tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75394078018930016802024-03-19T23:27:38.028+03:00GadyA heart that does not seek to forgive and to solve conflict is the worst disposition and deficiency of all detrimental conditions the human creature can ever be infested with, for it destroys both the soul of the creature and creation itself.
M. R. Gady.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-77677196991642932842019-05-21T21:39:00.000+03:002019-05-27T23:48:53.420+03:00Missions: How successful are we?<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Uganda: the nation, the people, and the church. Is biblical Christianity succeeding? </span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">A recollection of my personal experiences in Uganda (2007-2017). Part IV.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">A pastor student goes to the teacher's home in the morning. He asks for some money. reason? his family has been struggling to find food. He said they couldn't even afford sugar for tea. the missionary says "if you don't have sugar, use salt." the teacher was an American missionary. This is a story I grew up hearing from my parents, who were the student's colleagues, and they were experiencing a similar crisis. It was the end of the 70's decade, and the region was recovering from a famine that had just hit the whole country. How are adversity or abundance, and presumed injustices experienced in the mission field? How do missionaries and local partners experience the mission field in Uganda? My personal relationship with both missionaries and local partners showed me that this subject is not discussed enough, together, even though it may reveal serious issues affecting missionaries and African church leaders, and of course threatening the future of missions. That's why the last question that I will consider in my reflexion on Uganda is about the state of the relationship between missionaries and their African partners. How are we teaching what we teach? Are we spending our resources in support of Christian ministry in Uganda the right way? Considering the resources poured into Christian ministry in millions to fund Christian ministries and churches, what are the indicators of the success of Christian ministry? These questions call us also, especially those from the reformed faith, to examine and evaluate our objectives and our strategy for Africa. It is time to ask ourselves whether we are spending God’s resources, both human and financial, in the right place, on the right people, and the right way. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">The decision to write this last section about missions has been particularly difficult. As I expressed in the first section, my encounters with various Ugandans from all walks of life in Uganda led me to ask questions about biblical Christianity in Uganda. Since missions and missionaries are at the heart of Christianity in Africa, my enquiry would be incomplete if I didn't include the questions surrounding the state of missions. It is very clear therefore, that I will raise serious controversy, because I will touch difficult subjects requiring thorough research than just an experience. Secondly, it is impossible to talk about my life without jeopardising the relationship I've built with both missionaries and Ugandans, who have tremendously contributed to my life. I ask for grace if I offend any people. Lastly, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> I never </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">planned to recount my experiences when my Ugandan adventure begun. if you know anything about EastAfrica, you will understand that some of the ideas I expressed in the previous sections of this article may have very serious political consequences, which may be a cause for security concerns for me and my family. Nevertheless, I decided to do it to celebrate the blessings that I've received from various people, my family, and most importantly to remember God's providential hand in my life. I hope we can somehow find answers to the difficult questions about the missions entreprise for the sake of the future of missions and Biblical Christianity in Africa.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Missions</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">A Scottish missionary, Alexander Mackay, following in the footsteps of Henry Stanley, is the protestant missionary of the Church Missionary Society usually credited to have established the protestant branch of the Christian movement in Uganda. He thus set in motion Uganda’s modern political and religious history as we live it now. The Christian movement he built strait from the king’s court would to this day be marked by two major historical events: the martyrdom of catholic and Anglican believers (largely commemorated by Catholics for all kinds of reasons), and the great East African Revival that started in Uganda and spilled over. The latter is still the major marker of protestant Christianity in Uganda. 130 years after Mackay, and over sixty years after the revival, has Ugandan Christianity become mature biblical Christianity? What has become of the missionary endeavour in Uganda? Why is African Christianity still described as "a mile wide but an inch deep"? What is the future of missions and missionaries?</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">In five years of ministry with Psalm Project Africa (New City Community Church), I have visited dozens of churches around Uganda, nearly all led by graduates of missionary owned or sponsored institutions like the African Bible University and the former Westminster Theological College. Have their ministry and their lives improved as a result of their training? Hard to agree. I’ve heard more anti-western sentiments and complaints from most. The following are some of their observations of the state of missions, missionaries, and ministry in Uganda. To clarify, again, the objective here is not to dwell on the positive things that everybody reports aout the spread of Christianity in Africa, which are very many. I want to talk about some of my challenging experiences in Uganda, which made me look at African Christianity and ministry from a different view point. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Simply put, there is an immense disconnect between the missionaries and the mission field. On one hand there are the distrustful missionaries who are seen by local Christians as to be enjoying their privileges a little too much. on the other, there is a cynical local community that’s still defining it’s relationship with missionaries (inferiority being significant among other issues), and battling endemic issues caused by an unstable political and economic environment. To be fair, I must admit that this is a view from outside looking in. Am sure there are many sides to all the stories. I realize that I may also be biased based on what I’ve experienced and observed on the mission field since my childhood in the 80’s to today. Nonetheless, I reckon that at the current fashion, it will take 1000 years for the missionaries from the Reformed faith to accomplish what they leave their countries for, namely to help African Christians establish a mature biblical Christianity. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Disconnected realities</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">In 2008 I met a missionary who used to bring American students to Uganda for short missions. He instructed them to dress up like poor people, not to carry any money and not to interact with any Africans beyond shallow courtesy hellos. I was told that on some occasions he would not allow them to leave their residence unless under his watchful eye. later on the students admitted to have been shocked that Uganda had beautiful buildings and the people they worked with were not naked and beggars. in fact they felt out of place because at some point their local companions dressed better. Reason? He did not want them to form any relationships with locals and to give them an money without his approval. So he gave them an unbalanced view of the mission field . My brothers went to several missions with students from the US, touring the Eastern province of Rwanda in 2007. While the missionaries slept in the most comfortable hotel around, African partners slept on the church building’s cold floor. Remember they were the translators for the missionaries. The African partners who organised the mission were misappropriating funds and exploiting African "volunteers". The ministry broke apart some time later. This is the sad reality of missions in Africa. There is a great amount of exploitation and lack of transparency at all levels.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Out of curiosity, I’d love to have a genuine conversation with missionaries on this issue in the future. Based on my own observation of missions in Rwanda, Congo, Kenya, and Uganda, It looks to me like their Relationships are usually superfluous because most, if not all, are based on a colonial style. No-one wants to challenge the missionary who pays his rent or sponsors his church, so what he says goes, even if they disagree. It also seems to me that even relationships among themselves are questionable and they are constantly emotionally dry and disconnected. The biggest questions that most local partners ask, however, are usually about money. If Hudson Taylor was evaluating most missionary endeavours today, I think he would be surprised by some of the abundance that some missionaries seem to have. Most of them live in the most comfortable places in the city, drive 4x4 Jeeps and simply seem, from the locals point of view, to have everything they want. They go to the best malls, send their kids to expensive International Schools or missionary schools, go to the best hospitals. On the other hand, their “partners” struggle to meet even the most basic needs. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">One of the most common complaints from African ministry partners is that missionaries have a curriculum of cross cultural ministry that simply does not work on the mission field. In their manual and rule book, most western missionaries are trained and sent to Africa as saviours and not as servants and partners. That’s one of the reasons why many get simply overwhelmed by local realities and either live in secluded and barricaded missionary clubs, or burn out and go back disappointed. In every teaching situation there are always two complementary things: the direct and the indirect curricula. Most missionaries focus on their direct curriculum lessons about faith forgetting that in the spiritual and moral classroom the teacher’s life speaks more about his beliefs and lessons than his words. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">The first missionaries who impressed me with their mode of life were the Van Den Berge family. Nico and Inge Van den Berge came to Uganda as simple visitors with just a back pack. Inge had wanted to be a missionary for a long time but God had not yet opened a window for her. Nico, a journalist, came along with his wife to Uganda both unaware of how God would use them or provide for them. I met them at New City Church. By then they were calling students to attend the first RSO meetings. It was in 2008. Until they left Uganda in 2017, they lived a normal life which they shared with many Ugandans. they are they of course inspired the Psalm Project Africa and raised funding for it. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I remember that we started writing songs and visiting churches without enough funding. Many times they could use their own money to pay our salaries while they waited for a donation to kick in. It is not an exaggeration to say that we worked and walked by faith. We also worked as a team with no official titles unless they were required by the immigration office. We related as partners and friends. Our relationships were so simplified that for most of the RSO team we did not think of the as missionaries. I am not sure that they were feeling appreciated y the time they left because our original relationship with the New City was now questionable, but there is no doubt that all of us who had a chance to be close to them appreciated their way of life. They simply lived as humans living among humans, which is rare within the missionary fraternity. That’s is not to say that there were no dark days in our relationship. I think they were disappointed by the very people they opened their hearts to on a number of occasions. Such is the complexity of human relationships on the mission field. I miss the good times we spent singing at their house till late in the night on a bone fire. I wish that most missionaries coming to Africa would learn that simple but profound principle: it is not about what you teach but how you live what you teach. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I also met another family that espoused similar principles on the mission field. Bob and Martha Wright and their children. They have great commitment to ministry in the Karamaoja area where Dr Martha Wright is doing pioneering work in creating education programs for the Karamajong people. I wrote much about their work in a different article in 2011(Karamoja: is this all that we can be?) when I visited them with RSO.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Common stereotypes in missions</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Missions are cross-continental trips done by white missionaries:</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">it is assumed that being a missionary is going to a poor country to preach the gospel. Most organisations pay more attention to such missions, certainly because the early missions focused on reaching the unreached lands. I think it is time to focus on local missionaries since they are the ones who do the most important work anyway. There are many problems to overcome to get there.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">The first white person I ever saw was an American missionary in the 80’s. He was driving a white Toyota van. I never saw another car until much later. He often came to see my father for ministry and of course to collect reports. For over a decade my father worked tirelessly to open over 40 churches and various institutions for the baptist church, including the school in our parish. He supervised over 48 churches in three provinces with very little financial support. I remember my mother and the young students making bricks for hours. They literally built the school, the church building, and the pastor’s house in which we lived from zero. We constantly lived below the poverty line and my parents still live with the physical infirmities they suffered during that period. Later on, after we had been questionably transferred and literally dumped in the North-Western province, the school would be named after that white missionary instead of the African missionary who started it. Another decade later, God used that missionary to save our family from genocide in Congo and to support us in other ways. He and his colleague from then are still my parents’ friends. They developed a truly genuine relationship that keeps them working together in spite of occasional serious mishaps.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Bottom line, most African missionaries get very little recognition if ever for the work they do while western missionaries are credited most success. The current missionary enterprise needs reformation. It is possible to hold a school or a church service under a tree like we did in Butare in the 80’s when I was a child. It is however impossible to change hearts if what we teach in the cathedrals and schools is not what we practice in the community. I am not suggesting that there are easy solutions but I think that missions which do not focus on providing a wholesome support (wider understanding of support, not just training for ministry) to the local Christians in order to enable them to be meaningful partners, will continue to yield very few results in the communities.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Africans always want handouts:</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Unfortunately one of the obvious issues missionaries face is a constant begging from the Africans they associate with. This may in fact be the most disturbing thing that every missionary will face in Africa. Coupled with other issues, it becomes a major taint on Africans in general. Obviously it is because white missionaries easily stand out as rich. Their different lifestyle, even though they might actually be struggling with funding themselves, is a mile higher in standards. I think it is a legitimate concern, but it should be noted that everywhere in the world people in need will naturally ask, even beg. I’ve heard some missionaries call it “the dependency syndrome”. I met beggars and street people in Europe too. Missionaries should be prepared to expect this but not to think about it in a way that creates biases, which eventually comes across as racism. it can ruin ministry. In fact many Africans are offended by that common comment when in fact they know that missionaries too are living on money given by other people. It is utterly important to prepare missionaries to all the complexities of living with people because more is achieved by living among people like a fellow human being than by fencing off your property. Help if you can, pray genuinely for them if you can’t. Jesus was a friend of the poor. Our attitude towards other people’s suffering is our mirror of our own spiritual state.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Missionaries are racist:</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Having worked with missionaries and seen them work in places where even Africans would rather not go, it would be hard to defend this assumption. Yet I’ve heard it from many other colleagues. I am also aware that some western missionaries do indeed show signs of racism. One missionary kid refused to shake the hand of a student. When asked why, he said his father had told him not to. Because Africans hands are dirty. I find that it is particularly very difficult to relate to missionary children. However, I think we Africans need to mature in this area and learn to relate with, and observe white missionaries and colleagues on an individual basis. In fact, this should be a serious caution against judging missionaries when our own societies are plagued with racism, tribalism, and discrimination. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Africans too face segregation from fellow Africans. My father has served in Rwanda for over 40 years. He is Rwandan. Yet a group of pastors attempted to get rid of him, claiming that he was not Rwandan enough to lead them. He, as a matter of fact, came to serve in Rwanda as a missionary from Congo. It turns out, their interest was misappropriation of ministry resources. they frustrated him and even threatened his life. with much prayer and patience he gave up his leadership position. within a few months, they regrettably destroyed the ministry. I've experience discrimination from fellow Christians in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Congo. I’ve heard Kenyan-Indian Christians in Nairobi complaining of being racially segregated by other Christians, or simply being afraid of relating with African Christians for fear of being segregated. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I had a missionary professor who actually called us idiots. Another missionary professor friend who taught African history wasn’t aware that his students complained about his class. He preferred to talk about the “good” things that came out of colonisation. Africans students simply saw him as an ignorant white man who has no knowledge whatsoever. It was a big insult to the African students who felt he was painting the picture of the white saviour. We cannot divorce the results of the spread of Christianity in Africa from the crimes the colonials committed. So caution must be exercised. In a nut shell, we are all victims of racism and segregation. The Bible speaks clearly against it and we should follow it.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Missionaries always have a lot of money</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Of course this cannot be farther from the truth. Missionaries raise enough to sustain them on the mission field but many a times some of them struggle. Many have left the mission field because it is simply impossible sometimes to operate without significant funding. African partners need to reflect on this more often and pray genuinely for the missionaries. Sometimes the sacrifices they make are too great to explain. Having been raised in an African missionary family, I know just how great a sacrifice my parents made to leave a comfortable life in Congo for a tough ministry journey in Rwanda; perpetually moving from place to place for ministry. It was a very hard but spiritually rewarding life. Looking at their experience, I’d be the last person to want to be a minister of the gospel in Africa. Sometimes I feel like the education that I got at African Bible University was a waste of time because my earlier zeal for ministry was drowned in the fear of serving in abject poverty.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Don’t trust Africans. They are corrupt </span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">It appears that there is an underlying belief that western missionaries are “the missionaries” and the true Christians. They know what is right, so locals must seat, listen, try to live right as taught not as observed. It is OK for missionaries to live a very comfortable life, but it is not OK for local pastors to aspire to be rich lest they loose focus. This dualism sometimes leads to racial prejudices on both sides and to a deep mistrust. Most missionary organisations have little or no interest in listening to local partners. They bring a program they expect will change the society. Failure is blamed of course on the “corrupt” indigenous leaders on the mission field, success is accredited to the missionary.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I think corruption is inherent to absolute control over money and other resources with a promise of impunity. I have seen both missionaries and Africans abuse their power similarly. But since the balance is not really balanced, most Africans working with white missionaries learn just how to say what the white man wants to hear to protect personal interests. That’s why many missionaries get played or manipulated by those who are cunning and audacious enough to do it. When they finally find out it is too late and the fall out is usually to great to remedy. For example, in most missionary-led institutions Africans are expected to be poor, or at least to show the missionary boss that they are poor because the contrary means that they either stealing money from the office or he is too profuse to employ. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Once a colleague complained of how untrusted he felt. He’d just bought a vehicle and immediately external auditors got called in to audit his office. I know a missionary organisation where Africans were not allowed to drive any company cars while missionaries used them at will. Pastor Rodgers of New City told once me how he was being recruited to do some work for the missionaries in a different city. He gave them a bill including hotel accommodation and financial package for all other things he thought he needed. They refused because for them it was extravagant. I am sure however that if a white missionary was to do the same job they would spend ten times the amount to achieve exactly the same thing. Another Ugandan friend told me if his theological institution where they were forced to fast on Sundays apparently in the name of “the Lord’s day”. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">If these things are done by an African, he would be obviously said to be corrupt and untrustworthy. The enormity of the problem can hardly be emphasized. How many Africans, for example, serving in major christian organisations are remunerated enough, as their counterparts from western countries, to allow them afford decent education for their children? To be fair, on this issue of payroll, I know that some regulations do not allow missions organisations to employ foreigners unless under certain strict exceptions. As a result, more funds are spend on the missionaries than on the mission field. There are, for example, more missionaries living in Kampala in mansions than in areas like Karamoja and the poorest and less evangelised where we expect the trained African ministers to go serve. That’s why some people see missions as simply job creation and a means to ease on taxation by western Christians. Critics even ask “why reinventing the wheel?” instead of employing Africans at all levels of leadership thus transferring skills and resources equitably. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I don’t think it’s unreasonable for African Christians to ask for equity and equality. One frustrated former classmate ate African Bible University lamented to me: “Man, these people live like kings!” A missionary shops from the same supermarket as an African, drives on the same road, leaves under constant threats as the a Ugandan, needs better health care as any other Ugandan, but spends 100 times more than all the Ugandans working with him. In other words, if one thing is not extravagant for the missionary, why should it be for an African? If a church in the west can support a comfortable lifestyle for a missionary family, wouldn’t it be even more significant to support many local pastors with the same funds, since, after all, they are the ones being prepared to take the baton? Of course prudence must be applied but the principle is incontrovertible.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I must reiterate that I clearly stand against the churches that function like little kingdoms where the pastor is like a demigod of some sorts. Unfortunately that kind of leadership structure is very common in the church in Uganda. The pastor is the “Big-man” who is in charge of everything. No one questions, every one obeys and bows. I’ve seen pastors having deacons who carry their Bibles for them as they walk to the pulpit to preach, women who come to their houses to do chores. Pastor Kakande is mostly famous for selling his “holy rice” and “holy water” to his followers etc. There is clear abuse and exploitation happening in such churches. No wonder all forms of wickedness have ensued such as human trafficking and sexual abuse. All such unbiblical leadership that holds God’s people captive to human corruption should be spoken against.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Africans can’t lead as well as white people.</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Have you noticed that when previously missionary-run projects and institutions are handed over to Africans, things turn sometimes to the worst? When it happens, it is not unusual for both the missionary community and locals to conclude that Africans’ abilities are simply mediocre. I think Africans in such positions are like birds without wings but they are expected to fly anyway. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">First of all, Missionaries are not affected by local politics and corruption in comparable proportions and depth. Secondly, budgets become a problem because stringent accountability is imposed as a precondition to funding. Things that wouldn’t be called corruption and embezzlement if they were done by white missionaries become overly accentuated. Corruption should be called corruption no matter the author. Principles should not bent when it suites the bearer of the sword. Third, for many reasons funding usually stops when the white man leaves. It’s simply too hard for Africans to get donations from the west unless the white man speaks for them. Sadly, those who break through the trust barrier are not necessary the most trustworthy people.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">some years ago I applied for a job at the Samaritan’s purse, which I never got. This is when I found out that the salaries were significantly very different between African applicants and American hopefuls. Soon after that I heard the president of the of African bible College tell a story of how he met his former student, a businessman by then, and asked him: “is this what we trained you to do?” To this I thought: what shall we then do if we can’t get jobs, can’t be properly supported by our churches, and can’t go into business? A pastor was given a job by missionaries and told “since you are used to this standard of life, this is how much we will pay you.” To the Christians’ shame, it is sad to notice how well secular organisations seem to be handling that issue better. Leadership is a resources that's developed intentionally and over time. If after all these years and significant investment from missionary organisations African Christians can’t lead, then our work is useless. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">On the other hand, African churches like New City Church are not doing much to sponsor African ministers and missionaries and other christian projects. I was devastated when the Psalm Project team visited Robert Biryeja (a graduate of ABU, and a pastor in the Church of Uganda) and held a workshop at the church where he had been sent to work. He was living in abject poverty, yet many in the church also looked to him for support and leadership. And they had to make the mandatory contribution to the parish, a major portion of their monthly collection. I hope his situation has improved so that he can spend his energy in service rather in the farm. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he finally threw in the towel. Theology does not operate in the vacuum but in a real world with real people and real needs. You can’t be an effective leader if your are not enable to be one. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Examples of innovative ministry</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Africans Training Africans</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> A program that aims at facilitating African graduates from theological schools to African pastors in rural poor villages where there are no theological schools. The program breaks down training materials down to the most fundamentals of biblical theology and expository preaching. The trainers arrange meetings with the pastors at their churches for a number of hours weekly. That way the resources are limited to the absolute necessity of training materials. It is also very easy to set up and to replicate anywhere. However, the effectiveness and sustainability remain to be seen. Most of its volunteers cite lack of funding for their own needs such as transport. Man lives not on bread only but he needs bread to live. It can also be hard to prove if indeed the right theology is being taught and according to acceptable standards.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Karamoja Outreach Ministry.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> A detailed account of my experience with the missionaries can be found in a separate article </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Karamoja: is this all that we can be?</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Ajuna African Style.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> Daniel and Jalia Matovu have always had a heart for evangelism in the Muslim world. They attempted to go to Dubai for missions but God had other plans in mind. He led them to starting a jewellery business which employs over 600 people, mostly women. Their business has prospered, and as a result they are comfortably supporting themselves in ministry. They now have regular weekly meetings and a Sunday service has ensued also in the name of Emmanuel Bible Church. I believe that this is the kind of missions we should envision for Africa.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">African Business Institute</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> in partnership with African Bible University, Jun Shiumitsu, a businessman turned missionary, initiated this program as both an academic and practical business incubator for African Christians. Having attended the course in the pioneer class (without completing it unfortunately) I can confidently say that this is the kind of initiatives that will create future sponsors of African Christianity. It is no doubt how much can be accomplished in the business world if Christian take Christ into the business first. Then, eventually their financial success will improve the financial state of the church generally.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Leaving Uganda.</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">My last months in Uganda were very challenging to say the least. My experiences would have a profound effect on me and bring me to question all my beliefs. One of the consequences is that although I grew up aspiring to be a missionary like my father, I am now reluctant to have any engagement with any church besides being a church goer. When I nearly lost my job in 2015, my fears were indeed confirmed. Church uses you, picks the next guy after you, moves on, you stay where you are or slide backwards. It is compounded by the harsh African life. I’ve seen church ministers languishing in misery as they grow weaker physically and their usefulness to the church dwindles. The choice is easy: If serving the church promises to keep me at the bottom of the economic chain, there should be no surprise if I avoid ministry or use the ministry for my own good. Unfortunately, the later path is what may have taken. We are loosing the very people we are spending resources on because we have failed to understand that ministry is affected by day-to-day struggles of normal life.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">The beginning of the end started knocking on my door when New City, which until then we (Psalm Project Africa) said was our mother church. But now our legitimacy was being questioned by our leaders. I’m still not sure but I believe that the Van Den Berge’s too were discouraged when they decided to go back to the Netherlands. Many things turned to the worst and Psalm Project’s program came to a quasi halt till now. Then came my rather disappointing experience with African Business Institute.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I was very excited that finally I was going to get an education in business. You see I was in business at this point but it wasn’t paying of just like my other previous investments in Uganda. The future of Psalm Project Africa (which had been providing my only my reliable financial support for over five years) was at this point unsure either. To make it worse, this too was the year I was getting married so I was under immense stress of raising money. I’d just been dropped by African Bible University from teaching the music class because one missionary wife who was more qualified than I was being given the class for that year. An easy choice to make. I was seriously disappointed but I smiled and accepted the reality. In the end I reluctantly accepted to provide catering for the Malawian ABI’s students (unsatisfied by the food from the University’s kitchen) and I thought I was giving them a fair service. In simple words, I was struggling to keep my head above the waters.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">So as I made my way to Kenya in May 2017 to get married, I was confident I’d made proper arrangements. A week later I received information that the ABI Students had rejected my plans and made a move to kick me out. Worse, they’d hired the lady I’d left in place to replace me as the service provider. Worst still, I received an email from the ABI director containing some serious accusations of lack of integrity, misappropriation of funds, and breach of contract. I sensed the end had come so I took a week to reflect on the email and pray. I was hurt that in spite of all the transparency I’d put into it, I was being accused of misfeasance. Then I wrote back but my proof of unjustified suspicion and wrongful accusation was insufficient to neither save my position as a student, nor restitute my business activity. I was let go on grounds of failure to pay my fees and that I’d fallen behind in class. Can you argue against that? </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I had a chance to sit with Jun Shiumtsu, the president, when I returned to collect my most important belongings and leave Uganda for good. I’d had the chance to pick him from the airport when he first came to Uganda to set up the ABI, so a kind of friendliness had developed between us, and in fact most students found him very approachable. Earlier in March 2017 I’d taken him, his sister, and another American friend to the Murchison falls for a safari adventure that turned out to be the most memorable of my life. Thanks Jun for this. We got stuck in mud, in the middle of a forest, at night, with no cell phone reception. It was the darkest night I’d ever seen since my childhood in the village. It was terrifying too. In the morning we found lion or hyena tracks around our car, reminding us of the noise that Jun had heard in the night. It was a chilling experience to get our car out of the ditch while watching for any possible predators looming around. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I believe in Jun’s vision and I will always pray for the ABI. Nonetheless, It took me over a year to get over the situation. I was angry and I didn’t know it until Jane and Innocent brought it up in our conversation. I am still convinced I was being punished for choosing to wed at that time. What most people still don’t know is that I never spent a single shilling on my wedding. Every cent came from my family and my fiancée, and very few donations from friends. And as it is done in Africa, you take advantage of the moment before the funds are redirected to some other need. And that indeed marked the end of my adventures in Uganda. Jobless, rejected, broken, and broke, I left Kampala a month later, July 2017. I returned later in March 2018 to renew my driving licence, and for my last Psalm Project workshops, then I left for good. May God bless Kalenzi for all the support he gave me and for hosting me till my last day.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Concluding remarks</span></b><b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I hope I’ve made it clear so far that I support missions, and that I’ve benefited a lot from the missionary fraternity all my life. But I believe it is time to stop and rethink our strategy, and adapt to the reality of today’s Africa. If missions will not result into some kind of empowerment <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">of African Christians</span> (business and leadership skills transfer and investment into African SME business) as part of the overall goal of supporting African Christians, it is a waste of resources and people’s goodwill, because the bad guys are doing 100 times more to undo our efforts.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">My feeling is that churches need to invest in their people in a way that makes them want to stay, not just for ministry, but for stability as well. I bear testimony that if church ministry cannot respond to that reality, then all that we will continue to produce are educated Christians, like me, whose potential will never be useful in Africa in the measure of the investment. I am not pretending to give the solution to such complex a reality. I have no doubt however that this is, and will continue to be, one of the most central points for missions in this century. I’ve met and worked with many integer men and women who are faithful to biblical Christianity and have the zeal to serve but they simply aren’t enabled enough. I think there is need for a support system that focuses also on the minister and his family’s well being (not necessarily financial support) rather than an administration that’s only interested in reports and collections. Multiplying the number of churches and university trained ministers is not equal to producing proper biblical Christianity. If it was so, Christianity could not be struggling in Northern America and Europe. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">This article is written too as a plea to those who believe in Biblical Christianity, particularly the Reformed movement, to consider how to help improve significantly the state of indigenous reformed ministry in Africa. In my travels with Psalm Project around Uganda, I’ve seen to my dismay how the singing ministry, for example, is taken for no more than an entertainment and performance program for Christians. A singer or a dance group takes the stage to “minister” to the congregation in the middle of the service. People walk to them to hand them money in “appreciation” of their “ministry”. that’s what they told me when I questioned the practice. There is much work to do to define biblical doctrine and practice in the church service and in the life outside the church, where the rubber meets the road. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I hope my simple account of my experiences in Uganda will be taken kindly by my Ugandan friends, who I really respect and value. your country is truly the Pearl of Africa. I hope my criticism of the current state of affairs contributes to making Uganda's Christianity a real expression of God's transforming power. Everything God made is beautiful, and he wants us to live in beauty and harmony, not in the kind of chaos and corruption that have become emblematic of Uganda. If every Ugandan Christian (80% of the population) decided to stop throwing plastic bags and trash on the streets, the problem of littering would be half-solved. If all the churches intentionally and specifically taught and trained their children to abhor and stop telling lies, as a specific act out of the corruption brackets, business, manufacturing, agriculture, and even civil administration would never be the same. So I ask again: Is the church transformed enough in order to transform society? Should we settle for the status quo? After all, "T<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">his is </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Uganda</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">", where everything is admissible. We have set for ourselves very low standards in our efforts to either abuse power and get rich, or to avoid the abusive system for survival. Christians and heathen alike.</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">We can never underestimate the impact of the church on the community. The church is the government's largest collaborator in education, employment, and social investment (through NGO's and projects). In some African countries, all the churches combined own more schools and more hospitals than the government. The government relies on the church's collaboration and active participation for service provision and social cohesion. The church in Uganda has tremendous opportunities to impact the community. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">M</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">y hope is that God will cause deep social transformation, like he did in the West in the past, as a result of biblical Christianity transforming lives individually and corporately. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-27230483807494267222019-05-15T20:15:00.001+03:002019-05-28T20:05:16.430+03:00The church: what happened to the revival?<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Uganda: the nation, the people, and the church. Is biblical Christianity succeeding?</span></b><b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">A recollection of my personal experiences in Uganda (2007-2017) Part III.</span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">We can never underestimate the impact of the church on the community in </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Uganda</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">. The church is the government's largest collaborator in education, employment, and social investment (through NGO's and projects). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">n some countries, all the churches combined own more schools and more hospitals than the government. The government relies on the church's collaboration and active participation for service provision and social cohesion. The church has tremendous opportunities to impact the community. For that to happen, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">holistic</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">involvement</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> is indispensable. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Whereas in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> the previous two sections I attempted to depict my disappointments in Uganda</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">’s state of the nation</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">, it is in this section that I try to show how concerned I am at the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">outlook</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> of</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> the church and Christian ministry, African church leadership,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">and </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Christian</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> social impact</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">specifically</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">. In this article I ask why there is so much Christianity in Uganda but less evidence of proportionate biblical living in the society.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">My hope is that God will cause </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">deep </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">social transformation</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> to happen</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">, like he did in the West in the past, as a result of biblical Christianity transforming lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">writing this has not been without difficulties. First of all, I never planned to do such a thing when my Ugandan adventure begun in 2007, so it’s impossible to recall all the most important events. Secondly, it is impossible to write about my experience without provoking feelings and even controversy, as I will touch difficult subjects requiring thorough and more specific research than just an experience. Thirdly, it is impossible to tell you about my life without giving examples that may jeopardise my relationship with many of the people who have tremendously contributed to my life<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, in one way or another</span>. Nonetheless, I realise that there is no other way to celebrate the blessings I've received from various people and, most importantly, to remember God's providential hand in my life but to share my experiences. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Religion</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">It is not a surprise that Uganda is an amalgamation of novel and old religions or philosophies. Africa has always been an easy prize to colonials, religious power brokers, and fanatics. In Uganda, Christianity and Islam, with their endless ramifications, are the largest religions. I have not done specific research on the subject, so I cannot provide statistics to that effect. However, Kampala being the only city in Uganda it is indicative of the situation in the rest of the country. I was surprised to realise that even religions practiced only by foreigners like Buddhism, Hinduism, and faiths from Latina America are spreading around the country. Thus, Christianity is the largest religion with over 80% of the population. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">We must however put that into perspective. Christianity, or the Christian movement, is not synonymous of biblical Christianity. In Uganda, it stands for everything that’s not Islam, African Traditional Religion (ATR), Asian religions, and a few other new movements. It covers all good and bad “Christian” organisations too and the major sects like the JW and LDS. The Roman catholic is the largest, followed by the Anglican church known as the Church of Uganda. The rest of the denominations, Pentecostal in particular, are fragmented into smaller churches and indigenous cults or well established movements like the Phaneroo which has distorted the doctrine of Grace to great lengths and misled thousands of university students in particular. Kampala’s original 7 hills are dominated by three main headquarters of the three main denominations, a testimony to the “thre-way religious struggle” from the earliest days of christian missions competing with Islam to influence the king’s court. Lubiri is the seat of Islam (the first non-indigenous religion to arrive with Arab traders); Rubaga, the catholic hill, and Namirembe, the Anglican head office. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">When Iddi Amin, a Muslim, came to power, he banned all other Christian denominations except the Church of Uganda and the Catholic church. He ordered that the three hills be the main places of worship in Kampala. All other protestant churches operated under the Church of Uganda. The Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and all other denominations are simply outmatched by far. The charismatic churches in all their colors and shapes are present and much louder than any other denominations in the main urban centers. With the exception of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (and associated churches like Watoto and the Full gospel churches), most Pentecostal churches are extreme charismatics and cults.