Death, Divorce, a Wizard and a Eunuch

Death here is like divorce in America - it's so common that there is hardly any mercy or pity for those left behind. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, people don't sulk here. They just keep living. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder what kind secrets lie just beneath the surface in all of the children. I have come to realize that everyone has a story. That sounds ridiculous - of course everyone has a story. But here, I guess I am sometimes afraid to hear it. I think that if I hear of their heartbreak, little pieces of my heart might start chipping away as well. That might be ok though. I already know that part of my heart will always be here.

It amazes me how resilient the children are. I'm in awe of their constant willingness to serve me, while I am from privilege and they are so poor. Then again, they might just be far richer than I will ever know. They know the "secret". They have that relentless contentment that Paul talks about in Phillipians 4. I'm kinda jealous...of an orphan. I digress.

We went to One Love Beach the other day: Krystin, Zumah, Violet and I (Travis was on a trip with Wilbroad, the director). The beach is owned by this famous singer and it is surprisingly...nice. That sounds awful but seriously, it has sand, these little huts for shade, food, a bar, a stage for bands to play at night, gardens, a pier and even a cute little pony that keeps the grass short for them. I guess it just opened in December.

Anyway, when we got there it was deserted, due to the fact that it was the middle of the work week. The only people around were the guys that worked there. After we ordered sodas from the bar, the guys came over to chat with us. They were really fun. One started rolling weed into a 1000 shilling bill and I gave him a hard time for smoking mare-jah-wana (as they say it) in his cash. He asked if I wanted any and I told him "No, I don't smoke. Plus, its illegal in America." He said it was illegal in Uganda too...except at One Love Beach. I laughed and switched the conversation over to asking him where he got his dreads done. Travis had been wanting some but Milly didn't want him to have them. She said Joseph Kony and rasta men always have dreads. We knew of Kony (head of the LRA, hence the organization Invisible Children, Inc.) but we didn't know the term "rasta". She explained it to us. Basically, it is the equivalent to the American hippy except a bit more hostile. We told Milly that all men who have dreads weren't necessarily rasta men. Go figure. I was just asking a rasta man to do Trav's dreads. He said he would when we came back the next week.

We came home and told Trav about the dreads and he got all excited. The 3 of us talked and I think maybe one of the times we go back (oh, and there will be many), we will bring my guitar and start up a little vespers. You never know.... We've been doing that a lot lately, thinking of ways to interact with "outsiders". Sometimes it is so easy to just stay in L'esperance and forget about the huge community right outside our front gates.

Just the other day, Zumah told us that Aisha and her friend wanted to come over to our house again sometime. (They were the two girls heading to see the witch that ended up rock climbing with us a few Sabbaths ago.) Zumah giggled and said, "I want for them to come so maybe we can sneak Jesus into the conversation." I laughed and told him I had been thinking the same thing.

We have been working on the little pavilion in front of our house. We are making a fire pit and some benches. We keep clearing the area out and figuring out better ways to burn our trash. Travis is building a cob oven so we can bake break and make pizza. We want it to become a place where we can invite people over for songs around the fire or a good meal. We are starting to see opportunities in places we didn't see them before. Reading Acts has changed all of us I think. Who would have thought we would be scheming about how to interact more with rasta men and muslim girls headed to see a witch? I know I didn't.

I was reading this story in Acts 8 the other day in The Message Bible. It was talking about Phillip and how he cast a demon out of Simon the Wizard. After that, Simon didn't leave Phillip's side for days. Then it went on to talk about how Phillip hopped in that Ethiopian eunuch's chariot because the Holy Spirit told him to. He ended up telling the eunuch about Jesus. The guy pulled off at the next river and was baptized. It made me wonder: At what point did we drop the ball? How come Christianity has become so religious and stories like "the wizard" and "the eunuch" have become a thing of the past? Then it hit me. There ARE stories out there just waiting to happen. All I have to do it make my faith bigger somehow. Actually, I don't have to do anything. I just have to open my eyes to what's right in front of me, and let God do the rest.