How Blessed are those who know their need for God

Friday, May 13, 2011

Yesterday my friend took me to see the Bujagali Falls of the Nile. In years past, a witch doctor lived along the shores and would cross over the falls floating only on an animal skin. His power was so strong his clothes wouldn’t even get wet. The falls were named after him and the story is known all over Uganda.

Although Uganda is considered a Christian nation, there are still many strongholds of witchcraft, possession and oppression. While in Lira, I watched as people came up after the service to be prayed for. One woman who was being prayed for suddenly wailed and fell to the ground, almost dropping the baby in her arms. People came around her and prayed and prayed and after some moments, her body relaxed and she stood up, still crying, but this time with tears of joy. Bob explained that demon possession and curses are passed down through generations. We in America hear of these situations and are superstitious of their validity, but in Africa, they are realities to be dealt with. I’m struck by the authenticity of people’s needs and prayers. They have real problems and they have real faith. Prayer is sometimes all they can do, they have no doctors or government or worldly security to rely on—they rely solely on God.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:3

I see the poorness in spirit that people have here, and I can’t help but envy them in a strange, confusing way. I’m tired of the buffers of comfort and distraction and busyness that I have always known. I see the kingdom of heaven is theirs here on earth as it is in heaven because they want it, they need it, and they recognize their need for God. How blessed is a person to know their need for God. This poorness of spirit is really such a rich, true, painful and beautiful thing.

Life is short, we only live it once. I look at my life and think seriously leaving everything I know and devoting my life to serve others and to be served and to love and to be loved in a place where there is a desire for this way of life. I can’t seem to find the words to explain what I feel…For example, my friend Edith has taken up the burden of providing Christian education to the abandoned and orphaned children in her area. In 2009, when I came first, I visited her tiny 2 room school made of clay bricks and a dirt floor. She had about 17 kids at the time. On Saturday I visited her again and was amazed when she told me there are now over 200 children enrolled in her school and she has opened a new location. She has no outside aid, but God has provided in the midst of this poverty. She works hard and gets tired and deals with the realities of what this calling requires, but each morning she can wake up and know her life is worth living. Or take Bob and Carol in Lira, they are thousands of miles away from their children, grandchildren and friends. The idea of ministry in Uganda is over for them—they live it each day. They sweat under the hot sun, they teach and re-teach, they are outsiders, foreigners and will never blend in…but they’ve given their lives away. What a life worth living! Life is so short, we can only do it once, I wonder how my life would look differently if I lived with that knowledge in the forefront of my heart all the time.