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The Mormon church is growing steadily. In 2014 I had several visits from Mormon missionaries at my house and at the office. At each visit we discussed theology but when I finally questioned them on their fundamental beliefs they never came back. To my shame, I came to learn that one of my neighbours had been won by the Mormons. I'd never preached the true gospel to her. There are also countless cults and indigenous religious movements such as the movement led by Omukama (god). He has a large following and he I recognised by government as a recognize separate religion. The Umukama is in fact always invited to national events alongside Christian and Muslim leaders to pray. There many more groups that either fall under the Christianity umbrella, African traditional religion, or Asian religions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Islam’s presence is strongest in Kampala and the Eastern regions. Although it only accounts for no more than 10% of Uganda’s population, it is loud and very influential in business and politics that you might think half of Ugandans are Muslims. Uganda is in fact a member of the Organisation of Islamic Nations, thanks to Iddi Amin. The impressive and intimidating Mouamar Gadaffi Mosque is one of the most iconic monuments in Kampala now. He sponsored it and inaugurated it just before his assassination. Many of the prominent properties like business buildings are either owned by Muslims or Indians who overcharge Christian clients. After bitter squabbles and fights, the Christian community has surrendered the slaughter houses to Muslims to avoid conflict (except pork joints where Muslims go only under the shelter of the dark or send house workers). I came to learn the hard way that dealing with Muslims and Indians in business was better than with Christians if one knew how to negotiate. I was cheated by all, so this is not to say that Islam is producing better results than Christianity. In any business deal, you are more likely to drop your guard when dealing with “Christians” than with Muslims or Indians and other non-Christianity. </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">“Ndi Mulokole”</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> meaning I am a Christian is I used by con-men to disarm unsuspecting foreigners and Ugandans alike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Interesting to notice as well are the indigenous religious groups. Uganda, like many African nations has countless groups still teaching that Christianity is a white man’s religion. by inference, these groups promote African traditional religion (ATR) or simply atheism. They are mostly either intellectuals and africanist philosophers, or simply non-religious. I visited the ruins of the famous </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Kibwetere </span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">church in Kanungu, western Uganda.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> The site is now marked by the falling ruins and large pits (inside the ruins) where thousands of people perished. </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Kibwetere</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;"> and his prophets and apostles had convinced their followers that the year 2000 would be the end of the earth, so they burned themselves alive inside the church buildings on the year’s eve. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The most famous of all, however, is the man who calls himself the almighty god, </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Owobusobozi.</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;"> He is worshiped by his followers as you would a deity.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Christianity</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Signs of Christianity are everywhere in Uganda. Almost every other person you meet in Uganda claims to be a Christian (apart obviously from Muslims who do not use Christian jargon). At face value, it is easy to think that everyone is truly Christian, because Ugandans are generally polite and hospitable. Most people have European Christian names and they go to church. Everywhere you turn, there are many shops and businesses bearing some plain Christian names or themes, such as “Jesus Cares Supermarket”, “Psalms bakery”, etc. My favorite one is “Jesus and Mary Supermarket” in Kabalagala. Many public transport minibuses bear Christian slogans too. Churches are everywhere in Kampala, large and small; beautiful and ugly. Most are very loud and noisy. People greet yo with a “Halleluya brother,” or respond with an “Amen brother”. I takes little time to learn Ugandan Christian lingo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">However, Christianity in Uganda is very complex a phenomenon. On one hand, Uganda’s Christianity is renown worldwide for two major historic events: The martyrdom and The East African Revival that gave birth to the “balokole” movement (saved ones) and brought a wind of spiritual awakening in the Anglican Church. The leadership of Bishops Festo Kivengere (and Janani Luwum, who would later be assassinated by Idi Amin), and their group of African evangelists is recognised to have been an unstoppable driving force behind the movement. It t would eventually spread throughout Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Kenya. Thee East African revival is especially recognised by protestant denominations as a milestone in Uganda’s Christianity. On the other hand, I see a mass movement with impressive numbers of church goers and missionaries but few disciples of Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">As I continue to explain based on my own experiences, Christianity in Uganda is a sad testimony (to me at least) to what John Stott called “a mile wide but only an inch deep” Christianity. Just as the Church Missionary Society and the politicians of its days saw Christianity as a political and financial means to an end, many of the most influential Christian leaders in Uganda today do the same today. More frightening to me, though, is that in spite of all the efforts put into evangelism and building churches and Christian schools, the impact of Christianity on society is not equal to the amount of noise it makes day and night everywhere you go. If one compares missionary reports and church reports about the soaring numbers of Christians attending church services, or new converts from impressive Charismatic events and TV programs, you’d expect that Ugandan society (and most of Africa for that matter) will not be plagued by such endemic vices as widespread corruption. My experience of Uganda has led me to think that Christianity has not achieved the social transformation that we should expect from transformed Christians.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The martyrs business</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The martyrs day is a profitable business. The commemoration of the Christians martyred by the Buganda king, marked by the annual pilgrimage to Namuwongo by millions of people from all over the world, has now become a major national and international event. Most of the pilgrims walk for months from all over Uganda and even from Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania coming to worship at the catholic shrine, to wash at the shrine’s sacred pool and or to take its water for drinking as a spiritual act. It is said that the king’s henchmen washed the martyrs’ blood off their weapons at the pool after slaughtering them. It’s now considered by roman catholic believers as holy water. Thus, the pilgrimage has turned into a micro economy earning millions to the nation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 23 </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Anglican</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and 22 </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Catholic</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> converts in the </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">historical kingdom of Buganda</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, now part of </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Uganda</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887. They were killed on orders of </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Mwanga II</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, the </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Kabaka</span></i></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> (King) of </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Buganda</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. The deaths took place at a time when [the] three-way religious struggle for political influence at the Buganda royal court [was reaching its climax]. The episode also occurred against the backdrop of the "</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa" title="Scramble for Africa"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Scramble for Africa</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">" – the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers. A few years after, the English </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Missionary_Society" title="Church Missionary Society"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Church Missionary Society</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> used the deaths to enlist wider public support for the British acquisition of Uganda for the Empire. The Catholic Church </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatification" title="Beatification"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">beatified</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> the 22 Catholic martyrs of its faith in 1920 and </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">canonized</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> them in 1964.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Mulokole</span></i></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">: “saved”</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">One of the themes of the East African revival was the supremacy of Christ over all of life. The Bible teaches that being saved is not synonymous to going to church or bearing a Christian name. As my experiences showed me, very late unfortunately, </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">mulokole</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;"> or a Christian name are not indicative of salvation in Uganda. Of course Christianity is a broad scope. It is also true that this could apply in many other parts of the world. In fact, African Christians like me are horrified and appalled by the state of the church in the West, particularly due to the acceptance of gay marriages and the ordination of gay clergy. I am not, therefore, trying to say that there are no saved Ugandan Christians. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">So what has stifled the revival fire that marked Uganda’s Christianity not so long ago? Why is there so much Christianity but so little Christian conduct? What would the fathers of the Ugandan revival say to today’s Ugandan Christians? I am not sure I qualify to answer that question. I can only tell you what I’ve experienced. I am simply pointing a finger at what saw as a serious problem that the church in Africa needs to consider as a major indicator of whether our ministry enterprise is succeeding or not. I think that over the years there has been more emphasis on mass evangelistic events and church building than making disciples of Christ who are transformed by the gospel and, therefore, cause transformation of society. We need to rethink our strategy of evangelism, ministry, and missions.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Transformation</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Corruption and other endemic issues (as would say my late pastor, Dr. Gerald Serruwagi) in Uganda’s society is proof that Christianity has not transformed society. When the reformation swept the West, society changed in every way. Science, business, politics, and especially the church were transformed to such extent that 500 years later the social norms and political standards established by the Christians of the reformation are still the positive mark of the western society. A simple but profound example is how seriously lies are considered as intolerable in the West. In Uganda, lying (and getting away with it) is simply being smart. Honest and rigorous work ethics are another simple but foundational building block of western societies. This does not by any means imply that their societies are holy. However, in view of what happens in Uganda, clearly Christian principles are still the basic fabric of their norms, even though many have departed from the Bible. My experiences would teach me that in Uganda Christ is of course Lord on Sunday in the church service but, unlike the revivalists wished, he is absent in the market place. Something is going wrong within the church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">When my brother and I decide to purchase a tour van for business, we easily accepted to buy one from a Christian friend, a pastor, believing that we would not be cheated. We, in fact ignored the normal procedure of getting our own trusted mechanic to thoroughly inspect the car because we trusted the owner, although a few other signs should have warned us. We even paid the agreed amount in cash before taking the car for a test drive. we drove the car, taking our first client to Bugema, only to be stuck on Namirembe road for an hour, Less than a couple of kilometres from his home where we’d just picked it. The engine had switched off with no warning just like it had been happening before we bought. He had promised us that the issue was fixed but clearly it wasn’t and there more problems than he’d told us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">And so it was that from the very first day the vehicle became a money pit. The business never succeed and we sold the car to a Muslim who treated us with greater honesty, at half the price we’d bought it without counting other very significant costs we’d incurred in the restoration of the van. He is a prominent Christian leader, a graduate of respected reformed universities in Uganda. A prominent member of our church. I called him once to ask for assistance to repair the vehicle but his answer was rather discouraging. I looked at every possible options I could exploit to make him pay for some of the repairs including bringing the issue to the leaders of the church but I realised it would only bring strife in the church or cost me more money. the contract didn’t oblige him to do so. we’d been tricked and “outsmarted” by a fellow Christian.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">It is clear that the church is yet to identify a way of making Christian ministry be less about numbers of professing converts, and more about a genuine biblical transformation of the converts and their societies. While reformed churches insist on scholarship and written doctrine within their church walls, they have lost the battle of practical Christianity in the society. Meanwhile, the charismatics and liberals have offered an empty Christian foundation through their loud speakers and TV programs, but they have an indisputable hold on the minds of their millions of church goers. My travels around Uganda have showed me that there is a great rift between what the churches say they are doing and what is actually happening on the mission field. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">C</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">orruption</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">One time I drove clients to the town of Lira in northern Uganda, hoping to do a bank transaction in the town. As soon as I left them at the hotel, I drove to the bank and parked where other people had parked. Coming out of the bank, I found that my car had been clamped. Three men stood by and they told me they worked for the municipal council, and that I’d defaulted on previous parking tickets. They threatened to take my car to the police, which meant I was going to pay 150.000UGX, face more intimidation, or risk to have my car impounded for days. They showed me a book that looked like an official register in which my car was registered as having been in the town two years before but never paid for parking. Since I’d acquired the van less that a year before the incident, I assumed that the previous owner could have committed the offense. So I accepted to pay 80,000. they allowed me to pay half and pay another half a week later since I was returning to Lira. After I’d payed the remaining half and explained the incident to our host, he told me they were con men. Apparently they walk around with the book and enter false information in the pages where they deliberately leave enough space for such purpose in the future. They even gave me a receipt but it was from a wrong book. And of course they were Christians, for they had Christian names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The extent of corruption (not just as a moral issue, but also as an institutionalized phenomenon) is indicative of how little Christianity has changed the society, for even the political leaders and their followers here are said to be Christian too. In Uganda, the corruption industry is used as a political instrument of distraction in the media whereas the essence of the fight against corruption is an empty promise, a mockery, and a scheme for more political manoeuvres. It’s part of the economy and politics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">In most African countries, fighting corruption is always the number one pledge of every recent government that has been formed. Nonetheless, continuous studies show that all government institutions are extremely corrupt and absolutely inefficient in service provision. Special appreciation must be given to the leaders for keeping the country somewhat secure. Having said that, we must consider that the army is basically in control of everything in Uganda. The generals who fought the “bush war” that brought Mr. Museveni to power in 1986 are in control of every significant businesses directly or indirectly, and they control all the major inflows of foreign investment. They are unchallengeable. Coupled with other leadership issues at all levels of society, this atmosphere breeds an air of uncontrollable corruption within the institutions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I experienced the two forms of corruption: greed and survival, observed through three levels of society: the rich and powerful (high level government officials and extremely rich business people ), the “wanna-be-rich” ( mid-level government officials, security forces staff, NGO staff, etc), the “mwanainchi” ( law level employees, small businesses, and law level society). I call them everyday people because most of them survive through everyday hand to mouth struggle. They are the majority of Ugandans.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Big-man</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">First, the Greedy “big-man”. From Upward looking down. High and mid level politicians, businessmen, very rich church leaders, and anyone else who can be a big-man, are daily involved in greedy deals involving billions of Shillings. They steal government funds through sophisticated schemes at national and international levels to get richer. Most business people finance various politicians in exchange of favors and protection, or they are used by politicians to run their various business. This is the corruption that gets usually reported in the media as corruption especially when millions of dollars are involved. The big-man is already rich and socially emancipated. But the appetite for more power and riches is unquenchable, so he keep going for more. The second class citizens are too powerless to stop him/her. In fact, because of greed, African leaders have sold their people for enslavement like our ancestors did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Many Ugandan churches too operate like theocracies where the big man, mzee, man of God, is the god of everything from animals to plants and people. He decides everything, because he has set everything to serve him, not to serve the people. It’s a religion in which the man in power must be the object of worship. It’s always about a man who has done what no predecessor did. He is the man of the people. In fact the people love him and they want him to lead them indefinitely. Diligent worshipers are then rewarded handsomely either in kind or in cash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The police and other security institutions’ staff like immigration and tax collection staff have particularly earned themselves a reputation for that. They are the ones who get their hands dirty by abusing their power over the powerless mass on their own behalf, or for someone else. I find that lack of recourse is the most frustrating thing in Africa. Anyone, especially government officials, can abuse you for any reason but the institutions will not protect you. Only the rich can work their way through the system. The laws are not made to help the people but to protect the self made “messiahs” and their faithfuls. This abuse of power, unchecked greed, and assured impunity for the abuser is what has perpetuated evil in Africa and weakened Africa’s national and inter-nations governments and institutions. Africans need to redefine their priorities at all levels, starting with moral awakening.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">TIA: This Is Africa</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The second kind of corruption is the fight for survival. It is the daily struggle to avoid the injustices of the broken institutional systems in Uganda which forces most Africans to pay some kind of a bribe at some point in their life. Knowing that you can easily find yourself at the receiving end of the law, it is advisable to sometimes take the easier option when it is presented. Most missionaries and other western nationals will rarely face this because they are usually able to afford the legal services and pretty much every thing else. Plus, their governments can always put pressure on the local leaders in their favor. Most of us the locals cannot. Consequently, we pay a small amount to the officials to avoid the unreliable legal system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I was driving on the Entebe-kampala highway when suddenly a police officer pulled me over. After he’d asked me a few questions and lied about how he’d seen me driving dangerously, I got angry and asked him for the ticket. He wanted a bribe, I didn’t give him. I had to pay a heavy penalty for no reason. A few months later a police officer pulled me over on the high way. My brother, who was driving, had not renewed his driving licence. The officer asked for 20.000Ugx which I did not have. The car was impounded. I had to pay a 300.000UGX bribe to get it back and avoid being taken to the court. I consider that I was lucky to have avoided more problems, bigger fines, and unneeded, unreliable and frustrating court processes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Twice I had to pay a bribe to immigration officers at two different exits to Rwanda and Kenya for over staying my visa. It was particularly ridiculous at the Busia exit to Kenya. The immigration officer refused to stamp into my passport until I’d given him 30,000Ugx. When I’d just walked out of the immigration building, a female police officer stopped and threatened to arrest me, claiming that I’d no been given the appropriate exit stamp. Knowing that small incidences can be easily escalated, I panicked and paid her a 20,000Ugx bribe. I wasn’t yet brave enough to stand for myself, so I paid the money to survive, just like most Ugandan </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">“mwanainchi”</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> do. It’s simply a practical matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I remember going to a local market to purchase vegetables one morning. This time, I decided to buy from an old lady. Reason? Older ladies usually have many children (orphans or grand children) to care for. I made my choice of the egg plant pile from her mat, which she carefully packed for me. When I got home, I realised that she had arranged the vegetables intentionally to hide a rotten side of the large vegetables. Trusting her for her age and my good intentions, I ignored my responsibility to verify. I felt cheated. Did she really have to trick people into buying spoilt vegetables? And she was not a Muslim. In fact, these daily seemingly small acts and behaviours are more frustrating to unsuspecting foreigners living in Uganda.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Corruption is thus a moral issue, and so it should be fought on a moral and spiritual battlefield. In my experience, corruption is even more significant and painful in the daily interactions within low society. While the scientists, scholars, and media houses report corruption at institutional level, they pay no attention to the rest of society. There is no questions that a corrupt leadership and corrupt technocrats affect the very life of a country. However, my experiences taught me that perhaps the worst corruption in Uganda is the one being practiced in the market places, in schools, on the streets, in the church. In every area of society. The church too seems to be lost in the quagmire, for most churches neither expose their corrupt members nor do they exemplify clear Christ-centred practice. Many churches are simply an easy means for their owners to rob their followers. On the other hand, the churches that I’d consider to be exemplary bible churches are simply absent in the community. This is Africa. We have set ourselves very low standards in our efforts to either abuse power and get rich, or to avoid the abusive system and survive. Christians and heathen alike.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">New City Community Church</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">a few months after I'd been at African Bible University, a Ugandan who spoke Swahili well (to my surprise) and had quickly become my friend on campus invited me to his church. I'd not yet decided which church to join. My first visit was not impressive. The preacher was more philosophical and academic, and soft spoken. The service was unlike any of the “fiery” services common in Eat Africa. While in Nairobi I went to moderate churches but I was aware of how widely the extreme charismatic churches have spread all across the region. I wanted a good church, preferably small, to be part of. What a boring service it was, I thought. The music was impressive but not African music for sure. Max, my Ugandan friend invited me to join the church so I visited a lot more times till I decided to be a member. One of the things that captured me was how profound the songs' lyrics were. Sort of mini-sermons complementing very strong expository biblical preaching by the late pastor and founder Dr Gerald Serruwaggi. “in Christ alone” and “How deep the father's love for us” are still my favorite spiritual hymns to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Pastor Gerald was a phenomenal person and a magnet for people off all kinds. He was a seasoned preacher holding several degrees and many years of ministry experience. Having been raised in a poor broken family in Uganda, he’d later be taken to the USA by missionaries and live there for a long time. “Gady, sometimes I wonder why I ever came back to Uganda. Life is very different in those countries”, he told me one day while we came back from a meeting. He was undoubtedly committed to ministry in Africa. He always had someone or something in his mind besides his lovely family. He poured all his heart into whatever he was convinced God wanted him to do. That is why he touched countless lives with his generosity. I feel privileged to have been among those he came across before God called him to heaven in 2016. I’ll never forget his heavy happy laughter. Besides my father and my mother he was one of the very few people I highly esteemed as a mentor. I still mourn his sudden death every time I remember the time he sat with me for a coffee and poured his heart into me. He spoke about himself and I confided in him my circumstances. Then we prayed. None of the leaders I’d known before had ever done that with me, Neither have I ever experienced that relationship after him. In fact, I made the decision to be a member of New City to be among his many disciples from all over the world..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">NCCC was, and still is composed of Christians from many countries. Many missionaries from across Kampala and sometimes beyond came to worship there. Based on the number of theologians who attend that church you can easily call it a theologians club. It must be one of the most theologically sound churches in Uganda. The members meet only on Sunday, for there are no other church activities within the week except the ladies’ and the session’s occasional meetings. The only program related to NCCC that came close to being a weakly program was the Reformed Student Organisation, </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Kampala</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> (RSO). After the death of Pastor Gerald, the ministry’s authenticity was constantly questioned by some church leaders. Some questioned RSO’s contribution to the church’s vision although in the church’s official documents RSO is predominantly mentioned as it’s most vibrant ministry. My impression is that the church fears bearing responsibility for financing the ministry although it has the ability to significantly finance even more than it does currently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">New City is a good model for a Bible grounded church, insofar as teaching is concerned. However, the church, in order to grow and truly be a community church, and to have a meaningful impact in the community, must go back to the biblical view and its explicit depiction of a Christ centred church. Ultimately all the Presbyterian churches in Uganda need to go back to the fundamentals of the relationship between doctrine and praxis: Should our emphasis on preaching good doctrine, or how to practice the good doctrine while and as we teach it? Hasn’t our preaching of good theology become work as if our good preaching of the “good” theology is the only calling for the church? As if people's salvation depended on our “good” preaching of the good theology?As if the kingdom of God will cease to exist if we did not preach “our” good theology? We can preach like Christ, we can pray like Christ, we can prophesy like Christ, we can speak in tongues like the apostles, we can even perform more miracles than Christ if he let’s us. But if our sound teaching remains within the walls of our churches, our sound doctrine will in the end be counted as worthless.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Wasted resources</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Over the years, New City has had a large pool of qualified and willing young men eager to serve like me. but we were simply not utilized. I could have given up anything to serve in any capacity to help New City be a better church. Of course I served in music as a musician but even in that capacity I was frustrated. We never had proper rehearsal sessions, we never learned or taught new songs to the congregation, we never trained either in singing or playing instruments. As a result, the singing ministry was stale. I felt like I was being wasted. I felt particularly disappointed in my last months in Uganda. Although I’d been at the church for over 10 years and more than involved in the life of the church, the church was completely unaware of my struggles and those of my colleagues, Patrick and kalenzi. I am not saying that the church should have solved our problems, but we felt like the church simply wasn’t interested in our well being. I think the leaders should utilise the available human and financial resources to reach to its flock, and to know and nurture its spiritual health beyond the preaching on Sunday. I felt sorry for the dozens of young boys and girls who attend New City. I fear indeed that most of them will either backslide or leave the church just like many others have done, feeling neglected by the church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">Looking at the number of ABU graduates who attended the church with me, I have no doubt that we could have easily been utilized to start new ministries such as evangelism teams, prayer teams, visitation teams, and all other ministries that make a church cement its presence in the community. I remember with great sadness those who left the church like Samuel and Irene Oluka, Mark Lubega, Jeff Gashabi, Max Salli, Allan Koki and his family, Eddie and Sylvia Kaweela, Peace Nabikolo, Daniel and Jalia Matovu, Elder Dickens (who started his own church at the request of women who had been reached by a medical outreach program partnering with New City but there was no follow up), and Wilson Okot from northern Uganda and a pioneer member of the Reformed Student Organisation. He, in fact, asked New City to parent his church in Kitgum, which is the only reformed church in the area, but as usual the leadership never showed interest. As a member of the church from while he was a student at African Bible University, he felt rejected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">There were many others whose names I can’t remember. I’m sure there is justification. I just don’t see how a church with vision such as New City’s can achieve it that way. Many Malawian students from ABU and elsewhere attended New City as well. Among them, Kennedy Gondwe (current director of the ACFAR Zambia) from Malawi was finally given a chance to preach because by the time he shortly returned to Uganda to work with the ACFAR he had obtained some level of emancipation that comes with being a graduate of an American seminary. Like many others, he’d been a member all through his ABU student time. To this list can be added a number of missionaries, and many Christian intellectuals who attend the church regularly but they are too taken for granted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">I remember how excited Patrick Apedel and I were when one Sunday Rodgers, the current pastor, approached us to invite us to a cell meeting to be held at the church’s office, which conveniently was located in the area we lived in and was our office for Psalm Project Africa as well. It was a good attempt to reach out to the members who had difficulties attending the church on Sunday for one reason or another, and of course a great occasion for Bible study. The pastor and his family attended twice only and never returned. A few other people dropped out after just one month. It was held every Wednesday. We sang hymns, read the Bible, and prayed for each-other at length. the meeting was held consistently for one year before we eventually stopped completely. We were devastated because we felt abandoned by the church, especially because we had been personally invited by the pastor. Many more programs, such as the Men’s ministry under Jeremy Martin, started and stopped for lack of interest and leadership by the church</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">“It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.” Rev Charles F. Aked. Do you ask why false doctrine and false churches are spreading like wild fire in Uganda? It is because churches like New City are content to keep good doctrine within themselves, within the walls of the church on Sunday. For only 2 hours every week.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Reformed Student Organisation, </span></b><b><i><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Kampala</span></i></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"> (R.S.O)</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Everything I called family in Uganda was basically NCCC. While there (2007 - 2017) I made many friends, most of whom were my fellow students at the Universality or my professors. Among them was a dutch couple, Nico & Inge Vandenberghe who became very instrumental in setting up the RSO in collaboration with Pastor Gerald. Subsequently RSO gave birth to the Psalm Project Africa (</span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">www.psalmprojectafrica.wordpress.com</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">), which I’ve been a part of since its beginning in 2012. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">There is no doubt that the RSO shaped my philosophy of life and ministry. When the Reformed student Organisation started, and then the Psalm Project Africa, it was designed to be a program where intellectual interaction and experiencing life “together” (at least as I understood its objectives) would help the members to shape each-other for Christ through reformed thinking and living. My relationship with both Inge and Nico was one of the most influential relationships of my life second only to that with my parents and siblings. I learnt much simply by watching them live out their theology in plain sight simply because, unlike many missionaries, they shared their life with us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Then there are Robert Kalenzi and Clement Tendo who simply commanded my respect and admiration because of their reliability and integrity. Robert Baluku the ABU’s baker and our chef at camps was a very sweet friend. He was the only person to come see me at a clinic when I narrowly escaped death because of dehydration, driving 30km in the night and living his family behind and he stayed with me in my house overnight to watch for any unpleasant developments. May God reward him. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Parent figures and friends</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Besides my personal relationships, I am also grateful for a number of people that God placed in my life, most of whom I met at New City and African Bible University. There is of course Pastor Gerald whose departure I still feel so heavily. But of all the friends I made, Nico and Inge Van Denberge were the closest thing to family I had. I knew they were genuinely concerned for me and they were ready to respond to my request anytime. I don’t think I ever told them that and I don’t think they saw it that way but I did. That’s why I probably ran to them for one thing or another many times. It’s sad that they left Uganda because they have a heart for people. I was surely privileged to meet them and to enjoy the company of their two boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">There were also Tim and Cherry Hoke. Much older that the Van Denberge, they were more of parent figures to me than friends. I remember one Sunday seating down with Dr Hoke. I sat in his very comfortable sofa while he looked at me from the other side of the coffee table and the books behind him, stacked in a shelf that covers the whole the wall made it feel like we were seating in a study. Cherry bought me a very delicious lemonade and she excused herself. I wanted his advice on how to handle a girl who I felt was playing with my emotions. “Grow up!” he said to me. With such a strong and firm tone. I felt like I’d been hit by speeding truck with no warning. I’d not anticipated his point-blank response. It was the kind of a thing that a father does to a son to shake him up from laziness. And I badly needed such a relationship in my life. But lots of other people need him to so I couldn’t aspire for more than just a few conversations and be happy for a chance to take care of their house and Pal a few times. They also were our biggest supporters by selling our Psalm Project Africa CD back home in the States and much needed moral support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Dr Robertson and Joana Robertson, for continually encouraging and supporting both me and the Psalm Project team in various ways. Thanks to their input and the opportunity to teach the ABU’s music class</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> I was able to </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">tune</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> my thoughts on the subject of Music in the Bible and</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> music</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">in the </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">church</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> Service</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, which eventually became a major part of the Psalm Project’s workshop manual.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">The Evening of 31,08, 2007 is the first time I saw Dr. O. P. Robertson. It was during our class of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">2011</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">o</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">rientation day, during an "ice cream social" in the dinning hall. To this day, I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ve had</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">memorable encounters with him</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, which had a profound impact on me, </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">as my professor and </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">as an exemplary Christian</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> leader.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">In Sept. 2008, My second year</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> set on</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> a course to become an early climax of my time at ABU. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Although I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ve lived all my life in church and among Christian circles, I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">d never got satisfactory answers to two fundamental questions: How is the New Testament connected to the</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Old Testament? How am I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> as a 21st century Christian</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> connected to the OT legends besides being</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Adam</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">s </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">de</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">scendant</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">?</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> So when Dr.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> R</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">obertson asked</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> us a simple</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> question: "what is the meaning of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">history?"</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, my introduction to covenantal theology, and it changed my view of history for good. It was</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> our first class of Old Testament Biblical Theology, </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">and </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">I was intrigued. Every subsequent</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">session </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">gave me</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> answers concerning the unfolding of </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">God’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">s plan</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> through his sovereignly</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">administered covenants</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">. The fulfilment of the Emanuel principle. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">This was the answer to my quest</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">and the reason I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">d come to a Bible school.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">In 2012</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> I was suffering from chronic constipation and haemorrhoid piles. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">A Ugandan</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> doctor suggested an</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> o</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">peration, which I accepted. The Sunday before the operation</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> Dr Robertson came to me after the</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> church </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">service. "Do you know what a second opinion is?" He asked. I didn</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">t understand. He not only</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">explained the importance of getting a second opinion from a different doctor before making </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">a </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">major</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">decision </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">like that</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, but he also sponsored me to go see a doctor he knew and trusted.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Five years later I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ve had no surgery and I</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">m ok</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> thanks to his seemingly random act of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">kindness</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">, which might as well have saved my life. I came to learn later that in Uganda, many doctors like to do operation procedures, even unnecessary, very risky, and very expensive ones, because that’s how they can make a lot of money. It turned out too that in fact, Uganda did not have at the time the facilities and the qualified specialists to carry out that operation properly. I am surely grateful because I’ve know many people whose health and lives were severely affected in that way.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">December 2013, as he was preparing The Flow of the Psalms for publication, he invited the Psalm</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Project Africa team to his house. For an hour he spoke to us concerning his findings from his studies</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> the Psalms. He must have wondered </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">whether</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> he was wasting his time</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> because we did not really</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">understand.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> It</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> was</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> easy enough to understand but quite</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> scholarly</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> as well</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">. After another session, then many more during our U.S. tour with him in over 15 churches, singing the Psalms while he taught from his book, we finally got to</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">understand </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">better, </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">and to appreciate the depth of his contribution to our Sing Psalms project.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> I then decided to </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">use</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">portions of The Flow of the Psalms as one </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">of </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">our three major topics in our Sing Psalms facilitators Manual</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Introduction to the Psalms</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">, Excerpts</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> fro</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">m</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> The Flow of The</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Psalms</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> Dr. O.P. Robertson</span></i><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Thanks to this volume we now ha</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">d</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> a</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">n unparalleled</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> scholarly work to help us explain our stand on the biblical view of </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">music, and </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">the </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Psalms’ place</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> in the worship service and life</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">. First, b</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ased on the </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">prominence</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> and the significance of both the psalms and the Psalmists in the Bible,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> t</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">he singing ministry is neither a marginal "support" ministry</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> nor an independent entertainment club</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">in the church</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> as seems to be the order in many </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">A</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">frican churches.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> Second, b</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ased on the overwhelmingly rich content of the Psalms</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> as songs summarizing all the major</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> biblical do</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">ctrines of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">God, Christ, man, the Law, the church, and the history of</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Go</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">d’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">s people,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> in one way or another, t</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">he singing ministry clearly was a teaching tool</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">. Thus, the Psalms were </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">intentionally compiled to help God</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">s people to memorize God</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">s word</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> and to remember his </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">pre-eminence in Israel’s history. Therefore today’s Christians should sing the Psalms as often as possible as well.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">Psalm Project Africa has travelled around EastAfrica and The D. R. Congo</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> holding seminars and</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">workshops on why singing the Psalms</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> and how to write music from the Psalms. Dr Robertson and</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> his wife Joana Robertson </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">have supported all our efforts in various ways.