Standing in the gap, vol. 1 : the BIG picture

So yesterday morning the tears came….they came as I watched my little buddy Chance take his last breaths sitting on “the bench” next to the nurses’ desk, in the arms of his mom as tears trickled down her smooth dark skin…You should see the “deaths” column of the nutrition admission book…take my word for it, there are far too many check marks. I admitted 4 nutrition disaster patients last wednesday, and a week later, they are all dead…So, my tears joined mama and mamba Chance’s…but none of my coworkers seemed so affected, so I tried my best to keep them to myself…they probably thought I’m getting the dreaded “red eye disease”…no, instead, I have the disease of privilege…

These are hard times around here…the times they are a changin’. I’m going to try to do the best I can, from my meager 2 and a half years of experience, to describe just how it looks and feels and gets worked out here on the ground…it will likely take me a few installments to get all that jumbled around in my head down in some coherent fashion “on paper.” And I’m likely to get details wrong…and granted this is only my perspective on reality, so it is likely skewed.

When I came to Uganda in January of 2008 the ministry of World Harvest Mission here in Bundibugyo looked very different. We were a team of 4 families and 6 singles, each of us directly involved in ministries in the areas of Health/Nutrition, Education, and Water.

3 or so months before my arrival, God called the Gray family away from Bundibugyo in order to care well for the medical needs of their children. After their many years of service here, their departure necessitated the handover of the church planting efforts here in Bundibugyo into Ugandan leadership (no more missionaries whose primary responsibility is mentoring the leadership of and overseeing the churches in the area that have been planted by World Harvest over the course of the last 25 or so years).

2 weeks after my arrival, God called the Bartkovich family away from Bundibugyo after spending 10 years spearheading and nurturing the establishment of a Christian secondary boarding school for Ugandan youth here in Nyahuka called Christ School Bundibugyo. 2 years later, God called the Pierce family away from Bundibugyo after serving in leadership at Christ School after the Bartkovich’s moved. After strong solid leadership from the Barts and Pierces, Christ School also moved into Ugandan leadership with it’s first Ugandan Head Teacher, Tumwesigye Deus.

About 9 months after my arrival God called the Masso Family away from Bundibugyo to start a new WHM team in Mundri, southern Sudan. After establishing a water system that provides access to clean water for a large part of the district of Bundibugyo, Michael handed over control of the water system to the district water office. Now water is also in the hands of Ugandan leadership for operation, maintenance and repair.

So that means that the ministries of church planting, education and water have all been handed over to Ugandan leadership. This is a big deal! It is so encouraging to me to see God working in Bundibugyo in ways that make this possible! You also should know that this is not the end of the story for the connection of World Harvest to any of these ministries. We still support the Ugandan leaders in the church (for example, bringing the opportunity for Biblical teaching and education to them with visiting pastors), we still support the leadership and students of Christ School (with financial oversight, staff encouragement and Bible studies, farm consultation/oversight, accountability for the Head Teacher, and in Direction of the Board of Governors, etc), and we still support the water system’s leadership in communicating to them when maintenance/repairs are needed, in bringing Michael back for assistance with ongoing mechanical issues, etc. So, we are very committed to all of these ministries and are glad to remain connected and involved. It also all takes time.

All of these steps towards Ugandan leadership require steps of faith on our parts. It requires faith and trust in God’s love for Bundibugyo, to believe that these churches, this school, this water system can and will not just survive but THRIVE without primary involvement from one of our missionary staff, to believe that God will continue to raise up capable and hard working and Godly leadership in Bundibugyo. We COVET YOUR PRAYERS for each of these ministries as we trust God with them.

In less than two weeks we will add to the family departures from WHM Bundibugyo with the Myhre family’s move away from Bundibugyo for scheduled furlough and the new role of WHM Africa Field Director for Scott. This means, with the departure of 2 physicians, that in large part the health portion of our ministry here will be returned more fully to the national leadership in the Ministry of Health who have technically been in charge throughout the Myhre’s time here.

This is where God has called us: today is the first day of July, and when this month comes to a close, we will be 2 families and 3 singles, with all of the same ministries present as there were with the 4 families and 6 singles here when I started. Not sure if you noticed those numbers…but it is exactly ½…we will be half the size with the same number of things on our plate as a mission. The solution: our roles will simply have to look very different – how exactly? That’s a VERY good question. We are in the throws of figuring all of that out (and it may never get totally figured out), there are many decisions to be made in this regard. For how long will we be few? All that said, I really do believe that this is where God has called us as a Mission. I believe very strongly that God’s hand has been at work in the callings of each missionary away from this place in the last 3 years, both for their good and the good of the community here. I simultaneously believe that His hand has been at work in the call of each of us here right now. We are each here for a reason, we are few for a reason, and our Father is sovereign for exactly this reason! I haven’t got the foggiest idea of what the reason is, but my comfort is in the fact that there is one, and for now that is enough…most of the time…

So, what does this mean for us? It means that we are few, and will be even fewer…but this is what God has for us for now. It means that we need A LOT A LOT A LOT of prayer. It means that the Bundibugyo community needs a lot of prayer. It means that the Mission’s involvement in the community looks very different than it has in the past, and it means that a community not very welcoming of change is having and will continue to have a hard time accepting and adjusting to that. It means we are standing in the gap – the gap of what there once was and what there will be.

What does life “in the gap” look like?…stay tuned…