Visiting Apeitolim, Karamoja

On Sunday, May 15 we visited the Internally displaced People camp in Apeitolim. These people were part of the Karamajong tribe. Pastor John Wilberforce leads the church here. God has given him a heart for these people and he has endured many hardships in his life. I will continue to pray for God's unfailing love to consume him.
This day was a very long day. We were so thankful for Tim and I found myself in constant prayer for him. The driving on the way to Apeitolim is not easy at all. There are many potholes that we would consider dangerous here and we would immediately call the city to get them fixed. On this road you barrell through them and pray that you make it without destroying your vehicle in the process. As you can see by our pictures, we came across two trucks stuck in the road and people coming from I don't know where to help push the one out so we could try to pass. After they got the one truck out they laid down sticks for us to see if we could make it through. Once again I was praying for Tim( and all of us) to make it through. We made it through and as we were going through I was praying that we wouldn't tip on our side.
We made it to Apeitolim in about 2 hrs. When we arrived at the church, the people greeted us with singing. It was so wonderful to be with these people that were so thankful that you arrived. They had been in the church praying for our safety and that we would make it to worship with them. (they wouldn't have started without us) After we were greeted and then brought to our seats, we began by just singing and dancing and clapping. By the way, visitors get seats, men get benches and women and children get to sit on the floor which is made of cow dung. Amazingly, it does not smell! The service consisted of alot of prayer, Pastor John speaking, Tim speaking, Pastor James speaking, Steve giving a message, Moses(tim and angies neighbor) translating it all. Pastor John's wife Betty did all the worship leading and she also did some of the translating when she wasn't busy nursing her baby, Grace. At one point Pastor James shared with the people that Steve and I were married and that we had 3 children at home and we were thinking of returning. They all seemed so excited and very happy that we would consider returning. Another moment where we felt God very clearly confirming that he has a place for us in Uganda. We also had a choir sing, which to me was so beautiful. Very different music, but you could tell they were singing from their hearts and they had such joy on their faces. The service lasted about 2 hours and their were young kids that just sat on the ground and loved every minute of worshipping.
One of the things that really hit me in the service was when they took offering. This is one of the things that, I think, Josh Shaarda has been teaching in the Timothy training. They had two baskets up front, one for men and one for women, in which to put your offering. I can't remember if they prayed while people brought forth their offering or if they were singing, but I was so humbled. They hardly have clothes that aren't rags and they have empty stomachs and yet they were giving their coins. It reminded me of a sermon that Pastor Tom had before we left about the women who gave her one coin and how God loved her giving. I was so humbled. Words really can't describe what it was like being here with them.
After church we went to John and Betty's hut and chairs were once again set out for the visitors. We were sitting around a little table and I didn't really know what we were doing. I was then informed that they wanted to serve their visitors a meal. This made me a little nervous, knowing I had about 20 starving children sitting behind me waiting for me to eat food that they hardly ever get. And knowing it was rude to refuse. As I looked at the table they had set for us, I saw bowls that were full of dust and wondered if it was just dust. Their were glasses of water which we were not allowed to drink so they brought us each a bottle of pop. They served us rice and goat. The rice was very good and the goat broth had good flavor, but the goat was so tough and had a lot of fat on it. Steve did so good, but I just asked for broth. I did eat one piece of Steve's and that was plenty for me. We didn't finish our pops and Betty( our 11 year old Ugandan friend from Soroti) asked if she could pass them out. She then passed them out to the kids sitting behind us which was such a treat for them.
After our meal(and before) they walk around and bring you soap so you can wash your hands. For any of you who camp with Steve, this really reminded me of soap on a rope. He did really good, I think God is so working on him that it is hard to believe. He shared water bottles and did just fine with it. I know, this is hard to believe. God is amazing and is in all the details.
We then went for a walk through the camp. We walked to the school which during the school day will have 80 or so kids to a classroom with one teacher. On Sunday though they were dancing. To our understanding, the male that could jump the highest was the most attractive. Let me tell you, they really can jump and they jump straight up. It was very fun to watch and they really wanted us to join them, but I don't think that would have been a very pretty sight. When we were here some little boys came up to Steve and asked if he would play football. Of course he joined them and then I didn't know where Steve was. The little boys had taken him to a field behind the school and asked him to bring people to make them a football field. Steve responded in the way you are always supposed to respond. "I cannot promise"
As we walked through the village we kept a steady stream of followers. They all wanted a photo taken and then they would look at it and just laugh. In many of the pictures if you look closely you can see that they are all pushing eachother out of the way so they can be in the picture. They were all so beautiful and wished I could have communicated to them that they were beautiful and that Jesus loved them.
As we were leaving the IDP camp the kids were running after our vehicle. We had many asking us for money and begging. I can't wait to be there again and maybe not give money, but give them the hope of Jesus.
One girl really stuck out to me. Her name was Agnes and she was most likely a teenager. She could not speak much English, but we communicated somehow. Her face is one that will stick with me for a long time. I pray I can see her again when we return. She sang in the choir and then followed us on and off through the village. She was beautiful and I kept thinking about what her life is like and what will happen to her. I pray that she keeps Jesus in her heart no matter what her circumstances. It was sad to leave here, but we knew we had one more stop and we also knew we had a long ride home.
My hands are getting sore so I will have to stop for now and write about the rest of our day later.