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">I wish to express my deepest appreciation to God</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;"> for making us cross paths </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond Premr Pro"; margin: 0px;">at a crucial time in my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Mr and Mrs Bolitho. Time to pay my fees had come and I had no single clue where from I’d get money. I got called to the office after I’d been out of class for two days. Mr Bolitho asked me: “what do you do when you don’t know what to do?” I was confused. As I searched for an answer. Then he said: “You pray. And that’s what we are going to do.” it was a Friday. The following Monday he called me back to let me know a friend of his had accepted to clear my balance and to sponsor me till I completed my studies. Scott Jensen was his name. May God reward them for all their love for God and God’s people. The Bolithos would go on to raise money for many more students studying at different institutions, to help orphans, and to start the “Africans Teach Africans” program. I hope someday God will give me a chance to show love in the same measure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Then came Dr Robert Penny. I’d just started a tours business. Remember the vehicle I mentioned earlier? Yes. It was for business (</span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">www.adventuresafrika.wordpress.com</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">) and Dr Penny was our major benefactor as our most significant client. I and my brother Emmanuel with the financial support from our sister Jeannette had just purchased the comfortable Super Custom van. We regretted latter of course after realizing how unfairly we had been treated by the person who’d sold it to us. It had lots of problems that he should have been responsible for fixing but he would hear none of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The first time I drove Dr Penny to the Murchison Falls National park, he was with his lovely wife Adriane, who helped me to not fall asleep on the road by engaging me in very nice conversations. Then I had a chance to drive him four times more to other places around Uganda. On our trip to Queen Elisabeth he paid for repair when suddenly a fuel pump died on us. Later on he’d pay a substantial amount of money to help me fix the van so that I could take him onto another preaching tour in Western Uganda. Unfortunately the van still required so much more so we gave up. A few months later I sold it for nearly half the price I’d bought it. It was a regrettable experience and the time my brother and I started seriously questioning the state of Uganda’s Christianity. Nonetheless, God had used it to bring into my life another parent figure whose friendship I appreciated a lot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The ABU fraternity was also very accepting of my presence especially in the later months when I didn’t really have a reason to be there. I always appreciated the Nights for their simple but profound approach to life. Very honest people. I actually wanted Mr Knight to officiate at my wedding but I guess God had other plans. I knew he was among people who truly prayed for me. Mr Mugasha Charles, the University secretary was always accommodative of Robert Baluku and I as we made many requests to allow us to use the kitchen for RSO. On one or two occasions I even used the facility to cook for other people than RSO without his full knowledge. I’m not proud of overstretching my liberty but I really needed the money for my rent. I can’t forget too how he helped me pay the bill when I was taken to the clinic on a Bodaboda, suffering paralysis due to dehydration. I was so close to death and I was alone and broke. I have very many heart warming memories of the ABU community. All human communities have flaw, of course, but I can surely say that God used ABU’s people from the lowest to the highest to touch my life through the relationships we built. May God bless each one of them.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-21658283853666895782019-01-19T14:14:00.001+03:002019-05-27T18:48:08.448+03:00Kampala the African Polis: Giving before you take<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Uganda: the nation, the people, and the church. Is biblical Christianity succeeding?</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;">A recollection of my personal experiences in Uganda</span><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"> (2007-2017) Part II</span><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">“Oh God, is this where I'm going to live for the next four years?”</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> I said to myself in May 2007 when I first arrived at African Bible University for an interview. However, after making a few friends who were mostly foreigners, I begun to </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">understand</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Uganda through </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the details of living in the midst of the chaos of Kampala</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> For the past 20 years, I have</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> lived in and travelled through a number of other east African countries that seem to be doing a good job at managing their cities</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. So you can imagine how </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I sighed heavily when I looked over the ABU campus in Lubowa and saw a pile of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">dust-covered</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> houses on the opposite hill, Ndeje. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">As it turns out to be, that was the common view of Kampala everywhere I went. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The first time I went into the city alone, I was nearly killed. I was walking down the Street along Nakasero Market. suddenly I noticed that a<i> matatu</i> was heading toward me, and it was not stopping. I tried to avoid it but then nearly ran into a<i> bodaboda</i>, which was coming from a different direction. I jumped to an electrical pall that stood right in the middle of the intersection as some kind of a roundabout. "this is strange", I thought. "This poll shouldn't be here." Well, there it was. Because that is Kampala. the experience gave me a chilling welcome to Kampala that would last till my last day. Over time, I understood the code of the road and developed my own rules of survival, which I repeated subconsciously to myself every time I stepped out of my house. 1. Check if your are still alive; 2. thank God if you are still alive; 3. Don’t argue with road users. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">t’s pointless; 4. Don’t ask for your rights. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">J</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ust pay the police “fine”; 5. Enjoy the liberties like everyone else. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Y</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ou won’t find them anywhere else; 6. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">Mpolampola,</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> take it easy; 7. Relax</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">; 8. Relax </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">; 9. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo </span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">RELAX; 10. Relax </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo.</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> It’s OK. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">T</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">hat is the only way I could pass the anger management course that Kampala </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> was for me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">All standards and everything are admissible. And the people seem to be satisfied by the status quo, powerlessness, and complacency, in a nation that's "dominated" by the only faith whose author is the ultimate source of love, human rights, wisdom, and beauty.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro";">W<span style="margin: 0px;">riting this has not been an easy decision to make. I never </span><span style="margin: 0px;">planned to</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> do such a thing when </span><span style="margin: 0px;">my</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> Uganda</span><span style="margin: 0px;">n adventure begun, so it’s impossible to recall all the most important events.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> Secondly, it is impossible to write about my experience without raising</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> controversy, as I will touch </span><span style="margin: 0px;">difficult subjects requiring thorough and more specific research than just an experience. some ideas may also be viewed as political opinions by some people.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> In EastAfrica, that may have implications on someone's security. Lastly, there is also a risk that the</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> examples I select may destroy my relationship with many of the people I lived with in Uganda, who may disagree with my evaluation of the state of their nation and people</span><span style="margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;">Nonetheless, </span><span style="margin: 0px;">I realise that I need to do it to celebrate the blessings I've received from various people</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;">and</span><span style="margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> most importantly</span><span style="margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> to remember God's providential hand in my life</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;">but to write this recollection</span><span style="margin: 0px;">.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Giving before you take: Liberty for Manipulation</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">A typical view of any Kampala site during day is dominated by chaotic scenes of an amalgama</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">tion</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> of bodabodas, taxis, vendors, and everything else in-between. I call Kampala a big slum because </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">not only </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">it</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ha</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">s</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> slums everywhere</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> but also the very beauty of the nice fairly modern buildings and</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> middle class residential housing</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> are equally </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">disorderly piled up,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">either </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">in form of slums,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> or mixed with slums, or there is no proper support infrastructure to accompany them</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. There is no planning whatsoever.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> People do whatever they are pleased with doing, there is no code of respecting public common amenities. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">After years of wondering what happened to road signposts and street lights, finally I was told that they are routinely vandalised, stolen at night, and sold to charcoal stove makers or as scrap. Street lights and even water fountains are stolen too. People are free to do whatever they want, and to achieve it how ever they want. It is thus an African Polis, where the African spirit is exhibited, experienced, and expressed to its purest form. Unchecked capitalism and equivocal “Africanism” meet with heartbreaking poverty and mismanagement, through a unique amalgamation of a “make-money-at-no-cost” culture, and a “first-eat-and-be-merry” philosophy. It seems, in fact, to be a hypnosis engineered as the base of Uganda’s life and business particularly to blindfold the would be inquisitive minds, and therefore suppress dissention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Life in Kampala reminds me of Zaire. Unlike Zaire though, Uganda is generally stable. The national oneness exemplified by the rolex snack is a feeling that most African states only dream of. Political institutions are crippled by corruption and all sorts of evils, but they can be fixed. Like Mr Museveni, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Mobutu SeseSeko gave the Zaïrois of his days a religious pride in </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">grandeur of Zaïre's riches and its terrifying vastness. While 90% of his people languished in gruesome poverty under his intentional mismanagement and divide-and-rule tactics, he </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">profligately </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">feasted on the country’s wealth</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> publicly</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. The Zaïrois plunged in</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">to</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> more misery, but still their clubs, bars, studios, and media entertained them with the Seben and the Rumba</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">T</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">hey literally worshiped Kuku Ngwendo Wa Zabanga. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Eventually, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the people's religious resignation </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">contributed a great deal to</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> their demise. To this day, the price has been impossible to measure</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I wonder if the same fate awaits Uganda and Ugandans. Kampala, the African pleasure capital might just be saying that. I remember attending the 50 year independence celebration. It was my first time to attend such a national event in Uganda. Kalenzi, Patrick, and I woke at 4 am. by 5am we were walking through the city heading to Kololo grounds enthusiastically. We were too early, so we not allowed in. security was tight, and only the performers who were rehearsing, and the organisers were busy preparing. We walked around and came back to find a large number of people being scanned. we managed to get a good place in the brand new pavilion. So when the president, standing through the roof of his limousine with Mama Janet, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">passed by, turned, and waved, </span>the crowd went banana. I felt so proud to celebrate the independence of an African nation. I even shed some tears but people didn't notice it. I felt overwhelmed by the fact that I was living in the only continent where I am free to be black, and I don't have to apologize for it. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">in the end there was even free food for all, but the service was poorly done so we didn't get it. So we left hungry but happy, light-heartened by the entertainment, but we knew that the function had made some people exponentially richer, while nothing had changed for the nation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I think Western leaders envy African politicians. In America the slightest scandal is enough to get the impeachment process going. In Africa, who can dare stand in the way of the big man? that's the first time I realised that it must be a good feeling to be a president in Africa. All the powers are in your hands. You can kill and save, you can make your favorite people rich. You can do literally whatever you want for yourself, not for the people, and yet they will still stand up and cheer you frantically. Some of the people in the pavilion were not supporters of the ruling party but they stood nonetheless, in honour of their president, and screamed "Mzee!". I African leader truly enjoy the cheers and praises of the public. You're a man of the people. You are loved by the people. You are unchallengeable, undefeatable, untouchable. a god. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Kampal</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ans </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">are certainly n</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ot </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">worshipers of Mr Museveni. Successive results from all recent elections show that the opposition parties tend to garner more votes in the city than the ruling party at all levels. I was relatively familiar with Kampala life when The 2011 and 2016 elections were held. From TV news, personal interactions, and popular talk on the streets, it was easy to deduce how much popular the opposition parties, particularly Mr Besigye’s FDC, were. Of course Mr Museveni won the elections both times, causing unrest in the Polis, including the famous “walk to work”processions by Mr Besigye and his followers.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">In 2016, while I lived right opposite to the FDC’s headquarters, I tasted the tear gas effects for the first and only time in my life. In an ingenious move to protest without being confronted by the police on the streets, the opposition coalition decided to hold prayer meetings at various places. Surely the police would not stop them from “praying”, they thought. Eventually, this too became controversial enough for confrontation with police to occur, then teargas, then arrests. Our neighbourhood was intoxicated to such extent that from inside my house, my friend and I cried at the effect of tear gas sifting through the shut doors. We tasted the experience of the militant side of Kampala. The unspoken rule had been reiterated in simple terms: do whatever you want in the Polis, just don’t stand in the way of Mr Museveni. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I must say though that I admire Museveni, for being a very shrewd and mature politician. sometimes he uses the stick to handle opposition, but he is actually one of the few African politicians who have managed to cohabitate with very strong and truly popular opposition, and to take them on. In most other African countries, opposition is practiced at the cost of your head. In Kampala, dissension is expressed everywhere you turn. I've worked with many supporters of the opposition, who did not have to worry about being killed. Many journalists and intellectuals criticise Museveni on radio daily and nothing happens to them. He prefers to play politics like chess. I've always said that Museveni is one the politicians I'd like to meet. I am convinced that if all African presidents would allow the kind of tolerance that Museveni exhibits, Africa would stand a chance to develop proper political exercise in the future. this is not to say that politics in Uganda is a clean and square affair, although the situation may be better there that in most of black Africa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro";">Some of the saddest and most profound stories I've heard from the critics are very serious accusations from the east. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Nile basin regions, Eastern, and Northern Uganda have some of the biggest critics of Museveni’s policy for their regions. </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The recent skirmishes in the north</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> where the government is attempting to give over 40thousand acr</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">e</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">s of </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">communal </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">land owned by thousands of locals to one single Indian businessman, the Madvani group, for sugarcane</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> farming,</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> have </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">shed light onto</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> the stealing of land from locals. The Madvani is the same business that was nearly given portions of the Mabira forest, the only remaining rainforest providing a large water catchment area to Lake Victoria, again for sugarcane. The ensuing tensions left three Indians dead. </span></span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Most people living on the sugar plantations are the poorest in the country. In fact, the Busoga region claims that it was deliberately impoverished by the government, when </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Mr Museveni</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> allowed Indian business sharks to buy off their land</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> or simply grab it using some clever schemes like bank loans that can't be paid. As a result, nearly the whole region is covered by sugarcane plantations belonging to just three Indian owned businesses. other </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">non-food-</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">crops</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">like coffee a</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">nd tea are also grown there. Therefore they remain poor and </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">dependant on richer western, regions for f</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">ood. T</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">he western region, where the president originates from, is the richest part of Uganda. That is the kind of complaints the various critics of Museveni murmur on the streets of Kampala, on talk shows, and in the papers, citing favouritism for his tribesmen who also make the majority of his government and the army leadership.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The further East and North you go, the more poverty you meet. I noticed that people in this areas are still living like </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">fricans from a century ago. It is important to notice that it is the largest area of Uganda, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">and more populated than </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">the rest of the country</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">. It lacks infrastructure, apart </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">from</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> the remnants of the </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">colonial era, or hospitals built by Amini and Obote regimes. According to the people I talked to, there was a deliberate move to impoverish them, by</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> favouring</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> the west</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> and Kampala, because they were powerful power brokers in post-colonial Uganda. nearly all the predecessors of Museveni came from that region.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro";">In<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> the 70’s and 80’s, Jinja was known as the industrial city of Uganda. Less than 20 years later, after Museveni took power, most of its former glory is only a park of vestiges. Even its port was left to crumble, while the industries were moved to Kampala.</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">These sentiments are leading the elites from this region to call for what they now call “the Nile Republic”, which would comprise of the Nile regions and the lands north of the Nile. In most of the north, many services are provided by the </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Hundreds </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">of </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">NGO's</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">standing in the gap between government and the people</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">,</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> but clearly the poverty is dire, and it will not end soon.</span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Even within Kampala and surrounding areas, basic amenities such as water and sanitation are still provided by hundreds of NGO’s.</span></span><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Kampala Street beggars</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">On the streets of the people's polis, the Karamajong children are a constant reminder of the plight for the Nile Republic. Say Karamajong in Kampala, two things come to mind. Street children in Kampala, and drought in the Karamoja region, which made headlines on international media. That’s how western NGO’s, missionaries, and a bucket of well-wishers found themselves engaged in various projects in Karamoja. It is reported that Uganda has over 10,000 children leaving on the streets of various urban centers, nearly half of them in Kampala alone. Most of them come from Karamoja. Others are either orphans or run-aways from broken families escaping abuse. There is also a significant number of the who are born on the street to sexually abused street girls.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The people in the Kar</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">a</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">mo</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">ja</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">sub-region</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">, famously known for being cattle rustlers and for famine, have</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> been promised roads and water projects</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> since 2011, when I last travelled there</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">However, more than s</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">ix years </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">after the creation of the “Ministry for Karamajong Affairs”, which was first headed by Janet Museveni, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">nothing meaningful</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> has been done. We must</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> of course take into account the numerous challenges facing Karamoja before we point fingers. However, we cannot also ignore that the region </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">receives s</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">ignificant rainfalls, has a rich soil and minerals being exploited by foreign companies, and has been allocated millions of dollars for various development programs, including the construction of water dams. The results are nowhere to be seen. what happened? </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This situation is not unique to karamoja. On the streets of Kampala, you will also hear murmurs and complaints about mismanagement of oil deals and corruption in everything else. For example, Since</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> the prospect of exporting crude and refined oil was confirmed, a p</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">i</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">p</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">e</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">line is now being constructed to take the oil to over 1</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">5</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">00 kilometres to the </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">port of Dar Es-Salam, from the border with DRC. Most critics wonder why such interest has not been demonstrated in the Karamoja water and agriculture projects.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Others say the oil has already been sold to multinationals, even before the refinery and pipeline projects are completed. In fact some say that they have seen hundreds of tankers transporting crude oil to Mombasa, usually at night. Truth remains to be known. Meanwhile the Karamajong street kids will continue to beg, And the happy life of the polis will continue illuminate Kampala's night sky.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Unplanned Settlement</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The recent economic growth has definitely put stress on </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Kampala (<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">the only city in Uganda), and on </span>its outdated infrastructure</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. When I came to Kampala in 2007, you could hardly see any congestion on the 7 km Entebbe highway between the city and the Zanna township. In the recent years, however, it has been plagued by long stretches of traffic jams, mostly due to badly planned junctions, bad driving, and few roads. The number of motorists using the few good roads has increased significantly. The construction industry has also seen a significant rise in both the commercial and residential units</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">built just recently.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> However, there is need to insist on quality rather than just buildings. Both landlords and developers are the least creative I’ve seen in any city. Most of the buildings coming up are nothing close to matching city standards, and demand for more creative solutions. Given its size, Kampala could easily house and feed 7-10M dwellers it was built to modern standards. It is now home to only 1.5M (census 2014) piled up in undesirable settlements. There is serious need for modern infrastructural development and urban housing planning.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Ugandans should </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">expect</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and demand </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">better management, and better standards of life.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> There is no water. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Water pipes are always broken by one thing or another</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> thus causing </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the available </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">tap water supply to be not just unreliable</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> but also causing the water to be unsafe to drink. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">There is no sewage and trash collection, let alone management. The 2014 people survey showed that nearly 90% of Ugandans have no access to modern sanitation. According to KCCA’s (Kampala City Council Authority) own data, more than 60% waste is not properly collected and disposed. 9 out of ten Ugandans use latrines, half of those are shared latrines, 10 to 20% of children grow up with no access to clean water. Over 70% of diseases can be avoided, if there was proper sanitation and water (Uganda Demographic and Health Survey Monograph, 2016). If one is lucky to find a house with a latrine, it is a relief, because running water for indoor plumbing is a treat. The sight of some modern houses and commercial buildings is a big mirage, for most of Kampala’s settlement falls far behind the standards. Towards the end of my time in Kampala, I lived in a 4 storey building by the famous Entebbe high way, on the 4th floor, with no water and no latrine, although I had paid for the facilities. I did not inform the owner when I left to avoid unnecessary quarrels.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Full stomachs, Happy life.</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Mao’s cliche, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">“Religion is the opium of the people", </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">is the best analogy to describe Kampala</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. Religion, it is thought, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">shifts </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">people’s focus </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">from</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> their leader's governance</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> to</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">bridled loyalty</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and mysticism</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. In fact in Uganda, Mr Museveni and his entourage have managed to convince Ugandans to fear a looming apocalyptic disintegration of the nation should Mr Museveni lose power. Like</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> many African people</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, Ugandans have been hypnotised by</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> a fake</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> economic development, a weak social cohesion, and a meaningless national</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> fulfilment. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Kampala is the ultimate exemplification of this African conundrum. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Most Ugandans are oblivious of their situation, as long as Mr Museveni keeps the status quo for them to enjoy food, security, and entertainment. these three constitute, at least in my mind, a deliberate strategy to apply the domination principle of giving before you can take. As long as you can keep the people happy enough to forget their misery, then you can blind them to the reality of their demise, while you enjoy everything else. It's a tread-off that most people in Uganda are usually willing to accept.</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4472c4; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Food: </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">it is everywhere on Kampala’s streets. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The fact that Uganda is for the most part food secure allows </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">U</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ganda</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ns</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> to spend</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> their</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> money on pleasure. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda is repute for its authentic organic food. The government has tried with little success to introduce GMO’s through financing research projects, such as the Kawanda Research centre. However, most of the crops introduced have struggled in many areas. Besides being prone to diseases, they don’t sell well in Kampala’s local markets. So the program has face a lot of scepticism and rejection by indigenous farmers. Many even believe there is an attempt by western multinationals, in cahoots with local politicians, to contaminate indigenous crops, therefore increasing farmers dependency on manufactures of insecticides and seeds. And of course a dependency on large farms, which are owned by politicians and foreign businessmen. In spite of the controversies, one of my favorite things in Kampala was street food, until I spent two days vomiting and diarrhoeating after having supper on the street. Food poisoning. I miss rolex.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Ugandans </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">lov</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">e </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">their local dishes, so they have turned their local foods into profitable businesses. Bananas, known as matoke, cassava, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, yams, maize dishes (posho), vegetables, all kinds of pulses, ground nuts pastes sauces, red meats and pork, chicken, eggs, and fish make the bulk of a typical Ugandan</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> food assortment</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. Even the most expensive hotels offer local meals once in a while. The most popular snack is the famous rolex. It is basically an omelette rolled together with a chapatti. It is so popular on the street that the chapati industry now employs probably more youth than any other sectors. In fact the government has maintained a tax increase on wheat flower since 2014 because it is very lucrative. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">On the street</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> of Kampala</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> you can also find </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">foods from various Ugandan cultures such as </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Mulokony (boiled hooves in soup)</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and Malakwang’ from the north. C</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">hips (french fries), deep pried</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> whole</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> fish, barbecued chicken</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and chicken-on-stick for long distance traveller buying through bus windows</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">roast sweet potatoes and plantains, and Muchomo (goat or pork chunks toasted on skewers) are the most common snacks, next to chapati and rolex.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">With its uncountable pork joints present everywhere, Uganda must be the largest pork consumer in Africa. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Most of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the cooking is </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">done in the open sometimes near some not-so-clean-places. It is usually safe to eat (other wise millions of Ugandans who eat could have died) but one needs to exercise caution. I stopped buying chapatti from the street because many times I ate stones and sand. Most food is cooked on the street at night when vendors </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">and shop owners </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">clear the streets </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">for the</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> night. For some reason I've never understood, most shops are very small units. For that reason, only a portion of the goods is sold from inside the shops</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> while everything else is exhibited on the walkways and sometimes on the roads.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4472c4; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Security:</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> No doubt Uganda is one of the most secure countries in Africa. At any given night, o</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">n a distance of 1km you easily count more</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> b</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ars</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> clubs</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> than </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">restaurants, street food courts and all kinds</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">of things that make </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Kampala</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> a city that never s</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">l</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">eeps. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Finally, </span><span style="color: #4472c4; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Entertainment:</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Kampala is reputed for its bars, clubs, guest houses, massage parlours, mega music events, and sexy women.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> As I have mentioned many times already, i</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">t appears to me that entertainment</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and indulgence are a means to provide</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> a false sense of freedom </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">and fulfilment</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. As a result, Ugandans are too reluctant to be involved in anti government demonstrations because, according to some, they </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">don't want to ruin things</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The people’s Polis</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">If you've been to Kampala, you'll agree with me: There is no question that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Ugandans are truly the happiest people in EastAfrica. Uganda</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">'s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">beach and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">night life </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">are</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> probably some of the most interesting things to try, if you want to see ordinary Ugandans enjoy their country.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> The city looks unusually beautiful at night, as long as you don't have to go off the main road, for there is no paved road apart from the main road. I enjoyed atte</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">nd</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ing some night events at hotels and resta</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">u</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">rants. Public transport is still available in most Kampala areas even in the deep of the night, but you must be extremely cautious. Bars and clubs dominate the streets. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">B</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">eer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> spirits</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, Shisha, Pork joints, and all kinds of indulgence</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> have been made readily available to the people of the polis</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Ugandans occup</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ied</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> the world number 1 place in drinking</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> in 2014, beating the Germans, the Belgians, and Russians</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">. Spirits are even packaged in s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">m</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">all sachets</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">sold at the lowest price possible in any shops</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, everyday, all the time, to anyone</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">. I fear that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">the government has</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> turned Ugandans into </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">d</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">runkards for the sake</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">of appeasing their spirits and collect their taxes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, but especially to stop them from focusing on their real destitution</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">.</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">After ten years leaving in this mega city, I realise that Kampala has fallen victim to opium. Pleasure. All religions, all ages have been charmed and blinded by the crumbles falling from the table. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">As I think about my experience, I wonder if their resignation to the status quo is not costing their future a little too much. But I also ask myself whether I am not being too harsh in my judgement. I wonder if my mind is not crowded by my many disappointments and unrealistic expectations, or comparisons with other societies. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Either way, it is heart breaking to see so much poverty and mismanagement in a city that symbolises the hopes of the great Pearl of Africa. Living in Kampala is an experience like no other. The beauty and the tastes of the merry Kampala that you find on the streets and dusty roads, if you have the courage to move and see Ugandans enjoy their liberties at the cost of their freedom, is truly a reflection of the African will to enjoy life no matter what. After all, what else can the people do besides domesticating the Polis!?</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-41753660871206875772018-12-31T13:13:00.001+03:002019-05-24T19:05:47.102+03:00Back To The Bible - Rwanda.<div style="margin: 14.66px 0px 0px; text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMmAsyNPlokF6gNXtShqU1CYwsxO_Q9FmwMJlNtbWj7fIjdarpkha-U_q1fa3vzcCX8dSNV7OmdmWpfkI-D4NTMdfTE6PzW2E0gHRYz2ukin8wkPxTG1tKcb3SUlNxUda4aplGAJUb9i-/s1600/20180812_112459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMmAsyNPlokF6gNXtShqU1CYwsxO_Q9FmwMJlNtbWj7fIjdarpkha-U_q1fa3vzcCX8dSNV7OmdmWpfkI-D4NTMdfTE6PzW2E0gHRYz2ukin8wkPxTG1tKcb3SUlNxUda4aplGAJUb9i-/s640/20180812_112459.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">This last day of 2018, I want to thank God for the opportunity he gave me to participate in the most honourable task of preaching the gospel of Christ in Muyumbu, Rwanda. For the past six months, this small church became my community and a well needed support system, through their prayers for me and daily interaction, celebrating and crying with me. </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I thank the leaders of this new community church, who entrusted me with the task of preparing 4 of their members for baptism. this challenged me to think anew about the state of the church in Africa in this century. I want to highlight a few challenges, as I thank the founders of Back to The Bible, </span><i><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Rwanda</span></i><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> for their efforts to create a relevant tool for the preaching of the gospel in their own churches and beyond.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Back to the Bible is a local ministry that got birthed by a group of pastors and evangelists </span><u><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline; text-transform: none;">mainly </span></u><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">from the Evangelical Church and Ministries international, Baptist Churches, Free Methodist Churches, the Anglican Church, among others. It's been in existence for the past one year. Their objective is to formulate and emulate a biblical response to counter the current trend of extreme charismatism, false teachers, and misuse</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMH6elo2cYwgoMoLAkY5JmLn6bSPVLes76NgX5hosJskAgBJirPxLWYt6LZ1AR0gHzo4cQOHlDj4zkUsNaz4V5I05eu7v_qwoCYP1cXzDgABOG53xQO19tO8a6y3TSNyd-ZCon02kQzZn/s1600/20180916_135930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1600" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMH6elo2cYwgoMoLAkY5JmLn6bSPVLes76NgX5hosJskAgBJirPxLWYt6LZ1AR0gHzo4cQOHlDj4zkUsNaz4V5I05eu7v_qwoCYP1cXzDgABOG53xQO19tO8a6y3TSNyd-ZCon02kQzZn/s200/20180916_135930.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> of biblical "mercy" ministry, and have now dominated a considerable number of churches and Christian ministries in Africa in general</span><u><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline; text-transform: none;">.</span></u><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> As a result, the state of the church in Rwanda and Africa raise serious concerns, because the church is faced with various forms of heresy in doctrine and Practice. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">These internal threats are also worsened by serious external threats. First, the </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">influence and excessive manipulation (control and use of the church as a platform to promote ideology) by governments. In some cases, church leaders are instructed to teach government policy in their services. Second, </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">resurgence of and romanticizing of African "indigenous" religion. These religions teach that t</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">raditional beliefs in African deities and African traditional practices are more authentic than Christianity. In fact, some proponents of these religions go as far as saying that true Christianity is African traditional religion. Others want to replace Christianity with African religion completely. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xAguTqkjNznAkH5vaQASd-aGEfxTeCJnQe5jN4GU1PdYHQhWh_F7s7q6_HQmvCmiCCPKWw4efhptmmIe56sfWGzdnEUaeBzRK29H6N_rJlQS9nlT4nI8Fh8rCfy9gtSslU7jU1Wi8gVe/s1600/20181021_114932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xAguTqkjNznAkH5vaQASd-aGEfxTeCJnQe5jN4GU1PdYHQhWh_F7s7q6_HQmvCmiCCPKWw4efhptmmIe56sfWGzdnEUaeBzRK29H6N_rJlQS9nlT4nI8Fh8rCfy9gtSslU7jU1Wi8gVe/s200/20181021_114932.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">In Rwanda, for example, this year on 7th July, a group of 200 "worshipers of light" from various walks of life met to propose a "prayer" to replace the "Lord's prayer" from Matt 6:9. They especially replace the "Our Father" with "Mana y'Urwanda", "Oh God of Rwanda", including the names of the founders of the kingdom of Rwanda, which evolved into the current nation of Rwanda (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tLpwgiYJB8). They believe that Africans should pray to their own god (the god of their fathers and ancestors) instead of the God of Israel. Finally, new and old philosophies, intellectualism, and Africanism. Biblical Christianity is clearly under threat in Africa.