I literally didn't know where to start. But, one thing and theme that keeps circulating in my mind is how the children there in Buloba literally washed my feet. The afternoon before the Jesus film when we were all just hanging out outside after the massive rainfall, many of the kids and I were just running around, dancing and jumping all over the place. I had on my skirt from church and my flipflops...but who cares...anyways, to say the least, my feet and flip flops were covered in wet red clay after slipping around everywhere! We all went over to the little water spikket (spell?) to wash off our feet. They turned on the water and let me go first. I started taking off my flip flop to wash it off and before I knew it, one child grabbed it out of my hand and started scrubbing it off. Then, another child grabbed my foot and started washing it under the little water flow. Before I knew it, multiple kids were trying to grab my foot to wash it off. And then after that foot was clean, they did the same thing with the other foot. I am crying right now thinking of their innocence, their purity, and their deep, sincere, and unhindered love. Who was I to them? Some random stranger from the United States? That's what I felt when I first got there...but they did not let me think that for long...because the only feeling I got from them was true love and a welcoming spirit. Think of someone here in the United States...if someone came as a visitor and needed to wash off his feet, do you think any of us would think, much less actually follow through with washing his feet with our hands while we are down on our knees in the wet mud? To me, the answer is absolutely not. I feel the most common response would be to show the person where to wash his feet and then wait off to the side until he was done. I mean really picture it, these children did not even think twice...they were actually fighting over who would get to get down and wash my feet. Here in the US, we talk about going out and washing people's feet, but for the most part, we are not talking in a literal sense. We have a lot to learn from the people of Buloba. We, including me, get caught up in day to day life, and we fail to recognize what really matters. People. Love of people. And with everything going on in our day, we get tired and all we want to do is just rest. We want to just be in our own little world and rest. And if something comes up where somebody needs us to do something, often times we are annoyed...because we are tired. But let me tell you something, I have never been as exhausted as I was the day I had to carry the 40 lb can of water up the hill 1/2 mile. Now, that's tired. But you know what, those people over there used to do that multiple times without thinking twice...because there was no other option. And the men mixing and pouring the concrete for the church building...I helped for not even an hour and was already sore and exhausted...I looked over at the church building about 5 hours later, and the same men were still shoveling, mixing, and pouring...talk about real work...without a hint of complaining. Talk about a witness. This morning this verse just hit home with this experience: "To this end I labor, struggling with all HIS energy, which so powerfully works in me." You can see and feel the Spirit of God in this little village of Buloba. While we look and them and pity them because they look like they are struggling, dirty, and have nothing...they look at us with a smile that says they have everything they need. In Uganda, there is a laundry detergent called OMO, with the slogan 'See dirt differently.' Random, I know, but I have a point. While we look at what they have as dirty, while we look at the floors of their homes and simply see a dirt floor, which we cannot imagine sleeping o n at night, they look at what they have and claim it. They are proud of what they have. They don't see dirt as filth or anything to be ashamed of...they take pride in what they have with an unashamed spirit. No judgment, no self-consciousness, just contentment...thankful for what they have been given. The judgement and self-consciousness thing is something that hit me early on in our trip. Our society is so consumed with appearance...so many people struggle with appearance...but I just did not see that there in Buloba. Why? They did not have anything to compare themselves to. So many people wore the same, dirty, holey clothes the whole time we were there...but they never once looked self-conscious about it. You know why...because there are so many more important things that need to be addressed, that need to be done...talk about the basics of life.
I say all of this because this was the first time in my life that I saw what it meant to view God as everything. He is everything...He is all we need...He is our joy...He is our sustainer...and I was blessed to see this firsthand. Our God that we worship here in Auburn, AL is the same God that the people in the small village of Buloba, Uganda worship. While yes, there is a language barrier, and yes, there is a difference in appearance and way of life, the same message is being infused into that small village as it is here in our church. But you know one difference, there is no holding back there in that village. In everything, they praise Jesus...in worship, they worship with their whole bodies...talk about joy.
When I got back here to Auburn, so many people asked if this experience changed my life. And, of course, yes it did. But what I struggle with now is that I do not always live out that change. Yes, it opened my eyes. Yes, it was a slap in my face to the things I complain and worry about. And yes, I said I was going to live in God's truth and light. But you know what, when I get back here and life is thrown at me, I struggle with falling back into anxiousness about the future and stress about day to day things that need to get done. So, yes this trip deeply impacted me, but as far as being changed, I do not think I can necessarily say that. What seems more appropriate is that I am 'changing.' It is going to be a life process of being sanctified into the person God has me to be...but I know that God used the spirit of the people of Buloba as a tool to show me who He wants me to be. The people of Buloba, the children and adults alike, blessed me in ways far beyond anything I brought to them. They blessed me with their lives, and I am humbled.
Jenna
