Gorillas in the Mist

Before heading up to Gulu, Beth and I are taking a little vacation to visit part of Uganda that I have never been to. Beth has wanted to do a gorilla trek since she found out about them a number of years ago, so we decided to go on one. In the southwestern corner of Uganda at the borders of Rwanda, the Congo, and Uganda are mountains where the only living mountain gorillas live. Naturalists estimate that there are only 700 of them remaining in the wild, about 400 in Uganda and the rest in Rwanda and the Congo. They live in families from approximately 8 to 20. Over the course of years, naturalists have habituated the gorillas to human beings. They are naturally afraid of humans, but because of the habituation process they view us as neutral animals.

The way the gorilla trek works is that trackers go into the woods around 7:00 am (gorillas make "nests" of leaves on the ground and sleep from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am) at the place they saw them the previous day.They then try to find where they have moved and when they find them they radio to the head guides their current locations. Those going on the trek are at a central meeting point gather at 8:00 am where we are briefed about mountain gorillas, the trek, and the do's and don'ts of the trek. Then we are divided into groups no larger than eight--there were only twelve this morning so we were two groups of six. (The maximum number of people allowed trek each day is forty.) We then head out tracking different gorilla groups.

The first person is an armed guard then the head guide, followed by the trekkers and porters (people to carry your back pack, etc.) and the last person is an armed guard. Both guards have a machete to cut vines and branches as you proceed. There are mountain elephants and leopards in the forest so the guards are there to protect us should one appear. They would shoot some warning shots to scare them away and only in the most rare circumstances would they actually shoot the animal. I haven't heard of that actually happening.

We ascended the mountain which must have been at a 45 degree angle. We started at around 6000 feet and I don't know how high we went, but we might have ascended 1000 feet or so. It was very slippery because it is the rainy season and it rains almost every day. You can go 1/2 hour and find gorillas or three hours and find them. We were fortunate and found the group we were looking for in 30 to 45 minutes. They were were all feeding on berries in this very tall tree on the slope of the mountain. This group had about 10--two silverbacks and two babies. After about an hour (the length of time permitted to observe them) they came down from the tree and started feeding on the ground. We carefully approached where they were eating and came within 10-20 feet of them. Below is a picture of the silverback leading the group and I took this picture with my iPhone at a distance of 10-15 feet. It was pretty cool!

The whole area is amazingly beautiful. The view from our lodge is spectacular.

Day 40: We Made It!

I liked Levison's summary in today's devotion.
1. We learn that the Spirit's anchor is Jesus.
2. We learn...that what the Spirit says is rooted in Scripture.
3. "The work of the Spirit is not just something brand new. It is something old made new for us. The Spirit...brings ancient Scripture to life."
4. We learn "[t]hat the Spirit--the bride of Christ, as well--is hospitable, generous, expansive beyond belief. The Spirit and the bride don't limit their invitation to the genteel, the sophisticated the self-reliant. They invite anyone who will listen, people with parched throats, people without the right coins in their pockets. It's a dangerous invitation."

What a great way to end.

I hope that those of you who persevered through the 40 Days with the Holy Spirit have not only gained a better knowledge about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, but that you have experienced the Holy Spirit in perhaps a new way. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit works powerfully not only in our own lives, but in the life of UCC Medfield!

Day 39: Almost There

In today's devotion Levison uses probably the most well-known text about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the text that is read at Pentecost every year, Acts 2:1-13. However, he takes a different angle on it from any that I have ever heard. Rather than focus on the event itself, he focuses on what goes on behind the scenes: stayed, prayed, and studied. Once again he wants to divert our attention from the spectacle of the Holy Spirit that some have, to the more mundane, ordinary, ways in which the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit uses our efforts for preparing ourselves to be useful vessels. His prayer is my prayer:

Holy Spirit
Fiery ecstasy
Language maker

Don't let me come unsuspecting to Pentecost
or arrive ill-equipped at ecstasy

Sharpen my will to study
Hone my mind to think
Whet my appetite to learn

And when I part my lips
and breathe out words
god's praiseworthy acts--let them come first.
Amen

Day 38: Make Disciples

Make disciples. "The eleven must go. They must create learners--disciples.They must baptize them. Then they must teach them to follow every last detail of Jesus's commands, not with inventiveness, not with astonishing oratorical flourish, not with awesome miracles." Simple to say, more difficult to do. I am reminded of II Timothy 2:1-2: "You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus' and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well."

So the task at hand is to live the teachings ourselves, and to teach others. What we have the tendency to do, however, is to see Jesus' teachings kind of like a smorgasbord from which we pick and choose. We like the ones about being loved, about forgiveness, but we don't like the hard parts about suffering and surrendering ourselves to him lock, stock, and barrel. 'A dollop of things that make me feel good, and a dab of that which I won't find to inconvenient."

I like his prayer:

Today I pray that you, with the father and the son,
will embrace a shared purpose

To fire in me a passion to obey everything Jesus commanded

To stir in me a passion to teach others

To obey everything Jesus commanded

To forgive me when I don't obey

To forgive them when they don't...

Day 37: Pressure Cooker of Trials

Let's just say that I found this devotion rather bracing. Who wants to suffer persecution? I want the Holy Spirit in my life, but I would prefer the Holy Spirit without persecution, or really without anything seriously negative in my life to be honest. I think Levison gets it just right when he writes,

"So I've come to face it: I tend to like a gospel that tells me everything will work out in the end and that the Spirit will give me everything I need for abundant living in the meantime. I don't want a Spirit that shows up at the last minute to give me words that seal my fate."

The truth be told, I think most of us want the easy road and when it is easy we attribute it to the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, though, God knows better and promises to be with us on the hard road, even the most difficult road when things look bleak. Jesus promises us the presence of the Holy Spirit to give us what we need.

Day 36:Spirit on All Flesh

You have probably heard Joel 2:28-29, today's text, read during worship a number of times. It is frequently read on Pentecost  Sunday. Levison tells us that this text "bursts the wineskins" of Numbers 11 in two directions: horizontal and vertical. I liked his imagery. He notes that this prophecy cuts across all national/ethnic divisions. It also cuts across every division within a given culture. It's pretty radical stuff: "The Spirit melts the glue that holds together society, as we know it, in social tiers." Are we ready for that? It seems to me that in the abstract as a kind of principle it sounds great. But when it cuts into our privilege, and interrupts the way that we are used to living life, I wonder if we are so eager to embrace the Spirit's action.

I find my own self-interest interwoven throughout the things that I believe, and have discovered it is difficult, very difficult to know where my belief is motivated by my self-interest even though I can make a good theological case, or so I think. My capacity for self-deception, which I have mentioned numerous times in my sermons, is nearly limitless.

I loved this stanza of his prayer:

Holy Spirit...

Topple my world with your benevolence
Barrage my barricades with your generosity
Flood my heart with your compassion...

Day 35: Blossoming in the Presence of the Holy Spirit

"For those of us who insist on identifying God's presence in the world, God's absence is tough to stomach. Maybe it's not God's absence so much as Gods withdrawal." I think he captures my feelings about this exactly. I want to experience God's presence in my life--moment to moment--not his absence. I hate it when I feel that God is absent from me. And yet, at times God withdraws for God's own reasons and we need to trust Him even then.

I thought his main point was well spoken in this morning's devotion. Yes, the Spirit is about self-preservation, conservation, and protection. There are promise for this throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Psalms are full of pleas for protection and self-preservation.

But, as Levison points out, the Spirit is not just about self-preservation, conservation, and protection. "The Spirit is about transformation." It is about God's love reaching out into the world and welcoming them in. The Holy Spirit is about outreach, about "Kingdom work," as I mentioned in my sermon this morning. We become transformed along with those "outsiders" who become "insiders." As he captures so well, "The Spirit's presence may allow for protection and comfort, but ultimately the Spirit is about transformation from the outside in--from outsiders who become insiders."