</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">BBM founding members' response to these growing threats to Biblical Christianity is to teach Biblical doctrine and practice within their spheres of influence. They, therefore, decided to form an independent ministry that focuses on preaching and proclaiming Christ and nothing but Christ (1 Cor.2:2-5;2 Cor. 4:5;Col.1:28;2:16-17) in their pulpits, and through integrated social programs, as a channel to reach out to many other ministers, and to proclaim true biblical Christianity through every social involvement o</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">pportunities. Indeed these BBM founding members are active where they are church members. When they are given opportunities to minister, they preach and teach the Bible through Bible study sessions and sermons, challenging their audiences to be doers of the word!!! </span></span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8db3xod_3i3PWtVj_tWmNyYiu8NUH37YwbS5n2sRFHdq2674bbDZMQeJ0eEV4EP6Nlp0Tq7FRM0dK1JTLpXWS-uoofCQrX-y7EBvwL8Ng4Zot4MF9L0MAS0ZnEHUTxpveFKx1zYgyWoK/s1600/20181118_113400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8db3xod_3i3PWtVj_tWmNyYiu8NUH37YwbS5n2sRFHdq2674bbDZMQeJ0eEV4EP6Nlp0Tq7FRM0dK1JTLpXWS-uoofCQrX-y7EBvwL8Ng4Zot4MF9L0MAS0ZnEHUTxpveFKx1zYgyWoK/s320/20181118_113400.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">That is why I chose to work with them while I was in Rwanda, particularly in the area of teaching about biblical music. Needless to say, music is one of the major pillars of church service where the church at large in Rwanda (and most likely the whole of Africa) is steadily departing from the Bible. The focus is on entertainment rather than biblical content and congregational participation, as seems to be the case for biblical music. </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I believe it is time for the church world wide to rethink their strategy on missions and partnership in order to effectively empower the church in third world countries. it is no secret that the current successes of missions are questionable. whereas the African churches need to do more to grow deep in biblical Christianity, Churches in the developed world need to learn to identify new and effective ways of sponsoring and partnering with African church</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> leaders</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8db3xod_3i3PWtVj_tWmNyYiu8NUH37YwbS5n2sRFHdq2674bbDZMQeJ0eEV4EP6Nlp0Tq7FRM0dK1JTLpXWS-uoofCQrX-y7EBvwL8Ng4Zot4MF9L0MAS0ZnEHUTxpveFKx1zYgyWoK/s1600/20181118_113400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">May God grant Back to the Bible unstoppable opportunities to minister to the hungry souls the gospel as it was preached and practiced by our Lord Jesus Christ. May God provide all the resources needed for such a momentous task in the face of adversity and all manner of persecution that the preachers of the gospel have endured for centuries all over the world. God's work, done in God's way will never lack God's resources. Hudson Taylor.</span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui semilight"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0pt; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-21235527664790394832017-12-29T14:43:00.000+03:002019-05-27T18:58:20.531+03:00The Pearl of Africa<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Uganda: the nation, the people, and the church. Is biblical Christianity succeeding?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">A recollection of my personal experiences in Uganda over the past ten years (2007-2017). </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Leaving Kenya</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I don't think I understood </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the depth of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">what I was saying when I stood in front of the church at the Free Methodist Church, Karen, and said: “change is inevitable. A time comes when we must change...” you see, I was only thinking of the difficulties </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">that </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the worship team was likely to experience in my absence. I'd been their music director and main instrumentalist for over a year. Now I was leaving all my friends for Kampala to study theology, at African Bible University. Now I know the statement was more for me than it was for the congregation.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">A year before that, I'd started praying for an opportunity to go to a Bible school. In fact I'd </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">been </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">pray</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ing</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> for that </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">since </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">turn</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ing</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> 20. I wanted to live my life for something very significant, say being the president of my country. I'd realised, however, that politics in the great lakes region </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">is</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> not something that a Christian should venture into for the simple reason of being patriotic. In this volatile region, especially in the 90's decade, terror, death, massacres, tribal wars and militarism, and pogroms dominated the political scene</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> in Rwanda</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. Much has changed since then and the East African region has seen some level of stability. I told myself that if God was calling me to politics, then I needed to go to a Bible school first, to have enough Bibl<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ical thinking</span> which will influence my intellect and Christian living</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. I felt I needed more of the Bible for myself in order to step up for others in the leadership arena.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">So when a friend of my father's told me about African Bible College in Malawi, I did not hesitate. I applied. During the same period of time, the ABC, inc. had recently opened a new campus in Uganda. I applied, travelled to Uganda for an interview in May 2007, then returned to Nairobi to prepare my exit. I was excited. Coming to Uganda was indeed the greatest change to happen</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> to me</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> in my short life on this planet. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">And so i</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">n August 2007, exactly ten years ago, I set on a course to Uganda</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> after eight years </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">in Nairobi. I packed every thing I owned, gave away what I couldn't travel with, and quit my catering and hotel management course and a promising carrier.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">With a few challenges that I overcame, finally on the second day of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">September, 2007 </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">orientation at African Bible University began, opening for me a new era of surprises, shock, and lots of happy times in the </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Matoke </span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">nation</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">At this point, I didn’t know that </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda has made a name for </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">itself as a great tourist destination, for its controversial leader of 30 years, Mr Museveni, and for it’s organic food. I knew about Idi Amin, the raid on Entebbe, and HIV, which have kept Uganda’s place in the media for decades. Of course, the country</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">is arguably more </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">stab</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">le economically and politically than</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> many</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> of its neighbors</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> It is called the pleasure capital of EastAfrica for a good reason.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> I w</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ant to write</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> a number of experiences </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">which</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> showed me </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">those </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">different sides of the Uganda's economy, society, the political system, and of course the Church</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and missions</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Instead of</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> dwelling on the </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">good things</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> that both foreigners and locals </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">speak</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> about, I will </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">write </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">especially about my many disappointments</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> because that's what I experienced often. My objective is not to deny the obvious successes, but to be as frank as possible about what I experienced in the past ten years,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and how those experiences had a profound effect on me. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">t is </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the reality that most ordinary</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> people like me </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">face daily</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> in varying degrees</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> These realities have caused me to question the state of Uganda’s Christianity. I feel my years in Uganda would have been a waste if I do not record some of my experiences in order to ask Ugandan Christians and the missionary community to evaluate the state and the results of Christian ministry in Africa.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I want to admit the difficulty of writing this. First of all, I never </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">planned to</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> do such a thing when </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">my</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Uganda</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">n adventure begun, and<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> it’s impossible to recall all the most important events,</span> yet I<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> will touch </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">difficult subjects requiring thorough and more specific research than just an experience. </span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Secondly, it is impossible to express my opinions without provoking feelings and jeopardising my relationship with some of the people I met in Uganda. I</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">t is </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">hard to talk about Christianity </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">in Uganda </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">without giving examples that will displease<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, in one way or another,</span> many of the people who have tremendously contributed to my life</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. I apologise in avance to my Ugandan friends, <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">who may disagree with my evaluation of the state of their nation and people.</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Lastly, we can not overlook the political implications that some of the criticism I will express may have. This is Africa. Opinions lead to serious security problems. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Nonetheless, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I realise that there is no other way to celebrate the blessings I've received from various people,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">and</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> most importantly</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> to remember God's providential hand in my life,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">but to write this recollection</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro";">Af<span style="margin: 0px;">ter ten years without living with my siblings and my parents, I was reminded </span><span style="margin: 0px;">by my very stressful </span><span style="margin: 0px;">circumstanc</span><span style="margin: 0px;">es of my last months in Uganda</span><u><span style="margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"> </span></u><span style="margin: 0px;">that, after all is said and done, they are all that I have in this world. Since July 2016 a strange medical condition that doctors still haven't yet diagnosed, one year later, seriously affected my health. I could not find even the slightest help from the </span><span style="margin: 0px;">people</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> that I have lived with, worked for, and worked with in the past ten years, just when I need help the most</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;">(with the exception of very few unlikely</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> friends in spite of</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> their own poverty). Unsurprisingly, my family supported me in ways that I cannot begin to explain. Therefore, I feel I owe it to my Dad and Mom (for their unwavering faith and tireless work in the church for decades), and my seven siblings (for their exemplary love, unity, and self sacrifice) to record my </span><span style="margin: 0px;">experiences,</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> to celebrate their impact on my life </span><span style="margin: 0px;">of </span><span style="margin: 0px;">this past decade. I am </span><span style="margin: 0px;">the man I am </span><span style="margin: 0px;">today because of</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> God and</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> my family and I am thankful.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Uganda, The Pearl of Africa</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">There is no other place I know I'd rather go to live a quiet and simplified life in Africa </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">besides</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Uganda.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> The saying goes that once you come to Uganda, you’ll always come back.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> From beautiful natural endowment of touristic sites along the Nile and volcanic mountains, to the endless lively and loud concerts</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and parties</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> at the beaches of Lake Victoria; from feasting on fresh deep-fried </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">til</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">apia</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and Nile perch to indulging on boos and clubbing (if it's your thing). No matter where you go, village and town alike, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda truly is a nation full of beautiful life. Ugandans are praised for their hospitality and warmth. Almost every white person I've spoken to in Uganda says they love the Ugandan people and the beautiful nature. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> travelled to many tourist destinations across Uganda and visited the famous Lake Bunyonyi islands where Winston Churchill landed during the second world war</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">t is hard not to agree with him that, from that view,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda truly is the pearl of Africa. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda is very rich in agricultural and other resources too. In fact it is said that the Israeli government imported Ugandan soil for its agricultural projects in the desert. Anything you plant will grow. There are other natural resources, like significant gold deposits and considerable oil. Ugandans has one of the most literate societies in Africa, and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Ugandans are hard working people too</span>. A recent study reported that Ugandans work more hours than any other people in East Africa, and possibly in all of Africa. Indisputably, Ugandan towns are full of activity until late in the night, every day. not many African countries have achieved that. That's why I regret the state of the nation, because it's economy should be better.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">Africanism: Business and Politics</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"> the African way!?</span></b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda is the best example of both the success and the failure of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the ambiguous mantras, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Africanism</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and Panafricanism</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. It's a success because the nation has forged a unique way of organising its economy, in a model that is neither western, nor eastern. It is simply a functioning economy for everybody who can fit in</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">, like</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> the</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> unregulated</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> street food industry (Rolex, chappati, mchomo, katogo, tea), street vending, and street mechanics, omnipresent in Kampala. So I call it a success of Africanism.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> The freedom of being and doing whatever you want, using the least you have to make anything work, with no restrictions and accountability whatsoever. It is an African phenomenon, because there is a similar laissez-faire tendency in many African nations, on the basis of a false premise that Africans don’t have to set high standards for themselves. You take your car for a repair, the mechanic does a poor job, he thinks it's enough as long as the car can be driven. "This is Africa", he says. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">you settle for mediocrity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Most businesses operate under the radar. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">It is the ultimate unregulated economy. </span>I operated two businesses, tourism and tomato farming, for two years in Kampala and I never paid one shilling to the government. In Rwanda, for example, it can’t happen, because everything is regulated and taxed. Whereas Europe's business climate is probably more regulated than heaven itself, the unorganised and disorganised informal sector is basically the backbone of life in Uganda. When the 2008 world recession hit the West, we hardly felt it in Uganda, because government and banks are simply absent in the lives of 90% of Ugandans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Nonetheless, Africanism is a failure because it has not solved anything. I</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">nstead of alleviating abject poverty, it has created a mafia-like class of rich </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">technocrats</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and businessmen who can do anything to get rich</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">A</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">nd</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> they always</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> get away with it.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> I am sure many Ugandans will feel insulted by my comments about their country, but I only intend to show the true state of things. I never understood the extend of our misery until I travelled to the USA and Europe for performance in 2015. I witnessed how dare the situation is upon landing at Entebbe, after being away for two months. As we drove back to Kampala, I started observing how everything I saw looked ugly: unfinished and broken road, unfinished residential houses, dust everywhere and all around, everything looked to be out of place. that's when I started comparing where we are as a continent and where the West is now. the Chasm is too big to explain. I was dumbstruck. I concluded that our African leaders are the biggest liars in the world. they know what we should aspire to achieve, but they don't love their people enough to lead them there. As the </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">streets are chaotic</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> and dirty,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> so are nearly </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">all the</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> sector</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">s</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> of the economy and politics. Africanism limits our creativity, Panafricanism ensures we copy and we, especially our leaders at all levels, share the bad examples only. there must be a better way, and we must aspire to, and work at finding it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Of course </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">There</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">’s been economic growth over the time</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> but </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the big men enjoy the lion’s share</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> It’s said that Uganda’s economy at independence was relatively equal to Singapore’s. 50 years later the difference raises very serious questions. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I feel </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">like our African politicians </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">have set wrong priorities and they have blinded people with alcohol and false peace</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">T</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">here can never be true peace, human rights, and dignified living where poverty and mismanagement of resources are the bread on which the ruling technocrats and greedy car</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">e</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">er politicians thrive.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Uganda’s president is remembered to have said, in response to criticism from Rwanda, that if </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">a man </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">po</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ss</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">esses many cattle, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">there is dung in his</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> home. If </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">another</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> is poor, however, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">his</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> home is always clean. Uganda's booming business in agricultural produce and</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> all kinds of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">merchandise</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> from China,, and second hand imports</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> is evidenced by the great amount of trash spread almost everywhere in the city. In fact, it only seems fair to say that in Uganda the beauty is in the details because very little of it is seen at first sight (besides the amazing natural attractions). The chaotic scenes on the mostly dirty streets are the first memory you make. the few paved roads in the only city, Kampala, and in other towns are dusty and dirty. When it rains all the soil ends up in the drainage, if any was done by the constructors. Floods are a common occurrence as though there were no road engineers to design proper bridges and reliable canalization. When it’s sunny the wind, people, and cars wake up the sand and dust sending the mix to cover rooftops and everything around. Coupled with an absolutely chaotic and totally unplanned housing everywhere in the country, that first sight of the physical Kampala truly discouraged me.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The real estate business is booming, but it is far from solving housing issues for the middle class. It is very hard to find a good house, almost impossible to find one without a broker. It takes a lot of luck to find a reliable broker, not a trickster. When you find one, you’re never sure that he will show you the house you want, before showing you five more of lower standards to increase on his commission. When he finally shows you a good house, it is either expensive, in the rich estates, or it is in a slum. Slums are </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">the general state of human habitat in urban areas</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> anyway</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. If you’re luck</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">y</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> to find one in a good place with a tolerable road, there is no running water, or you have to rely on water tanks. It’s a blessing if you find a house with indoor plumbing, and better yet, to find it where there is a latrine </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">complementing</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> proper </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">plumbing.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> P</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">roper sanitation is but a dream to ordinary Ugandans. Uganda boasts of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">a fair number of </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">water</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> bodies, yet t</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">he capital Kampala is terribly plagued by lack of running water all year around,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> although it is built on Victoria’s shores and it receives heavy rainfall at least thrice a year</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">. Electricity too is as unreliable as anything else, yet Uganda produces so much electricity, and has tremendous potential for </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">hydro-power</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> projects.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Manufacturing is growing but most if it still does not respond to the basic needs of the people. Most products sold on the Ugandan market are fakes ,or very poor quality. It is better to buy imported second hand than new products, from china particularly. There is a common joke that when Ugandan businessmen go to Dubai and China to buy products, they order for grades 4 and 5 or much lower standards instead of grades 1 and 2, which are made for Europe and America of course, or at least 3. Many years of mismanagement and political intrigue based on regionalism, militarism, and tribalism have seen most parastatals close doors, or they were sold by government to proxy companies in the name of privatization. During independence era, Uganda was known for its cotton exports. Now the country imports nearly 100% of its cotton based products. Anything you buy in Uganda is, in one way or another, not worthy the money you spent on it, unless your bargaining skills are excellent. Value is in the objective for which you buy stuff, not the stuff you buy. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">The Jungle</span></b><b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">The markets are a jungle that you better adapt to, or get rich enough to do your shopping in the supermarkets an boutiques, where prices are not flexible. Interestingly enough, the best quality is found in the second hand imported goods markets. However, every time you plan to buy anything, prepare yourself to the fact that you will be cheated or given fake products. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">As I will explain later, Christianity is everywhere you turn but you must know that a</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> Christian name does not translate to Christian living and trustworthiness by any means. </span><span style="margin: 0px;">"I'm a Christian" is a passcode to unlock your defences. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Although</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> bargaini</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">ng is common all around the world, I find that in Uganda it is on a level of its own. Prices are </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">some times ten</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> times the actual price of an item. It is impossible in many cases to know the real monetary value of what you buy outside the supermarket. Sometimes even the supermarkets and stores manipulate the prices dubiously.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">After I’d been in Kampala for a few months ,I went to the famous Owino market, where you find almost any household items, supposedly at cheaper prices. Before the recent attempts by government to develop the market into storey buildings, it was a sea of people, packed into a maze of timber and plastic shades, in no more than perhaps four acre of land, with barely any space for the clients, and of course very poor sanitation. Every little inch was used either to hang cloths on some makeshift wooden structures, or to pile everything table stalls, or simply on the ground. Rain was unwelcome anytime. It is believed that about a million people walked through it each day. It is hard to choose whom to buy from, because everyone is calling you, others pulling you by your hand, insisting that you buy from them. I was especially bothered by people pulling me or forcing themselves in front of me to get me to their stall, but eventually I got used to holding my anger inside my belly, not on my tongue. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">After my friend Collins Kayongo had helped me to do my first shopping in Uganda, a couple of shirts and a tie (which I still wear as my Ugandan souvenir), now I needed football boots. I went very early as I was advised, to buy while the sellers are still opening their huge bales and piles. I found one that I liked and tried to bargain to my best ability. Later that evening, I showed up at the football pitch to try it out. No sooner than had I begun to play</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">,</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> one shoe’s studs sunk inside the sole. The end of the shoes had come much sooner than I’d hoped for. As it turns out, I was only showed the good shoe while the pair was hidden, so I had very little time to inspect it. At that very moment, Uganda lost my heart.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">Many similar situations happened in every thing that I bought. From old ladies tricking me and selling me bad vegetables, to young men and a restaurant selling me grilled tough beef chunks in the name of grilled goat meat (skewed grilled goad meat is a favourite street food). From mechanics stealing my car’s AC pulley pump, to a young man selling me a fake Nivea roll-on; From taxi operators refusing to give me my due balance, to landlords refusing to refund me my money twice. And the police could do nothing about it, let alone the courts. Of course these things can happen anywhere in the world, but this is about my experience in Uganda. My most favourite and most unbelievable trick was my experiences with the butchers.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I find it intolerable and inexcusable that in this century, Ugandan butcheries still hang meat in the windows, where cars and pedestrians flush them with dust from the famously dusty roads. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">I remember that</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> one of the things that attracted me to Kenya the first time I set foot there was its clean and innovative butcheries. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">In Uganda, t</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;">hree times I asked different butchers to give me boneless meat, which is not a common ask, and each time they accepted, and even charged me extra shillings. Most Ugandans buy meat cuts with bones because the most common dishes are stews. The first time I was puzzled, wondering how and why the butcher still managed to hide a bone in the meat. Eventually I learnt. While the butcher has very attractive boneless cuts, he also keeps near the weighing scale bones and small chunks of fats. So I observed as he was about to put the good</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> part</span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"> on the tray, fixing my eyes on his hand. As his left hand picks the meat to weigh it, he gestures to me with the right hand pointing to another not-so-attractive steak. “what about this one?” He asks me. As I turn to look at it, he picks the fatty chunks with his fingers, hiding them under the choice steak. After balancing out the scale, he then slides the meat into a plastic bag, still keeping the nice peace on top for your eyes. Three times I discarded no less than a quarter of what I had bought at an extra charge, thinking it was a good deal. </span><span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">I still haven't understood why such behaviour is rampant and tolerated by the society. Sadly, I’ve come to understand that this “man eat man" view of business is representative of a wide section of businesses in Uganda. Whichever way you look at it, the philosophy seems to be: “invest as little as possible to maximise as much as possible”. Africanism. apart from the upper-end malls and businesses, targeting white people and the very rich, much of the rest leaves so much to desire. One time I bought a phone charger which never worked at all. The market is flooded with fake cables, fake phones, fake pens, substandard clothes (apart from some second hand and the very expensive ones), fake bottle water, fake processed foods, fake spare parts for all machinery, etc. On one hand these products sell because that is what people can afford. On the other, it is because </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">those</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> are the only products the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> importers bring in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">. But worst of all, it is unbelievable that the government pays a blind eye (or is incapable of doing anything), while fake products are imported and sold like genuine ones.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Ten years after my first real experiences of the Pearl of Africa, I look back and feel sorry for this great nation, w</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">hose</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> great potential is being squandered by those who have the ability to make it a truly prosperous nation. I am afraid that our African leaders have made our people to believe in wrong priorities. Coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa instead of turning locally consumed food crops into cash crops, and negotiate favorable trade deals; Borrowing billions for roads instead of for water, electricity, sanitation, and environmental planning and management; Spending billions on elections while there are no hospitals, and the few existing ones are barely equipped; Spending billions on oversized</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> cabinets and parliaments, while school teachers go for months without receiving their meagre salaries; Depending on the so called expats, while the very children we educate run away from their homeland for lack of opportunities, or for being undervalued. Uganda is the best example of this African conundrum, because it is also known for loosing nurses and doctors to other countries although it needs them most. So why should I tell you about the obvious beauty of Uganda, that everybody sings?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond premr pro"; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Mpolampola:</i> Take it easy</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">In the next part I will continue to write about how the beauty of the Pearl is being blackened by opportunistic politicians and a mediocrity culture</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> in Kampala</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">: All standards and everything are admissible. And the people seem to be satisfied by the status quo, powerlessness, and complacency, in a nation that's "dominated" by the only faith whose author is the ultimate source of love, human rights, wisdom, and beauty.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">survive</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> in this jungle</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">, especially as a bicycle rider,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> I had to make myself ten rules</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> that I repeated to myself every time something happened to me. 1. Check if your are still alive; 2. thank God if you are still alive; 3. Don’t argue with road users. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">I</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">t’s pointless; 4. Don’t ask for your rights. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">J</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">ust pay the police “fine”; 5. Enjoy the liberties like everyone else. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">Y</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">ou won’t find them anywhere else; 6. </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Mpolampola,</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> take it easy; 7. Relax</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">; 8. Relax </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">; 9. </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">RELAX; 10. Relax </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">Sebbo.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> It’s OK. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">T</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;">hat is the only way I could pass the anger management course that the Pearl of Africa </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px;">really</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond premr pro"; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-transform: none;"> was for me.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-90496858079157308992017-12-27T04:45:00.000+03:002017-12-27T05:33:42.940+03:00Forgive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwHGrDBpC9DeJeXFhW-LAKG9LXOPC87un4wID5fmHG_iy3kYME_7MZ-da_cviO1wnijng4IM3oJVVdm7zX8xNSTSD5rq-MGu5ItXPqMQXAipEfVboz2SC2zjUWjI8rKDuTBF6Di1lyrV-/s1600/bas7ly9vmsld0dcfmq2s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwHGrDBpC9DeJeXFhW-LAKG9LXOPC87un4wID5fmHG_iy3kYME_7MZ-da_cviO1wnijng4IM3oJVVdm7zX8xNSTSD5rq-MGu5ItXPqMQXAipEfVboz2SC2zjUWjI8rKDuTBF6Di1lyrV-/s640/bas7ly9vmsld0dcfmq2s.png" width="640" /></a></div>
"Learn to forgive and forgive for your own survival. The worst tragedy in our human coexistance is not that there is conflict but that there are hearts that do not want to solve coexistential conflict. Since Conflicts of all kinds and nature are determined by, and determine our human existance and social evolution, thus, a heart that does not seek to forgive and solve conflict is the worst disposition and deficiency of all detrimental conditions the human creature can ever be infested with, for it destroys both the soul of the creature and creation itself."<br />
M R Gady.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-18521484758560175042016-04-27T16:04:00.000+03:002016-04-27T16:29:18.402+03:00Do you qualify to lead music in the worship service?<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><b>Talent vs theology</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are there qualifications at
all for music leaders, composers, and musicians apart from their “talent” and
the need by the church to fill the vacuum? why does the church seemingly imply
that the music ministry is for the “youth”, the “talented”, the “singer” but
not the theologian and the “technical” team (in relation to theological and
doctrinal training), or the Pastor? </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most churches require, for example,
everyone in the preaching ministry to have some form of theological and
leadership training. The music ministry, in contrast, is not treated with the
same rigour. In modern churches, there are strict standards set for the minimum
abilities or training that a musician, singer, dancer, sound or lights operator
should have. Insofar as theological training is concerned, however, the
standards are far less if at all they exist.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Biblical congregational
worship examples paint a different picture of the qualifications for music
leaders and singers. The people who were charged to lead music in the early
Church (Old Testament) were Levites. It was certainly the case in David’s
lifetime: </span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“David told the
leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful
songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals. So the
Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berekiah;
and from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;” <b>1 Chron
15:16-17</b></span></i><b><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></b><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span lang="EN">This was 500 years after the Levitical priesthood order was
established by God in the desert to perform all the duties of the tabernacle,
and thus to oversee all the matters of proper God-inspired worship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even as late as 500 years
later when the remnants returned from exile, the same standards were upheld by
Nehemiah and Ezra: <i>“</i></span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The chief officer of the Levites
in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah,
the son of Mica. Uzzi was one of Asaph's descendants, who were the singers
responsible for the service of the house of God”.</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
<b>Neh 11:22. </b>From the fact that musicians
were appointed from the Levites, we can deduce that t</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">hey were not just appointed as music leaders and
composers because of talent but most certainly for two reasons: first, the Levites
were the only tribe from which priests could be appointed through family descent,
and their job was to serve in the temple. Second, being charged with worship
oversight, they were thoroughly knowledgeable in God’s word. That implies
clearly that all the composers and writers were not just talented musically but
especially competent in handling God’s word (which was also their primary
history book) as a sinequanon qualification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pastoral Oversight<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although most choir
directors would disagree (especially in the praise-band-style churches), it
seems biblical, logical, and proper to have both a pastoral oversight on the
selection of music and a synchronization of the music department and the rest
of the worship service’s elements by the spiritual father, the pastor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In most churches today, the
music department “enjoys” an unhealthy liberty from constrains of biblical
guidance on the place of music in the worship service. Even where it’s been
made the center of attraction, music is serving other purposes than true
biblical worship. Some conservative churches, however, have maintained the
tradition of synchronizing music and the pulpit. In some churches, the senior
pastor selects or approves the music after careful scrutiny of the songs’
theology, since he is the overall spiritual leader of the congregation. Other
traditions provide an overarching theme for music and preaching but leave the
musicians and singers to select the music liberally and arbitrarily. Does the
Bible have anything to teach us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is also important to
emphasize the fact that leaders in the Bible are called to high standards not
just for knowledge and talent but also for proper and caring shepherding as
well. Just as the priestly office was hereditarily inferred, it appears that there
was a similar condition with regards to musicians and singers, besides being Levites.
The most obvious benefits include proper oversight (leadership), care
(fatherhood), and the continuation of the ministry (systems). King David, the
chief musician, exercised his kingly leadership to ensure that the musicians
followed God’s directives with regards to temple service and music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">“David, together with
the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and
Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and
cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service: <sup>2</sup> From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur,
Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of
Asaph, who prophesied under the king's supervision. <sup>3</sup> As for Jeduthun, from his sons:
Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah, six in all, under
the supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied, using the harp in
thanking and praising the LORD. <sup>4</sup>
As for Heman, from his sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth;
Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi,
Hothir and Mahazioth… <sup>6</sup> All
these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the
temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the
house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the
king. <sup>7</sup> Along with their
relatives-- all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD-- they numbered
288. <sup>8</sup> Young and old alike,
teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties. <sup>9</sup> The first lot, which was for
Asaph, fell to Joseph, his sons and relatives, 12 the second to Gedaliah, he
and his relatives and sons, 12 …” <b>1 Chron 25:1-9</b></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Discipleship <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oversight roles and systems
are not clearly underlined in the bible. However, there is no doubt that a God-honoring
leadership, following God’s standards for oversight and purposeful exercising
of the music ministry in the church is emphasized as fundamental. High
standards are to be envisaged and emphasized in two main areas. First of all, from
the biblical texts quoted above, it seems safe to conclude that the Bible calls
music leaders to serve in the singing ministry, in conjunction with other
pastors, as shepherds whose spiritual care for the members is of primary
importance. Music ministry leaders ought to understand that God calls choir
directors and all other leaders in the department to be responsible and caring
shepherds. They are called to be spiritual leaders to fellow singers. Therefore,
their qualification in theology and church doctrine must be emphasized. They ought
to help oversee the spiritual welfare of their flock (singers under their
leadership) as well as the communal and social life of individual members. However,
it must be done with much wisdom and skillful leadership. This is particularly
important because most choir members and singers in Africa are young people and
children and quite often new converts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Secondly, singers play a
prophetic role in the worship service nearly as powerful as the preaching
ministry. by directing people’s emotions and meditation to God, singers take
the congregation to God. By reminding the people of God’s attributes (as
revealed in his entire word), correctly (i.e. clearly and accurately) quoting
God’s promises, simply recounting his historical redemptive acts and actions
and our experience of his redemption, God is magnified in the hearts and minds
of his people. In that way, music brings God to people. Thus, music ceases to
be a therapeutic emotional kick start to an emotional-experience-seeking “worshiper”.
It rightly becomes a teaching tool to memorize and recall God’s word as were
all the songs recorded in the Bible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In other words, music
leaders must remember that they disciple the congregation, perhaps as strongly
as the pastoral ministry does. For example, after every worship service, people
are more likely to remember the songs over a long period time than the sermon. After
a while, most people in the congregation will start to sing every word of every
song by memory without any errors. That’s because nothing else in this world
can tie together the heart, the intellect, the emotions, context, cultural
identity, history, and personal attractions and interpretations that humans
attach to rhythm and sound. Music and the experience of it unifies the whole
person more than anything else in world. Consequently, music is, undoubtedly the best companion of every human being on the planet. This fact, paired with the inevitable principle of association to the singer (especially in this generation of recorded music, videos, concert, and stardom-mania infested "Christians" ), this powerful tool lies in the
hands of musicians and singers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Therefore, it is the
responsibility of the Christian composer/writer/singer/musician of our time to write/select
songs filled with the Bible for God’s people to be edified and admonished by
God’s own word during their musical experience inside and outside the church.
