On the left in this photo is Thomas Abach, 40 year father of 6 children, security guard by night, volunteer pastor for a one of the Kampala Christian Church Networks' house churches by (part of) the day. Over the past few weeks I've enjoyed getting to know Thomas and have become friends with him. I've really admired his character, joy, dedication, and obvious love of God. And he's hilarious, AND he plays an adungu &:-)}. Last night when I came back to the compound I was blown away as he shared some of the depths of his life, and life struggles, with me. Thomas is from the Acholi region in northwestern Uganda. This is the area where the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) rebel group and his men (and child soldiers who they recruit by kidnapping) reside and continue to murder & commit atrocities against their fellow Ugandans, especially the Acholi tribe. When Thomas was 15, he and a group of Christians were ambushed by the LRA. Thomas watched as they brutally tortured and killed many of his friends, and then as an LRA mercenary beheaded (and worse) his older brother. Thomas himself was just about to be killed the same way, when (miraculously) a general of the LRA decided to spare him and some of his companions. They returned to their village, stripped naked.
Twenty five years later, displaced by, and having lost everything material to this rebel war in the north, Thomas and his family have been forced to live in one of the poorest areas of Kampala, "Soweto". I've visited this area and others like it a number of times now, and my mind still doesn't seem to let me take in what my eyes are seeing. It's overwhelming. Thomas shared with me that even though he works 6 x 12+ hour nights a week for the security guard company, after rent (for the 12x15 ft, single room house) the money he earns is barely enough to provide 1 small meal a day for his family, only allows 2 of his 5 school-age children to go to school, and doesn't stretch to cover things like unexpected medical expenses. If their kids aren't able to get educations, they will be end up in the same position as their parents.
At the same time as Thomas struggles with worry, he experiences Christ as his life, which is obvious - he exudes the joy and life of God. He is committed to sharing God's life and love and truth and freedom with others as he is able to in the time he has, as a volunteer pastor. His dream is to be able to do this full time, but his immediate concern is obviously to provide for his family. God promises to provide for all the needs of everyone who is his child, and Thomas trusts and is trusting God to do this.
Unfortunately Thomas' story is very common here in Kampala. The crazy thing to me are the costs we're talking about - for example, US$20 per month for rent, US$50 per term per kid for school fees, with only a 3 term school year... but with the average annual income per capita in Uganda being US$350, you can understand the problem. 80% of people in Kampala are living in poverty. The long-term solution is not simple. Uganda is heavlily dependant on international support, and (from what I have gathered) from the top down, people have a mindset of dependancy on, & expectancy of, handouts. To make things worse, the government is regarded by many people as being corrupt and (so) social services and infrastructure we take for granted in the western world are poor or non-existent.
Today, as I enjoyed my 2nd meal for the day, I thought about Thomas, who works about 10 steps from my door in his guardhouse by the gate, and his family who live about 15 minutes walk from here. I wondered how I, personally, can help him - and other people and families like his. It's overwhelming to me, and my fear is that if I start to give to people like him, a black hole will open up and all my money will instantly cross the event horizon & disappear into it. As I thought & talked to God about this last night, I remembered that He has not given his children a Spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound mind. So fear is not a good place to begin. Trust is. If I give too much, God will let me know. I want to err on the side of generosity and trust God to correct me from that side and not the other - but I still struggle with the fear. He does want us to use wisdom in giving (2 Corinthians 8:12-15), to not give out of guilt or compulsion (9:7), but also wants us to give generously, and promises that we cannot out-give Him (9:6-11) - wow! What if!!??
As I finish writing this it's starting to get dark, Thomas has arrived and I'm grinning as I hear him laughing and playing his adungu outside the guardhouse, *grin*.
At the same time as Thomas struggles with worry, he experiences Christ as his life, which is obvious - he exudes the joy and life of God. He is committed to sharing God's life and love and truth and freedom with others as he is able to in the time he has, as a volunteer pastor. His dream is to be able to do this full time, but his immediate concern is obviously to provide for his family. God promises to provide for all the needs of everyone who is his child, and Thomas trusts and is trusting God to do this.
Unfortunately Thomas' story is very common here in Kampala. The crazy thing to me are the costs we're talking about - for example, US$20 per month for rent, US$50 per term per kid for school fees, with only a 3 term school year... but with the average annual income per capita in Uganda being US$350, you can understand the problem. 80% of people in Kampala are living in poverty. The long-term solution is not simple. Uganda is heavlily dependant on international support, and (from what I have gathered) from the top down, people have a mindset of dependancy on, & expectancy of, handouts. To make things worse, the government is regarded by many people as being corrupt and (so) social services and infrastructure we take for granted in the western world are poor or non-existent.
Today, as I enjoyed my 2nd meal for the day, I thought about Thomas, who works about 10 steps from my door in his guardhouse by the gate, and his family who live about 15 minutes walk from here. I wondered how I, personally, can help him - and other people and families like his. It's overwhelming to me, and my fear is that if I start to give to people like him, a black hole will open up and all my money will instantly cross the event horizon & disappear into it. As I thought & talked to God about this last night, I remembered that He has not given his children a Spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound mind. So fear is not a good place to begin. Trust is. If I give too much, God will let me know. I want to err on the side of generosity and trust God to correct me from that side and not the other - but I still struggle with the fear. He does want us to use wisdom in giving (2 Corinthians 8:12-15), to not give out of guilt or compulsion (9:7), but also wants us to give generously, and promises that we cannot out-give Him (9:6-11) - wow! What if!!??
As I finish writing this it's starting to get dark, Thomas has arrived and I'm grinning as I hear him laughing and playing his adungu outside the guardhouse, *grin*.
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1 comment:
Simon, you should have been a professional writer! Thank you for sharing this story about Thomas, and for sharing from your heart. You sound so wise and spiritually mature. You are an inspiration.
So happy to hear that things are going so well with you and Agnes. Meeting the family sounded like a BIG deal and you seemed to have passed the test with flying colors.
Praying for you all....Coyce
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