Day 34: Speaking in Tongues

Today is July 4th and I want to wish everyone a great day!

Today's devotion focus is on what is called, "speaking in tongues," or the academic term is "glossolalia." Levison shares an experience he had many years back which probably was speaking in tongues although he is uncertain exactly what to call it. I have never had the experience of speaking in tongues although I am open to it if it happens to me. I think this text is more academic if you come from a denomination for which speaking in tongues isn't really part of the faith experience and if you have never had the experience.

Nevertheless, the principle of not elevating our spiritual experience in such a way that it puts us in the limelight, we become proud that we have experienced this (whatever it might be) and not others is important. Whatever spiritual experiences God gives us are meant to be received humbly, thankfully, and in a way which will build others up. It's a gift to be used for God's glory and our own and other's edification. The Holy Spirit isn't about gifting us to make us proud; rather, the Holy Spirit gifts us to grow in our faith and to bless others. 

Day 33: You Are God's Temple

In the New Testament we are referred to as God's temple both in the singular and in the plural. In other words, each of us individually is God's temple and we are to treat our bodies as such, and the church is God's temple and we are to treat each other as such. I Corinthians, the text for today's devotion, focuses on the church as God's temple. It is such a wonderful image and sounds so good, but is so difficult to pull off! As Levison comments about the church he grew up in, he notes that they split up over what kind of music--instrumental or a cappella--is appropriate to worship. What about things that we believe strongly? What if they are being denied? The church has splintered hundreds, even thousands of times over some major and significant issues and many minor issues. There is the phrase that you may have heard: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials diversity; in all things charity. It sounds good, but the problem is that we can't agree on what is essential and what is non-essential.

It is clear, though, that the Spirit creates unity, and it is our own sinfulness, finitude, and weakness that creates divisions. His closing prayer is excellent. 

Day 32: The Holy Spirit and Conflict

Today's devotion gave a good dose of reality. In the early church, "They argued fiercely. Confrontation turned to combat before it ever became compromise."

I thought the penultimate paragraph was worth quoting in its entirety here.

In the tough, gritty work of conflict and compromise we find the Holy Spirit. Not in the revelation of an easy solution. Not in the avoidance of conflict. In this gritty process, rather than instantaneous solutions or conflict avoidance, we discover a rich vein of the Spirit. Compromise--the battle-scarred road that leads to it, too--can seem good both to the Holy Spirit and to us."

As a church intent on discipleship, we should take these words to heart and not be afraid of conflict and the rough and tumble of disagreement, even strong disagreement.

Day 31: Barnabas and Saul

I find this devotion challenging in a couple of ways. He notes that the church in Antioch did a lot without a paid senior pastor, associate pastor, youth minister, and minister of children's ministry. He also mentions how multicultural the church was. Of course UCC Medfield has all these paid positions plus some, and we are not what you would call a multicultural church. So what do you do with that? We're not multicultural primarily because Medfield and the surrounding towns are not multicultural. I do love worshiping at churches that have many different ethnic groups, but that is not the demographic context in which we find ourselves, so that isn't going to happen until that demographic changes. So we welcome and love those in our cultural context.

Concerning a paid staff, the time may soon come when church "staff" have regular jobs and volunteer or are paid a minimal amount for their work. That is the way the LDS (Mormon) church operates. The current model of paid clergy and staff has worked for a long time, but who knows what the future holds for the church? There is an ebb and a flow to its life.

As far as the core take away from this devotion, the last full paragraph on page 116 caught my attention:

"Notice, too, that the energy of Antioch arises from a community committed to the disciplines of faith. The Spirit inaugurates mission among the Christians at Antioch while they 'were worshiping the Lord and fasting' (Acts 13:2). This little clause lets us know that community disciplines provide the precondition for hearing a word of the Holy Spirit "(Bold, mine).

Once again we are reminded that the spiritual disciplines that we practice behind the scenes are the soil out of which grow the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Day 30: Church Jesters

I think most organizations--including the church--are tempted to avoid criticism as much as possible. After all, who likes to be criticized? So organizations have the danger of engaging in "groupthink" which the Oxford Dictionary of English defines as, "the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group, resulting typically in unchallenged, poor-quality decision-making." Things seem to run so much more smoothly when everyone agrees and there isn't any conflict or disagreement or criticism. But there is a heavy penalty over time that will be paid if we avoid these.

 A few years ago several of us were part of a "Sticky Faith Cohort" held at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. One of the speakers talked about the importance of valuing what dissenters and persons on the margins had to say. He said that you need to listen to them for they often say things that need to be said that no one else will say.

Levison states that it is the Holy Spirit that may be behind these people and the fact that we receive criticism is not an indication that the Holy Spirit has abandoned us. The Holy Spirit uses the criticism as a means of correcting our course.

It isn't always easy, but I try to remind myself of this when criticism occurs at our church and ask God to give me an open mind and heart.

Day 29: Building Community

Notice that today the verb to which he switches is "building," and in this devotion the Spirit is building community. I chuckled at his story about writing a paper at seminary and W. D. Davies response. He does accurately capture the truth in community building and maintaining when we writes at the beginning of the second paragraph, " When it comes to building community, it's easy to fall off the ass."

He states the core of this devotion in the last paragraph at the bottom of page 108: "We gain two essential insights into inspired community from this story. First, healthy community demands communal leadership. Community isn't the work of one man, one woman. The weight is just too heavy for his or her shoulders. And second, Community demands constant tending, sometimes eve a redo."

Day 28: Driven Out

Frankly, I would rather bask in the knowledge of my being a beloved son. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, that term has a powerful meaning for me. But God wants to solidify that reality by sending us out--testing us, building spiritual muscle. It is much easier to believe when things are going well, but much harder to believe that when things appear to rapidly go down hill.

Has God driven you out into the desert? How did you respond?

Day 27: "You are My Beloved Son"

The passage for today's devotion holds a special place for me. Many years ago I read a book written by Henri Nouwen, The Life of the Beloved, in which this was the central passage. In it, Nouwen is writing to a friend who is not a follower of Jesus but who has asked him to share something about the spiritual life. Nouwen writes,

"Our many conversations led me to the inner conviction that the words, 'You are my Beloved' revealed the most intimate truth about all human beings, whether they belong to any particular tradition or not....The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Belovedness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it fro myself. Isn't that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our Belovedness?"

As someone who was quite critical of himself, I found this book was so liberating. It helped me on my own journey of discipleship and a sense that God really did love me--I didn't have to earn God's love. So when I read today's devotion, that is the first thing that came to mind.

Levison notes the intimacy of these words as well: "How intimate these words are! But they aren't' just God's tender embrace. They're tough talk, too, that will shape every single moment from now on." If you know that you are truly loved, even cherished, then the tough assignments are easier to do, I think.

I like the way that Levison shows, though, that Jesus' belovedness led him to prayer, continuous prayer. His belovedness didn't short circuit his prayer life or cause him to take his Father's love for granted. It led him deeper into prayer.

Have you understood and accepted your belovedness in Jesus? Has it led you more deeply into prayer?

Day 26: Not by might, nor by Power...

Levison chooses another familiar passage for today's meditation. I can't identify with his sense in his younger days that he didn't believe that the Spirit works through politics and social programs. Maybe I believed that when I was really young, I don't remember, to be honest. But I did learn in my 20's the notion of the "brokenness of truth" and "general grace" which gave me the theological and intellectual space to understand that the Spirit works in a wide variety of ways, through a wide variety of people, and the people through whom God works don't need to be believers--frequently they aren't.

I didn't know that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech happened under the banner of the text. I do enjoy the stories and '"tidbits" that he shares in his devotions.

Day 25: Inconspicuous

Today's text from Isaiah 61 is the text from which Jesus quoted when he spoke at the synagogue in Nazareth (where he attended growing up) at the beginning of his ministry. You can find the story in Luke 4:16ff.