Skillfully played instruments enhance the purpose and the experience but they
should never be seen as an end in themselves as these words of Paul suggest:</span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you
sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Col 3:16.</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> We clearly rob ourselves of the most significant,
most impactful, and most beautiful tools and opportunities for proper discipleship
for our young African Christians when we chose to use music in the worship
service for entertainment or just to kill dead-times and breaks in our program.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-26360767277406698862016-02-21T19:09:00.000+03:002016-02-23T17:29:30.279+03:00Congo: The Paradox of the Rich III: Condemned to death but still alive<div class="western" lang="en-US">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WKzgMzQpCJoZlruw2Wzx5-T9RIQWVSLQZ4a1y7iZiB3i6sC_HgdpcZcfUfL8kqHJ3QuJ-PaUmc-I5ovmI0m9btUJUeSfS1nWwjJZt_vwA-vziJSAI5I3CAbd6JwRZi6YFab9PcLDV-FG/s1600/20160125_142131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WKzgMzQpCJoZlruw2Wzx5-T9RIQWVSLQZ4a1y7iZiB3i6sC_HgdpcZcfUfL8kqHJ3QuJ-PaUmc-I5ovmI0m9btUJUeSfS1nWwjJZt_vwA-vziJSAI5I3CAbd6JwRZi6YFab9PcLDV-FG/s640/20160125_142131.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Democratic Republic of Congo. If ever there was a reset button to life, I believe now that that's what it would take to fix the Congo. But there isn't. So the people of the great Congo soldier on through a perennial lonely journey that the so called international community and the </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Congolese</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> government ensure remains. The </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Congolese</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> government has sealed the fate of the Eastern region particularly to statelessness. It is an open field for local and international thieves (foreign governments, multinationals, and solo </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">vultures</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">) to </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">pillage</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> while the </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Congolese</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> people plunge into more </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">bewilderment</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> than ever since independence. But the will of the people of Eastern Congo to live remains their richest treasure, and their only anchor. In this climate, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only solace for the broken souls although reality of </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Christianity</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> here, just like elsewhere in Africa, lives much to desire. The brothers I met in Bunia and Tchomia exemplified the </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">unbreakable</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> desire to live and to serve God </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">in spite</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> of the endless hopelessness.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5URNZxdbxgLth8R2fZ-vdd_mA9YMM8GfFjDc_ShETQSNC5NF9d1yay2tc08bzy7GRIAuI56NvjqMTZitwex_hhnqdwAvWB8ziq90me0cug8-wLDHoRsVHw6JXWrUGw2XoDgbJRCQuHsRl/s1600/20160116_133912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5URNZxdbxgLth8R2fZ-vdd_mA9YMM8GfFjDc_ShETQSNC5NF9d1yay2tc08bzy7GRIAuI56NvjqMTZitwex_hhnqdwAvWB8ziq90me0cug8-wLDHoRsVHw6JXWrUGw2XoDgbJRCQuHsRl/s320/20160116_133912.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8e CEPAC Lombabo. Upoki's Save the Vulnerable motocycle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">The journey begins in Kampala with a bus ticket to Paidha, North-Western Uganda. Since neither Patrick, nor I had had previous experience crossing Lake Albert, and we were on our own, we decided to take the longer route around the lake. from Kampala at 10:00pm to Paidha town at 5:30am we cover over 500kms. We wait for the sun to rise before boarding again to Bunia, </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">close to</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">2</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">00km from the Ugandan border at Paidha. After some hours waiting first for the sun to rise, and then for the immigration office to open and stamp our passport, we finally get our means to Congo: A Corolla with no number plates. Made for four passengers and a driver, but in Congo it takes six and the driver. To my surprise, this one had a working AC. Some unexpected luxury.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The road in Congo was terribly bad and extremely dusty. But worse than the road was the evidence of lawlessness laws right from the border and throughout the journey. No sooner had we started driving through the hills and mountains of the Alur tribes' land did we get stopped at a road block. Not by police officers though. Civilians trying to make money out of motorists by covering a few potholes with dirt. Just 100 or 200 Congolese Franks was enough to keep the young men happy and get the rope lifted for us. Slightly after three, there we were. Bunia town. We had survived the terrible road, but far from escaping dust and scenes of abandonment.</span><br />
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<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-kxTtydlMX0L8n15Nlj5HJr0HJYgzl1_NWPed6EtWVwO6gMt6Np9uxnPAN8p4I3oOORPKGMEeGGj9y5lYLINQbpi2jIPpmPQPN2jN01f_kWg2AvpUgINkQgzsjt260H-jYngDKtWUjCP/s1600/20160114_112750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-kxTtydlMX0L8n15Nlj5HJr0HJYgzl1_NWPed6EtWVwO6gMt6Np9uxnPAN8p4I3oOORPKGMEeGGj9y5lYLINQbpi2jIPpmPQPN2jN01f_kWg2AvpUgINkQgzsjt260H-jYngDKtWUjCP/s320/20160114_112750.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transport in Congo</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfhc6PyEWl4w4AClSGJY2mVB61oDEwUMpfRs1VhrbXLzNCDJtO63SQRRk1CKQFPyCgVakBT9pMD-sCRtIMvnREAVtr_JUxsQP2TSGf4hxy8dFcmJWHW_V1WPSDuJlAjdmaIZbno_oYKvD/s1600/20160119_102914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfhc6PyEWl4w4AClSGJY2mVB61oDEwUMpfRs1VhrbXLzNCDJtO63SQRRk1CKQFPyCgVakBT9pMD-sCRtIMvnREAVtr_JUxsQP2TSGf4hxy8dFcmJWHW_V1WPSDuJlAjdmaIZbno_oYKvD/s200/20160119_102914.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colonial era buildings</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Basic infrastructure is simply not there. For the following six days we drove and walked through the town a few times. Although this town and the region are a major business hub strategically located between Uganda, South Sudan, North Kivu province, and Kisangani (one of the most significant cities in Congo) the people have been left to a dire </span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">survival of the fittest in the hands of foreign and local wolfs. The town center itself is a one kilometer stretch of the only tarmac in the whole of Ituri province. Many half-wooden-and-half-steal small bridges are dispersed along the rivers surrounding the town. Although there is great potential for hydro power generation, electricity is a luxury. The only existing hydro dam is nearly dysfunctional due to pour maintenance and deliberate sabotage. In the whole of the Eastern Congo region ( at least four provinces bordering five nations) electricity is either completely unreliable, or very expensive. Therefore, communities rely on diesel generators, generally providing electricity between 6 </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">and 10Pm. Consequently, most families invest a small fortune in solar energy for lighting and charging phones.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfvqqqBt9TiI18Bv5WDX9HiuELUktJMif3sU__8XjFIaiYQPzSac2S5ycy9Ndl34ASvAQZncUd0JalJAibPFvMD1VP8q8BR3Ir8VS2_b7B8UUQDMmireNpEyVz6ILS6epHshrm8qOVk2S/s1600/20160119_112131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfvqqqBt9TiI18Bv5WDX9HiuELUktJMif3sU__8XjFIaiYQPzSac2S5ycy9Ndl34ASvAQZncUd0JalJAibPFvMD1VP8q8BR3Ir8VS2_b7B8UUQDMmireNpEyVz6ILS6epHshrm8qOVk2S/s320/20160119_112131.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Bunia airport. Bunia town in the background.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Bunia airport, in the outskirts of the town, is a major gateway into the dusty town by the haves. MONUSCO'S planes and helicopters land and fly nearly every half an hour during day. As the locals say, tons of untaxed gold and other minerals are flown from there (and from other airfields in the middle of the Congo forest where American, Russian, Chinese, etc, companies mine tons of gold under the protection of the military, the FARDC, and top government officials) every day and smuggled out to unknown locations outside Congo. The only hospital (government owned but sustained by NGO's) was under renovation. At least the Hopital de </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Reference</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> de Bunia is still in good shape, giving hope to lots of pregnant mothers and many children. Schools and a few universities are common sight but most are in deplorable conditions, including the ones built by the UN with thousands of dollars budgets. There are few or no books at all in the few existing libraries. As a matter of fact, I noticed during our sessions and Sunday services only a handful of old and torn Bibles were opened. Most people just listened.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
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<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEist2SF4lCqfWSgp89mJKxDTD6Bna7t8ywNdFoy4HZ3dOpvQTGW1wdRp7jI-RfeHu3XJGd1QPJLCt4x5UzVrd1p3ae76C9aJq_nypQ6kqGwA6hik4H6d5rRK0M_CEVLQLIQne2VC20RHt0w/s1600/20160119_113745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEist2SF4lCqfWSgp89mJKxDTD6Bna7t8ywNdFoy4HZ3dOpvQTGW1wdRp7jI-RfeHu3XJGd1QPJLCt4x5UzVrd1p3ae76C9aJq_nypQ6kqGwA6hik4H6d5rRK0M_CEVLQLIQne2VC20RHt0w/s320/20160119_113745.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maternity wing of the Hospital General de Reference de Bunia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While bicycles, Chukudu (a wooden locally made bicycle-like invention), carts, motorcycles, vehicles of all ages and unusual look give a semblance of prosperity, life is very hard. Housing is as good as in a village for most people. The old houses from Belgian inhumane colonization are still a major feature in town. New and stylish buildings are slowly occupying the skyline but nearly all of them belong to NGO's and government officials or businessmen who trade in gold and petroleum. Hotels are increasing in the town, most likely to host foreigners coming to buy cheap gold and minerals and timber. Telecom companies and CocaCola dominate, of course, advertisement on the streets. Every single industrial product (including salt, sugar, oil, and soft drinks) is imported from Uganda especially.</span></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Since the government has condemned its people to death, foreigners and foreign governments take advantage. For example, although Uganda exports billions of worth of products (in Ugandan Shillings) to Congo, the Ugandan government recently turned down the request of the Congolese officials of a free business visa arrangement between the two countries. Apparently, the ministry of foreign affairs in Kampala turned down the offer because few Ugandans go to Congo, while Congolese enter Uganda in thousands every day for business and other reasons. Apart from fresh food from villages, everything else is expensive. Nonetheless, the people of the Congo walk the hard road of survival. This has created an undying spirit of a people trying everything to survive. On the other hand, it has bred and given grounds for the "article 15" (Mobutu's era's idea of survival called "debrouillez vous" meaning everyone for themselves no matter the means.) This has indeed crippled the Congolese society in every area of life including the Church.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The will to live is the only thing giving hope to the Congolese people. As long as the Seben guitars and drums sound in the loud speakers and fill the air with a dance spell, the Congolese people find joy in the rhythm flowing inside their veins. For most Christians, the safety of church music, teaching, and communal life is a source of identity, moral uprightness, and happiness. Therefore, both young and old go to Church to find peace in God.</span></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BqEs-XLUbFMDOwgia5DXsc3Frr430MtOlDBEomn026Y8Y3ntScOLLePEaxKsLJfikAiITrlTfooBIC-a0TB6noOhzCKrppvqqutJkqHb_YK7WTVWDq-hzhgYJfsyTCvdxMdmFhB6rw9B/s1600/20160121_121811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BqEs-XLUbFMDOwgia5DXsc3Frr430MtOlDBEomn026Y8Y3ntScOLLePEaxKsLJfikAiITrlTfooBIC-a0TB6noOhzCKrppvqqutJkqHb_YK7WTVWDq-hzhgYJfsyTCvdxMdmFhB6rw9B/s200/20160121_121811.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of tarmac. UN vehicle crossing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8teB6CTPrpEtZryx-Q3BII5xGmqUNa6f-Oazc4RpWNNrajuqRPGS6TqPPUXcQSlA8KvSLiNubnvb3czxYXp2cRnXMQREaVZ_DgpXlRUuReI4m9aHE6UJBewe_9Zt1qlNQarLKMJ2hAhvD/s1600/20160121_121126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8teB6CTPrpEtZryx-Q3BII5xGmqUNa6f-Oazc4RpWNNrajuqRPGS6TqPPUXcQSlA8KvSLiNubnvb3czxYXp2cRnXMQREaVZ_DgpXlRUuReI4m9aHE6UJBewe_9Zt1qlNQarLKMJ2hAhvD/s200/20160121_121126.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing a bridge in Bunia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">All the evangelical churches are members of a national council of churches. The Conseil des Eglises Evangeliques au Congo is mandated to oversee evangelical churches and to harmonize theology and doctrine among evangelical churches approved for membership. Every member church is know by its registration number. For example, our host church is known as Huitiemme CEPAC (8</span><sup style="font-family: garamond, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> CEPAC) because it was the 8</span><sup style="font-family: garamond, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> church denomination to register when the organisation was founded. All the churches, members of this organisation have similar weekly programs and they often work together. It's thanks to this cooperation that Upoki Bitum David, (director of Save the Vulnerable, graduate of African Bible University and pastor at 8</span><sup style="font-family: garamond, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> CEPAC, Lombabo) and his senior pastor, Pastor Remond Isaac were able to organize for Psalm Project Africa three seminars in the Ituri province. by the end of the tour, we had interacted with choir members, singers, and church leaders form over fifteen churches.</span><br />
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rev. Remond is a graduate of S</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">halom</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> University, Bunia. He is a journalist working with MONUSCO's Radio Okapi as a news anchor. His wife, Knight, a nurse working at a pediatric hospital down town Bunia, is a wonderful hostess. They have two children but their house, still under construction houses a dozen people. Four orphaned nieces and a few other relatives who find their way their often for one reason or another. For six days, she and her two nieces, Sarah and Deborah, fed us and washed our clothes, while Samson "Beaufrere" took us around the town and drove us down to the Lake in Tchomia. May God bless this family for their hospitality and love for the Gospel.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAoO2RJh9QEkD7lxdOTqS4pMlfTIU85bffCwhlwu7-H9TtKXtFk4nRP2bVEqUyPRaBUV8DTxhBYCDKALnV5Sw2BrTyY471-Qyux4CeLz22cNbCvfj21Kw7ol2FupzmxKOF1lX9QzgRub9/s1600/20160120_124550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAoO2RJh9QEkD7lxdOTqS4pMlfTIU85bffCwhlwu7-H9TtKXtFk4nRP2bVEqUyPRaBUV8DTxhBYCDKALnV5Sw2BrTyY471-Qyux4CeLz22cNbCvfj21Kw7ol2FupzmxKOF1lX9QzgRub9/s200/20160120_124550.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Save the Vulnerable's new office</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Since the last time I'd seen Pst Upoki in late July 2015, he had been seriously ill. His chronic constipation had aggravated and he was in pain for many months. Thanks to the love and generosity of Christian friends, he was able to raise some money for hospital bills and some medicine, he was recovering. He ate only vegetables and porridge so he had lost a lot of weight. I was shocked to see how slim he had become, yet his zeal for the ministry was burning as ever. Although he had not been able to travel to the forest, where he and a few friends run a ministry for the pygmies, Save the Vulnerable, DRC, he was supervising the construction of Save's office in Bunia. He and his wife have faithfully served at 8</span><sup style="font-family: garamond, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> CEPAC for some years now. With their five children and his mother, they live in the outskirts of Bunia town, with neither electricity nor running water in the vicinity. Most people walk long and short distances to fetch water in plastic Jericans at a water pump in the neighborhood, or tap water from one who can afford a steady supply, therefore selling it for profit. Save the Vulnerable envisions to build a school for the disadvantaged, a hospital, a church, and water pumps or wales for the forest pygmies. May God answer the prayers of his servants Pst Upoki Bitum David and his colleagues. May God bless Upoki for being such a good companion on the tour as our translator and guide although he was struggling with his health and a diet over which we had no control.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGsOzzYDFmqz_YFRXiQn1W4tamBD_oaqgdePrTxqUoK65WjnF_kg7vyH6e_4pn_wNMaIcXPZTlAeCY5XTd8jwd9T-aTZrJvGHKvSoMc_pESPx2TstBZBmXtvbLsb8shPWAkOxL17XeKup/s1600/20160122_115657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGsOzzYDFmqz_YFRXiQn1W4tamBD_oaqgdePrTxqUoK65WjnF_kg7vyH6e_4pn_wNMaIcXPZTlAeCY5XTd8jwd9T-aTZrJvGHKvSoMc_pESPx2TstBZBmXtvbLsb8shPWAkOxL17XeKup/s200/20160122_115657.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women fetching water for domestic use</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4UwvkxoIka6dxwbm8MkhLfQi57sC10V1t2pD82_uk_TCwpj1qCu0M5MS5V4VCH4V9ZaFy8htThuasApeHQ6YFgSmo2dk4tFMMV3l5EuZmD-PYOzkTuSP0A6VQs5oJ0NgkomoupjKsznF/s1600/20160122_120144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4UwvkxoIka6dxwbm8MkhLfQi57sC10V1t2pD82_uk_TCwpj1qCu0M5MS5V4VCH4V9ZaFy8htThuasApeHQ6YFgSmo2dk4tFMMV3l5EuZmD-PYOzkTuSP0A6VQs5oJ0NgkomoupjKsznF/s200/20160122_120144.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drying salted fish by Lake Albert.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The end of our journey was no less dramatically exciting. As we drove down the Monts Bleus which put a majestic end to the Rift valley at Lake Albert; and as the air got hotter and drier. I dreaded the final adventure of crossing the lake on board a small passenger boat with no life jackets or any rescue material. During our three days at Tchomia 8<sup>th</sup> CEPAC, we ate more fish than we normally eat in Kampala in months. Tchomia is one of the major fishing villages along the Congolese shore of Lake Albert providing an endless supply of fish to the rest of the eastern region together with lake Edward, just a few kilometers south. Lake Albert is the richest lake in fish in Africa. Here too, life is lived in full colors dispute the absence of a functioning government.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQA-Sw5A-zNfw5AV4un1oLMs-rr2R_6OcDIU9djEgQaFMLoG96Iha8AkzaRvZQ93Io6yvoWZ1Y7ur-NYVwoSRdJ1FxD-KnVg-3FsprmZkxmRdv79zX2vR4uQ3g1bp52k0XY3N0v1rJ2geg/s200/20160122_124040.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="120" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting fish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPOzb2psumeAYoiydtWdyycx99jgmpHv_AOBBWoQv5PuuF1GEI9y298pRJC2L9hkXVb22nJmYr8H_X43UzY7IouW8C64W4hhRGIK18HBVIbptMQwJqgcbx-4gIpf9Gvs5fM0l327ttua1/s1600/20160122_121555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPOzb2psumeAYoiydtWdyycx99jgmpHv_AOBBWoQv5PuuF1GEI9y298pRJC2L9hkXVb22nJmYr8H_X43UzY7IouW8C64W4hhRGIK18HBVIbptMQwJqgcbx-4gIpf9Gvs5fM0l327ttua1/s200/20160122_121555.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting grilled fish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQA-Sw5A-zNfw5AV4un1oLMs-rr2R_6OcDIU9djEgQaFMLoG96Iha8AkzaRvZQ93Io6yvoWZ1Y7ur-NYVwoSRdJ1FxD-KnVg-3FsprmZkxmRdv79zX2vR4uQ3g1bp52k0XY3N0v1rJ2geg/s1600/20160122_124040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Every
one in this town of about 10000 people lives on fish. During day, the
boys board their fishing boats and sail. The ladies spend their day
preparing the fish for drying, selling the fish, and doing house
chores. 3/4 of the population are youth and children. The more
adventurous young men and women own shops, motorcycle taxis, and
locally made cargo ships or passenger speed boats (locally made).
There is not a single government school in the area. Everything is
private and everything apart from fresh food is imported from Uganda.
Since it is impossible to patrol the whole shore, fraud with or
without the knowledge and involvement of government officials and the
police are common. The village is full of life day and night (till it
becomes dangerous to walk at night for fear of police brutality). The
trading center even has </span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">television screens where the English Premier
league is watched, by the men. </span></div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjtlAD2fv8KFJ_YkC3R-sk-CI5zLk3t7pS8EFFzKUY4YerkrPR6AI1sH5X90PeR78NKwCJK4ZEvUQNWo9abihfcy7UZj0XDUFBnrHfL4jFGmDPYPbFfKep6LwYWSZ89bQcnOc1aYdC41o/s1600/20160123_093551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjtlAD2fv8KFJ_YkC3R-sk-CI5zLk3t7pS8EFFzKUY4YerkrPR6AI1sH5X90PeR78NKwCJK4ZEvUQNWo9abihfcy7UZj0XDUFBnrHfL4jFGmDPYPbFfKep6LwYWSZ89bQcnOc1aYdC41o/s200/20160123_093551.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poor housing in Tchomia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We
slept in a wooden apartment nearly 500 meters from the shore. After
the day's session, we were dropped on a motorcycle taxis. The stench
of the bats living inside the wooden walls was as unbearable as was
their noise. The men and women who occupied the rest of the
apartments slept very late. Most people there prefer sitting outside
bared till late or even sleeping outside because of the heat. Those
talkative neighbors in their typical Congolese Swahili and french
accent again emphasized the will of the people to find meaning and
life in the middle of chaos. The Congolese people love intellectual
discussions and information. No wonder why radio particularly is the
Congolese's best friend. The first night, the young men talked about
the crisis in Tanzania: "Zanzibar wants to break off."
"Tanganyika wants the federation to work...," they argued
while the ladies listened. The next day it was about Lionel Messi and
European football. The third day I slept early. Tears rolled down in
my stomach as I thought about these youth's hunger to learn yet there
are no books in libraries (even at most Universities). I thought
about the young girls who spent their mornings at school, then the
afternoons at home cooking and doing all kinds of chores. "Do
they even get enough time for their homework?" I asked myself.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivCmRVT7N1jTlXEeC_OyZaDVydyDXaeT9kyEghqry_g58twfliMsoruW7eqhoeXfbsklGM9i9tXZP39-pBULcBBoxMvM9A8mg1mrktoqH7JpwAwANdsrlQBn-i-3-GPW1h8ZeRv0Qm-Fi/s1600/20160122_132716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivCmRVT7N1jTlXEeC_OyZaDVydyDXaeT9kyEghqry_g58twfliMsoruW7eqhoeXfbsklGM9i9tXZP39-pBULcBBoxMvM9A8mg1mrktoqH7JpwAwANdsrlQBn-i-3-GPW1h8ZeRv0Qm-Fi/s200/20160122_132716.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A school and a water pump in Tchomia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As
we boarded our boat while the waves threatened to drown us, I still
wondered: What have the Congolese people done to the world to deserve
such a fate? It will be wrong not to recognize the efforts of
Christian NGO's operating in Congo in various fields. Of course the
MONUSCO has also assisted in ways. Nonetheless, the profiteering and
plunder of the Congo under the guise of chaos is far much bigger that
the inadequate assistance that foreign hands have rendered. Most
foreign organizations refuse to get involved either because they have
no idea what is happening in the Eastern Congo, or simply they don't
trust Africans enough. With the exception of few like Mr Kenny
MacKenzie (former construction manager at African Bible University
who actually visited Save the Vulnerable a few years ago) from the
Free Church of Scotland and on his own initiative, most foreigners
believe that Congo is a war zone full of bloodthirsty savages. It is
important to underline that although many areas of this region are
not safe from rebels' and bandits' attacks, most of it is a shelter
for numberless international and local NGO's and millions of
Congolese, who are praying for relief from years of deliberate
neglect by the Kinshasa government, plunder by foreign multinationals
and governments, and profiteering by the UN, government's officials,
unscrupulous business people, and the army's generals. Meanwhile, the
Seben music continues to flow in the blood. The smiles and the love
continue to bring color and perfume in the dusty streets and dark
nights, if only you can open your eyes to see it, your heart to feel
the beat of life, and stretch your hand to embellish a life.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-m2n8oyndVHsRI3_tWxb9w1muG9RLx9nCa9X1deSp3JBTwXTv__qry73T_sFFVsmWvUzMmy81hAppUr7T0ptLYP84C2I9F3Axy52q8IQW3NrUr_8rgG0DDQ8DgmSE-OeklzJiLdjFhr_/s1600/20160121_144301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-m2n8oyndVHsRI3_tWxb9w1muG9RLx9nCa9X1deSp3JBTwXTv__qry73T_sFFVsmWvUzMmy81hAppUr7T0ptLYP84C2I9F3Axy52q8IQW3NrUr_8rgG0DDQ8DgmSE-OeklzJiLdjFhr_/s640/20160121_144301.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A school structure in Kasenyi built by UN's MONUSCO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></span><br />
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Myriad Pro Cond, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span lang="en-US"><b>NB:</b></span><span lang="en-US"> It
is said that the Democratic Republic of Congo is 80% Christian.
However, corruption has permeated all aspects of life in this
country. This means that Christians too are involved in the
corruption in various ways just like anywhere else in Africa. How
then will this change? Is there hope for the young generations being
raised in a pool of hopelessness and corruption as the only order of
the day? Well, yes. We believe that the church can do more since she
already is the only fountain of hope to the Congolese people.
This, however, necessitates solid investment in
education and Christian businesses to enable faithful Christians,
1</span><sup><span lang="en-US">st</span></sup><span lang="en-US"> to
stand out from the false ones; and, 2</span><sup><span lang="en-US">nd</span></sup><span lang="en-US"> ,
to bring up a new breed of solid Bible practicing Christians. There
is great need for Bibles, Christian schools, Christian hospitals and
medical outreach programs, Community outreach
programs, pastors training programs, youth resource centers,
and businesses. It is not too late to help.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="zxx">
<br />
<br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUy5L4v3lhfwHpiB367La2X_jBMjZ4dae1So4HS3X4P6lUUz_oQ3JAY9pHrKZ5o-5BZOatHP8nPXDYIooUxx5gKZwRSxYpvU2P2_WrKBCfDLzL1g73wYyJMcU-IcSEK5fL_qfdH4Pr2Df/s1600/20160125_160047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUy5L4v3lhfwHpiB367La2X_jBMjZ4dae1So4HS3X4P6lUUz_oQ3JAY9pHrKZ5o-5BZOatHP8nPXDYIooUxx5gKZwRSxYpvU2P2_WrKBCfDLzL1g73wYyJMcU-IcSEK5fL_qfdH4Pr2Df/s640/20160125_160047.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landing in Uganda after four hours of a scary and dangerous crossing on Lake Albert</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-29899626639218914962015-12-28T15:30:00.000+03:002016-02-26T09:19:10.172+03:00Is Jesus King of kings even in Africa? A reflection on Mat 2:1-23 and Psalm 2, Christmas 2015<i>Born in the cradle to be the giver of life, died on the cross to be the savior of life.</i><br />
<i>Garry Skinner, Watoto church, Kampala </i><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Unlike the various kinds of kings we have in Africa, Jesus Christ's passage to claiming his King of kings and Savior-of-the-world titles included to be born to suffer and even to die. In this account of Herod’s fury and the
Migi’s worship, you find various </span>fulfillments<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> of messianic prophesies, which
depict and outline the Messiah’s character as both King and </span>Savior<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> of mankind.
The incarnation of Christ into a human body and as a poor lowly person played a part in his humiliation (Phil 2: 6-11). His life is proof that indeed Jesus
Christ was not only a King but also a suffering servant that humanity needed. This
passage also reminds us of the reality and the implications of Christian life.
The kingdom of darkness will try every means to try to destroy the citizens of
the kingdom of God still living in this sin-infected world. However, Christians
must be encouraged by the events we celebrate on Christmas. Just as it was
prophesied, the Messiah was born to continue the work of establishing a
righteous kingdom in which everyone could come and be part of God’s flock of
redeemed sinners. The King of kings was born to ransom a flock by his own blood, and so to defend his subjects from all dangers leading to eternal perdition. So how does the message of the kingdom affect African Christianity?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If Jesus Christ had come as an </span>indomitable<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> four star general, a rich
nobility, a powerful politician, a polished philosopher, I, a simple boy born
in a poor village in DRC, will have nothing to do with him, nothing to offer
him to buy my salvation. No beauty, no money, no powerful alliances, no gold,
no education, no business acumen, no potential whatsoever. Therefore, the
God-man and man-God King of kings came as a humble, poor boy to use the foolish
message of his humiliation, the cross, the resurrection, and of the second
coming, to give me a place into his eternal kingdom. For this reason, I
celebrate because I have a reason to celebrate the coming of the humble king,
Emmanuel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus Christ the Messiah was born poor and
simple, needing protection but he was King nonetheless. He was born poor for
the poor to find a friend. Yet his simple birth intimidated the rich and
powerful kings and upset human systems. Jesus Christ the Messiah was Born poor,
yet he was worshipped by the kings, the rich and the powerful. That, simply
never happens in our earthly system. In Africa, the “big-man-ism” is a reality
we reckon with every second of our lives. The poor simply revere the rich and
not the other way. Jesus was worshipped by the rich and powerful who took the
warning in Psalms 2: 12 seriously:</span><b><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> “</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">”</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. It was also to fulfil Solomon’s prophesy in Psalm 72:8-12 “</span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He will rule from sea to sea and
from the River to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow before him
and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts”</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The Magi understood and surrendered their crowns to the King of
kings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus Christ the Messiah was not born to be
made king but he was king before his coming. The King came to subdue the kings
and kingdoms of men, to crash, conquer, and subdue our personal kingdoms, our
hearts, to make us citizens of the heavenly kingdom. Thus, Psalm 2 was
fulfilled, reminding us that God, the God of the Messiah was indeed executing
his plan of salvation. Even today, although Christianity faces all kinds of
challenges, God Laughs at his (and therefore our) enemies. The question: “</span><i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why do the nations conspire and
the peoples plot in vain? The
kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the
LORD and against his Anointed One?</span></i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> ” remains
absolutely relevant. “<sup> </sup><i>The One
enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in
his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on
Zion, my holy hill.’ </i>” (Psalm 2:1-2, 4-6) </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Herod
failed to understand both the person of the Messiah and the purpose of his
coming. Therefore both his personal and his geographical kingdoms got crashed
by the humble king he sought to destroy. Unless all you African self made kings surrender your crowns, he will destroy you. King Jesus will defend his kingdom against all foes ravaging his church in Africa today </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 16px;">from within and without.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Therefore, he, King Jesus, deserves not
just our worship, but also our allegiance. However, for most Christians living
in the so called “Christian countries” in Africa, allegiance means very little.
They don’t have to go through the terrors of persecution simply as “nominal Christians”, or to die for Christ for being true Christians. Therefore being called Christian
is a free pass through many doors, particularly in business to gain "instant" trust from unsuspecting easy targets. Noteworthy, however, this passage calls us to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDxykj1BG-ZRNTt2YmYAdveh9j8-acFFUDqzub_ElMjiQX7YEcoApiz08mdtmtoQT1QzLB3-22G58NobLGOjIB0TMLprxf4WtaykFDsEHxQpVnJI0VtwGuWK2lXK0ce-preC4iMUs0iFp/s1600/chistians+persecuted+in+Afric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDxykj1BG-ZRNTt2YmYAdveh9j8-acFFUDqzub_ElMjiQX7YEcoApiz08mdtmtoQT1QzLB3-22G58NobLGOjIB0TMLprxf4WtaykFDsEHxQpVnJI0VtwGuWK2lXK0ce-preC4iMUs0iFp/s320/chistians+persecuted+in+Afric.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by The <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Report-Christians-also-experiencing-extreme-persecution-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-386976" target="_blank">Jerusalem Post</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First, Be Bible practicing Christians. This is especially true in Africa. African Christianity, in spite of being
claimed by almost every other person you meet on the street in many sub-Saharan
countries, has had almost no effect on our societies the way it changed the
western world and left evidence in indelible ink for everybody to see. Our society is as pagan and as corrupt as ever. While major cults like Mormonism are spreading like wild fire, many of our churches, especially independent churches, are busy exploiting their already impoverished congregants through false doctrines in unimaginable proportions. The Christmas
story, however, reminds us that the gospel is neither about the numbers in the Church, nor about instant magical prosperity. It’s about our second birth and our transformation. It's not necessarily about comfort, but about a warfare against the powers of the world and satan. It’s about our allegiance to the Messiah King. African Christians who are true subjects of King Jesus must now (more than ever in African Christianity's history) endeavor to stand out from nominal "speech Christians" of the everyday African experience on the street. we must pay allegiance first and foremost to King Jesus and him alone, not to our pastor/bishop/prophet/apostle king, liberator king, tribal king, money-bag king, muzungu king, church king, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Second, Pray for our brothers and sisters
being persecuted around the world. It is believed that here are hundreds of millions of Christians undergoing persecution in the world today in various forms. Most African Christians do not usually envision
the kingdom of God beyond their boundaries, therefore our view and
understanding of the unfolding of God’s plan in history through his covenants
is limited. Reasons may include lack of exposure and biblical scholarship. In
many parts of Africa, like in parts of Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger and the arab north, Christians are often targeted by muslim extremists daily. In Arab countries,
Christians are dying dozens. In western countries, Christianity is on trial in
spite of its past successes. Pray incessantly for the millions of faithful
citizens of heaven being persecuted by the powers of darkness in all forms in
the world today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Third, To remain hopeful and faithful even
in the face of persecution. The kingdom of darkness can inflict suffering on
the children of God, but King Jesus defends his citizens. Unlike what popular celebrity
be-happy-and-prosperous preachers teach on TV, poverty, suffering, and death
are a means God has used to purify both the Christians and the Church from Adam’s
days to today. Even through the valley of the shadow of death, the Good
Shepherd is there with his flock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Forth, Celebrate the Messiah while there is
still a chance to. Let the world know that you are not ashamed of the foolish message
of the incarnation, the sinless life, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the
ascension, and the eventual second coming of the Messianic King of kings, Jesus
Christ. Celebrate and let the message (The season and the reason for the
season) pass on to the next generation in a clear and audible language. Merry Christmas!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><u>Further reading on persecution</u></i><br />
<a href="http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Report-Christians-also-experiencing-extreme-persecution-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-386976" target="_blank">Persecution of Christians in sub-saharan Africa</a><br />
<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/over-100-million-christians-are-being-persecuted-for-their-faith-in-jesus-christ-says-christian-charity-report-142144/" target="_blank">The Chrstian post</a><br />
<a href="https://vom.com.au/" target="_blank">Voice of the martyr</a><br />
<a href="https://www.opendoorsusa.org/newsroom/tag-news-post/persecution-of-christians-reaches-historic-levels-conditions-suggest-worst-is-yet-to-come/" target="_blank">Open Doors USA</a><br />
<a href="http://www.persecution.com/" target="_blank">Persecution of Christians around the World</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-52127447315509730032014-10-17T15:46:00.001+03:002014-10-17T16:18:19.151+03:00Fighting Ebola<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Q3yhmckh2D2UT0PEY1JDwUMhwergxFDOJLxFBAwgOmOSRBT0rlSOFJXSPUV7Xr5sVFAG1JGP2kbF-INp01pt7zw1UsVVfMXmtptYdZtEsP8HqWItf9M4diIlFk2PcSrn-mZy4zzAjWh/s1600/ebola_woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7Q3yhmckh2D2UT0PEY1JDwUMhwergxFDOJLxFBAwgOmOSRBT0rlSOFJXSPUV7Xr5sVFAG1JGP2kbF-INp01pt7zw1UsVVfMXmtptYdZtEsP8HqWItf9M4diIlFk2PcSrn-mZy4zzAjWh/s1600/ebola_woman.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a>While all eyes are looking to the american government to stop thinking that Ebola is like Aids, and to finally pull up their socks and act, We have been so distracted by the long wait for a hero that we have not stopped to appreciate the unbreakable spirit of the Afrikans who are working tirelessly to save their relatives, friends, countrymen... Litterally, tears run through my eyes as I read these stories of brave men and women trying their best to do what the international community (that we are supposedly part of) has failed to do. In spite of their efforts, there is news that the WHO teams and other organizations working there have neglected local knowledge known about Ebola, chosing to do what they think is the right thing. This is not a blame session. There are so many conspiracy theories, which I think I believe. But this is about calling all of you friends to act. This is serious and it is upon us Afrikans to do what we can to save our future. Uganda wastes about 40% of it's produce every season. Can you imagine how many Liberian families it can feed now that their economy is being paralyzed by the desease? Most Afrikan villegers survive only on less than a dollar a day. Can you imagine how many people your lunch can feed at least for a day? Afrikan Healthworkers are busy day and night standing in the gap in their limited means. they need food, they need encouragement. they need to know the rest of us care. What are you doing to help saves? Think of the overwhelming need: Medics, nurses, gravediggers, counsellors, cooks, drivers, statitians... Do something.<br />
<br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/fighting-ebola-street-by-street-video-154723494.html" target="_blank"> http://news.yahoo.com/fighting-ebola-street-by-street-video-154723494.html </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-25365257613527572672014-07-28T13:49:00.001+03:002014-07-28T13:49:58.761+03:00Palestine against Israel or Christians against Muslims. What's the truth?<div class="article-rel-wrapper">
<h2 class="contentheading">
</h2>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Christ at the Checkpoint Manifesto </span> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Bethlehem Bible College (March 10-14, 2014)</b></div>
<ol>
<li>The Kingdom of God has come. Evangelicals must reclaim the prophetic
role in bringing peace, justice and reconciliation in Palestine and
Israel.<br /></li>
<li>Reconciliation recognizes God’s image in one another.<br /></li>
<li>Racial ethnicity alone does not guarantee the benefits of the Abrahamic Covenant.<br /></li>
<li>The Church in the land of the Holy One, has born witness to Christ
since the days of Pentecost. It must be empowered to continue to be
light and salt in the region, if there is to be hope in the midst of
conflict.<br /></li>
<li>Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of Scripture.<br /></li>
<li>All forms of violence must be refuted unequivocally. <br /></li>
<li>Palestinian Christians must not lose the capacity to self-criticism if they wish to remain prophetic.<br /></li>
<li>There are real injustices taking place in the Palestinian
territories and the suffering of the Palestinian people can no longer be
ignored. Any solution must respect the equity and rights of Israel and
Palestinian communities.<br /></li>
<li>For Palestinian Christians, the occupation is the core issue of the conflict.<br /></li>
<li>Any challenge of the injustices taking place in the Holy Land must
be done in Christian love. Criticism of Israel and the occupation cannot
be confused with anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of the State of
Israel.<br /></li>
<li>Respectful dialogue between Palestinian and Messianic believers must
continue. Though we may disagree on secondary matters of theology, the
Gospel of Jesus and his ethical teaching take precedence.<br /></li>
<li>Christians must understand the global context for the rise of
extremist Islam. We challenge stereotyping of all faith forms that
betray God’s commandment to love our neighbors and enemies.</li>
</ol>
http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com/index.php/about-us/manifestoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-20788646796190899632014-06-24T22:08:00.004+03:002015-12-28T15:37:53.907+03:00Uganda<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttrYXtqzK7dKbhZVxuNLW3A590IYxSJl05AI-RbmSSzudThymKHamGLLHXWRxNzb7BBk3pv_N-cfYovRIoyRUryYc9CALQWPGkGfZhNdMY1RuX8xY8e1ZLO0Ou-FtMYWLR_rh7_9wd-Rb/s1600/1547949_10204086295979266_2759273972984712870_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttrYXtqzK7dKbhZVxuNLW3A590IYxSJl05AI-RbmSSzudThymKHamGLLHXWRxNzb7BBk3pv_N-cfYovRIoyRUryYc9CALQWPGkGfZhNdMY1RuX8xY8e1ZLO0Ou-FtMYWLR_rh7_9wd-Rb/s1600/1547949_10204086295979266_2759273972984712870_o.jpg" width="640" /></a><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">At a time like this, you need to find strength from within. Sometimes all you need is just a
crutch. It's a crutch but it's helpful: even in weakness and defenslessness, life,
strength, and victory abide. omission sometimes appears like commission.
or not; or the other way around. then fellow mortals reading both
lines, between and outside them hammer the letter on your head. the same
eyes see a hero today, but a vilain tomorrow. no questions. there is
only one side to the loser's story... hhmmmm! life's cycle i guess...
