Meet Tom part II

Life in Jinja

Tom is the cousin to Apio who helps out with the ministry as well.  Tom came to work with Healing Faith when we needed a position filled.  In Uganda finding hard working, honest people to work with can sometimes be a challenge and we were thankful to have a personal recommendation.

Tom is also amazing with the children, who absolutely adore him.  He helps them ride bikes, pushes them on the swing and plays games with them during the day.  He plays Hide and Seek and Tag Your It with all the kids. I have seen him “shop” at Hadlee’s market she set up outside.  I have even seen him sit down and play dolls with Hadlee, funny doll voice and all.  Tom is never too busy to make time to play with the kids.  He was even a good sport one day when all the kids ambushed him with water guns!   VIDEO

 I have a couple stories from my time together with Tom that always make me smile.  One day as we were traveling to pick up a table, Tom kept  looking over at me as I was driving.  I finally asked Tom is something was wrong.  Looking at my seatbelt, he  asked “Sir, should I tie myself to the vehicle as well?”  It never occurred to me to show Tom how to put on his  seatbelt.

Tom has also been exposed to many new American foods during his time with us.  Tom and Apio both eat lunch with us everyday.  We mostly eat Ugandan style lunches, but from time to time we have an “American” meal.  Tom has tried some American treats such as; Jello, which was really fun to watch, Macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, soft tacos, smores and I think his personal favorite was pizza.  He is always adventuresome and will try anything the kids bring to him. One time the kids were so excited to give him a Warhead candy and see his reaction to the sourness.  They weren’t disappointed!

Tom trying S'Mores

During my conversations with Tom he told me “Sir, I think the world is going the way of computers, and I think I should learn about them.”  So for Tom’s birthday we arranged for him to have computer classes in town.  Tom learned everything from how to set up a computer and care for it, to typing, word processing and excel.  He is still working hard on learning to use the computer.  We are very proud of Tom and how hard he is working to learn a new skill.

Tom always works hard, and rain (we’ve been getting a lot lately) or shine, Tom always has a smile on his face.

During my time visiting with Tom, he left me with a couple quotes;

“By the time I reached here I was so excited to find you were a friend to me and you were providing for my basic needs. By working with you I can see I have a bright future ahead.”

“What I can tell you is I faced some problems with schooling, but good enough, God was with me.”

Listening to the struggles Tom faced just to get an education has given me a whole new perspective on what a privilege it is to have received an education.  As parents we have a hard time getting kids out of bed in the morning for school, or in our case a hard time motivating them to complete their home school. Tom got up every morning at 5am to dig in the garden and to care for his animals just to scrape up enough money to pay for school fees. Admiration is the word that comes to mind….

How easy would it have been for Tom to look at his situation as hopeless and quit his schooling?  He never did, he worked hard, persevered and was able to complete through Senior 4.   The struggles I faced (or what I thought were struggles) during my schooling, pale in comparison to what Tom went through.

Honestly, with integrity, working hard and always a smile on his face; this is how Tom goes about his daily life.  He is truly a blessing to our lives and to our ministry.

Meet Tom

Meet Tom.  Tom is an integral part of our ministry here in Uganda.   Tom wears many hats; he manages the compound (our yard), he is security during the day, he mans the gate and feeds and manages all of our guard dogs. There is not a person that gets through the gates without going through Tom first. Even if you are a frequent visitor, you have to go through Tom.

One of the best things about Tom is his smile. Those of you who have met Tom know that you cannot help but be affected by his contagious smile.

Tom is 19 years old and comes from a village up north past  Gulu called Adak. Back home in his village, Tom owns a plot of land and owns two cows and two goats, you will see later how important these goats are.  Tom came to know the Lord at a young age.  He told me he was saved at a young age, around P3, which is around 3rd grade. He came to know Jesus through always going to church with his mother.

We all have a story to tell and Tom is no different. For two days I have had the pleasure of sitting down with Tom to hear his story. I have always respected Tom and his work ethic, but after sitting with him for the last two days I have a much greater appreciation and admiration for Tom. His story is one of struggle and perseverance.

