Mark and I went to seminary together at Lipscomb University in the Hazelip School of Theology. Mark is now a missionary, with his wife and family, in Jinja, Uganda.
This summer, I’ll be going to spend time with the Jinja Mission Team to work with the Busoga Bible School, and to encourage the missionaries in their efforts of evangelism, creating avenues for clean water distribution, and reforestation projects. I'm also going with two groups of students (from Rochester College and Rochester Church of Christ). One group will be doing a six week internship while another is doing a survey trip to Gulu to see about the possibilties of starting their own team in the future.
We have not gotten all the details worked out, but we're hoping the most beautiful woman in the world will be joining me on this trip.
I’ll be teaching a class at BBS on “Preaching and Teaching.” I have to admit that I’m intimidated at the prospects of teaching the art of preaching to Africans who think, learn and live very differently. In fact, as many have argued, Most Africans live in a world that is much more akin to the world Jesus entered in the first century world than life as I know it in these United States.
I will have to comb my ideas on preaching and teaching for American/Western metaphors that might not translate: airplanes, advanced technology, individualism, digital information, etc. Instead I need to begin thinking about the role of communal formation, texts, spirits, and the spoken word (over the printed word).
This is not to say that American/Western life is superior by any stretch of the imagination. Rather than asking “which one is better?” I’m interested in asking “how are they different?” And . . . consequently, how might preaching and teaching look differently in Uganda but still be faithful to the preaching and teaching of the New Testament and the witness of the church in history?
In other words: I assume that preaching and teaching will sound, and look altogether different in Africa, not downplaying the role of “Christian colonialism”, for the questions, assumptions, language, and ethical staples are altogether different. I am not interested in teaching African ministers how to preach “white” any more than I trying to be a Hispanic preacher in my own setting of Rochester Hills.
The future belongs to the creatively maladjusted a great preacher once said. I’m hoping my time in Uganda will be an experience of seeing my world upside down.
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