Remember that his theme is leading, so the focus the last three days has been on leadership. He writes, "In today's reading from Isaiah 61, the Spirit's work goes deep, rather than wide, to the oppressed, the imprisoned, the bottom-feeders." Two paragraphs lower he writes, "Inspired leaders don't need to be conspicuous to be effective." That is the heart of today's devotion to me. To do things inconspicuously is counter-cultural behavior. We revel in self-promotion, posturing, letting the world know how good, beautiful. smart, talented, ___________ (you fill in the blank) we are. We post it on facebook, twitter about it, instagram it.

Christian clergy I think are particularly tempted by being conspicuous. The phrase that comes to mind is one coined by Henri Nouwen many years ago: downward mobility. Christians need to follow Jesus, who was downwardly mobile: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being form in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8). May God give me the grace to lead inconspicuously!

Day 24: Silent Suffering

Once again Levison picks out a well-known passage and illuminates it for us. Like yesterday's passage, I hadn't ever studied this one. But he makes no bones about the leading of the Spirit led to the silent suffering of the servant. He writes, "The servant's word is an inspired whisper." Hmmm, "an inspired whisper."

I had never heard of the story of Janusz Korczak, had you? I found it deeply moving and am glad that he shared the story. I ask myself if I am willing to follow the Spirit into silent suffering if that is the way the Spirit leads. What and illustration!

Day 23: Stumps and Shoots

Today's devotion begins the section on leading.

I am quite familiar with the scripture passage that forms the basis of Levison's thoughts today, but I have never done a study on this passage, or at least haven't done so in a very long time. In any case, I have wondered about the "shoot...from the stump of Jesse" phrase. I have a number of stumps in my backyard and over the years Beth and I have had to cut the shoots down eventually. Frankly, we have found them kind of annoying. I wondered why Isaiah used this imagery instead of using the imagery of planting a new tree. A shoot is never going to compare with the growth of a new tree.

Levison answered my question with this devotion. The key lies in his italicized sentence found on page 86. He asks, "What then, does inspired leadership consist of?" He answers: "The ability, not to restore the glory days, but to generate, from the ruins, harmony and wholeness, safety, too, in the days ahead."

Near the end of the devotion Levison challenges us: "There may be times in our lives when the Holy Spirit prompts in us hope for a restoration of the glory days. This is not one of the. Now the Holy Spirit anoints someone--perhaps even you--to lead a frightened people into a daunting future." My question is the same as his: "What will you do? What can you do?"

Day 22: Weakness and Power

This particular devotion spoke to me and my own struggles. I can totally identify with Levison when he says, "I don't want grace; I want healing. I don't want weakness; I want strength. I want power that looks, well, like power." I want to feel powerful, not weak! I hate feeling weak. I want God to come in and right all the wrongs and crush the evil and empower the good. I want God to prevent Dylann Storm Roof from carrying out the murders at Emmanuel AME in Charleston! And to do it with power, like a lightening bolt from heaven!

During my devotions several days ago I came across the following quotation form Thomas a Kempis:

Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. He has many seekers of consolation, but few of tribulation. He finds many companions at His feasting, but few at His fasting. All desire to rejoice in Him; Few are willing to endure anything for Him. Many follow Jesus as far as the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many reverence His miracles, but few will follow the shame of His cross. Many love Jesus as long as no adversaries befall them. Many praise and bless Him so long as they receive some consolation from Him. But if Jesus hide Himself and leave them but for a brief time, they begin to complain or become overly despondent in mind."

May the Holy Spirit give us the grace to follow the way of the cross!

Day 21: A Word of Encouragement

I like encouragement. I need encouragement. Not platitudes like, "It will all turn out OK in the end," but something substantial, something even challenging, something hopeful a word of encouragement like Levison describes in the book of Acts. In fact, I would say that encouragement is essential for us to flourish. All of us suffer doubts about our abilities or the path that we are on, and there is nothing like a good word of encouragement to set us straight, to increase our confidence. The word of encouragement may actually lead us to take a different path. What we learn from today's devotion is that the Holy Spirit is in the business of encouragement. 

Day 20: Preparation Counts

If you hadn't noticed, today is the halfway point of our 40 Days with the Holy Spirit. I hope that you have found this fruitful in your own life. Let me know how you have experienced this so far.

By now one of Levison's main themes is quite apparent: the slow work of preparation is part and parcel of the work of the Holy Spirit. I shared in a sermon several weeks ago about the chaplain that had had a charismatic experience that radically changed his life for the good. But the one thing that he misunderstood was how the Holy Spirit normally works and he would have benefited greatly if he had had an opportunity to read this book. I remember one worship service in which he basically said that he didn't prepare his sermons but trusted that the Holy Spirit would give him what he needed. The result was fluffy sermons for the most part--sermons heavy in upbeat praise, but light in substance.

In my travels in East Africa I have found similarities in some of the worship services I attended. Levison's description of the pastor of the church that he attended in Durham, NC reminded me of some of the evangelists/pastors I have heard over the years. I must admit that I haven't been able to understand much of what is preached, but it felt like a "high-octane" sermons. The one I have in mind occurred in a church service in Arusha, Tanzania and the preacher preached for 2 hours. High energy, and a tremendous amount of repetition. It felt like entertainment, actually. I think this evangelist could learn from Levison's book: "The works of the Spirit aren't just strutting, amen-ing, hallelujah-ing. You can prepare for an experience of the Holy Spirit. You can study in anticipation of the Holy Spirit's work in you life. You can learn what makes you a powerful witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus." So can we all learn from Levison.

Day 19: Spirit and Truth

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth." I am quite familiar with this verse from John and, in fact, have included it in prayers that I have said in regard to preparing to worship. But I haven't reflected deeply on the relationship between Spirit and truth. I underlined the few sentences where he discussed their relationship: "There can be no Spirit-inspired worship that is untruthful, no truthful worship that is void of Spirit. the two exist in tandem; the absence of one voids the validity of the other. Truth and Spirit. Spirit and Truth."

I have read in the last couple of years that people don't care so much about the truth, at least in so far as it relates to our faith. When I was younger people came to faith in Christ because they believed it was true. Now, the issue isn't truth but relevance or effectiveness, i.e. does it work? Even though it is so un-postmodern, I believe there is such a thing as truth and falsehood, and I want to pursue the truth wherever it may lead me. I remember learning in seminary about the "brokenness of truth." That means that because of sin and our own finite abilities, there are a lot of weeds in the garden and it is difficult to know what the truth is. For this reason we must pursue it with humility for sure, but not give up on its pursuit saying, "No one can know for sure, everyone has their own truth."

Spirit and truth, as Levison states, exist in tandem!

Day 18: Simeon

I know about Simeon but I didn't know that the prayer that he prayed came from verses from Isaiah 40-55. I have been practicing the Divine Hours, a brief liturgy of prayer morning, noon, and night, and recognize that the prayer said before retiring for the night, Compline, always ends with Simeon's prayer.

Levison's conclusion for this devotion bears repeating, I think. "Simeon is inspired...because he is vigilant, because he is regular in devotion, and because he has studied the poignant prophecies of Isaiah, which he now sees taking shape in a very young Galilean boy who will be a light to the nations. A clear model for receiving the Spirit's guidance rises from regular devotion to learning."

Growing in faith, growing in discipleship happens when we are intentional and disciplined in our spiritual practices like praying, reading/studying scripture, worshiping. Like snow falling in the winter, it takes time to accumulate. The spiritual practices aren't dramatic or noticeable over small periods of time, but as we continue in them, the Holy Spirit can use them to lead, guide, and transform us.

Day 17: Drilling Down

It is hard to imagine that the text for today's devotion has anything relevant to anything, much less the Holy Spirit. Yes, the text does mention that the Spirit came upon Amasai or in Levison's translation "clothed" Amasai." But, really could this text contain anything from which we could learn?

Apparently. I enjoyed the way that Levison "drilled down" into the text and came up with a gold nugget. I am impressed that he was able to make the connections Amasai and Nabal. I have read the story a number of time's but never came close to making this connection. To me the passage was one of those lists that I try to race through to get to more action!