Schooling

Tom completed his studies through senior level 4, which would be the equivalent of finishing High School in America. Getting to that level was quiet an accomplishment. At an early age Tom was required to help dig in the garden each morning. His day would start at 5am when his mother would wake him to come help dig in the garden. Yes, I said 5am, I do not function at 5am much less be ready to dig in the garden.  That is hard work. He would have to dig with the hoe to get the ground ready for planting, after planting they would have to keep the weeds away. He would dig in the garden until 9am and then rush and get cleaned up and ready for school.  After his studies at school he would come home and help dig in the garden again.  When it came time during the 3rdand final term of Primary 7, Tom was forced to miss 3 weeks of school because of caring for the beans.  It was nearing time for the beans to be harvested and they needed extra care and attention, so school became secondary to caring for the garden.  It was school or survival.  Due to this 3-week absence Tom became very worried about passing his end of the year exams. Tom was ready to give up and stop his schooling, however Tom’s brother convinced him to prepare for the exams and to continue on with schooling. His brother convinced him he was struggling so much with school, not because he was not smart enough, but because he had to work so hard at home.  Tom was able to pass his exams and was eligible to continue on to Senior 1.

School Fees

Raising the fees to go to school is a constant struggle for many here in Uganda. Tom worked hard and had a plan in place to pay for each term. To pay school fees for the first term Tom used money he had earned by selling the things he raised in the garden by digging during the holidays. By this point Tom had acquired two goats, these goats started producing babies, he was able to sell the babies and make enough money to pay for his second term. The third term was always the biggest struggle, but he was able to raise enough money by selling the beans he had planted during the first term holidays.  Tom said, “By senior 2 I had tasted the goodness of my education and wanted to stay.” By his hard work and planning he was able to raise enough money to stay in school.

School Days

During his time in school his fellow students elected Tom as a Prefect during S3. As a Prefect he was a representative of the students.  It was during this time that the students wanted to go on strike.  They were frustrated with the teachers and the way things were happening at school.  Tom was able to sit down as a representative of the students with the teachers and they were able to reach a compromise, the strike was cancelled.

After completing his exams for Senior 4, Tom was again struggling and worried about the results of his exams. Before the results came in, he got a call from his cousin Apio informing him of a job in Jinja. Since Tom doubted his exam scores, he decided to come to Jinja and begin working. When the exam results came in, Tom had passed!  This meant he could go on to the Advanced level for two years, start working as a primary teacher or go onto other levels of courses to prepare him for the work world.

Read more about Tom in Meet Tom Part II

Awakening

I just returned to Uganda from a two-week trip to the US to visit family and conduct some ministry business.  What a journey it was!  I returned with one less bag than I started with (thank you British Airways) and a few more pounds packed on than I left with (thank you Jonathan Stark.) The visit with my family, which I had not seen in almost two years, was such a blessing, and the food…well that’s another blog story! I left the States longing to see my wife and kiddos, but I also left feeling recharged and rejuvenated.

While I was in the States I got to hear some amazing men of God speak.  Pastor Will Lewis at Brazos Fellowship, Rev. Elijah Stansell at Christ United Methodist and Pastor Tony McCollum at Seabrook United Methodist.  It was great to hear these men speak and to hear a different perspective on God and how He is at work. During my time in the States I was blessed to be able to share at 3 different speaking engagements how God is moving in Uganda and how He is using Healing Faith as a tool for His Kingdom. However, as I always tell my children, God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason…. So that you listen more than you speak.  I was so very blessed to be able to listen to these men speak and lay it down for God.

While at our home church of Brazos Fellowship, I was blessed to be at a First Wednesday service in which baptisms were being conducted. It was amazing to see the line of people who had decided to go public with their faith and make a commitment to God. What I saw that evening brought tears to my eyes and gave me goose bumps.  I saw young children, the future of the church, giving their lives to Christ.  I saw college students and a mother and her two daughters give their lives to the Lord together.  The one that put a lump in my throat and chills over my body was a sweet elderly couple.  This loving couple decided they were tired of waiting and at the age of grandparents they gave their life to the Lord.  He was slowed with age and she could barely make it into the baptismal, she had to be helped in by several members of the church.  Right there on that Wednesday evening I watched God move into the heart and lives of a couple that had been lost for so many years before. After the husband came up out of the water a new man, he reached for his wife who was waiting her turn and embraced her with a hug and a kiss. It was a moment that I will never forget and a moment that brought tears to the eyes of a whole congregation.  It just goes to show that it is never too late and God continues to work on everyone’s heart that is willing to open it.

I listened to Rev Elijah give a good report from a doctors appointment as he began his sermon. He said the young doctor told him “I’m good to go.” He told us he too had been on a journey, a journey of spiritual awakening. He told the congregation that through his time with them at the revival “I’ve gotten some content for my journey.” He spoke spiritual truth and asked the question “When you are lying on your death bed will you be wishing you did more for Jesus or are you secure in your place in His Kingdom?  Do you know that you know?”