Obama says, nations should bully others to the Russians, but he goes
ahead to bully Uganda. I am confused. </span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">It's
official now. White house announced yesterday that it is imposing
sanctions on Uganda by cutting funds meant for the National Health
Service, UPDF (stopping joint military exercises), Police, some NGO's...
All that because Uganda has chosen to say no to homosexuality and to
take serious measures against foreign citizens who come to Uganda to
leterally recruit university students into the homosexual movement for
prostitution and for money. I really wonder whether the american people
know and understand what the Washington government is doing in their
name... Hmmm... I thought Uganda is a sovereign democratic nation...</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-29352762592327355002014-04-19T17:59:00.001+03:002014-04-22T09:00:52.621+03:00Children of Africa? Who cares!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Whether you care or not, Africa’s
children are your future and they need your attention. It is a fact that the
population of Uganda, D.R. Congo, Rwanda, and, in fact, the whole of Africa is
predominantly young. This young population is bound to inherit unimaginable
challenges and opportunities. Think of these inevitable facts. East Africa is
becoming an integrated bloc. In few years East Africans will be able to move
and live anywhere they want in East Africa with almost no restrictions. Not
you, but your children. As Europe’s and Canada's aging populations drop steadily, there is
need for more migrants to come and manage their economy whether they like it or
not. Half of those, will surely be Africans. Not you, but your children. Are
you a Christian? The 4-14 movement reports that 80% of all Christians receive
Christ before the age of 18 (It’s time to wake up, <a href="http://www.4to14window.com/ittwu-english/">http://www.4to14window.com/ittwu-english/</a>).
The flip side could be true, that 80% of all corrupt leaders, angry generals,
defilers, liars, warlords, and trouble makers don’t just happen. They are a
harvest, and not the seed. As Homosexuals continue to impose themselves on the
world, they are using numerous strategies to accomplish their goals. One of
them is adoption, and “mercenary recruitment” of young poor students. You are
in no danger. Your children, however, are far from being safe. Nevertheless,
these are just a few examples of the reasons why you need to pay attention to
the children of Africa.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With a 50% of the population being under
the age 15, African children are exposed to many forms of danger including,
exploitation, sexual abuse, homelessness, recruitment as child soldiers, etc. In
Congo, about 47% of the population are under the age of 14 (<a href="http://www.africare.org/our-stories/stories/ovc/DRCStreetKids.php">http://www.africare.org/our-stories/stories/ovc/DRCStreetKids.php</a>)
That means that with a population of nearly 70 Million, Congo has around 33
Million children under 14, that is, about the entire population of Uganda. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>War, lawlessness, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>poverty have exposed these children to risks perhaps
more than elsewhere in Africa apart from Somalia. for example, it’s been documented
that childrena re recruited into war by both militias and forces allied to the
state’s army. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt;">MONUSCO Child Protection Section
documented the release of 353 children from the FARDC (Armed Forces of the D.
R. Congo) from January to September 2010. (Louder Than Words, </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Bd;">Report published to mark the tenth anniversary year of
entry into force of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in
armed conflict</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt;"> Child Soldiers International, September
2012, P.115)</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“The Democratic Republic of Congo has more than
30,000 child soldiers fighting in militias and acting as bodyguards for
government army commanders. Girls are also kidnapped and gang-raped by soldiers
using them as entertainment and rewards for bravery. (Meera Selva, Independent
Digital, UK, <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-selva181104.htm">http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-selva181104.htm</a>
28<sup>th</sup> Nov 2004, accessed: 19<sup>th</sup> Apr, 2014 )</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IRIN
News, A service of the UN’s office for the coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, published in 2002 a report by Refugees International on the situation
of Children in the DRC. After a Fact finding mission in Eastern DRC, RI reported
that street children, especially Girls were “"extremely vulnerable"
to sexual predation once they reached puberty… If they cannot find a home or
are not taken in by a child welfare center, they are almost certain to have to
sell sex to survive. They may opt to join life in training camps, where they
are used as porters, sex slaves, or spies to infiltrate enemy
encampments," It reported that preliminary findings of a local NGO after a
month's research indicated that of the 41 girl prostitutes aged from 13 to 17
years old that were interviewed, 38 were displaced because of the war or
resultant poverty, and all had had little education. The researchers expected
to find substantial numbers of girls in the same situation as they expanded
their inquiry in the coming months.” (DRC: NGO Reports on impact of war on
children. <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/30143/drc-ngo-reports-on-impact-of-war-on-children">http://www.irinnews.org/report/30143/drc-ngo-reports-on-impact-of-war-on-children</a>,
accessed: 19<sup>th</sup> Apr, 2014) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is believed that there are millions of children living on the street in Africa,
and their plight is far from being heard and responded to. Ethiopia is believed
to have 600,000 street children (and families) country-wide. 100,000 among them
are found in the capital Addis Ababa alone (IRIN, <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/48799/ethiopia-focus-on-street-children-rehabilitation-project">http://www.irinnews.org/report/48799/ethiopia-focus-on-street-children-rehabilitation-project</a>)
Uganda’s streets give shelter to 100,000. Between 10 to 20% are found in
Kampala. (</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=FEDMzY6yg4MC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=100000+street+children+in+uganda&source=bl&ots=jom6-hdK5L&sig=duPS8hUZNSU_ct38cExcst6FhnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KH1SU6rWAomk4gS984GoBA&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBg">http://books.google.com/books?id=FEDMzY6yg4MC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=100000+street+children+in+uganda&source=bl&ots=jom6-hdK5L&sig=duPS8hUZNSU_ct38cExcst6FhnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KH1SU6rWAomk4gS984GoBA&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBg</a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> ). With no doubt, the figures
are similar in the rest of Africa with the exception of but a few countries. Could
it be possible that these numbers are but statistics to you? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
some extent, the case for DRC and other countries suffering from war is an
extreme. Yet, millions of children are suffering in countries that have been
peaceful for years. They have no food, yet we have left overs rotting in our
kitchens; no clothing, yet our closets are filled with clothes and shoes that
we seldom wear. The only comfort and confidence they know is getting high on
drugs and fighting. Their rehabilitation, where it has occurred, has always
been a difficult task, so most people don’t attempt to do it. Many Christian ministries
have attempted to give a helping hand. However, some Christians too have exploited
these children by using their pictures and stories as a shortcut to getting rich.
It’s a complex situation that requires a broad range of solutions. In spite of
the complexity, it is possible that a well-coordinated personal involvement
(whatever way it comes) could make a difference in the lives of some of these
children. The following is my account of my first experience in street ministry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
started at 2:00 Pm. It was nothing that my mind was prepared for. Most of the
times I think of Street children, I only picture the girls along Kampala road
begging for “chikumi” (100 UGX), The tall dirty and stinking young man who pursued
me on a Nairobi street one evening threatening to poor feaces on me if I didn’t
give him anything. I think of 100,000 street children living on the streets of
Uganda. Just statistics with no faces, no names, no story. A dangerous group
that no one should <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hang around with. Are
they African Children? But who cares! After all, the government itself
seems to care less! How else was I supposed to imagine the pain they feel when
medicine is poured onto their wounds? That they also shed tears of pain when
their rotting wounds are opened? How, in my comfort zone, was I supposed to
imagine that they can be as hilarious as any other comedian? Or as concerned
about the future like every young children growing up in our homes, and
receiving the most expensive education we can afford?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stephanie
Madrid and Sarah (and the team working at the community Centre regularly: Sunday,
Andrew, and Rekamatte) made me realize, without a word, how much we have
neglected a whole population from among us. Their passion for the kids does not
strike as much in their words as in their actions. For an hour or so, I watched
them teach, treat, and feed the street children.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
few days before, I’d seen Stephanie interact with some street boys. Evening was
falling fast on a Kampala street, in Wandegeya. Suddenly a boy appears. As he
passes by, she sees him and calls him by name. He turns, smiles, the tries to
cross the road faster than the Bodabodas rushing through the red traffic
lights. He makes it. “She knows the boy’s name?” I ask myself surprised. We
cross the dangerous road and meet him on the other side. “What’s your name?”
the boy asks. “Stephanie… You forgot my name? Oh you forgot my name! ...” She
answers. He laughs while repeating her name. And he asks for a soda. As we walk
into a shop to buy one, few other boys follow us. All of them get their sodas,
and we leave the shop. I was impressed and surprised. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
this was something that I, myself, could have done. In my experience, it is
always easy to dish out money to the sufferer than to be with them in the
suffering. It’s cleaner than washing their disgusting wounds. It is easier
because it spares me the guilt of knowing that I have five pairs of shoes that
I don’t wear, while a boy on the street gets his bare foot cut in half by a
broken glass, time after time. It protects me from the troubles of remembering
that I can afford to discard rotting food from my kitchen, while a five year old
boy sleeps hungry, because he was too late at collecting it from the dumping
place before City Council trucks clean the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it spares my soul from the guilt of
taking for granted God’s protection, instead of being knocked by a speeding
vehicle, as a street boy, with no medical cover whatsoever. When I agreed to go
with Stephanie to this “home,” I was not there for the boys, but for me: to kill
a bit of time as I waited for my next appointment in town. She was there for
them because they needed, not just the medicine, but also loving hearts to
minister to their souls. That is the faith that I saw in the heart of three
friends of Stephanie’s who spend their time there to give a helping hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
so called “home” is at the age of Kisenyi slum. Immediately to the right is a
spot where women cook affordable meals for the working population in the area.
The whole front side is taken by a carwash business. Behind the home are storey
buildings and busy roads. It is an island in the middle a conglomeration of
activities. The paint in yellow and green signals with no doubt that it is a
KCCA’s (Kampala City Council Authority) project. It includes a hall and
two small rooms sandwiching the metallic-bars only door. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I am still confused
about pretty much everything as Stephanie, Sarah, and myself make our way to
the door. Besides the disturbing surrounding, a stench welcomes my nose from inside
the little squared hall. On my left side are a few drums full of water. Someone
is busy washing some few items. On the right are a dozen benches with some occupants.
There is a gentleman, Andrew, teaching the alphabet and basic maths. He leaves
the blackboard and comes to welcome us in. As I sit in the last pew struggling
to pretend that I am not uncomfortable with the stench of the boys’ extremely
dirty cloths, I notice that we have just interrupted a class. But he continues
to teach. The students seating at the first three benches are more attentive.
The rest of the 30 boys and young men are high on glue, or too agitated to
participate. Andrew teaches, nonetheless. Meanwhile various boys come to me to
make all kinds of requests; and to the rest of the trio team. Finally Richard
arrives. A few minutes later, our clinic opens in one corner of the hall while
Andrew masters his class, teaches a bit more before concluding. I’m still dumbstruck,
but I nurse my shock and join Stephanie and Sarah in the corner. Apparently, it
had been announced that she would hold the clinic, so a number of boys had come
with all kinds of wounds to take advantage of the free treatment. Two had severe
wounds on their arms, one was recovering from serious injury above his right
cheek…. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
had stories. Julius, 12; Dan, 13; Mulindwa, 10; Kiwanuka, 8; Fred, 15; etc.
they have one purpose, to get some competence in literacy. Therefore they
attend Andrew’s classes regularly and participate often. Julius had a broken
arm after getting knocked by a car nearly a week earlier. He couldn’t do
anything with his arm apart from holding very lite objects. Obviously, he needed
more medical expertise (e.g. X-ray) than we could provide. Who knows what
happened to him, since he had no money to take it to a doctor! Kiwa had a
one-inch-deep wound in his foot after stepping on a broken glass. It was full
of dirt and took some skill to bandage. Zziwa had two wounds on his upper left
arm. It took 5 minutes to wash it. He had been knocked by a speeding vehicle and
fallen three weeks earlier. He had received some other help so he needed more
treatment and bandaging. His friend, Daudi, who had been injured in similar
circumstances, was not so lucky. so his wound on his lower left arm was more
painful to wash. As I watched Sarah clean the wound under Stephanie’s
instructions (while she attended to another boy’s foot), I nearly broke into
tears. Sarah persevered and washed the wound’s rotting surface. And, shading a
tear, the young man sobbed painfully. By the end of the two hours we had for
the clinic, 27 boys had gotten some treatment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the end, the answer to Julius’s prayer came: Food. He’d been asking me when the
food was coming. After Andrew’s literacy lessons, finally every one received
their package of Pilau rice from a source still unknown to me. I understood
then that the boys expected some food to be served them that day, for Julius
had asked me earlier what time it was coming. Neither Stephanie, nor Sarah knew
I was observing them. Jesus was opening a new horizon to my view. It is reported
that Ugandan streets are home to some 100,000 street children (and families).
There are various reasons to this. Some find refuge there from their hostile
parents and broken families; some are sent there by their parents or guardians
to beg. Some, being born of street girls (either raped or otherwise), are taught
the art of begging as soon as they can walk. Most of these street children have
no hope. Drugs, exploitation, rape, abuse, rejection, violence, and danger are
but routine, their only recreation, their only hope. They have not the choice
to throw old beans into the trash can, they crave for the chance to find them
first. They have not the luxury to take showers or wash their cloths.
Consequently, the dirtier and smellier they get, the more we hate to be where
they are. The more addicted to sniffing glue and other drugs they get, the more
we fear them. The more we reject them, the more they result to extreme measures
to survive. The more strange things they do, the more undesired they become in
the eyes of the society. But each one of them has a name and a story. They need
your attention.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-42147390311440009192014-02-11T10:52:00.000+03:002014-02-11T12:43:56.223+03:00$400m worth of DR Congo gold smuggled to Uganda. <div>
In a world where the judge is the very thief, and the saint is the master of evil, what else can you do? Resign? Run away? Break down?... There is nothing new. The same old stories repeated over and over to deaf ears. We shall not tire, however. We shall speak until you decide to do something; something even as small as reading this article and hope that one day goodness will triumph. Something as simple as loving your country beyond "secouer la fesse" like Kofi Olomide. Maybe something as intentional as sheltering and feeding refugees, or something really brave as educating millions of desperate congolese youth languishing or searching for meaning in your neighborhood, in your church, in your school, in your country.<br />
<br />
A story by The Eastafrican.<br />
<a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Smuggled--400m-DR-Congo-gold-fuels-war-/-/2558/2198074/-/fe8utcz/-/index.html"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Smuggled--400m-DR-Congo-gold-fuels-war-/-/2558/2198074/-/fe8utcz/-/index.html</span></a><br />
<br />
Gold worth at least $400 million was smuggled out of the
Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda and other East African countries
in 2013. The latest United Nations report assessing the
gold smuggling racket points out that this money is being used as a
source of financing for the wars raging in the eastern DR Congo. </div>
<div>
The 276-page report by the UN Group of Experts on
the DR Congo names three Uganda-based families as “major illegal gold
exporters in 2013.” Armed conflict, corruption, poor quality of life
for citizens and illegal mineral exploitation and interference from
neighbouring countries in pursuit of mineral wealth remain major sources
of instability in the DR Congo. </div>
<div>
Obscure mining concessions in the DR Congo are
said to be undermining the country’s economic growth. The Africa
Progress Panel, after analysing five mining deals in the DR Congo late
last year, said there was massive undervaluation of assets and sale to
offshore companies. In total, the five deals have cost the DR Congo
$1.36 billion, about twice the country’s combined annual budget for
health and education in 2012.</div>
<div>
The UN group estimates that about $271 million’s
worth of gold — two-thirds of the total value of smuggled DR
Congo-extracted gold — passed through Uganda last year. The Ugandan
government lost an estimated $2.7 million in tax revenues by failing to
account for this trade, the UN report says. The six-member panel of experts puts the quantity
of gold smuggled out of Uganda last year at 6,761 kilogrammes, although
the Ugandan government officials told the UN group that only 161kg of
gold were exported from the country during the period from January 1 to
November 28.</div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1Kqpjovs3MHNUUiiZmJ3JjRLVQEsAPYaqQdB6su6VJXi7JRgJxOTXaPm9nyQUo1AiO5QnOjye6HGTY-AK42A6vvR6M-jRIaUind6skvUHedkIng1gCB20MknjXv7BQDVttV3mJkbSn6F/s1600/conflict-minerals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1Kqpjovs3MHNUUiiZmJ3JjRLVQEsAPYaqQdB6su6VJXi7JRgJxOTXaPm9nyQUo1AiO5QnOjye6HGTY-AK42A6vvR6M-jRIaUind6skvUHedkIng1gCB20MknjXv7BQDVttV3mJkbSn6F/s1600/conflict-minerals.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by The Backbenchers.co.uk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Four major minerals found in the DR Congo comprise
the primary sources for funding of rebel groups — gold, tin, coltan
(tantalum) and tungsten. All the minerals are central to the manufacture of various goods across the globe. The DR Congo contributes about 20 per cent of the
global production of tantalum and is home to 88 per cent of the world’s
reserves.</div>
<div>
ALSO READ: <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Conflict-minerals-ban-in-the-Great-Lakes-region/-/2558/2141154/-/5k9bphz/-/index.html" target="_blank">Conflict minerals ban in the Great Lakes region gets stronger despite resistance</a></div>
<div>
Uganda’s official trade in gold has declined
steeply after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on the country’s
two largest gold exporters in 2007, the report notes. But exporters
have been able to continue operations illegally because “the government
of Uganda has failed to acknowledge and address the illegal gold trade,”
the UN experts say. Some of the proceeds from the gold smuggled
through Uganda are said to help finance the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda, a Hutu-led rebel force in the DRC known by its
French acronym, FDLR.</div>
<div>
There is irony in this alleged trade because <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Rwanda-pays-price-of-link-to-conflict-minerals/-/2558/2075688/-/mq7jgu/-/index.html" target="_blank">Uganda is an ally of Rwanda’s</a>, which regards the FDLR as its mortal enemy. “Several ex-combatants told the group that FDLR
sustains itself in North Kivu primarily through looting, gold mining and
illegal taxation, as well as agriculture and charcoal production,” the
UN report states. “These sources also stated that gold mined by FDLR
around Kasugho is traded in Butembo and then in Kampala.” The experts’ report appears to confirm the saying that there is no honour among thieves. “At least one major gold buyer in Kampala uses a
table to estimate gold purity that contains fraudulent values, thus
enabling fraudulent transactions,” the group reports. And it estimates
that gold buyers in Kampala annually “cheat sellers out of more than 200
kg of gold” worth between $5 million and $13 million.</div>
<div>
<div>
Gold smuggled from the DR Congo is also shipped to and out of Tanzania and Burundi, the report says.</div>
<div>
“Gold produced in Misisi (in the DR Congo) is
traded to Bujumbura (Burundi) through either Bukavu or Uvira and to the
United Republic of Tanzania through Kigoma,” the experts state. The
report does not estimate the quantity or value of gold smuggled through
Burundi because the country has no production data for gold nor a
tracing system for gold exports.</div>
<div>
The report notes, however, that “Burundian
intelligence officials and a gold trader told the group that most of the
Congolese gold smuggled through Burundi is exported to Dubai.” As is the case in Burundi, the report adds,
Congolese gold smuggled into Tanzania is blended into official exports
and smuggled separately out of the country. Government officials told the UN group that gold from the DR Congo is not being traded in Tanzania, the report notes. But it asserts that Congolese gold is smuggled
from South Kivu into Tanzania primarily by boat across Lake Tanganyika
to Kigoma.</div>
<div>
“A gold trader, a Mai-Mai ex-combatant and a civil
society leader told the group that traders in these towns take the gold
to Dar es Salaam, from where it is exported to Dubai,” the report adds.</div>
<div>
Gold smuggling on so enormous a scale would not
occur if the DR Congo government were to crack down on the illegal
trade, the UN team suggests, noting that elements of the Congolese army
play an important role in the illicit operations.</div>
<div>
READ: <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Congo-national-army-accused-of-systematic-rape-and-pillaging/-/2558/1849520/-/s7h0i4/-/index.html" target="_blank">Congo national army accused of systematic rape and pillaging</a></div>
<div>
A transhipment point for gold for a long time,
Uganda in May 2010 saw the commissioning of a gold refining operation in
Kampala, for the first time bringing the trade above board. Run by Russian entrepreneur Yuri Bogorodistkaya,
Victoria Gold Star depends on supplies from the DR Congo, from Tanzania
as well as internal supplies from Uganda’s budding gold mining industry. According to the Uganda Investment Authority,
Uganda’s gold industry has grown in volume over the past decade and half
on the back of aeromagnetic surveys that identified alluvial deposits
over a belt running from the southwest to the northeast of the country.
There is active mining in Busia, Buhweju, Mubende and Karamoja. Victoria
Gold Star’s refinery has a nominal capacity of 60kg daily.</div>
<div>
<div>
Accusations of gold smuggling against Uganda are not new, with a
raft of high-ranking military officials once being accused by the UN
Panel of involvement in smuggling Congolese minerals and other natural
resources from the DR Congo. However, Uganda says it now has a mineral
processing protocol with the Congolese government and dealings with
Congolese gold dealers are above board.</div>
<div>
READ: <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/-/2560/919310/-/3wmfg9z/-/index.html" target="_blank">No room for smuggled stones here, says Uganda</a></div>
<div>
<b>Systematic exploitation </b></div>
<div>
The UN report says that local militias in the DR
Congo, backed by Uganda, Rwanda and mining multinationals (e.g <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/87038:us-company-helps-fuel-congo-war-un-report" target="_blank">Niotan Inc., of Mound House, Nevada, USA</a>), get supplies
of food, money, and military hardware in exchange for smuggled minerals.
</div>
<div>
It accuses Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe of
systematically exploiting Congolese resources and recommends that the
Security Council impose sanctions. In March 2011, Kenya and the DR Congo agreed to
jointly investigate the illegal gold trade because Kenya had emerged as a
major hub for the trade, after Congolese President Joseph Kabila
visited Nairobi to request then president Mwai Kibaki to help him locate
2.5 tonnes of gold worth $100 million that had disappeared in Kenya.</div>
<div>
READ:<a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Kenya-and-DRC-to-fight-illegal-gold-trade/-/2558/1118806/-/hjwuq4z/-/index.html" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Kenya-and-DRC-to-fight-illegal-gold-trade/-/2558/1118806/-/hjwuq4z/-/index.html" target="_blank">Kenya and DRC to fight illegal gold trade</a></div>
<div>
Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the leading aviation hub in the region through which smuggled mineral pass. Much of the gold is exported to the Middle East
and Europe, while coltan, which is used in electronic goods such as
mobile phones, is in high demand worldwide. In 2010, President Kabila banned mining in much of
the east of the country, saying he wanted to cut the link between
conflict and minerals, but the move did not work because Kinshasa failed
to streamline the extracting industry, so that highly placed
personalities in his own government preferred the status quo for their
own benefit. Citing a United States Geological Survey estimate
of 10,000kg of gold artisanally mined per year in the DR Congo, the
report notes that official gold exports from January to October last
year amounted to only 181kg. Thus, the UN says, 98 per cent of the DR
Congo’s artisanally produced gold was smuggled out of the country last
year. The group estimates the value of the illegally
traded gold to be between $383 million and $409 million, with the result
that the DR Congo government lost between $7.7 million and $8.2 million
in tax revenue during 2013.</div>
<div>
Kenya and Uganda have become major exporters of
gold, since the two countries have the infrastructure to transport
illegal minerals to international markets. An estimated 20 million
people in DR Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda and to some extent Kenya, depend
on the illegal mining of minerals as their only sources of livelihood. Tanzania has initiated tight controls over
smuggling after it emerged that the country was losing more than $15
million annually to illegal trade. In Rwanda, in 2011, more than 11 tonnes of smuggled minerals
were seized by the Rwanda National Police in the Western Province
districts of Rubavu, Rusizi and Karongi. The source was suspected to be
the DR Congo. In 2012, another UN report said that traders in
Rwanda profiting from tin, tungsten and tantalum smuggled across the
border from mines in eastern DR Congo were helping fund the M23 rebels. </div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Additional Reporting by Fred Oluoch in Nairobi and Michael Wakabi in Uganda.</i></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Smuggled--400m-DR-Congo-gold-fuels-war-/-/2558/2198074/-/item/0/-/yqxxsx/-/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Smuggled--400m-DR-Congo-gold-fuels-war-/-/2558/2198074/-/item/0/-/yqxxsx/-/index.html </a></span></div>
<div style="color: red;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">More ressources</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> on the subject</span> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="title">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://thebackbencher.co.uk/conflict-minerals-the-sad-truth-about-western-technology/" target="_blank">Conflict Minerals: The Sad Truth About Western Technology</a>. <i>The Backbencher, U.K.</i></span></div>
<div class="title">
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/conflict-minerals/gettleman-text" target="_blank">The Price of Precious: The minerals in our electronic devices have bankrolled unspeakable violence in the Congo.</a> <i>National Geographic.</i> </span></div>
<div class="title">
The Enough Campaign: Conflict minerals, <a href="http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/initiatives/conflict-minerals" target="_blank"><i>Raise Hope for Congo</i></a></div>
<div class="title">
<br /></div>
<div class="title">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The ideas expressed in this article do not reflect necessarily those of the blogger. Citation of any sources is not endorsement.</span></div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-88641826173216600542014-01-29T19:33:00.001+03:002014-01-31T11:59:13.654+03:00Human ?<br />
(See original story in French on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497795283666675&set=pb.414071002039104.-2207520000.1391012842.&type=3&theater" target="_blank">Wake up Africa's Facebook page</a>. Translation by Google Translate)<br />
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When the West decides to humiliate the African woman .. Please read this story carefully , it hurts ... Should I expect "universalists" to be concerned?...<br />
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When Saartje (Sara ) Baartman left the shores of Africa , She did not know that his body parts be returned to their country of origin 187 years later and she would feed the racist notions of the inferiority of black and black female sexuality in Europe. Nicknamed " The Hottentot Venus ", it was exposed as a monster and , in the process, juxtaposed against white superiority and sexual ideals. Initially, she was naked in various locations around London and due to the stirring anti -slavery partisans, was taken to Paris . Saartje 's predicament embodied the issues of racism , sexism and colonialism.<br />
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Born in 1789 in the Eastern Cape of South Africa today , Saartje was a member of the Khoisan group , the original inhabitants of Southern Africa. Khoisan , derogatorily called Hottentots are honey color and steatopygic , that is fat is stored in the buttocks. Europeans considered the last feature to be an <br />
<br />
While in his teens, Saartje migrated to an area near Cape Town, where she was the slave of a farmer until it was purchased by William Dunlop Cap , a doctor on a British ship . At 20, Saartje went to London with Dr. Dunlop where it was agreed that they would get rich by showing her body to Europeans , restoring sexual fascination of Europeans with indigenous peoples .<br />
<br />
Dashing in the nude , with hind and extraordinary advances genitals, she laid the foundation of racist pseudo-scientific theories and the inferiority of blacks and black female sexuality. The shows involved Saartje being " led by his guardian and exhibited like a wild beast , being obliged to walk, stand or sit as ordered . " Saartje 's predicament has attracted the attention of a young Jamaican , Robert Wedderburn , which moves against slavery and racism. Thereafter, the group lobbied the Attorney General to stop this circus. Lose the case on a technicality , Saartje spent four years in London and then to Paris where it was exhibited in a traveling circus , and seen frequently controlled by an animal trainer in the show.<br />
<br />
This is where she crossed George Cuvier, surgeon - general of Napoleon, which was also considered the dean of comparative anatomy . As an anthropologist , he concludes with arrogance and wrong it was the missing link. She turned to prostitution when she died poor in 1816 , almost immediately Cuvier had his body molded in wax , dissected and the articulated skeleton . Its organs, including her genitals and brain were preserved in bottles of formaldehyde. His remains were exposed to Musée de l'Homme in Paris until 1974.<br />
<br />
In post-apartheid South Africa , efforts were made to recover the remains of Saartje . In 1994 , then President Nelson Mandela called his French counterpart, but it was not until 2002 that the French Senate approved a bill for the repatriation of the remains of Saartje in South Africa. In May 2002, his remains were brought home to South Africa after nearly 200 years of humiliation and abuse. In August 2002, she was finally buried in the Eastern Cape.<br />
anomaly and a certificate of racial inferiority .<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497795283666675&set=pb.414071002039104.-2207520000.1391012842.&type=3&theater">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497795283666675&set=pb.414071002039104.-2207520000.1391012842.&type=3&theater</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-54087508580469425002013-12-21T19:35:00.000+03:002015-12-28T15:36:34.806+03:00"NO" to homosexuality. (Including reactions from Facebook)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWY8Iu6YwkLioGVAV_JpdoYgMfk_Xl-QQLQDIALgwFUlniIak3GdoYXWi1IYNVn0Ezjt-9EaEv4GGZCKbmP49YHWW8aYo7r3GyNgIZqOkC7vyhOw21pv4VgL_CBBK_Tiwc1ld12dUs0u6/s1600/anti+homosexuality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWY8Iu6YwkLioGVAV_JpdoYgMfk_Xl-QQLQDIALgwFUlniIak3GdoYXWi1IYNVn0Ezjt-9EaEv4GGZCKbmP49YHWW8aYo7r3GyNgIZqOkC7vyhOw21pv4VgL_CBBK_Tiwc1ld12dUs0u6/s320/anti+homosexuality.jpg" width="320" /></a>"NO" to Homosexuality and Pornography in Uganda.<br />
<br />
Two days ago the parliament of Uganda passed an anti-homosexuality bill which
includes life imprisonment for some homosexual offenses. This is one of those
rare moments that we, Africans, get to be proud of judgments made by our
politicians based on people's voices and aspirations (in the global political
arena). So Ugandans, my fellow Africans especially Christians, enjoy the moment
and get ready to give generously to your governments because, without a doubt,
Obama and David Cameron and their cohorts are going to cut their aid funds to
Uganda for "standing against the interests" of the American and
European people. In fact, you can forget getting an American or European visa
soon. Unless you are a "persecuted" gay activist.<br />
<br />
As a matter of fact, as expected, the “controversial” bill (according to the
West, of cause, because it is not controversial here) has already caused quite
a stir. Think of this statement on rappler.com: "<a href="http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/africa/46356-uganda-draconian-anti-gay-bill" target="_blank">Homophobia</a> is widespread
in Uganda, where American-style evangelical Christianity is on the rise. Gay
men and women in the country face frequent harassment and threats of violence,
and rights activists have also reported cases of lesbians being subjected to
"corrective" rapes." very ambiguous and biased. While we can relax on that and question its
accuracy, we can't surely ignore the pressure this puts on our country's
leadership. The so called human rights protectors have spoken as well. <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/21/homosexuals-face-life-jail-under-new-ugandan-law" target="_blank">Human rights watch</a>
of Human Rights Watch says "President Yoweri Museveni should not sign the
abhorrent anti-homosexuality law just passed' ".
