Some after thoughts...

I have grown up in the Church. I have heard about Jesus all my life. I have engrained in my mind this idea that we as Christians are to convert as many people as we can to Christianity. So, anytime I am in the presence of a Muslim, Atheist, etc. one of my first thoughts is usually one of two things, “This person is going to hell,” or “How can I go about converting this one.” From the get go any attempt of sharing my beliefs with this person is blocked off. I put myself above the person I am with. Instead, I shouldn’t look as to how I can convert them, but how can I show them Jesus. Jesus cuts across cultures. Jesus is bigger than all Religions. He builds bridges, connecting people of all backgrounds. Cornerstone is a good example of this. Cornerstone is a Christian-based organization. They teach the youth they work with the principles Jesus taught. Kids from different religious backgrounds are welcomed into the programs that Cornerstone has set up. Muslims, Christians, atheists have all been through the programs. All are taught the same thing. None are pressured to believe a certain way. Non-Christians are not pressured to convert. All learn to live together as a family. They are able to do this because of Jesus. Jesus brings them together. This is made evident simply by the fact that Christians of different denominations don’t typically get along here in Uganda. Catholics and Protestants are negative towards each other often. Yet, through time, in the Cornerstone setting, Jesus has mended these gaps. Religious people have their own beliefs. They practice their own rituals, but the core of it all simply is Jesus.

I enter my last week. I am not sure what this week is to bring. I had plans to go up to north east Uganda to a remote village, but my budget is runnin’ low. So as of now I am planning to stay in Kampala and invest more time into the youth corps homes that Cornerstone has set up around town. As for the past week in Uganda I have experienced a lot that I never expected to do in Africa. For instance, I played paintball. Paintball in Africa! It was awesome. Eric Kruetter, son of Tim(man who runs cornerstone), just turned 27 so a group of his mzungu(white) friends all went out to play. I’d say the best part was the end. Imagine we are in a wooded area, tire stacks all around, a few bunkers here and there made out of sand bags. On one side of the field, 10 men stand with loaded paintball guns. On the other side of the field stands Eric, alone with no gun. His objective? To run from corner to corner as swift as he can hoping to be hit as few times as possible. The ref blows the whistle. He runs. We shoot. Balls of paint, leaving their guns every split second are flying through the air. By the end, Eric is hit 40-50 times along the right side of his body. He hunkers over, breathless, in pain, muttering “this was ridiculous.”

From there we all went back to his place for dinner. Afterwards, Karaoke. This made for a hilarious night. Most everyone in the group couldn’t sing worth a flip.

…Last Monday I sat down to lunch with a man named Pastor Fred. I first met pastor Fred in the states. He is connected with the Brooks family on Lookout. I spoke with him about spiritual warfare and his experiences with witchcraft deliverances, and so on. It made for a very intriguing conversation. At the end, he invited me to preach in his church. So yesterday I had the opportunity to preach in front of about 300 people. The whole service was about 3 hours. 2 hours of worship. Most the songs were sung in Lugando so I had no chance of singing along. I just danced around and listened. When it came time for me to preach I went up introduced my self and began. I talked about wrestling with God. Pastor Fred had to translate everything I was saying as I went along. About 5 minutes into preaching this man comes walking up from the back of the congregation, plunges himself at the bottom of the stairs leading up the pulpit, throws a jacket at my feet, and just lays their limp. I pause. I look from pastor Fred, to the man, to the crowd, back to the man. I think to myself “What the heck is going on?” “Am I suppose to respond a certain way to this?” Three men come running up, pick up the man, and drag him off. “Ok…” And I continue preaching. Afterwards the first question I asked was “What was that all about?” The explanation, The man had this overwhelming feeling that God wanted him to do this, because this man of God was preaching and the act of him throwing his jacket at my feet was a blessing to me, and in turn, at some point he will receive a blessing. I don’t know if that makes sense, but don’t worry; it didn’t really make sense in my head. We all assumed that the jacket was mine to keep, but after the service the man came and asked to have it back. It wouldn’t have fit anyway so no big deal.

I come home on Friday. I look forward to that day. I am still enjoying my time here, but I am ready to see some familiar faces. I can’t wait to share my experience in more detail. I wish I could have posted more than just 4 times. I just wasn’t around the internet enough. This trip, in my eyes, has been a success. Though I didn’t see a lot of what I was expecting to see, my understanding of Spiritual Warfare has developed a great deal. As well, God has opened the door to return to Uganda one day; maybe even sooner than later.