Many times the struggles we face here in Uganda begin to wear us down. We all have struggles, these struggles just have different faces.  For the last two years our struggles have been the faces of the Ugandan people who are entrenched in poverty.  So entrenched I wonder how the cycle will ever end. Yet they always smile and welcome us and do not seem to dwell on their circumstances.  I have seen the struggles of those suffering from illness, especially from malaria.  I sometimes wonder how the Uganda people could be dealt this fate.  However, I have come to realize that a quote from Rev Elijah Stansell nailed it.  “Faith in a faithful God will determine my fate.”  It is this faith in a faithful God that will determine our fate, not our circumstances. I heard him speak these words at a Revival at Christ United Methodist Church. The dictionary defines a revival as; a restoration, a new presentation. The church defines it as an awakening. He brought a powerful message. Whether it is in a church in College Station, Texas or the sugar cane fields of Uganda a revival is an awakening.

Well, I am awakened by my journey.  I am awakened by this journey that God has placed our family on in Uganda.   In the words on Rev Stansell, I’m good to go and I have some content for my journey.

Malaria and wounds and brawls.....oh my!

We had an adventure this week in the village.  Come to think of it, everyday in the village is an adventure.  I do not ever recall coming home from the village and saying "well that was boring and uneventful."

We started the week in the village with two confirmed cases of malaria and began them on a 7 day treatment. We have also encountered some sort of mystery infection with the children in the village.  They get a small bite looking wound, it hardens, the middle sinks in and then it explodes into a giant wound. Most of them become quarter sized but I have seen some about 6 inches in diameter. Some of them heal and dry on their own, but too many of them become severely infected.  I have been researching tropical diseases and consulting with villagers and Ugandan nurses.  However, we have not figured it out yet. Up to now we are just treating the infection and dressing the wounds.  

On Tuesday Tiffany took her guitar out to the village, much to the delight of the kids.  She played a few, ok two, songs for the kids and we tried to teach them the words and hand motions to Waves of Mercy. We did not have too much luck, only a few of the kids actually followed along. Nonetheless we gave it a shot. 

Today, we went out with Welcome Home Village Team, we were able to sing songs of worship and the Village Team read a Bible story to them in their local language. Our day started off very slow in the village, as we could not find many of the kids.  The Welcome Home Team went around the village and even went to the school to round up the kids.  Pierce was very impatient for the kids to arrive   and wanted to make a circle with the few kids that were there.  That is how we    start each day in the village, we make a circle and we sing songs of worship.  Pierce loves this part!  Anytime there is singing or music Pierce becomes a  dancing machine! The Uganda kids think this is hilarious which only eggs Pierce on and improves his performance.

Unfortunately, due to lives full of hardship and not having a hope in Jesus yet, many villages turn to a life of alcoholism.  In Kogoma Gate there is a home brew made from sugar cane, which is plentiful.  There is a place in the center of all of the huts where this is brewed.  The smell is something that takes some time getting used to (or maybe never getting used to) and the appearance resembles black tar dripping into barrels.  I can't imagine the pain that has driven people to actually want to drink this stuff.  The last two visits to Kogoma Gate we have been confronted with a man who has been severely drunk on this, early in the morning.  Perhaps never having even sobered up from the night before.  It is always difficult to deal with someone that is drunk at this magnitude, but the first day I sat with him for over 10 minutes trying to just be someone who would listen and care.  It didn't appear that I was getting very far and he was becoming more and more demanding of things I couldn't give him.  Finally, I had to leave because there were still many kids that needed medical attention.  This same man was back again today in the same condition.  He began disturbing the children as they were singing worship songs, demanding that his picture be taken.  Unfortunately the scene ended with another man from the village dragging him away.  Please pray for him and for so many others like him that have lost so much hope of a better life and are just left trying to drink their sorrows away.  Pray that Kari and I can find a way to reach even them with the healing that can come through a faith in Jesus.  Pray for our patience and wisdom in handling hard situations. 

After songs of worship I began to follow up with the children who were diagnosed with malaria earlier in the week, both were still sick, but showing signs of improvement. We also had many children who needed follow up for wound care from the mystery infection. While all of this was going on Pierce, Hadlee and Karson were playing futbol with the kids and playing on the swings. After a short time I realized I had not seen Pierce around, he kind of sticks out in the crowd. I began to search for him, as I walked all the villagers began pointing.  I had my own roadmap of villagers pointing me in the right direction of Pierce.  He was not too hard to track, a little blond haired blue-eyed muzungu wandering through the village.  I found him making his way down to the primary school in the village.  After I brought Pierce back I returned to wound care for the kids, Karson came running up to tell me one of the kids got their fingers slammed in the door of the van.  So I ran over to find a poor kid with his fingers caught in the sliding door of the van, I got them out with minimal damage and only a few tears.