<a href="http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/africa/46356-uganda-draconian-anti-gay-bill" target="_blank">Obama's response</a> has reacted too. He calls it
"odious".<br />
<br />
The most disapointing thing to me, however, is the statement by <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2012/12/12/tutu-likens-uganda-anti-gay-bill-to-apartheid-laws" target="_blank">DesmondTutu</a>. He compares the bill to Apartheid laws."God does not say black is better than white, or tall is better than
short, or football players are better than basketball players, or
Christians are better than Muslims, or gay is better than straight," he said. The bill, he maintains, "will criminalise acts of love
between certain categories of people, just as the apartheid government
made intimate relations between black and white South Africans a
punishable offense," Two things to Mr Tutu. First of all, his statement is wrong on biblical grounds. Besides the fact that "Christians" by theology are the opposite of Muslims, the Bible, God's word, condemns homosexuality. The Bible says:
"You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't
you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters,
adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals," (1 Cor 6: 9). On biblical grounds, therefore, the aclaimed archibishop has no stand to support his case.<br />
<br />
Secondly, with all due respect, I think he should appologize for relating this to Apartheid. It is outrageous because by calling this bill an apartheid like law, he has not only trivialized the horrendous
Apartheid system and its regrettable legacy. He has also reduced both those who fought against the Aparheid machinery to mere amateurs, and our view of him as a leader with proper judgement to confusion. It is regrettable that an African leader of his
stature should play the cards of the usual mere "wanna-be's" longing to be called "Christian" father-figures (instead of just-another-politician). Tutu is, in my opinion,
is desperate to turn himself into a mandela hero but he should do it differently.<br />
<br />
If we were to borrow a leaf from the Apartheid regime, why were interacial relations banned? To protect their political cause basically. is it not fair for African nations to use laws such as this one to protect their cultural values? The difference is, Apatheid was wrong. Black and white are morally, physically, and spiritually equal in rights before society (ideally) and before God. On the contrary, homosexuality is a moral vice that can only bring harm to mankind. More over, homosexuality (pro and anti) is increasingly becoming a political weapon both to enslave Africans, and by African dictators to rally us behind them (and ignore their mediocre leadership). The likes of Tutu forget that even in the country that practices it most, the United States of America, it is legal in only 17 US states while it remains banned in 33. While the larger USA's society tolerates homosexuality, we should not forget that there are millions of Americans who are still opposed to the practice, especially same-sex marriage.<br />
<br />
Noteworthy, on the other hand, being an extremist is surely bad and unnecessary in this blessed
country of Uganda. We have seen it's disastrous effects, such as the current
political and social polarization going on in the world's youngest nation,
South Sudan. However, having no position on the most important social, moral,
and spiritual implications of our choices (such as sexual relations) is
equally, and I dare say most dangerous. For those who think they stand safer in
oblivion and ignorance, it is important to understand that keeping your
silence, or indifference, is not safe either. Unless you join the struggle
today, your children will be forced soon to choose being male or female, even
when their creator made them female or male.<br />
<br />
We want an African society that
our children will be proud of. May God give the Parliament of Uganda more
sane MP's who truly have at their heart a concern for tomorrow's generations. What legacy do we want to leave behind? Let's be reminded by the events of this week that we are responsible to our children because they
who will inherit both our failures and our victories. God bless Uganda.<br />
<br />
<i><span id="goog_1319524768"></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y" target="_blank">Reactions (Facebook)</a></i><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Mashuli Etienne:</span> With all due respect, sir, I have to disagree with you on this one. I think the "Christmas gift" nonsense is just a desperate attempt by an incredibly corrupt dictatorship to re-brand itself. Killing homosexuals won't mitigate the consequences of the political & moral decay that Uganda faces.<br />
December 21 at 8:35pm · <br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Gady Omadry:</span> @Mashuli Etienne, No offense at all. The bill is based on clutural grounds. Parliament argues that if homosexuality is to be considered acceptable in Uganda, then let it be proven from the cultural point of view that it is. Clearly, it is considered unacceptable by nearly all Ugandans. Therefore, if that is the case, doesn't Uganda have the right to determine its course with regards to morals and culture? I think she does, just as America has the right to include homosexuality in its laws if it so wishes. In fact, in most of the world, Homosexuality is, not just unacceptable, but offensve as well. In many Asian countries like Pakistan, homosexuals are to be executed with no mercy. In Russia more than 80 other countries worldwide it is unacceptable; Why should Uganda be treated differently?Just like in Malaysia and China drug dealers executed but not in America, Uganda should be let alone to deal with this issue as an independend society. Of course I don't hate homosexuals, but I don't like them either, and I dont' even want to associate with any of them. I don't think they should be killed but they should be stopped from using the media and politics for propaganda and imposing themselves on the rest of society (like in the Russian law). I don't like that Homosexuals (who consider to be perverted by the way) play the victim when actually no one has victimezed them. I think the issue has been politicized in America (to woo voters) and it is being politicized else where. For that reason I think America should be preoccupied wit it's own problems and leave us to deal with our own, our own way. There could be other moral challenges we are faced with in Uganda, just like any other country. One of them is homosexuality and the parliament has done something about it. I think that's fair enough.<br />
December 22 at 3:19pm · Like<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Emily Polet-Monterosso:</span> While I recognize that there are cultural issues at play here that I do not fully understand, I think that it is important for everyone who claims to be a Christian to remember that Homosexual people are people, and therefore worthy of the love that God promises us all.<br />
December 22 at 4:20pm · <br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Bararwandika Robert:</span> If you do not believe in nonsense then try not to encourage it!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Albert Uwitonze:</span> I couldn't care less about what the myths in the bible say, but even those basing their beliefs in it should realize that God creates everything. If he doesn't like them why create many of them?? Also the majority might be against homosexuality but majority's opinion doesn't equal right, minorities have rights too!! I also know that the argument is that the so called God gives us freedom of choice and that's how we can sin. So who are we to limit the freedom of others just because they chose a different lifestyle? "Until man learns to act with reason and respect our inherit differences, acting on emotions and outdated cultural/religious beliefs, we will perish in hatred and war"<br />
December 23 at 6:07pm ·<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Bararwandika Robert:</span> <br />
<a href="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKstGRETU9A" target="_blank">http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKstGRETU9A</a><br />
December 23 at 6:25pm via mobile<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Albert Uwitonze:</span> Who is he? God? Did he talk to the devil himself? what makes his views right and Tutu's wrong? As I said we should base our opinions on reason and reason dictates that we have no say on what others do, like as long as it doesn't infringe in our liberties.<br />
December 23 at 6:31pm<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Bararwandika Robert: </span>Gady, there are some fake doctors who encourage their patients to be infected by bugs. Don't go to such doctors. Keep your faith.<br />
December 23 at 6:34pm via mobile ·<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Bararwandika Robert</span>: You cannot treat a wounded person by putting any kind of fluids on their wound!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Gady Omadry:</span> Belief in reason, reasoning, and the reason-er as the only epistimological source is no less of a blind religion. @Albert Uwitonze: Happy new year. I'll be happy brother if you give me one example of liberty because I have not seen any in whatever civilization you think of. What I've seen is either "libertinage" or no liberty at all because each time man acquires it, he abuses it. You are, whether you like it or not, a product of more than your reason. In fact, belief in reason as the only epistimological source is no less of a blind religion. Are we forgeting, for example, that it is reason that causes much the misery the world has ever seen? Like, doesn't it make sense for America to do whatever it does for strategic reasons? Doesn't it make sense that terrorism is a natural response to oppression?... That's simplistic, you may say. That's true. But on the samesex marriage argument, why how does it make sense that homosexuals should be allowed to adopt? Reason is meaningless if it is not checked by absolutes. In fact, there is no absolute reason and reasong independently from the absolutes it seeks either to affirm or to depart from. Secondly, I talk about Tut's statement based on who he pretends to be and the principles that dictate what a man like him is expected to be and do. Outside the parametres of the Bible, maybe I can grant room for discussion. The Bible says something about homosexuality, and that is, it is unacceptable and punishable by God. As long as the Bible stands, we cannot compromise on what it plainly teaches. @Bararwandika Robert: I am afraid I'm not understanding the circumlocution. In any case, you are right. Tutu is no doctor to send patients to. He needs a good one himself. If it were up to me to treat Tutu and the likes, I'd execute them because they have clearly lost it and they are dangerous to both the Christians and nonchristians alike. Extrimism? No. Simple reason and logic. A rotten potatoe will spoil the whole sack if you leave it in.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Guerson Siboman:</span> Mr Omadry, my primary concern as a Christian is LOVE, and am also concerned about the LOVE we Christian offer to people such as Homosexuals. The Bible does not teach us to hate people because of sin, neither does it teach us to cover sin because of people and their opinions...(Isaiah 5:20). Love as we know it from God has no condition; I ll love my enemies, I ll love everyone, saints and sinners (including homosexuals). You do not need to agree with people to love them. God offered love to us while we were sinners; that' s the example to follow.I have no different opinion. My opinion is the Truth that set us free.Homosexuality is sin. If people do not agree with me, I won't quarrel them, won't hate them or execute them. After speaking the truth in love, I ll shake dust off my feet!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Gady Omadry:</span> Good call Guerson Siboman. My concern is the discussion going around as to whether the Ugandan Parliament should have passed the bill or not. I think the so called Internationl Community should respect the wishes of the Ugandan people (and most Africans) and stop their attempts to make us sound less reasonable when we chose to go the opposite of their way. Nonetheless, is it not true that love demands us to take radical decisions to protect, not just some individuals, but the whole society? I think the question is not really about hating the homosexuals. I think its more about who determines what is right or wrong between the West and Africa (Uganda). It is surprising sometimes (to us) that most the West condemn poligamy, for example, but they tollerate homosexuality. yet, on biblical grounds, where homosexuality is clearly condemned, poligamy is not talked about in equal or even close magnitude. In politics, Obama and Cameron cut funding for countries that banned homosexuality like Malawi and uganda, yet they continue to support war and instability (of course indirectly but there is evidence) in Africa and elsewhere. What's their agenda? we ask. Is their money worth our dignity (at least the way weunderstand it) and sovereignty?... @Emily Polet-Monterosso: Sometimes my mind gets carried away by the politics involved in these things and I give myself the liberty to wonder around and about. As a Christian, I believe what Guerson and you are saying, but I also belive that love should not be equated with indeference and resignation on one hand, and/or comformity and compromise, on the other (Which looks, to us, to be the way the western church is going). I believe that love is active and resolute. As an African citizen, I like to take it a step further and speak out for my community together with thousands of voices (which wil be ignored anyway) hoping to be heard someday. Thanks for reminding me to slow down.<br />
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<a class="img _8o _8s UFIImageBlockImage" data-ft="{"tn":"T"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=529940178&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{left}.[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/jeanmarieu" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" class="img UFIActorImage _54ru" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{left}.[0].[0]" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn2/s32x32/1076611_529940178_893395920_q.jpg" /></a><a class="UFICommentActorName" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=529940178&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/jeanmarieu">Jean Marie U</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2]"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">I am happy for you </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1280835853&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[1]" href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y" target="_blank">Gady Omadry</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[2]">
to realize you should slow down over this topic. Good job Guerson .With
respect to whether the Ugandan Parliament should have passed the bill,
the answer is simple: They were dead wrong and I think it is misleading
to say their decision represents the wishes of the Ugandan people
because some of these ugandans are beeing denied their rights to choose
their sexual orientation. God will make his judgement to sinners and
those who hate and threaten homosexuals will receive a judgement they
deserve!!</span></span></span><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}"><abbr class="livetimestamp" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0].[0]" data-utime="1388433242" title="Monday, December 30, 2013 at 10:54pm"> </abbr></span><br />
<span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}"><a class="uiLinkSubtle" data-ft="{"tn":"N"}" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y/posts/10202773176672104?comment_id=7615887&offset=0&total_comments=3"><abbr class="livetimestamp" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0].[0]" data-utime="1388433242" title="Monday, December 30, 2013 at 10:54pm">46 minutes ago</abbr></a></span><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615887}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{likeToggle}{MIDDOT}"> </span><br />
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<a class="img _8o _8s UFIImageBlockImage" data-ft="{"tn":"T"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1533098300&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{left}.[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/bararwandika.robert" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" class="img UFIActorImage _54ru" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{left}.[0].[0]" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/s32x32/41625_1533098300_8725_q.jpg" /></a><a class="UFICommentActorName" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1533098300&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/bararwandika.robert">Bararwandika Robert</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2]"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">If you love and do not punish then you have no love at all! what kind of fluidity?</span></span></span><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[3]"></span><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}"><abbr class="livetimestamp" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0].[0]" data-utime="1388433575" title="Monday, December 30, 2013 at 10:59pm"> </abbr></span><br />
<span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}"><a class="uiLinkSubtle" data-ft="{"tn":"N"}" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y/posts/10202773176672104?comment_id=7615921&offset=0&total_comments=4"><abbr class="livetimestamp" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7615921}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[3].{metadata}.[0].[0]" data-utime="1388433575" title="Monday, December 30, 2013 at 10:59pm">40 minutes ago</abbr></a></span><br />
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<a class="img _8o _8s UFIImageBlockImage" data-ft="{"tn":"T"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1280835853&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{left}.[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" class="img UFIActorImage _54ru" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{left}.[0].[0]" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-frc1/s32x32/274985_1280835853_518467635_q.jpg" /></a><a class="UFICommentActorName" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1280835853&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/G.a.a.d.y">Gady Omadry</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2]"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=529940178&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/jeanmarieu" target="_blank">Jean Marie U</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[1]">
Thanks. But the slowing down that I meant was not about the homosexuals
issue. I meant slowing down to realise that there are more facets to it
that I expressed before. I spoke as both a Christian and as an African
trying to exercise his mind on what the Parliament did. Like 99% of
Ugandans, I support what the parliament did. That's the first issue. If
some people have decided to legalise samesex marriage like in some US
states, I believe Uganda should be allowed also to negotiate its
position on the matter. In this case, the community has said no to
homosexuality. Why should someone else tell us that it is wrong?? What
rigts do they have? The only thing they can achieve is polirisation and
poiticising an issue that was otherwise civil. Secondly, as a Christian,
I believe there are principles that guide us. And sometimes, we have to
speak out whether the rest of the world hears or not (given that
Christianity is not, and should not be a poliltical entity ideally). Why
do we speak against corruption in Uganda? Why do we speak against
abortion? Why do we speak against genocide and terrorism? Why did the
government issue an order to shot and kill while when the plice are
fighting armed criminals? Because they are by nature wrong and serious
vices to the community at large. Moreover, the Bible, our only guide,
speakes clearly against such things. homosexuality is but a clear
example. In fact, God took seriously enough to destroy two cities in the
biblical accounts. </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=718335199&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[2]" href="https://www.facebook.com/albert.uwitonze" target="_blank">Albert Uwitonze</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[3]">
calls the bible a myth, I understand. One should perhaps remind us that
archeology has found some data to confirm the account. I guess what I'm
saying is this: No one denies homosexuals the right of living. That's
why the death sentence was dropped from the bill. however, society
recognises that it must safe guard the fabrics that have made it what it
is from centuries ago. homosexuality has no place in that, either from
the religious, secular, and/or political sides. Coming back to the issue
of love, I think </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1533098300&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[4]" href="https://www.facebook.com/bararwandika.robert" target="_blank">Bararwandika Robert</a><span data-reactid=".r[2o40q].[1][3][1]{comment10202773176672104_7616033}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[5]">
puts it well: "If you love and do not punish then you have no love at
all! what kind of fluidity?" There is only one right sexual orientation
and that is a man for a woman and a woman for a man. No more, no less.
If one choses to do it differently, I may not hate them, but it remains
that they are wrong and they must be confronted, and stopped from
spreading the deadly virus. That's what the Ugandan Parliament has done
and we are pround of it. If they want to practice it they can go to
America and Europe but not hear, just as if you want to use some drugs
you can go to Holland, but not in Malaysia or China.</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-62468729336879584372013-12-06T10:59:00.003+03:002013-12-12T22:08:49.967+03:00I cry Mandela.I cry as I hear, watch, and read the news about Mandela's departure.<br />
I cry not because I am afraid but because I'm thankful to God.<br />
I cry because my heart is warmed by the prospect of hope that God <br />
granted us through the person of Mandela.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qKAcWAgt4nZCsl5UlQoTSzQFxdQ0L2c6GBm6ULEHvjHCdObpKn_5P93Rw4r5jHT6iabn3U76XH2pg6TvLn7-F1wo3N-GUve3dx2mLNToZZVKx_fZwqoBQ8q1F5Hfo3FKZ5_MBPtZPDwu/s1600/nelson_mandela_madiba_post_cards-r6bab883d6a0e45a59bb10ca6d531238a_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qKAcWAgt4nZCsl5UlQoTSzQFxdQ0L2c6GBm6ULEHvjHCdObpKn_5P93Rw4r5jHT6iabn3U76XH2pg6TvLn7-F1wo3N-GUve3dx2mLNToZZVKx_fZwqoBQ8q1F5Hfo3FKZ5_MBPtZPDwu/s320/nelson_mandela_madiba_post_cards-r6bab883d6a0e45a59bb10ca6d531238a_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
But I cry not because I am just sad, but rather desperate as well.<br />
I cry because I wonder what on earth the Africans have commited<br />
to deserve the chaos and defeat in my beloved Congo, the ignored genocide in Darfur,<br />
the hopelessness of Mauritania's poverty, terrorism in Mali and Somalia,<br />
the restlessness of the north, the Zimbabwean crisis, and the corruption in Uganda.<br />
<br />
I cry in anger against the selfishness of our African leaders,<br />
I cry in dismay because of the hypocrisy of the world that calls him a hero<br />
on international television but it hurries to enslave the people he gave his life for.<br />
I cry in protest against the wolves in African State Houses and Addis Ababa's AU<br />
<br />
Mandela, now that you are gone, who will listen to our cry?<br />
Now that you have finally rested your soul and shoulders from our cries,<br />
Who else will our predator politicians listen to if they refused<br />
to heed your counsel while you were still with us?<br />
<br />
I cry, Mandela, I cry. For the freedom we attained, for the hope you gave us,<br />
I cry, Mandela, I cry; for the African future that only God knows.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-41035949207479543022013-10-29T16:12:00.002+03:002013-10-29T16:24:54.258+03:00Terrorism, an international phenomenon.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"One man's terrorist, they say, is another's freedom fighter. Terrorism is a global phenomenon that is complicated to define and explain. It is a matter of varying perceptions. A Palestinian who took up arms against Isreali occupation is deemed a freedom fighter in the Palestinian circles but from the frame of reference of an Israeli, he is a terrorist. In the global arena, terrorism has posed a number of challenges to democracy. These include; weak civilian institutions, corruption, incompetence, insurgency and last but not the least, death and destruction... A collective effort to combat international terrorism has become imperative in the present arena but there is a cost to it as well."(<a href="http://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-relations/terrorism-as-global-phenomenon.php#ixzz2j725p2YJ" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-relations/terrorism-as-global-phenomenon.php#ixzz2j725p2YJ</a>, accessed 29, 10, 2013) That price, we, Africans too, must be willing to pay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a long time in the recent past, we erroneously thought that terrorism was a matter to be tackled by Americans and their European allies only. After all, we thought, their international policy has much to do with creating antagonism and chaos, not just between nations, but also within nations and peoples. To make the matter worse, African leaders have spent the past few months fighting the West in their efforts to discredit the International Criminal Court, yet, on the matter of terrorism, they are their only true allies (EastAfrican, September 15, 2013). Where is the hope?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One morning I wake up, and there on my door stands the LC5, a police man, and "security-in-charge" guy. They are in the neighborhood for a different reason, but they knock on my house, probably having been told by someone that there are non-ugandans living around. Fact is, in our neighborhood there are Sudanese nationals, Rwandan nationals, Congolese nationals, and what have you. The security man tells me, "we are in the process of finding out how many foreigners are living in the country, and soon we are storming [the houses], so people must have their documents ready." I wonder if it was related to the Westgate, Nairobi attack. Whatever the reason, I believe that it is time for governments in African to start forcing themselves to be friends to the people so they can get information in time and accurately. How is it possible, for example, that our church and RSO office has been operating in Stella, Najjanankumbi for four years now, but the local authorities have asked who we are and what we do only last week for the first time? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Friends, let's be aware that terrorism knows no color, not class, no language, no differences at all. Terrorism is something that we are all faced with and we must pay the price together. Be on the alert but don't panic. Love your neighbor and be a good citizen. Love God above all else, because what you see in others is only valuable because God's image dwells in the other as well. Let's pray for our countries and our leaders for wisdom, even as we fight injustices, poverty, and the corruption on which terrorism rides. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">On the other hand (and most importantly perhaps, given that terrorism is an ideological war in the first place), terrorism can also take the form of oppression by a minority, such as we are experiencing in Uganda in the fight against homosexuality. We thank God that the African Anglican Church has finally decides to break off from Canterbury unless it stops supporting "same sex" agendas. We, the African Church, will pay a high price for that decision. And as we continue to pay the price for the cause, let's remind the human family that we are a part of that God is the absolute ruler.We must all bow down to him based on who he says he is in his infallible word, the Bible. This, you may fear to utter because you will be persecuted somehow, but remind man that "when you replace morality with relativism, you inevitably end up with tyrany." (Israel Wayne, </span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.christianworldview.net/2012/06/dr-francis-schaeffer-speaks-from-the-grave-to-the-u-s-supreme-court/">http://www.christianworldview.net/2012/06/dr-francis-schaeffer-speaks-from-the-grave-to-the-u-s-supreme-court/</a>,</span> accessed, 29, 10, 2013). May God help our religious, political, and civil leaders, and our people in the wake of these vices in our society today.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-3829325464440453722013-04-26T14:09:00.002+03:002013-04-27T18:59:25.279+03:00When he calls, will you answer?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ52AKdNGYhuk6s6XPlCuEJRbTJ-p2Y2SLFhgia4o4asVdyh2WMMxsAD2nyfMb9plb9w-wPSxQrlF7wteadw8dIqr-GiFmWHr03WVbVW8IS87oww4LnS79JfIst3hc69cYV0zmB-a8Lv82/s1600/Picture+105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ52AKdNGYhuk6s6XPlCuEJRbTJ-p2Y2SLFhgia4o4asVdyh2WMMxsAD2nyfMb9plb9w-wPSxQrlF7wteadw8dIqr-GiFmWHr03WVbVW8IS87oww4LnS79JfIst3hc69cYV0zmB-a8Lv82/s320/Picture+105.jpg" width="320" /></a>If you do not minister to the youth for Christ, don't forget that the world is ready to minister to them for purposes that do not necessarily honor God. For that cause, this past weekend Rodgers Atwebembeire, and his colleague from The African Center for Apologetics Research, Nehemiah Sinamakosa, and I (from Reformed Student Organisation) got called on to participate as guest speakers at a one day conference in Kanungu on Saturday 13/04. What a journey! And what a blessing!<br />
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Like every trip you take down here (Africa and particularly Uganda), regrets, excitement, and surprises through disappointments follow you all the way. Waking up very early is always advised if you hope to reach the destination early. We did exactly that only to wait on the bus for about two hours before it could leave. It was still a new bus, and the Starlink Coaches staff impressed me with their professional look and uniforms. The journey seemed to have gone on for too long when suddenly the driver stopped and people started vacating their seats. The bus had gotten stuck in the mud almost falling into a deep ditch on the left. Night was falling and we were hungry of course. Two more hours ran under our noses as we helplessly watched the villagers take advantage of the opportunity to make some money. 10pm, that is 15 hrs after the time we had hoped to leave Kampala, Thom Banda, our host, was parking the Dellica with which he had picked us from Kihihi nearly an hour and a half earlier in front of the guest house, near Kanungu town, where we stayed for the next three days.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYbdlShjHR5lbZCnbfuM6VxBc0DUULhJkD0y8fuqY4Mn8ITTicGTJwBLvG1JQa_gt3JxEX35UQQi1FC2bjCAlIglCH5w-PX27VU5HHfHkvuLe7lI2gUrEuV24exxvNKTqSZK2lzmTWA-X/s1600/DSC00626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYbdlShjHR5lbZCnbfuM6VxBc0DUULhJkD0y8fuqY4Mn8ITTicGTJwBLvG1JQa_gt3JxEX35UQQi1FC2bjCAlIglCH5w-PX27VU5HHfHkvuLe7lI2gUrEuV24exxvNKTqSZK2lzmTWA-X/s200/DSC00626.JPG" width="200" /></a>This village town is interestingly rich, beautiful, and resourcefull thanks to the efforts of godly men like Dr Mbabazi Hamlet and other sons of the land. the little town has no more than two kilometers of tarmacked roads, two fuel stations, a couple of shops including stationary shops, small food stores and groceries, an internet cafe, a clinic, Anglican and Catholic cathedrals and other churches, three banks' branches, and two radio stations. Mobile phone reception is good and a few shops sell scratch cards of all networks. The town is also a strategic location for tourism, for it is located in the proximity of Bwindi National Reserve, and not very far from the boarders with both Rwanda and Congo where the volcanoes and the Virunga parks (in DRC and Rwanda), a great source of foreign exchange, are located. However, the journey is tiresome and unnecessarily too long.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7NyXr_ZF-GGDOg36gYbVpUVen2a3LtZKaEXLANyiNYgysjaq82IoMaqm-CeGCeqGPa_88t3rTtQxtmMXofF9yJvRFx_m2ezeInEG-VP5onFFLeVXO87gBHlPA4HMF-dbJzfHv-HVsaOQ/s1600/Picture+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7NyXr_ZF-GGDOg36gYbVpUVen2a3LtZKaEXLANyiNYgysjaq82IoMaqm-CeGCeqGPa_88t3rTtQxtmMXofF9yJvRFx_m2ezeInEG-VP5onFFLeVXO87gBHlPA4HMF-dbJzfHv-HVsaOQ/s200/Picture+009.jpg" width="200" /></a>Thom Banda is the current Chaplain at both the Great Lakes Regional College and the Great Lakes High School. He is a graduate of African Bible University, RSO alumni, and currently RSO associate member. In Kanungu he works not only with Great Lakes College and School, he is also a project manager for Gorilla Summit Coffee, currently overseeing the construction and setting up of a coffee factory in Kanungu. A son of a farmer, he is no stranger to the village, but it takes faith and obedience to answer to God's call and serve him faithfully in such an isolated place, and far away from home. His day begins with a load of things before he can now cover the distance between the college and the school, the factory and the farms partnering with Gorilla Summit Coffee. As he drives through the maaram roads, he occasionally stops and asks an old man or someone familiar if they would like a ride. Once in a while, but surely more often than one would do in Kampala, he waves to the men standing at the road side. There also occasional exchanges in the few Rukiga words he's learnt the past few months. A man among men. And as he makes his way into the school or college, you can see the excitement from the expectant students' faces as they greet him politely.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xSaftUizZTTcNXLGO8qisE33ti4LX_eZd4RikQXE0V0d7Ik7928nwHUSQmRMFBZUrhQ_VpJks3VCObg-jRYyFFKtD_gZrXOUH6nnYqXgWO4iRQbU_luYJvAc1WL-OmMb6m2ch2FCao1e/s1600/DSC00654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xSaftUizZTTcNXLGO8qisE33ti4LX_eZd4RikQXE0V0d7Ik7928nwHUSQmRMFBZUrhQ_VpJks3VCObg-jRYyFFKtD_gZrXOUH6nnYqXgWO4iRQbU_luYJvAc1WL-OmMb6m2ch2FCao1e/s320/DSC00654.JPG" width="320" /></a>At nearly eleven, the conference, which was scheduled to begin at 9:00 am, begun. After the opening and great remarks on Eph2:5 and personal testimony by an obviously disappointed and frustrated GLR College Principle (because of lateness), he officially kicked it off and then followed a race with time. The theme, from Ecc 12:1, was "Enjoy the Days of Your Youth."<br />