A week out and about around Uganda

Last Monday I left Kampala at 5 pm in a milk truck destined for Cornerstone Leadership Academy (CLA). It is located about 2 hours north of Kampala on a ranch in the town of Ekitangala. I did not arrive at the ranch until 10:30 pm. The 2 hour trip took 5 1/2 hours due to frequent stops by the driver in order to pick up supplies for the week. Though rough on the knees I got to see areas of Kampala that I did not see my last trip around.
I spent to days at teh ranch. The first night I spent alone in my cottage. After some journaling I hit the sack. The next day I got up and walked over to the academy. There I began talking to teachers that were on their breaks asking them about their experiences with and thoughts about spiritual warfare. I also interviewed one teacher that is also a paster in the community. He offered a lot of insight to the subject in relation to spiritual battles and dealing with witchdoctors in the community. crazy crazy hard to believe stuff in my opinion, like witch doctors raising people from the dead and sending them out to disrupt churches when in session. bizarre stuf. Later that day I enjoyed a a couple hours of playing volleyball with the cla boys and other people that live in the community. One of the guys, a 23 year old from Rwanda came to hang out over at the cottages where I was staying. He shared a lot of his past with me. He lost his dad during the rwanda genocide and he and his mom fled to Uganda and now stay in the ranch. We exchanged emails and said that we'd keep in touch. From there I proceeded to have another night alone in the cottage, bored, and freaking out some. All the talks I've been having about witchcraft and stuff were goign through my mind and all these what if scenario began to take place.
The next day arrived and I went and spent a couple more hours at the academy enjoying black tea with milk and g nuts (peanuts). At 2 that day (now wednesday) I was picked up by Eric Parker and a couple other people with Cornerstone and we went on our way to Gulu. The first thing on the list was delivering beds to the boys youth corps home in gulu. From there we proceeded to the girls home. They have additional housing in the complex so that is where we slept. That night we went out for some chinese food. We pulled up to teh place, parked, got out, and looked around. To the left of our car was this huge wall with a hole in it. We proceeded through the hole in the wall to find the restaurant. Ugandans do there chinese food real good. Some of the best I've had.
The next day I went into the town of Gulu alone, while Eric and Parker drove to Lira for a few hours to buy beds for the youth corps homes there. I met up with a Ugandan named Lakeh that I met last time I was in Uganda. He was who guided our group around most of the time. We had a good talk, catching up and talking through some things. He mentioned that he was heading to Restore Academy (an academy that modles that of Cornerstone but is a public school). I told asked how to get there and told him I would come by after I ate. It took a 10 minute Boda Boda (motorcycle) ride to get there. While there I met with the headmaster and had a chance to talk with him about spiritual warfare. The talk was very beneficial. My understanding of Spiritual Warfare developed a great deal.
From Gulu I headed with Parker to Arua. We met up with a couple Old Boys (some of the first CLA students ever), and rode with them. Are reason for going to Arua was for a wedding ceremony and a traditional introduction. An introduction is a ceremony where a man and a women become engadged. This takes place infront of the immediate family, relatives, and close friends. It was so so awesome. It would take too long in writing to describe in detail what takes place, so ask me about it when i get home. I picked up a traditional outfit that you might see me sporting around back in the states. After a wonderful time at the ceremony, eating and having the Old Boys I was with try to get me to pick out a Ugandan women to take back to the states with me, we returned to the hotel we were staying at to sleep. We woke up at 5:30 in the morning to begin our drive back to Kampala. After 1 elephant, a group of hippos and buffalos, some baboons and monkeys about 5 stops along the way we finally reached Kampala 8 1/2 hours later.
Now I am working out details for the week to come and getting ready for a barbeque tonight. The trip is great, and continuing to get back as the days go on. Hope things are well for all who read this. THose that don't....your just missin out...
Much love,
Richard

The Ranch and the days to follow...

In 2007 the time spent at the ranch was probably one of the bests weeks spent in uganda. The ranch is about 2 hours north of Kampala, the capitol of Uganda. On the ranch one finds a primary school, a secondary school, and Cornerstone Leadership Academy for boys (CLA). I spent a day and a night there earlier this week. I saw all new faces. It is a 2 year academy so everyone I had met before had graduated. It was wonderful being back there. I ate dinner at the academy and made some contacts with people i will speak to soon about spiritual warfare. The next morning I spoke at the secondary school to a class of about 50 students. I spoke on the subject of unity (unity with God, with eachother, in their families, etc.) It was a really good time. I enjoyed it alot.
Since being at the ranch I have done a lot. Besides continuing to speak to people about spiritual warfare, i have hit up the casino for a night, played soccer with some inner city kids that live in the ghetto, wished a new friend a safe trip back to the states, experienced the greatness of ehtiopian food, and just had a great time hanging out and getting to know new people. I am rushing through this post because I will be leaving to go back to the ranch in about 30 minutes. I will spend two days there talking to teachers and people in the community about witchcraft and other crazy crazy stuff. From there I will go to Gulu, in northern uganda, where a lot of the war in Uganda has taken place. I will continue my research up there and also clear up some miscommunication that has been unresolved for the last 2 years (long story and I can't share details). After Gulu i will travel to a town in North west Uganda near the congo known as Arua. Here I will be attending a wedding ceremony as well as taking in all the scenary and if lucky, picking up some more information that may be useful for my research. I wish I had time to go into more detail about the events over the last couple days, but will have to do so in a future post, or when i get back to the states.
Much love,
Richard

The Beginning

Soon into the trip I found out that I was not going to be able to post any photos of my trip (atleast for now) because I forgot cable hookup, so you all will be able to see them all when I return.

I spent the first leg of my journey in DC for the 4th. It was a quick one night stop. I got to watch the fireworks from the Washingston Monument. I met up with some familiar faces (Tommy Justice, James Whitt, and DG) while there which was nice right before leaving the country.

I left Washington DC a little after 10 am Sunday morning and arrived in Uganda around 1:30pm on Monday. With time change, the trip was around 22 hours.

While here in Uganda I will primarily be working on my senior thesis. My topic is spiritual warfare. I have yet to narrow down a particular question. I met a few interesting people on the way here that had wonderful stories to tell of their first hand experiences with the subject. I would go into detail, but I am about to go to sleep.

Right now I am just settling in, getting over any jet-lag, and getting my feet under me. I have already lined up some opportunities to meet with people that will hopefully lead to some good dialogue about their experience in the matter of spiritual warfare, witchcraft, exorcisms..the hole ten-yards.

I want to thank you all for your support in helping me get here. It is overwhelming and I am truly blessed.

Until next time...

Richard