I find it interesting that the Spirit clothes Amasai to recite some poetry to David. When I think about it, it makes sense since David was a poet. I also found one of Levison's take aways interesting: "The Spirit works through a person who knows history." So the Spirit is able to use our knowledge of history...

Day 16: The Holy Spirit and Bean Counters

I found his interpretation of this story novel: I have never heard this take on the story before. I am quite familiar with the calling of the seven deacons to take care of the widows. This is an example of knowing the biblical languages well and it shows how you can get different perspectives if you understand some of the different nuances that words have. As Levison notes, bean counters need to have integrity; you need to know that they are wise and honest. He explicitly articulates one of the major themes of this devotional book, "...the hallmark of the Spirit is not primarily spectacular miracles but he daily, dogged practice of integrity." Amen to that!

Day 15: The Spirit and Teaching

Today's short devotion builds on yesterday's: The Spirit uses the "perspiration" that we use to learn a skill or gain some area of competency. He notes that in the case of Bezalel and Oholiab the Spirit not only used their skills, but directed them to teach others. Some words that come to mind in this regard are "mentor," "apprentice," "disciple." The Spirit didn't direct them to do everything, but to teach others their skills.  A passage that comes to mind from the New Testament related to this is II Timothy 2:2: "You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well."

Day 14: Small Things Matter

Today's devotion was the theme of my sermon today so if you are interested in finding out what I said, go to our website and check out the sermon tab.

The quotation that I found the most compelling in today's devotion was, "The skills we have practiced, the wisdom we have gained little by little--these expand dramatically when the Spirit in us inspires and equips us for challenging, demanding tasks." The Holy Spirit uses the things that we have learned, gained skill in, worked at when no one was watching, in the effort we expended to gain competencies. If we haven't learned or gained skill, the Holy Spirit isn't going to magically anoint us with it. But the Holy Spirit can "expand dramatically" those skills that we have learned over time. 

Day 13: Lessons from Joseph's Life

Notice that today begins the "Practicing" section of the 40 Days.

Levison is giving another example about how the Holy Spirit does not just sweep into a person and magically do something for which the seeds have not already been sown. As Levison states, God used Joseph in a powerful way, but the wisdom and discernment that Joseph used was developed under less than ideal circumstances.

I can identify with the sentiments Levison shares in the last paragraph. "I want to be a person with the Spirit of God in me. I just don't want to do what it takes to be that person. I want wisdom the easy way. I want a burst of inspiration, but I don't want to serve stints in prison--or any other hopeless, hapless, endless, seemingly useless years of waiting and boredom and aging and deteriorating..."

I, too, pray with Levison the prayer at the end of the devotion.

Day 12: Abba! Father!

For me personally understanding that I am an adopted child of God has had a powerful impact on my own faith and life. When I was younger, even thought I intellectually believed that I was loved by God and saved by grace, the way I actually lived my life was one of working and earning. Yes, I prayed to God as Father, but honestly my attitude and actions belied that I really believed that God loved me like a parent loves a child.

But slowly over time, I began to understand and accept this reality--that I am God's beloved, adopted child. Actually, I came to this realization through reading Henri Nouwen's books in my late 30's and early 40's. I find this enormously comforting and hopeful as I live the Christian life in my own faltering way.

How about you? Do you talk a good game like I did when I was younger about God's love, but in reality do you live as though you are a slave, or at least not a beloved child?

I really liked Levison's prayer at the end of this devotion which ends with:

Holy Spirit
I'm not asking you to cause death or life to disappear
But to hearten me with the love of Christ
with a love for Christ.
Amen.

Day 11: God's Primal Love

When I begin a task or learning some new discipline, I want to do it well. I don't like being mediocre. Nothing wrong with that. But, I have this habit of not cutting myself any slack. Over time it can become burdensome. This applies to the spiritual life, as well. Many years ago when we embarked on the discipleship model church and embraced the six marks of discipleship, some people felt like it was too much work. The intent of the six marks of discipleship is to help school us in the life of faith in Jesus Christ so that we can grow in maturity and faithfulness. But it is easy for the practice to slip over into a joyless obligation, rather than a challenging practice that enhances our walk with God.

For this reason I was glad to read Levison's caution in the devotion for today about not letting that happen. "I don't want you, as a child of God, to spend any part of these forty days thinking of prayer as one more obligation to cross off your list. Let prayer today be for you a deep sigh, a contented breath. Because, when all is said and done, God's passion for you isn't  a response to your expert attention to obligations. God's passion lies in a primal love for us, sons and daughter who respond in faith with only one word that matters: Abba!" Amen to that!

Day 10: Big Changes Begin with Small Disciplines

In case you're keeping track, today marks the 1/4 mark through the 40 Days with the Holy Spirit. I hope that you have been encouraged, challenged, and stimulated with it.

The key to this devotion to me is the sentence that I used as the title of this post: "Big changes begin with small disciplines." Maybe I might add "...small disciplines applied repeatedly or consistently." Prayer was a central part of Peter's life, trying to follow in the path of Jesus: it wasn't a one off event.

I like the way he summarizes what happened in Acts 10.
1.  Discipline--prayer--precedes the presence of the Spirit.
2.  Deliberation--puzzling--precedes the presence of the Spirit.
3.  Direction--a word of the Spirit--follows prayer and puzzling.

Day 9: Scorpions and Snakes

This devotion caught my attention. I found it very challenging. Levison's use of the text confronts us with our proclivity to want and expect things to be nice and easy. I underlined most of what he wrote on page 32, but I found this quotation strikes too close for comfort: "I pray too casually to grasp the urgency of oppression and unvarnished poverty, where hope is bare-boned and despair tyrannical. I pray too superficially to confront the reality of the dark night of the soul."

An observation that I have made before is that I find that our prayers are always concerned with safety. When I travel to Africa where things are much less safe, I don't hear nearly as many prayers for safety. I am not against asking God for protection, but I think that we need to balance that request for courage, about which I hear very little in prayers that we normally pray.

Of all the prayers so far, this prayer I found by far the most convicting, especially the first stanza:

Holy Spirit
I dangle my toes in a pool of piety
Not much risk there
It's still light, joyful, tranquil...

Wow. I wonder how many of us if we were totally honest with ourselves would find this true in our own lives? And do we have the desire for God and the courage to pray the second stanza?

Take me deeper into the dark
desert nights
desolate days
despair

The purpose of course, is to go to the far side of this "Where I'll collapse into the goodness of God."

I am reminded of John Wesley's prayer:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
I put myself wholly into your hands.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,put me to suffering
Let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you
Exalted for you or trodden under foot for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily resign all to your pleasure and disposal

And now, glorious and blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
I am yours and you are mine. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Day 8: Praying

In the introduction of the book, Levison points out seven verbs that he will use to guide the direction of the book, verbs that lead "from deep within to the world outside." These words are: breathing, praying practicing, learning, leading, building, blossoming. The devotions for the first week came under "breathing," and this morning's devotion begins the section on praying.

It seems to me that one of the themes that is emerging is the activity of the Holy Spirit, but not in the attention-grabbing, flashy miracle-making way. The Spirit is active, but working behind the scenes quietly. In today's text, Levison focuses on the Holy Spirit leading Jesus away from "tripping over success" at the disciples return and reports about their own positive results and drawing Jesus "toward babies and not the wise, the weak rather than the strong."

It is easy to be drawn off track by success. It is tempting to take the credit for ourselves, to try to impress the successful and powerful, and to lose sight of who we are and from where we have come. Today's reading is a good reminder to me to keep my focus on God and God's goodness and to let the Spirit through prayer keep me close to God.

Day 7: Breath and Sex

It would be an understatement to say that today's text and devotion is counter cultural. To suggest that any prohibition to sexual behavior other than consenting adults, is an affront to many people. Yet if we understand that our bodies belong to God, that there is no dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual which he says in this devotion, then we understand that God is concerned about everything, including our attitudes and behaviors concerning sex.

