Abakyala (a-ba-CHA-la)

 The Ladies.  The amazing ladies of Uganda.

     I had the privilege a few weeks ago to go out west to Masaka Uganda.  This was my second trip there since I arrived with some ladies from the US starting a ministry called Sisters of Hope International (SOHI).  They desire to help women, to give business training and teach them skills to help them better support their families.  But they want to do more than just give a them skills, they want to care for the WHOLE woman: physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. I don't know what GOD has planned, but it is an interesting possibility of future partnership.
     Regardless of what the future holds for me, this is about the women, these amazing women.  The group we met with in Masaka are caregivers and mentors in a child sponsorship program.  They help to care for and encourage the children in their studies and in their walk with the LORD.  Some of them are single mothers; some of them are beaten often; some of them have husbands who have taken other wives; some of them have been abandoned with several children.  Some try to seek help from local authorities, but when the man that beats you is one of those with authority, they find themselves without many places to go for help.  They have very little, but give to other children in addition to their own.  They want to learn, they want to make their lives better for their families.

     We met with these women and listened to the dreams they have for the future.  Dreams of learning a skill, dreams of learning to write, dreams of learning to do basic math to run a business better, dreams of HAVING a business. We also heard a bit of their hearts; hurts they have, struggles they face.  They hope for a person to come and listen to them, to help them, to encourage them.  I don't know how the LORD will answer their prayers, but I do believe HE will.
     I will be going back to Masaka in the coming months to live there for 3 weeks or so for the purposes of Luganda learning.  I pray the LORD also gives me opportunities to sit down with some of them one on one to listen to them, to learn from them, and pray with them.  And LORD willing, maybe HE will even see fit to help me to encourage some of them in some way.  I say again, I don't know what GOD has planned, but I know HE brought me here for these women, the women of Uganda.....the hurting and the broken....the ones who feel forgotten by the rest of the world at times.

     This past week, I go to do something a little "bigger". Bigger in terms of actually getting to speak to a group of almost 100 ladies.  I got to share with them on the Theology of Abuse.  GOD actually has an awful lot to say about it in HIS word, and I got to share some of what I have learned over the last several years.
     This group of women was different.  This group of ladies consisted of those in university, or those who had already graduated and are professionals working.  This group of ladies didn't have dreams of learning to read and write as they know how to do that. BUT, this group of ladies still want something better for their children, for their families, for their nation. They, like their sisters out in Masaka, have suffered many abuses.  They have been used by men for sex and then been abandoned, sometimes with a child; they have felt unloved by their families; they have been beaten and belittled at times.
     Abuse is rampant all over the world, and Uganda has not escaped it, the estimated percentages are actually pretty high.  My prayer in sharing with this group of university and professional ladies was to open the door for them to talk. To invite them into a conversation where maybe small steps can be taken to start healing, not only themselves, but their sisters, and hopefully one day a culture and a nation.
     I don't share glimpses of their lives here to invoke pity. They don't feel sorry for themselves, to them it is just a part of their life.  I share this to ask you to pray, for them and with them because it is only GOD and HIS HOLY SPIRIT that will change the hearts and minds of the people in this country and in countries all over the world.

     I look at the vast size of this "job" I have been called to and just want to run and hide.  I don't feel equipped to do anything to change the atmosphere and culture of abuse that exists here, on this continent, in this world.  The truth is, I am not equipped...but GOD is equipping me.  HE is doing this, and HE has called me here.  HE wants to set the captives free, HE wants to make beauty from ashes, HE wants to redeem. So, I try my best to follow HIM, to take the next step HE has for me.  I don't want my fear and my limitations to hinder what HE wants to do, so I am just trying to cling to HIM and go where HE wants me to go when HE says go.
     I hold on to HIS promises.....because, "With GOD, all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26)  I don't know how to help these amazing women, all I know is they need more of HIM,  JUST LIKE I DO!!!

Abakyala......KATONDA Amannyi!!!  KATONDA Afaayo!!!