As we were finishing up our wound care and packing up, a huge fight broke out between 5-6 of the village men.  This was not a pushing and shoving type fight, but a swinging of fist and sticks at one another in an all out brawl. I gathered all our kiddos up and got them into the van and then gathered all the village kids around to get them away from the brawl that broke out. Never boring right!? Just another day in the village.

Stand with us in prayer that the children with malaria will recover and we can find a solution to the mystery infection that is plaguing the children.

check out more images from Healing Faith on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/healingfaithuganda 

Drunken village man requesting his picture be taken

Pastor John trying to reason with our "friend"

Finally a Village Elder had enough and dragged the drunken man away

Uphill battle...

Over the last year we have encountered countless number of cases of malria.  One of the uphill battles we are facing is the fact that many of the villagers equate any illness, ache or pain to malaria.  "It must be the malaria"  is a common phrase when we visit the village. That is where our soon to be launched education program will hopefully help out.  Our goal it to educate the villagers on the signs and symptoms of malaria and when it is necessary to seek treatment.

Treatment. Such a simple word and something very easy for us to obtain in the States.  At any sign of serious illness we make an appointment with our local pediatrician or in severe cases rush to the local ER.  If it is not serious we run to Walgreens or Walmart for medication. For the villagers we work with that is not an option, there is no Walmart on the nearest corner . Are there clinics? Yes.  Are there "free" government hospitals?  Yes.  However the issue becomes getting transport.  When you live off of less than a $1.25 a day in some cases spending 1000 Ugandan Shillings (40 cents US) for transport to the clinic and 1000 UG Shillings back is not an option. Your other option is to walk over 5 kilometers to the nearest trading center where there might be a  roadside clinic. The problem is even if the villagers can get to the clinic, they cannot afford the treatment.  The other option is to get into Jinja to the government hospital.  It takes us about 45 minutes to an hour to get there by vehicle. At the hospital the wait time is astronomical (our ER wait time is nothing compared to the wait times I have seen).  Even then the hospital may be out of the supplies or medicine that is needed and the person will be expected to buy the materials and bring them to the hospital.

One of the huge problems we have encountered is medication.  Medication is easily obtainable here if you have money.  No prescription needed, if you have money you can go to the pharmacy and get what you need.  If someone test positive for malaria they may not have enough money left to buy the proper medication for treatment of malaria. They do one of two things, they buy half a dose of medication or they buy pain killer because that is all they can afford.  This week in the village a mother brought me her child

Positive malaria test from the village

who was very lethargic and did not look well.  She told me she had started him on malaria medication because he had "the malaria." I was very excited she had started treatment and asked when he tested positive and how long he had been on the medication.  She told me she had not been to the clinic because there was no money, but she had given him one tablet for the malaria.  For children who test positive for malaria, they should be on a 7 day course of medication taken three times a week.  This poor mother had one pill and had given it to him in hopes of curing his malaria. As a parent I cannot imagine having a sick child and not having the resources to take care of their illness.  It breaks my heart on a weekly basis to see people struggling to take care of their kids with so little.  I am thankful for the mothers and grandmothers we encounter who are doing the very best to provide and care for their children.

One of the drawbacks of medication being so readily available is that it can be misused and misunderstood. As I was packing up to leave the village I encountered a woman who was having pain in her tubes.  She told me if I could give her some amoxicillin tablets that would fix the problem.  I tried to explain that amoxicillin was a penicillin based,  broad spectrum antibiotic (yes I know, that was the teacher in me kicking in) and that it was not a pain killer.  She told me she also had back pain when she worked for long periods of time in the garden and that amoxicillin generally helped.  She was disappointed that I did not have tablets for her and she left upset with me.   I also encountered a man who told us on one of our previous trips that he had "too much malaria" and he needed treatment.  When asked what signs and symptoms he had he just began to laugh and joke around.  This week the same man asked me what tablets I had for him today.  Same answer as last time, I don't have tablets for you.   When questioned about his ailments this week he had to think for awhile and then stated he was somehow tired and needed tablets.

This is just a couple examples of the uphill battles we face in the village.  Although we have worked very hard to establish relationship with the villagers, there are still a few who think that we are there to "give" things out. That is not the case, we are focused on malaria prevention and education. Although it is an uphill battle, it is one that needs to be  fought.

My prayer is that through education and empowerment we can shift the thinking process  and help those who are struggling to care for their children when they are sick.  Every time we are in the village I emphasize to them  that God is the Great Healer and the Great Physician.  True healing comes through a faith in Christ Jesus.