I wasn't expecting the connection he made between breath and sex, but I thought it was a creative way of seeing the relationship. I particularly liked the paragraph on the top of page 26 that begins with,  "Here, too, is where breathing and a healthy sexuality come together: both are disciplines to develop." I'm not sure that most of us think of either of these as "disciplines to develop," and yet I liked the way that he compared them. What do you think of his comparison, his argument?

Day 6: Breathing

Before Michelle was born Beth and I took some birthing classes to prepare us for her birth. One of the things about which the teacher continually reminded us was breathing. Beth was to practice deep breathing and my job was to coach her. When the time to deliver arrived, things went much faster than anyone expected and when I tried to coach her and remind her about breathing, let's just say that it wasn't well received at that point. The thought was there but the execution wasn't because of the pain.

I have become more aware of the importance of breathing with the diaphragm and not the upper chest as I have practiced contemplative prayer. Breathing properly is important for singers, and for maximizing oxygen intake for strenuous athletic endeavors. Spirit-breath, the term that Levison uses in his book has helped me in my spiritual life. Jesus breathing on, or "into" as Levison notes, alerts me to God's ever present nearness. Sometimes when I become aware of my breathing I am reminded of the Spirit's closeness, and how dependent I am on the Spirit.

How about you? Does Levison's devotion this morning on Spirit-breath have any impact on you? 

Day 5: The Valley of Dry Bones

I love the passage that Levison chose for this devotion, Ezekiel 37:1-10. Sometimes it is referred to as "The valley of dry bones." It encourages me when things look bleak, even dead. But I have never before thought about it in the way that Levison has described it. Rather than focus on the whole process as he does, I move from the the deadness and dryness of the bones quickly through the clattering of the bones, the growing of ligaments and sinews, etc. and on to the end when all of the bones have become living bodies. Never before have I thought, "How difficult the process of regeneration can be." The sentence that really caught my attention was the one that ended the paragraph about starving children and what it takes for them to regain the sense of hunger and thirst: "They are resurrected, but the midwife of new life is overwhelming pain." Wow. "the midwife of new life is overwhelming pain."

Frankly, I would rather skip the pain and experience new life with pain's absence! I don't like pain. I want to skip the steps. How about you? Going through the slow and painful progression to new life requires perseverance and the will to succeed and above all, God's grace. Yet in the end, it is worth it. I have experienced a lot of pain to become proficient at sports I have played, and clinical training in which I have engaged. While I didn't enjoy it while I was in the midst of it, as I look back, I am glad for having gone through it.

His prayer at the end of the devotion beautifully captures the essence of the devotion, I think.

"Bring me back, Holy Spirit
back to life
back to living
back to hope
Amen"

Day 4: Be Still

I wasn't a squirmy kid like Levison, so I have never had a problem with Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." I looked up the word, "still," in the dictionary and found that the adjective definition is "not moving or making a  sound,' and the definition for the noun form is "deep silence and calm." I like the noun definition a lot and love to experience deep silence and calm in God's presence.

Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the Hebrew word that we translate "still" being defined as "let go, abandon." I am more ambivalent about "abandon" because the first connotation for me is to "be abandoned" which I don't like or want to experience. However, when I think of it as "abandoning myself into the arms of God," I draw comfort and hope.

Once again, Levison helps us see the work of the Spirit from a different angle. The Spirit works quietly behind the scenes over a long period of time or in his words, "the Spirit is a reservoir of wisdom that suffuses Daniel's character over the course of three generations and two empires."

Day 3: Not What I Expected

I wasn't really sure where he was going in today's devotion. The passage from Job certainly isn't one that I would have thought about for a devotion on the Holy Spirit. Frankly, I never really understood Elihu and where he was coming from until I read this devotion. But it didn't seem all that relevant until the last two paragraphs. And what he says cuts against the grain of commonly held notions of how the Holy Spirit works. Being overwhelmed and feeling out of control are commonly associated with the Holy Spirit, I think, not quietly reflecting and thoughtfully speaking. I liked his closing sentence: "A lesson hard learned, held deep within, then divulged in a whisper--this too is the sound of Spirit-breath." Amen!

Day 2: Not Your Normal Thinking about the Holy Spirit

Levison certainly doesn't sugarcoat life in the Spirit. Unlike many who preach the health and the wealth gospel, Levison doesn't create the expectation that because we have the Holy Spirit in our lives things will be easy or that we will experience success, at least in terms of the way the world views success. I found the following quotations bracing:

"Here is the bare-bones expression of faith: the Spirit of God inspires us even--especially--at the      doorstep of death..."

"The Spirit in Job is not the power of victorious living--at leas not victorious living in the sense of     escape from illness and poverty and grief. The Spirit in Job is not the source of abundant life--at     least not the abundant life with a permanent smile full of bright white teeth and all the trappings       of security and success. The Spirit in Job doesn't manufacture what's astonishing--miracles and healings and brilliant sermons--at least not for this exhausted human being."

I don't think that these are the kinds of words that we want to hear, and especially when we think about the Holy Spirit. We want to hear about miracles, success, amazing stories. We are tempted to think that what Job experienced, the sense of exhaustion, of barely having breath as a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Are you winded? Can you say with Job, "As long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit"?

I want to be able to live the prayer that Levison prays:

      And when death around me
      When heath drops away

      Let me breathe out God's truth
      Let me sing, soft but strongly, God's praise.

Any thoughts?

Starting at the Beginning

I must confess that when I think of texts about the Holy Spirit the book of Genesis doesn't come to mind. Yet that is exactly where Levison begins his book on the Holy Spirit and it works for me--it makes sense.

The first thing that he notes is that the Spirit brings order out of chaos. I like that. I don't like it when I feel like my life is in chaos, or my house is in chaos because it makes me feel out of control. On the other hand, as I read this, I was thinking of some manifestations of the Spirit I have read about where it almost seems that the moving of the Holy Spirit creates chaos. I'm thinking of Pentecost where the coming of the Holy Spirit certainly stirred things up. Maybe it is more accurate to say that where things become rigid or stagnate--our theology, faith, etc.--the Holy Spirit doesn't create chaos but shakes things up and it can feel chaotic. Any thoughts about this?

What do you think about Levison's observation that the first act of the Spirit in the bible is to "hover"? "When we first meet theSpirit, we encounter the majesty of  bird of prey plucking its young and carrying them to safety. The threat of chaos is simply no match for the eagle's presence." I have never thought of the Spirit in this way, but I found his metaphor of the Spirit like an eagle helpful.

I really liked his prayer...

Roads, Roads, and Roads

I mentioned in a post I made after we drove up to Gulu how amazed I was at all the work being done on the road from Kampala to Gulu. After spending several days in Gulu, I was even more amazed at the work being done. All the major roads and many of the less important roads had been graded in Gulu. The main road from Gulu to Juba in South Sudan is now paved except for the center of Gulu where they are working full speed ahead. I was told by one of the drivers that the entire road will be paved by December and I have no doubt that this will happen based on what I observed. I even found that the smaller roads we take to visit one of Beth's and my sponsored children who lives way out in the bush had been graded and they were working on culverts.

Dora, one of my friends who is a former WVU staff person at the Children of War Center, said that the other reason so much work is being done is that the President of Uganda is running again next year and so he has the full court press on completing these road projects so he can use them as reasons that people should re-elect him.

On the ride down to Entebbe every once in a while I noticed these coiled pink tubes lying on the side of the road. I did see them on the way up to Gulu, but assumed they would be used for water or gas or something else. I couldn't believe it when my driver said those tubes are for the fiber-optic cables that will be running the length of the highway from Kampala to Gulu. Wow! I am astonished by the changes I have seen over the seven years that I have  been coming to Uganda!

