Waiting, Trusting

I wrote this for our team blog:

The rain is beautiful in Gulu. You can’t anticipate when it will fall though. Sometimes the clouds loom just above our compound full, gray, threatening a serious storm, but then the winds from Sudan will just blow them past. Other times we go into a shop in town while the sky is full of fluffy white clouds and sunshine, and by the time we are ready to leave the shop, a deluge has begun.

Waiting. Watching.

The rhythm of life here is quite different than the tempo of life at home. People often wait the rain out here wherever the rainstorm finds them. Very, very few have cars to jump in with windshield wipers to turn on and windows to roll up. To travel anywhere in the rain, you need to get ready to be wet, muddy, and cold, either on the back of a motorcycle taxi or even better - on foot.

Listening. Learning.

Sometimes I tough it out and fare the rain like a typical Westerner with my Chacos and raincoat on (if I had enough forethought to pack it, regardless of the color of the sky when I left home). Two times I decided instead to talk to the Ugandans stranded in the rain with me. All of us huddled (usually quite close) beneath what was closest and provided the best shelter from the downpour. Both times I saw women commit their lives to Jesus and had the opportunity to tell them about Jesus’ love.

Resting. Believing.

I have only seen a handful of Ugandans running. They aren’t in a hurry like I so often am—eager to get to wherever I think I need to be to accomplish what I think I ought to be doing. Jesus is teaching me about His timing among a people who so often operate outside the pressures of time. The same God that causes the brilliant lightning storms illuminating the dark night horizon is my God who knows where I need to be and when.

Stretching. Trusting.

Your ways are not my ways Jesus, nor are Your thoughts my thoughts. You are the only One who can heal, deliver, and save every son and daughter You have chosen. Everything is made perfect in Your time. You are nothing but good for me and the people of Uganda.