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord  Jeremiah 30:17

Muddin' in the Village

Today we had an adventure getting out to the village.  We are currently in the middle of rainy season, April is the highest rainfall month in Jinja.  It seems to rain almost every night here.  When it rains, it makes getting into the village very sloppy and iffy at best. The trip takes about 45 minutes and the last 20 minutes of the trip is down a dirt road that is full of pot holes, which all the roads here are, and ruts made from the huge sugar cane trucks that travel down the dirt roads. 

As we turned off the "paved" road onto the dirt road to get to the village, we were immediately met by three big sugar cane trucks in front of us.  One pulled over and we were able to pass, but that left us stuck behind two trucks. They were literally moving at a snails pace.  They were getting bogged down in the mud because they were so overloaded with sugar cane. The truck immediately in front of us started sliding off the road and I was sure it was about to tip over. By God's Grace it did not tip over, but it did get stuck in the mud.  I made the whole van nervous when I went around it by splashing through a big mud hole. Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive.  We made it through and then spent the rest of the trip down the muddy road stuck behind the other truck.  We were going so slow I was worried we were going to get stuck due to our lack of speed.  We were literally passed by an old woman walking barefoot down the muddy road.  She had more speed on foot and definitely better traction than we did behind the slow moving truck. 

When we finally made it into the village the road was too muddy to drive down.  So we pulled into the village, I found a good spot to turn around and we walked the rest of the way. I wanted to be turned around and pointed in the right direction in case the looming storm clouds decided to let loose. You could see the confusion on the kids faces in the village.  They were all excited and started running to the van like normal and then all got really disappointed when we turned around to leave.  But to their excitement we  got out of the van and walked the rest of the way into the village. 

We were there today to check on a young girl who had a big knot on the back of her neck.  We found the little girl being carried around by her sister during one of our visits to the village. The knot was red, swollen  and was full of infection. It had to be painful.  As with most of the kids, she did not make a sound when I examined her wound.  On a follow up check today the knot was gone and the infection was cleared up. God is good!

We made our way back down the muddy road, this time with no sugar cane trucks slowing us down. We made it out before the looming rains came again. 

World Malaria Day

April 25^th is World Malaria Day. "The World Malaria Day was instituted by the World Health Organization (WHO) member statin in 2007. It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control."  

Since Healing Faith has been working in the remote villages surrounding Jinja, Uganda for almost a year now, one of the biggest problems we have identified is malaria.  Each time we go to the village, I see at least 2-3 new cases of malaria each visit.  This comes as no surprise though; according to the World Health Organization (WHO) a child dies from malaria every 60 seconds in Africa. By the time you have read up to this point… a child has died due to malaria.   That is a very sobering thought.  The good news is malaria is a preventable and treatable disease.

Malaria is a mosquito borne illness, a life threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through bites of infected mosquitoes.   Its main victims are children under the age of 5 years in Africa.  Malaria remains linked to poverty, the highest death rates from malaria are seen in countries with extreme poverty, people living on less than $1.25 a day. Living in Uganda, we are right in the middle of problem, 90% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa. Uganda is one of the six highest malaria burdened countries in Africa.  Over 47% of all cases of malaria in Africa occur in these six countries (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire).  These six countries account for 103 million cases of malaria.

Healing Faith has zeroed in on malaria in the villages.  Our plan is to not only identify, test and treat cases of malaria, but to educate the villagers about malaria.  We are working on a curriculum to teach the villagers the signs & symptoms of malaria, treatment and most importantly prevention.   The goal is to equip village leaders with the knowledge and skills to continue the education process and become self-sustaining in their battle against malaria.

How can you help?

The testing and treatment supplies for a single person infected with malaria cost less than $3, if identified early.  The most important tool in the prevention of malaria is an insecticide treated mosquito net. After the education process is complete Healing Faith hopes to supply the village with enough mosquito nets to properly equip every household  in the village. A durable insecticide treated net can be purchased for around 13,000 Ugandan Shillings, which equates to around $5.20. This is far out of the financial reach of most villagers that we work with; remember most are living on less than $1.25 a day.

The clock is ticking for these children, by this time another child has succumbed to malaria. Together we can make a difference. Your donations to Healing Faith have a direct impact on those in desperate need. By your efforts with Healing Faith we can “give the kids in the village a biting chance against malaria.”

To help donate to the fight against malaria you can visit.

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift/gift.php

Pray for Kirere Joseph he tested positive for  Malaria today in the village.