A Big Surprise

One of the biggest surprises that I had at the St. Thomas Moore School was seeing Robert Ogwete for the first time in about four years. I met Robert on my first visit to the school in 2008. He was an orphan who was dirt poor but hungry to attend school and learn. Alex, the headmaster, was actually helping him pay for his tuition. Many of us on that trip collected money to pay for the remainder of his tuition for that year. In 2009, the first Vision Trip our church took, we collected enough money to pay for his tuition for that year as well.

Robert graduated from St. Thomas Moore and then attended a teacher's college. He had wanted to attend a four year university but wasn't able to find the funds to pay for it. But he has graduated from the teacher's college and is now teaching at another school in the Gulu district. It was such a joy to see him!

St. Thomas Moore

Now that I have returned from Uganda, I want to blog several more times about the trip. As I said in my previous post, the visit to St. Thomas Moore was amazing. All my trips there have been great, but for some reason this surpassed them. As I was reflecting on why this was the case, I came to the conclusion that the Program Manager of the Gulu Cluster, Harriet, was a major reason for it. I thought I had a picture of her by herself, but I didn't take one so this picture will have to do. She translated for me when I spoke with the students.

Harriet is warm, inviting and full of joy. Not only did she make us feel welcome, she made the students and the teachers at St. Thomas Moore feel welcome. There was something in the way that she interacted with all of us that made for such a memorable visit, I think.

I kept remembering the first two visits and the contrast of what I was experiencing on this visit. It was so different. I could not have imagined the degree of change that our partnership had produced back in 2008 and 2009.

The Director of Education for northern Uganda, Catherine, attended the first part of the day. I was impressed with her demeanor and with the message that she shared with the students. After the ground breaking ceremony was completed, she gracefully departed for another function. Below is her picture.

According to Alex, St. Thomas Moore is ranked number 11 in the northern district. 

Overwhelmed

I don't even know where to begin. This was the best day that I have spent in Uganda since I first traveled here in 2008. We spent 7 hours at St. Thomas Moore that defies words. It's late and I am still trying to process what happened so I will share just briefly and post blogs about our experience when I return. Let me summarize what we received from the school: one chicken, one goat, one large container of honey in the honeycomb, two poems, a beautiful picture by the art instructor, and had one song dedicated to us. There was a lot of singing, dancing, speech-making, and laughing. I even played some volleyball and didn't do too badly for an old guy. We had a ground-breaking ceremony for the new library. I also was given a Ugandan name by Harriet, the project manager of the Koro-Bobi ADP. My Ugandan name is Omara, which means "He loves." I will post a few pictures to give you a little taste of what we experienced. Joan and Michelle feel as overwhelmed as I do. We are going to have time to process it on our trip to Entebbe tomorrow.

Below is a picture of Todo Alex and his wife, Joy. This was the first time that I met her. I think it was Alex and Joy who gave us the goat. They intended for us to eat it for breakfast. I asked Harriet, the Program Manager for Koro-Bobi, to give the goat to a needy family. They are going to give it to one of Beth's and my sponsored children, Brenda.

The picture below is the sign we unveiled at the ground breaking for the library.

As you can see, Joan handles a mean pick. I was afraid that Michelle was going to hit someone in the head with hers!

Two of our gifts...

Tomorrow I don't think I will be able to blog, so there may be a 2 day gap before I can blog again about our visit to St. Thomas Moore.

Vision Fund

Today we focused on the Vision Fund, the entity that World Vision has created for microfinance. After devotions we received a briefing on how the Vision Fund works by some of the Vision Fund staff. It has been operative in Gulu for about 4 years and they are having a lot of success with it. The one criteria that differentiates them from other microfinance organizations is that the person seeking the loan must have children. Since WV focuses its work on children and their well-being, they want to insure that the loan will in some way benefit children. As I have read elsewhere, women are better at repaying loans than men, and the repayment rate is extremely high.

After the briefing, we drove for 1 1/2 hours or so to the Candangmone community which received microfinance loans. The president, Santos, spoke about the community and how the Vision Fund helped them. Below are a couple of pictures from the day. Santos is standing and Flavia is translating in the first picture and the second is of some of the Vision Trip Team,

After the briefing we headed back to Gulu and partway back stopped to meet Peter, a man who had received a microfinance loan. He was quite impressive. He spoke in English which surprised me, and he had received his first loan to help him in his farming. He is growing sweet potatoes to sell to farmers who will be planting them when the rainy season starts in the next several weeks. The neighbors were references for him to get the loan because of his investment in the community, trying to teach others about farming. His success will affect the well-being of those in his community. We took a field trip to see some of his fields planted with sweet potatoes. Below is a picture of one of them.

Tomorrow we spend the day at St. Thomas Moore School and Joan, Michelle, and I  are really excited about spending the day there.

Sharing in the Life of Children

The Gulu Cluster has moved to the former Children of War Center. (COWC) I feel very connected to that place so I am actually happy that it has moved. Because they were renting the former office and WVU owns the COWC and it was no longer functioning in that capacity, they decided to move last year.

Harriet is the Cluster manager and she lead a very lively devotions. During one of the songs we formed a conga line singing a praise song in Luo. After singing I gave the message with a translator, and this was followed by introductions of the Gulu Cluster staff and those of us on the Vision Trip.

When devotions ended, we all headed to the open market to purchase some food stuffs for each of the families of our sponsored children. This included 3 litres of cooking oil, 10 kilos of corn flour, 1 kilo of sugar, 2 kilos of salt, 2 kilos of rice, two long bars of laundry washing soap, a big package of biscuits (cookies) and 2 kilos of onions. We needed to buy for a total of 18 sponsored children between the two churches. We came back to the hotel, divided everything up, placed them in large bags that we had also purchased. Because of the large number of sponsored children, it was not possible to visit all of the them at their homes. So most of the children came to our hotel with one or both parents and were there from approximately 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. I headed out around 10:30 am with several of the WVU staff to visit Beth's and my sponsored children. At the end of the day, everyone had a moving time with our sponsored children.

On my way to visit one of my children, we passed by a pond that was filled with people hunting Mudfish. Mudfish dig down into the mud, and apparently they go deeply. This pond was filled with people hunting for them. Many had spears whose head was a 1 to 2 feet long thin cylinder with a point. Some people were trying to dig for them with their hands. I didn't actually see anyone in the process of catching one but the second picture shows a man who is holding up his recently caught mudfish.

Two of my favorite sponsored children are Stephen and Ronald. They are best friends, their families are very close, and they are really cute. Stephen is affectionate and Ronald is shier, but I always visit them together with one boy sitting on my right and the other on the left. It turns out that the clothes that Miriam helped me buy in Entebbe for the children fit amazingly well. She did a great job. Below is a picture of the boys in the shirts I bought them. Stephen is on the left and Ronald on the right.

Oh, did I mention that today was the hottest day that I have experienced in Uganda? It hit 106 degrees. The humidity is low so it felt more like Phoenix than Miami. It was a great day.

On the Road

We met for breakfast at 7:00 am and headed for the WVU National Headquarters around 7:45. We attended devotions with the WVU staff and after the presentation we introduced ourselves to those staff who were there. I always look forward to devotions because my friend Vincent who is in charge of spiritual development for all of WVU leads them and I get to see him if for even a brief time. Below is a picture of Vincent.

After listening to several presentations on the work of WVU, we headed up to Gulu around 11:30 am. We were in a convoy of four vehicles. Joan, Michelle, and I were in a vehicle together and the other church split up between the other three vehicles. We were fully loaded with all of the luggage that we brought, a lot of it was for the children. The trip normally takes from four to five hours. We made good time on the first half of the journey and stopped at a nice rest stop to stretch our legs and get something to drink. It wasn't too long after that we started running into road reconstruction. The amount of roadwork that I saw amazed me.

For a number of years the government has been working to rebuild the road to Gulu. Each time I return they have made progress. I never saw much actual work being done, and I might see one modern road construction vehicle like a grader in the work area. Today, however was totally different. Not only did I observe the "usual" work" but from a little over halfway to Gulu, road construction was actually occuring or had been done but not completed all the way to Gulu. It dawned on me after I saw an Asian looking man supervising at one place, that this is the result of the billions of dollars that the Chinese government has been pouring into Subsaharan Africa. I was astonished that the road work has gone all the way to Gulu. When I was here at the end of July, virtually none of this occured--it has all happened in nine months!

In addition to the road work slowing us down, the lead vehicle had a flat tire. The spare tire was too soft to use, so one of the drivers of another vehicle drove it to a gas station not to far up the road to fill it with air. That episode took about 40 minutes. Below are a few pictures of it.

We finally rolled into the Bomah Hotel around 7:30 pm. We were glad to be in Gulu and hungry for dinner. 

Tomorrow we will share devotions at the Gulu Cluster and then visit with our sponsored children, something we are all looking forward to.

Two for One

We headed for church this morning a few minutes before 10:00 am and arrived  few minutes later--the church is not far from Fulukas' and Miriam's house. Their church is named the "Solid Rock Pentecostal Church." See the picture from the outside of the building below.

Below is a picture of the pastor of the church and myself after the service.

If you remember from my last post, he invited me to preach at the Sunday service. He, in fact, said "main" preacher. Last summer when I was there I was introduced to the congregation and invited to say something. This time he wanted a sermon, so as it turns out, there were two "main" sermons: his and mine.

I was surprised that there was almost no singing at the beginning of the service because my experience of worshiping at Pentecostal services is that there is a lot of singing, sometimes more than an hour at the beginning of the service. After a welcome and some prayers, the pastor started preaching on David and Goliath from I Samuel and in a lively manner preached for 45 minutes. Everything was translated during the service and different people were used to do the translation. I am always amazed at the fluidity of the translation. Sometimes the pastor would speak in English and the translator into the local language, and without warning the pastor would switch into the local language and the translator without skipping a beat would speak English.

After he finished, there were a group of people that did a drama which the congregation found hilarious. It was after the small play that the singing began and it went for quite a while. I was then introduced and I preached with a translator for 45 minutes (that is about the minimum amount of time for preaching a respectable pentecostal sermon). There was a little singing after I was finished and the service ended. In all it lasted approximately 3 1/2 hours. See the pictures below.

Worship was joyful and full of energy. They didn't seem to mind that they were getting two sermons in one worship service, and I could tell that they were attentive to my message. 

I spent the afternoon with Fulukas and Miriam and we headed for the Imperial Royale Hotel where the group is staying in Kampala. I met up with Joan and Michelle and the folks  from the other church from Midland, MI who are sharing this Vision Trip with us.

Tomorrow we head for the national headquarters for WVU to share in morning worship at 8:00 pm and we will head out for Gulu around 11:00 am and should arrive in Gulu between 4:00  pm and 5:00 pm.

Surprise, Surprise

Miriam picked me up at the hotel yesterday around 11:00 am and we headed for Kampala and then Wakiso where she and Fulukas live. Wakiso is about 10 miles northwest of Kamapala. We were about halfway between Entebbe and Kampala when a convoy of about 10 vehicles were moving rapidly in the opposite direction. Miriam was driving slowly on the shoulder and then some police pulled her over and were extremely agitated. The president of Uganda was in the convoy, and apparently when you pass a convoy for him, you are supposed to pull off the road and stop no matter what direction your are traveling. (I don't think Miriam knew this). When they pulled us over, they were very angry at Miriam and said they were going to charge her, that she was going to court and some other threats. I thought that we were in big trouble.  She calmly told me that she would talk with them and it would be OK and got out of the car. They were arguing and threatening her with prison. At one point the angriest of officers came to my window and told me they were going to charge her and she would have to go to court. I calmly told him that she had just picked me up and I don't think she knew she was supposed to get off the road. I am not sure if he was thinking that he might get a bribe from me. He didn't say anything and walked back. She came back to the car to get her driver's license and when I asked her what was going on, she said that they wanted a bribe and she wasn't going to give a bribe. She went back to talk with them and about 10 minutes later she came back with a smile and we went on our way. She said that she doesn't pay bribes and she wasn't going to pay one. What a gutsy lady--I was impressed!

We made it to Kampala where we went to the highest point in Kampala where the Anglican Cathedral is located. It was nice and cool there but I didn't have a really clear view of the city. I was planning on taking a picture, but it wasn't good enough to post. However, below is a picture of the cathedral, which was beautiful.

We arrived at their home in Wakiso around 4:00 pm. I will be staying her for two nights. Below is a picture of the back of their house.

They have a wonderful view from the patio where I am typing this post to my blog and every once in a while look up to enjoy the view.

Last night there were eight couples from a church group that were meeting and I was the guest speaker. Miriam told me about this when I talked with her Thursday night by phone. I thought she wanted me to do this Saturday night, but it turns out it was last night. So we arrived at a restaurant nearby and we sat at some tables outside. Couples introduced themselves and after all of the introductions I was asked to speak. I spoke about 30 minutes after which we ate. There was a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter. The couples were clearly enjoying themselves and were engaged in my topic, the 5 Languages of Love. I think we broke up around 10:00 pm

The pastor of their church and his wife were one of the couples. He asked me if I would be the main preacher at church on Sunday. In all honesty, I would rather not preach ( I was hoping for a break), but it was an offer that I couldn't refuse. I need to preach for at least 45 minutes, but someone will be translating for me and that will take up some time. :-)

A Beautiful Morning

This is the view from my window this morning: in the distance you can see Lake Victoria. It is really beautiful. WVU has a contract with this hotel in Entebbe so we always stay here our first night. I have always had a room on a lower floor so the trees have blocked my view, so I was delighted to actually have this view of the lake.

Below is a picture of the inside of the hotel, the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel. It amazes me because this is a large hotel and I have never been here when there have been more than just a handful of people. I wonder how they can afford to stay open.

I am waiting in the lobby for Miriam to pick me up and head for Kampala. I normally bring gifts for Beth's and my sponsored children, but because I came a week early and and didn't have an extra bag I didn't have much room for that. So Miriam is going to take me to some stores on our way to Wakiso where I can buy gifts for them.

It also turns out that I will be speaking about marriage to a group of Christian couples to which Fulukas and Miriam belong and whose focus is strengthening their marriages. Last July when I was here Miriam asked if I might meet with them and do some teaching, and I said I would be willing to do that at some point. She took the initiative and set up a time for tomorrow evening. We are invited to dinner at one of the couples homes after which I will speak. It's a good thing that I have the marriage seminar materials with me!

Arusha-Nairobi-Entebbe

In case your wondering, I did not see Mt. Kilimanjaro as I went to the airport today. That means I am 0 for 4 in trips, and 0 for 10 in actual times I might have seen it. I wasn't too disappointed, though, because it was hazy in Arusha this morning and I figured it would be worse by the airport and it was. My driver, Mr. Mwanga, wants me to see it as much as I do. I think he was more disappointed than I was.

My first flight went from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi and my second flight from Nairobi to Entebbe. Each flight was approximately 45 minutes long. Nairobi airport has a huge new terminal that just opened and looks like an airport in the West. If you remember, a number of years ago there was a terrorist attack that destroyed a significant portion of the terminal. When I went through Nairobi last July it was still under construction. Someone told me that it opened a few months ago. In any case, it is quite an upgrade.

On the flight to Entebbe, I sat next to a very interesting man. His name is Paul Bukenya and he works for a Christian NGO based in Chicago called Opportunity International. This organization works in microfinance and his job is in IT. He is also active in his church and is involved with a group of Christians who have formed a program to develop Christian leaders. There are about 30 people per class, and they go to class every Saturday and Sunday for six months. They do pay a tuition that pays for the rent for the building they have leased and for overhead. He shared with me some of the texts that they use and I was impressed. He said that they have about 300 graduates.

He has a wife, son, and two other children they are caring for live in Kampala. When I told him how amazed I was at how clean Kampala was after they appointed a very high level kind of "Clean Up Czar," he actually told me the story behind it. The woman who was appointed in this position was a tax lawyer who had just retired. She loves cooking and baking and that is what she planned on doing. I don't remember the exact details, but I think someone asked her if she had been asked or was interested in the position and she said she was retired and she wasn't interested. Shortly after that when she was praying, God told her that she was going to get that position. (She was known by high government officials, but wasn't seeking the position as I said.) She was amazed by that and said, I haven't even been asked. A couple of days later, she got a call out of the blue from the president of Uganda asking her if she would accept it.

She is a committed Christian and Paul's mentor knows her. She was giving her testimony and has had not only death threats against her but there have been several attempted assassinations. She now has a body guard that accompanies her. Paul himself told me how amazed he was at what she has accomplished. He didn't think it would ever happen. The corruption is rampant and for years and years those in charge of cleaning up the city just pocketed the money.She has quite a testimony and a lot of courage. It is truly amazing how much cleaner it is not only Kampala but even in Gulu.

  

A Most Satisfying Day

George ended staying up until 1:00 a.m. this morning translating my handouts into Swahili and then running them off so that we could have them when we started this morning. I am so thankful for him. He is truly an outstanding translator as I mentioned in my last post.

At 9:00 this morning there were exactly 0 people in the conference room. It followed the pattern of yesterday, people trickling in slowly, nobody in a particular hurry to arrive. By 10:00 there were 7 or 8 people and we decided to have our coffee and tea break with the hope that more people would arrive while we were on break. That in fact did happen and we began the session at 10:30, a vast improvement over 11:20.

My biggest concern was that couples who had not made it yesterday would attend. It wasn't that they didn't learned yesterday's materials, but that they would significantly dilute the trust level that emerged and which allowed some of the deeper sharing to occur yesterday. There were actually more than twice as many people attending today as yesterday. I decided to address that issue by having one wife and one husband share with the group what they had learned yesterday rather than me summarizing. I knew how enthusiastic and energized the group was yesterday and thought that it would have a positive impact on the new people. I think it did help for by the end of the training there was a good deal of people risking to make themselves vulnerable in what they said.

The two topics we discussed were Dealing with Conflict and Issues Concerning Sex.I was especially curious on how they would respond to the the section on sex since sex is really not discussed in this culture. The couples were hungry to learn, asked questions, made comments, and were fully engaged. I was surprised by their response to the material concerning sex. We talked more explicitly about sexual issues than I thought they would be comfortable with, but we had some interesting discussions.

Once again, the women by their comments, investment in the conversations, the smiles on their faces were thrilled with this seminar. They didn't want the seminar to end. In terms of the evaluations, nearly everyone put as the major weakness of the seminar was not enough time. So the men felt that way as well. But I spent a lot of time helping husbands understand why their wives respond the way they do, and the wives would be shaking their heads in agreement as I was speaking. (It kind of felt like the experience I have had in an African-American church where people in the congregation make comments while the preacher is preaching, like, "Amen" and "Preach it brother."). One wife came up to me after we had finished and thanked me saying, "When we came here our marriage was in a big hole but now we have come out of it." She was beaming. Another reason the women were particularly eager to stay is that their husbands captive for the time they were there and through some of the work and assignments I gave the couples, could talk with them, share feelings that they are not normally able to share, and enjoy being with them.

One couple sitting right in front of the podium caught my attention. I marveled at the way the husband spoke about their marriage, the way he gently touched her shoulder as he talked about her, and in general is tenderness in talking with her. I actually used him as an example of the way a husband should treat his wife.

I want to share a couple of pictures from today. The first is a picture of Janeth (not a typo) who is a WVT staff person who was helping George out. When I saw the colorful dress that she wore to the seminar this morning, I told her that I had to take a picture of her.  She is married and has two children.

This second picture is of Pastor Masirika Mwambusa and his wife. I was very impressed with his thoughtfulness, vulnerability, honesty, and his gentle presence. He asked excellent questions. He was drinking up this seminar. He is actually a missionary to Tanzania from the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). He lives on the border with Rwanda and has been in Tanzania for about a year. He asked me at the end of the conference if his wife could take a picture of us together. Afterwards, I took this picture of him and his wife.

I want to offer a heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been praying for me and for this seminar. It was a great success and WVT wants me to come back to do more training. There is such a great need for this here (and probably everywhere).

Tomorrow afternoon I head for Entebbe via Nairobi. I should arrive in Entebbe around 7:00 pm. i would ask for your continued prayers and especially for Joan and Michelle who will be heading to Uganda on Friday.

God Works in Mysterious Ways

Today the conference was supposed to begin at 9:00 am and go to 5:00 pm. I wasn't really expecting it to begin on time because in this culture beginning and ending on time isn't a priority. So at 9:00 am there was one person in the room. At 9:15 there were two people in the room, at 9:30 there were three people in the room and at 10:00 we were back down to two. Daniel said to me  "We need patience like a donkey."George Mngodo, my WVT translator whom I mentioned in a previous email, got in touch with the pastor who was supposed to be bringing 8-10 couples from a nearby ADP thought the conference was Wednesday and Thursday, not Tuesday and Wednesday. At 10:30, it was time for coffee and tea break, so Daniel, George, myself and maybe four others had coffee break. Daniel and George decided that we would start at 11:15 no matter who was present. So we actually began at 11:20 with 6 couples and 2 men whose wives were not able to attend today but are planning on coming tomorrow. It's the first time that I have had a coffee break before the conference actually started. Below is a picture of the conference room around 8:50 a.m.

It turned out that a number of those attending did not speak any English and many of the others were not very proficient in English so we decided that George would translate for me. It was definitely the right thing to do and George did an outstanding job as translator. He was smooth and my fear of it being overly disjointed was not an issue. The main problem was that my handouts were in English and he needed to translate them for the attendees. After the day was over, I gave him copies of my handouts for tomorrow and he planned to translate them into Swahili and print them off for tomorrow morning. The picture below shows George translating for me.

I had asked George to find someone to lead some singing before we began and Thekla, Pastor Orestes wife, led the singing. Africans' ability to make music without instruments but by clapping rhythms never ceases to amaze me. It was joyous singing and all the attendees got into it.

The picture above is of Pastor Orestes and his wife, Thekla. After the singing was finished, Daniel talked about this being sponsored by WVT and why they were holding this seminar and then introduced me. I gave some opening background about myself and why I was in Tanzania and began teaching. We were originally going to break for lunch at noon, but Daniel changed the time to 1:30 pm so we had a decent amount of time engage the topic. I used scripture to make a case for the equality of women and was uncertain how they would receive it. But it actually went quite well. Then I began the next topic which was "communication," but we broke for lunch before long. We returned and continued the topic around 2:30 and finished up around 4:30.

As it turns out the smaller group lent itself to more openness and trust and I was thrilled with the level of honesty and sharing that occurred in the room. I wasn't sure how comfortable they would be with me and uncertain if they would interact with me, but they started sharing comments and asking questions almost from the beginning, and in the session after lunch, the trust level deepened. The one thing that I felt most gratified about was the response of the wives. I spent time explaining to their husbands general differences between the way men and women deal especially with feelings, and as I was speaking, they were all nodding "yes" and smiling. I think they felt validated and to the husbands credits, they were enlightened and seemed genuinely appreciative of learning this about their wives.

After today's seminar was over, Daniel, George, and I met and they were excited about the response those attending had. They said that frequently when presenters come, especially from the West, they don't connect. I want to thank you for your prayers because I do believe that they helped create a climate of trust and openness today. Please keep tomorrow in your prayers.

Daniel told me at the end of the debrief that tomorrow there would be an additional 10-15 couples attending. If that actually happens, I am sad that they weren't able to attend this first day but hope that the dynamic of trust that we established today isn't diluted. We shall see...