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The first speaker, Eliezar, a fresh graduate from a theological university in Eldoret, Kenya, took stage. I have four reasons to give as to the necessity of a youth to be close to God, he said. First, he is the Creator. we belong to a creator; we are created to please the creator. Therefore, when we live life that displeases him we leave out of the purpose of God for our lives. Second, Giving God the best part of your life. "God too wants the Best part of you." Thirdly, Profitable use of your youthly efforts in preparation for the future. No time to waste. It should be used purposefully in this life to please God, therefore leaving no chance for regrets in old age. Prepare for you future both here on earth (giving yourself a chance to pass the accountability test before the society) and in heaven when judgement day comes. Forth, finding true meaning for your current life. Pleasure placed in its context: it is in Christ that you can enjoy life to its fullest. "The true meaning of life can be found and lived fullest when you are in God. Do you want to have a meaningful life? Do yo want to give a good account of your life both in this life and in the future? You can only achieve that when you live a life that pleases God," concluded Eliazar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzoctrDEF2V4VZd9dEuzOyoIyLjGv22TfVoIzVHxOo5c-ZkfiSAQBER7xlD8bNspskPLi-q8dIQovBXuHLGvzIjE2MQyDCUvE88au4WiPzuJ5ibLkiaU72HHjfcOhVJEA1z_odUYJM2Rd/s1600/ps+134.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzoctrDEF2V4VZd9dEuzOyoIyLjGv22TfVoIzVHxOo5c-ZkfiSAQBER7xlD8bNspskPLi-q8dIQovBXuHLGvzIjE2MQyDCUvE88au4WiPzuJ5ibLkiaU72HHjfcOhVJEA1z_odUYJM2Rd/s200/ps+134.bmp" width="141" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBWUUCLfvnBuv5F1rokuwJWIWxE3jr9hG7POmiQ2MSqc0llcAWnRdqr-YiswPWHazvzXTeetcozfIpfEC_Ds80i5aKUQpINUVj5NJHKCRLMSO-qYM9blZgK89zqnZ8yTXNcxZtuX_5_IZ/s1600/Praise+the+Lord.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBWUUCLfvnBuv5F1rokuwJWIWxE3jr9hG7POmiQ2MSqc0llcAWnRdqr-YiswPWHazvzXTeetcozfIpfEC_Ds80i5aKUQpINUVj5NJHKCRLMSO-qYM9blZgK89zqnZ8yTXNcxZtuX_5_IZ/s320/Praise+the+Lord.bmp" width="320" /></a>Rarely, if ever, will you find such conferences, where good teaching of sound biblical doctrine is espoused with such vigour and passion as exemplified by Rodgers Atwebembeire and the anglican vicars and reverends present, held in the village. As the current ACFAR director, he and his team spend most of their time in research on cultic groups presently active in East Africa and Africa, how to identify them, and how to evangelize to their members. Two sessions of great intellectual exposition combined with expository preaching to explain what true biblical Christianity is. When my turn comes, I give my personal testimony, and teach a song from the Psalms (original composition from Reformed Student Organisation's Psalm Project collection). It's a short song from a short psalm, therefore easy to teach and to perform quickly, in the few minutes given, and to inspire others to take on such an initiative. so, I go with it. Psalm 134, "Praise the Lord". Sunday morning, Mr Atwebembeire would preach another sermon at the college while Thom and I would drive some kilomitres into the hills to fellowship with the students at Great lakes High School.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Uu58oenX-KKJ4LgXgfCbYiEoL_dnZdaqPexR1IkbllliN0LDgrPYPz-M8r-lkmIgHaS3KmL-oJn3AVZ6tAba5bRMGCAbm9MegwErlu6eNROagDrpzy0IEeCAHNbrJx1I5N0lBDPBYDJS/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(66).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Uu58oenX-KKJ4LgXgfCbYiEoL_dnZdaqPexR1IkbllliN0LDgrPYPz-M8r-lkmIgHaS3KmL-oJn3AVZ6tAba5bRMGCAbm9MegwErlu6eNROagDrpzy0IEeCAHNbrJx1I5N0lBDPBYDJS/s200/Kanungu+conference+2013+(66).JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PftxtTxR3T_v3VPVl6gJtogxKofwprl77v7ID-CeIkMcBxk_rMaJKr9ceJYOb7zHCiI0HgZYWYbxAdX6ady7bGwBb6eNXzzzDPoECYJS0CbUCLmPujq-rGtEqDt4Kp73QcVUxV3rH9vf/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(74).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PftxtTxR3T_v3VPVl6gJtogxKofwprl77v7ID-CeIkMcBxk_rMaJKr9ceJYOb7zHCiI0HgZYWYbxAdX6ady7bGwBb6eNXzzzDPoECYJS0CbUCLmPujq-rGtEqDt4Kp73QcVUxV3rH9vf/s200/Kanungu+conference+2013+(74).JPG" width="200" /></a>Ever tried preaching an impromptu sermon? Well, carry your laptop to a school in the village and you will be almost certainly sure to do it. My turn. Since going to Kanungu was somewhat abrupt, I had no printed sermon notes with me. I prepare a sermon on Saturday night but I have no way to print it in the middle of a village with just one or two stationary shops and internet cafes, all closed on Sunday (At least someone honors the Sabbath). the day was quite busy so I am tired and I don't even have the courage to pen it down. In the morning, Thom tells me the school has a generator. However, after covering the twenty plus kilometers from Kanungu town to Great Lakes High School, we realize that the generator is not on either, and I am in trouble. Twenty minutes into the service, the leader asks the students to stand up for the recitation of the Apostles Creed. I am impressed by theses young men and women reciting the creed all by head. And I tell myself: there is your sermon Gady.<br />
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Great Lakes High School is the perfect environment one could wish for, with regards to school environment. It is located some kilometers away from any traffic, both Human and animal (cars are very few anyway). The is made of about seven blocks that include a Multipurpose Hall, offices, class rooms, and dormitories. It's student body, 270 students, includes a huge number of girls who are (tells me the deputy head teacher) more active than boys. In fact, the worship service was led by mostly girls with the direction of the school Patron, head teacher, and of course the Chaplain. All the singing was either done or led by girl students as well. Considering that the girl child usually works against many odds to make it through school in most of Africa, especially in village schools, I dare say, this school is making a difference in the region.<br />
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So when I am finally called to preach, I open the Bible to Acts 10:36-48, a passage that had been read earlier, for this Sunday marked the Pentecost. After giving my testimony as I was requested to, I preach my first ever impromptu sermon: Who is this Jesus? Combining the text, the Apostles' creed, and a text from my sermon on the computer (Mat 9:9-12) I concluded with a challenge to my audience to Love and follow this Jesus, who came, died, and rose again only for the sake of those sickened by sin and in need of a doctor, because he is the only one who can help young people to enjoy the days of their youth the right way, and for the right purpose. After enjoying a vegetarian meal, Bean and Dodo stew with wholegrain posho (that most Kampalans dislike although it is richest in fibers, oils, and other nutrients) with the staff, Thom and I and our friend Isaac drive through the coffee plantation surrounding the school to join our colleagues in Kanungu.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH3owJVJPsSPc4cQws3Xla5Zf3-G-44wMnENr11s1HyNb5ddVtFd5QTPRUz3qBpZxcdJWLmoyXken7BW3Z7EshqdB-81yr1syd0atfcjM1xQ1t8IRx_4akwjktgnv61a2peN580YR4PfH/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(134).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a>Having gone there with two apologists, it could have been a crime not to visit the Kanungu fire tragedy of March 17, 2000 that claimed the lives of more that 1000 followers of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, better know as the Kibwetere movement, their leader. A few minutes of examining this site that could have otherwise, in spite of the history, could have been turned into a memorial site and therefore a tourist attraction, were enough for one to imagine the horrifying story. What apparently used to be a busy village is one big empty area as though a real rupture<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMv6nNBdSwMk0xHQ6qkiC7EqK30BConeGFpbJXw3H2SnY44jn8IpJAC59SD92l_pFEsKicSRNQstCHWD0383RUnPPXpAuWUFNHUe4Txn8I2LcVXv_QLuhl1ACnLDMO6xmZTW1i3hxZEX3Y/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(130).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMv6nNBdSwMk0xHQ6qkiC7EqK30BConeGFpbJXw3H2SnY44jn8IpJAC59SD92l_pFEsKicSRNQstCHWD0383RUnPPXpAuWUFNHUe4Txn8I2LcVXv_QLuhl1ACnLDMO6xmZTW1i3hxZEX3Y/s200/Kanungu+conference+2013+(130).JPG" width="200" /></a>has taken the inhabitants. In fact, one of the boys we found around told us that he lost his uncle's entire family in the fire. They were members of the sect. What clearly once was a specious village road is now totally covered with grass and thickets and only two or three logs left of what used to be bridges.<br />
<br />
we tour the ruins of what used to be Kibwetere's parents residence. In one big room are two deep wholes. Isaac, our guide, tells us these wholes were used to make disappear any member who asked questions concerning the actual time their rupture would happen or simply question anything. According to the story, he/she was taken into the room where a number of some of the leaders sat in a circle around a mat supposedly to provide answers. The person was then told to seat on the mat, which immediately sank him into the whole for his end. As a matter of fact, Isaac says he saw bones inside one of the wholes (now almost completely covered with grass and eroding) when he first came to the site years ago. the temporary church structure in which the faithfuls were gathered dressed in blue dresses was completely destroyed by the fire. The site, which was also used as a mass grave, is totally covered with a thick bush and absolutely inaccessible. Forgotten. And the names of the victims buried in the sands of time.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH3owJVJPsSPc4cQws3Xla5Zf3-G-44wMnENr11s1HyNb5ddVtFd5QTPRUz3qBpZxcdJWLmoyXken7BW3Z7EshqdB-81yr1syd0atfcjM1xQ1t8IRx_4akwjktgnv61a2peN580YR4PfH/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(134).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqH3owJVJPsSPc4cQws3Xla5Zf3-G-44wMnENr11s1HyNb5ddVtFd5QTPRUz3qBpZxcdJWLmoyXken7BW3Z7EshqdB-81yr1syd0atfcjM1xQ1t8IRx_4akwjktgnv61a2peN580YR4PfH/s200/Kanungu+conference+2013+(134).JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
As my colleagues and I leave the site we ask ourselves: How is possible that the church only stood by and watched while the movement grew, just like she is now in the face of heretic movements like the Mormon Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Happy Science and other sects are now in Uganda and all over Africa? Isn't the Church to be blamed as well? What a sad story! What a sad ending for a people that hoped was following a true prophet of God to the restoration of the Ten Commandments! What a tragic end for the souls that heeded a "prophetic" message of salvation, and hoped to go to heaven as the world ended on the rest of disobedient humanity on that fateful day! Does anybody hear the call? Is anybody doing anything? We asked.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiShB1_0eBKnMyVdyPROxhP2K6DqAX-rq9A36zHoqfybvXScFAOyTYpVpG1hwt5CvNilpygw-KcyxYB7ZtH9mkyscsjJsJoirg1W8FoK87s97V6tKrMo0DfrXyKdrjjqOlc_31yqHoGAMiG/s1600/Picture+127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiShB1_0eBKnMyVdyPROxhP2K6DqAX-rq9A36zHoqfybvXScFAOyTYpVpG1hwt5CvNilpygw-KcyxYB7ZtH9mkyscsjJsJoirg1W8FoK87s97V6tKrMo0DfrXyKdrjjqOlc_31yqHoGAMiG/s200/Picture+127.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNzgAapVC3a4PGWGkDRpDkWxziSYlp5id0W_xgSqh6wfPPlY5lz_N8JUkDFSXUgfnKxfsMbEVo0HW7rgQOOIwPjBIMFYdFX_ChJhS3P7KEdKHmwxcmwoRbVuzlF6-Fe8Rt0yh11ptcALh/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(147).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>For this reason, as we conclude our day with a two-hour live talk show on one of the only two radio stations in Kanungu (a Baptist radio station covering 16 districts of Western Uganda though relatively smaller than most christian radio stations in Kampala), we affirm again and again the necessity for Christians to search and learn true biblical doctrine in order to escape from the preying heretic movements founded on error such as the Mormon Church, The Jehovah's witnesses' Watch tower organisation, and the Word Faith Movement preachers commonly referred to as as Prosperity gospel preachers. But before the show, we witness a miracle. Rodgers and the radio presenter, Pastor Sam, recognize each other almost immediately. "Before I got born again," Rodgers tells us, "I used to hate this man like nothing else... I would even follow him wherever he went preaching the gospel just to cause trouble to him and warn people not to listen to him... Now the very gospel I opposed with all my strength, I now defend with all my heart." We lough, and lough, and lough again as the two men of God embrace in the love of Christ. This truly is a miracle, that the son of God shed his blood, died on the cross, was buried rose from the grave, and all that to attain the forgiveness of sin for his enemies, and now saves them one by one making them into one people, God's people.<br />
<br />
While ministries like ACFAR focus on research on cultic groups and the re-evangelisation of their members, it is possible for individuals and other para-church organisations to be involved in ensuring that true doctrine is passed on. Pastor Sam is committed to exposing error on the airwaves. Reformed Student Organisation Kampala, RSO engages its members (University students and associate members, usually former student members or any other graduates or drop outs) through more practical means. During Coffee Bar at the RSO ClubHouse every Saturday members have a chance to discuss how doctrine affects lifestyle or how lifestyle affects our stand on biblical doctrine. In other words, RSO offers an alternative lifestyle to christian university students as a means to impart Biblical Wordview, standing on the five pillars of the reformation as a doctrinal standard: Scripture alone, Christ alone, Faith alone, Grace alone, Only for the glory of God. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNzgAapVC3a4PGWGkDRpDkWxziSYlp5id0W_xgSqh6wfPPlY5lz_N8JUkDFSXUgfnKxfsMbEVo0HW7rgQOOIwPjBIMFYdFX_ChJhS3P7KEdKHmwxcmwoRbVuzlF6-Fe8Rt0yh11ptcALh/s1600/Kanungu+conference+2013+(147).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNzgAapVC3a4PGWGkDRpDkWxziSYlp5id0W_xgSqh6wfPPlY5lz_N8JUkDFSXUgfnKxfsMbEVo0HW7rgQOOIwPjBIMFYdFX_ChJhS3P7KEdKHmwxcmwoRbVuzlF6-Fe8Rt0yh11ptcALh/s320/Kanungu+conference+2013+(147).JPG" width="320" /></a>Since singing is part of every expression of worship, Christians too have been using songs in worship. But singing has not only been useful in worship. It is also a useful tool to impart crucial knowledge of God to generations. It is a tragedy, therefore, when the only thing worshipers are given to sing during worship is a two-lined song with a beautiful melody to be repeated over and over. Sadly, this is what I had witnessed at the College the day before. To be fair, I must clarify that I do not mean to say that christian songs must be boring, involve no emotions, have less appealing melodies, and be long like a story. Praising God must involve all that we are, mind, emotions, skills, dancing, musical instruments of all types, music genres from all cultures, etc... Singing must be an expression of the abundance of thankfulness, faith, trust, and, if understood and approached the right way, reverend wondering about God's will, happening in the heart of the believer. On the other hand, songs must be intentionally used for teaching doctrine. In the African context for example, songs were used to pass on history, family genealogical and ancestral lineage (e.g. the Griots' songs in Senegal and poetic songs in Rwanda), moral lessons, etc, from one generation to another. In the Bible, the Psalms are given to us as first and fore most a collection of songs and poetic literature. They were used mostly in the worship service as hymns, psalms of remembrance, worship, wisdom, kingship, and confidence whose content is full of the attributes of God, The Almighty, and messianic prophecies from first to last. It is encumber upon us today to take up this crucial task to revive the culture of singing sound doctrine for our sake, first, and then for the sake of future generations.<br />
<br />
RSO, this year (2012-2013) has initiated a project that has the potential to revive and revolutionize music in the worship service and in life in Africa. Psalm Project Africa is intended to have as many Psalms as possible put into african tunes that are easy to sing whether individually or in congregational or group singing. for many reasons, the challenge is enormous. nonetheless, RSO through it's members has now collected dozens of original compositions, which, hopefully will spur the desire among many African Christians, who have the talent, to join in the movement and write songs for their congregations primarily.<br />
<br />
In June RSO hopes to record a CD featuring most of the songs, which will also be made available on internet or on demand. RSO also hopes to partner with willing churches, fellowships or else that would like to share knowledge and learn from RSO's experience in order to inspire them to take on the challenge and start their own Psalm Projects. By sharing their songs with Churches and African believers in general, RSO hopes then to achieve two purposes that the Church in Africa today must take seriously. First to inspire love for scripture. In this case, the Psalms. The Psalms have been sung for centuries by Christians. We find a good example in the Western Churches, where Psalms form a major part of their hymnals. If scripture must impart our lives, then scripture must also be sung both for worship and for easy learning/teaching of doctrine. Unfortunately, many of the songs used in churches today either have very little scripture in them or simply good melodies but very little doctrine. Secondly, and as a result of the former, making true doctrine about the only true God available to African believers in form of songs. In this case, for RSO, helping African Worshipers to meet the only true and biblical God, as he is abundantly and richly revealed in the Psalms, through scripture (that is, Psalms) filled songs. If doctrine can be passed on in songs, false teachers will certainly have hard time confusing those who sing scripture, make it part of their thinking, and easily recall what it teaches. This, I call apologetics in practice.<br />
<br />
And thus our mission trip was concluded but not without a last minute surprise.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsT2GfEUr9Y9KuRCwYJ-1Ww-gCVDPIK6wKy14yVjHzvTuZ70fwC9D4MSzLQgLcLexLTizRoqlc8ChrChTDHUGZ_0rbL5_9Iu49sThmxnZomcLfLk9OkQMHQTcEJnMTDQRBY1Guys9DKkX/s1600/Picture+133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsT2GfEUr9Y9KuRCwYJ-1Ww-gCVDPIK6wKy14yVjHzvTuZ70fwC9D4MSzLQgLcLexLTizRoqlc8ChrChTDHUGZ_0rbL5_9Iu49sThmxnZomcLfLk9OkQMHQTcEJnMTDQRBY1Guys9DKkX/s400/Picture+133.jpg" width="400" /></a>Monday morning at quarter to five, as planned, we are in the Dellica ready to catch up with the bus in Kihihi. Instead of Starlink that we hoped to travel with, we board Muhabura bus,which actually picked us from the College's gate. So far we are impressed by their punctuality. Two hours later we arrive in Bukurungu only to park the bus behind Starlink and other vehicules waiting for a truck stuck in the very ditch God had saved our bus from falling into three days earlier. When the truck is finally pulled out, three hours later, it takes more that two hours again to pull a bus from the very spot but on the opposite side of the road before we can board our bus and continue. We praise God that he protected us even aboard the speeding that could have jumped off the highway each time the driver leaned on the steering wheel to grab a banana (until he had finished the whole cluster) or a soda, or a phone, or... More than that however, we thank God for raising such people as Thom Jack Banda who are willing to respond to his call when he calls them, for whatever mission, and to go anywhere he sends them.<br />
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From Malawi to Kanungu. From America, Holand, UK to Africa, from Africa to China or Russia or Japan... May God bless the work of Thom's hands and bestow blessings on all his ministers working in similar and, or worse conditions. May God bring the efforts of ACFAR and RSO to fruition for the sake of his name most importantly, and for the sake of his Church here in Africa. Many thanks to Thom Banda and Dr Mbabazi Hamlet, the founder of Great Lakes College and School and many other crucial projects in Kanungu district, for inviting us to minister. May our thanks and blessings go as well to Pastor Sam for hosting us on his radio program.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-37003852317054086162013-04-24T18:15:00.001+03:002013-04-24T18:19:28.256+03:00Marriage "Equality": Why I Oppose It & A Worst Case Scenario<a href="http://gaymormonguy.blogspot.com/2013/04/marriage-equality-why-i-oppose-it-worst.html#.UXf2XMatCOQ.blogger">Marriage "Equality": Why I Oppose It & A Worst Case Scenario</a><br />
<br />
This makes for interesting reading and may give you a look into the heart of a very struggling soul in desperate need of Jesus Christ.<br />
Follow the link above, it leads to a blog by someone who calls himself "(Gay) Mormon Guy." Share your opinion with others for the sake of defending the true faith.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-45230974441050528192013-04-23T21:26:00.000+03:002013-04-23T21:30:39.161+03:00Africa and the Mormon Church<br />
Fellow African Christians. God is calling this generation to contend for the faith. Will you respond? If you keep sound doctrine to yourself, then this is what you are condemning our beloved African continent to be fed with by the Mormon Church that is spreading like a wild fire:<br />
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"Who placed the Negroes originally in darkest Africa? Was it some man, or was it God? And when he placed them there, he segregated them... The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negroes we have the definite word of the Lord himself that he placed a dark skin upon them as a curse --as a punishment and as a sigh to all others... He cursed the Negro as to the priesthood... The Negro was cursed as to the priesthood..." Mark E Peterson, of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, Race Problems --As they Affect The Church (Address given at Brigham Young University)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdTtrMdp5mrq0C6LwimTI2wXt9UbRIp9wlOqHqdwHGICaUXGpQtNiLZtoLpL_rNBK9-U-XZyJHDtQBQfjriltHfEEOupF95XQvQl69HCWAIq6uAax0dXHx3TKaI_Hi-zr3Mui0fsJki0G/s1600/JosephSmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdTtrMdp5mrq0C6LwimTI2wXt9UbRIp9wlOqHqdwHGICaUXGpQtNiLZtoLpL_rNBK9-U-XZyJHDtQBQfjriltHfEEOupF95XQvQl69HCWAIq6uAax0dXHx3TKaI_Hi-zr3Mui0fsJki0G/s320/JosephSmith.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: red;">Joseph Smith, Founder of the Mormon Church</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species, and put them on a national equalization." Joseph Smith, Founder, Mormon Church, History of the Church, Vol 5, Pages 217-218<br />
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"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. this was not to be and the lord put a mark on him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race --that they should be the 'servant of servants,' and they will be until that curse is removed; and the abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree." Brigham Young, Second Prophet and President of the Mormon Church. Journal of Discourses, Vol 7, Page 290.<br />
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How long will you let this forgery and mockery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ go on in your neighborhood in Kampala? Time is now. You must respond. Find as much information as you can and share it with others. There are lots of available free resources that will help you educate yourself and help your Church educate your fellow brothers and sisters. If you are interested in these resources (DVD's including Mormon Primary Sources), simply leave a comment down and and address.<br />
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To know more about the Mormon Church, it's history and false doctrines, and how to reach out to Mormons, contact this address <a href="http://www.acfar.org/">info@acfar.org</a><br />
<br />
Links for resources on Mormonism<br />
<a href="http://www.acfar.org/">www.ACFAR.org</a>; <a href="http://www.mormonafrica.org/">www.mormonafrica.org</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-47550400876285925742012-12-12T16:07:00.001+03:002012-12-13T00:01:29.051+03:00End of an Era 12/12/12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_96m7VLcyKWgxyUx4o_D4_1RBKTeX66JQOZ7rzNLM2cdTOqfbpBtN0ZLIgUBljnmRv8ae2fRz5xUGLb70kX4a7Vfb5ie6bJHCo3sUVqTJfPj9tfK-egpYOrf6F1S5sawnt4Fmdb5_RRs/s1600/era.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_96m7VLcyKWgxyUx4o_D4_1RBKTeX66JQOZ7rzNLM2cdTOqfbpBtN0ZLIgUBljnmRv8ae2fRz5xUGLb70kX4a7Vfb5ie6bJHCo3sUVqTJfPj9tfK-egpYOrf6F1S5sawnt4Fmdb5_RRs/s400/era.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
An era has passed.<br />
Nothing perfect like this to be experienced until a 1000 years from now.<br />
Has this been a blessing to you?<br />
Or are you simply living the life unaware of its beauty?<br />
Or you may say, "my life has been nothing but miserable!"<br />
It's possible. I wasn't there.<br />
In fact, these twelve years have brought me great pain too.<br />
I lost much: A dearly loved grandfather(2011);<br />
A favorite artist (Niyomugabo Pholemon,2002);<br />
Leopold Sedar Senghor (2001);<br />
Laurent Desire Kabila, a revolutionary (2001);<br />
Muranda Robert (2009)...<br />
Or you say: "That's nothing compared to my troubles!?"<br />
Maybe true. But that's only what I can afford to tell you.<br />
Rejection too has been incessantly served on my plate.<br />
Thee times My teeth ground my shame, my humiliation, my defeat.<br />
Three times I thought I was there, Twice I thought I had made it.<br />
I was wrong, I was mistaken; 2007, 2008,2009,2010.<br />
My hopes shuttered, and my soul broken,<br />
I opened my eyes to the sky, encouraged myself.<br />
Emancipation was within reach, I thought.<br />
But natural rebellion to righteousness cripple my village, again,<br />
And when the "seeds" germinated and the rain that brings blessings fell on the earth,<br />
The future once again was blurred by a jealous wilt, 2012.<br />
<br />
Nonetheless, whatever these years have brought,<br />
Nothing compares to the blessings of the Lord.<br />
Will this pain replace the appetite you've granted me to savour vegetation?<br />
Or why should this momentary grief feed my sorry state with pity?<br />
Is my saviour not a compassionate friend?<br />
And he, whose profile reads "son of a carpenter" and "born in a manger",<br />
Was he not the son of God?<br />
Jesus, Oh Jesus where would I be without you!?<br />
By your word you mad the earth.<br />
By your word you ordered the sun to govern seasons.<br />
With you blood you reconciled us to God.<br />
By your word you called the sons of men to become heirs of the kingdom.<br />
By your word you can stop all the wars in Congo.<br />
Oh Jesus, that I may enjoy every blessing you've given me in this life, I ask!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-89290241997673891422012-12-10T23:21:00.001+03:002012-12-11T00:19:52.301+03:00Rat!?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwedp41TZBsTvVJEU5VBh6Y9MuTWGNQJ3kJGLhaDDgrZnGIeECqFxW_-ziUOOZkUW4zZEUFsbmQUN30tYACPDdfMdYmayL9gHbaBzetY1EaicbJhHv_RpIQIDwh8NNT61gKGgg09isg16/s1600/rats11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwedp41TZBsTvVJEU5VBh6Y9MuTWGNQJ3kJGLhaDDgrZnGIeECqFxW_-ziUOOZkUW4zZEUFsbmQUN30tYACPDdfMdYmayL9gHbaBzetY1EaicbJhHv_RpIQIDwh8NNT61gKGgg09isg16/s320/rats11a.jpg" width="320" /></a>Finally I have killed Mr rat, my annoying, unwanted, and uninvited clandestine visitor!! But as I was taking his life, something crossed my mind. Never get too familiar with the world lest you your vulnerability. You see, he thought he was clever. He only came at night when everything was silent. He was surprisingly intelligent enough to find an door into the sub-woofer where he would go every time I attempted to kill him. One thing he didn't know is that I was studying his movements. So on this particular occasion Mr rat was not so lucky. I was prepared. As soon as I heard him scratching the kitchen door, I went over to confirm It was him trying to hide. Immediately I rushed to block all the escape roots. Then, for the second time since acquiring it, I grabbed my metal bar for a good cause. I also wore closed shoes. I hit Mr rat once and broke his tale but didn't realize he was injured till later when I saw traces of his blood on the floor. Running behind a shelf in the sitting room, he thought he was secure. Then I ensured the sub-woofer was not accessible before pulling the shelf so I could strike well. I didn't want to damage my music gadgets behind which he was hiding so I devised a rather interesting means, spraying with insecticide through every possible opening. Mr rat was there, still unbothered, and perhaps thinking that I couldn't see him until I hit him with the bar twice. He then pulled his mass trying to run to the sub-woofer whose "door" he failed to reach. The insecticide was instead giving me a running nose, but I endured. At this point, Mr rat ran to the door hoping to exit the house. I'd blocked the slightest opening so he could not go out. As he struggled, I got hold of a plastic water pipe, shorter than the metal bar. They say that every thief has thirty-nine days to survive only to fall on the fortieth. For Mr rat too, the end had come. With no hesitation I served him two strikes and he gave up his life. Just fell straight on his back and his ordeal was over. Mine too. You see, killing a living thing is not pleasant, not just because you feel its struggle against death, but also because you feel that somehow you are connected: All of us needing oxygen and blood to flow inside flesh. I had to do it though. A rat and a human being cannot share a house. Moral lesson? Don't be too familiar with the world that seeks to destroy you even though you live in it. Be awake and vigilant lest you pay for you ambivalence with your dear life like my unwanted and uninvited guest. But no matter how prepared you are, Surprises are usually inevitable. Like right now, as I write about Mr rat, another one, maybe an uncle or brother, just entered. Him too, I've just killed it too. This was certainly his last time, but I don't think it was his first. He used the same tricks as his relative, I used the same same procedures to stop him permanently. As I look at him lying dead on my floor I ask myself: How long will this last? Well the war is on, and it must be won at all costs, including poisoning. That's coming next...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-20436110718170985602012-12-10T02:03:00.001+03:002012-12-10T03:38:13.055+03:00I love Jesus<h1 class="title fn" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 1px 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 3px 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #e06666;">I Love You, Jesus</span></h1>
<div class="poet_name" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
© Caroline Falzon</div>
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<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, crucified on the cross,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I come face to face with the evil of sin.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, abandoned by man,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I just want to sing to you in the best way I can.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, Jesus</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, so much</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">stay with me, don't leave me,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I want to love you until the day that I die.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, hung on the cross,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I look into your face, I see my friend.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, forsaken by man,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I feel sore to my bones, but forever to you in debt.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, Jesus</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, so much</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">stay with me, don't leave me,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I want to love you until the day that I die.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, in pain on the cross,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">my heart miss a beat, tears run down my face.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">when I look at you, insulted by man,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I feel your love inside me, your love with no end.</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, Jesus</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I love you, so much</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">stay with me, don't leave me,</span><br />
<span style="color: #f4cccc;">I want to love you until the day that I die.</span></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Source:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/i-love-you-jesus#ixzz2EbQs2UZD" style="color: #003399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I Love You, Jesus, Religious Poem</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/i-love-you-jesus#ixzz2EbQs2UZD" style="color: #003399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/i-love-you-jesus#ixzz2EbQs2UZD</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />www.FamilyFriendPoems.com</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKN8zCkwCt6Fduj1nlc7kL257IiR-oYcnqET8DNOdndo3i0LzA1JNehNPaYcH07z101txp7UELs64qsRqbEvyL18W1Ri8S41jCEr2LRxadm5x76b_edk69LD7z0irPsTre3KlQJ8oc4cIw/s1600/i-love-jesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKN8zCkwCt6Fduj1nlc7kL257IiR-oYcnqET8DNOdndo3i0LzA1JNehNPaYcH07z101txp7UELs64qsRqbEvyL18W1Ri8S41jCEr2LRxadm5x76b_edk69LD7z0irPsTre3KlQJ8oc4cIw/s400/i-love-jesus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539407801893001680.post-18517073738861450582012-07-03T21:53:00.000+03:002014-10-06T15:17:35.744+03:00Congo, the paradox of the rich II<div style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbdLFLsDnOmPmzB5eMULBzjFJoHt_GmtQAEDpfP6mWGJXRs4IYSj0Kjg4itcECl7xWXGR8BhNfAHDCwXnISeknjz56gBBNktJse7_iUkzQcSIvqCKg3KqZ36H5C2P2Ykx4MY9J1opzUP0/s1600/DSCN0482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWPLowqcuf0_z6UjGnN0Gxlk-5y7Y5bUbiRv4UZ7brbzME5ggJ0eKGPbU5h_3aZ9wsV_BxnBYwbN6D9dOpceWyEj2oDV-De1l2lAFZsiaXAEBVHClxMtpF3SYOw_w3GMcd5btP5pScxEx/s1600/DSCN0477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqz7xBoVNw1Iv8pH6uzy8QGXPMPpBSl6KkWyciMfsB9og3aApsvzos5g06os4F0OSchAPQqsTsvIt9hf0quwS3ogEL9S5H-pJdB2ZB8DZOL5lqheOf0-bta2swSLNRfsg39Uog6jyhTYs/s1600/DSCN0650.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqz7xBoVNw1Iv8pH6uzy8QGXPMPpBSl6KkWyciMfsB9og3aApsvzos5g06os4F0OSchAPQqsTsvIt9hf0quwS3ogEL9S5H-pJdB2ZB8DZOL5lqheOf0-bta2swSLNRfsg39Uog6jyhTYs/s320/DSCN0650.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">"What is your perception of Africa today? Do you see the 'dark continent' of old, with famine, wars, poverty, tribal conflict and corruption?... It's up to us to tell our own stories in our own way, to project the image of our continent that we know is right, and true, to own our destiny."<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Ali Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon*</i></span>. Fifty two years into our independence, have we really benefited? </span><span style="font-size: small;">What does the World say about us and what's happening in our beloved
country, The Democratic Republic of Congo? What do we say about our selves? </span><span style="font-size: small;">In this reportage of my days in the city of Goma and in the rural villages and towns during the election period last year (25-30, November),</span><span style="font-size: small;"> the view that the blood of millions of Congolese people is running the world's industry and sustains western consumerism is here substantiated by excerpts from some of the most comprehensive researches ever done on the Congo by the gurus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Half a Holocaust. the bloodiest war since the
Second World War unfolded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -
the former Zaire - in the mid-1990s.... It was </span><span style="font-size: small;">presented as the work
of the Banyamulenge, a small community of Kinyarwanda speaking Tutsi
herders, living in Congo's South Kivu province, and of a coalition of
anti-Mobutu elements... After seven months of warfare, dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko had been driven out of Congo.... The [first] war to
overthrow Mobutu, in 1996-97, was hailed by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania, spokesman for African liberation, as the work of Africans
and not outsiders.... The second war, 1998-2002, was widely
characterized as 'Africa's First World War,'" (Rightly so considering that nations, or at least nationals and companies, from all the <span style="font-size: small;">angles</span> of the globe were involved in var<span style="font-size: small;">ious ways</span>) "... During the second war
and its sequels, Congo suffered millions of casualties. The
International Rescue Committee estimated the total at 3.8 million
deaths for the period 1998 to 2004. In contrast, the Sudan civil war
produced 2 million deaths in twenty-two years. The Rwandan genocide
and massacres of 1994 may have involved 1 million deaths. The Indian
Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed around 300,000 peoples, and the
terrorist attacks of '9/11' around 3,000." <i>Turner, Thomas.
Congo Wars: Conflict, Myth, Reality (London: Zed books, 2007) </i><span style="font-style: normal;">P.
2</span><i>.</i></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWpBL7YY_1FZOePqhLAduxFAJNJbrVsB9HyjmSBBn1BqXDxq1ChjNJHsW_Wot1MHzUEI9ERUCM6xf-SYY_CvmVvZ_lxqfUcwZZHleHEWJKW-2iu3jmqSaEv0E_UDfrKFKUPiUN7PY-92n/s1600/DSCN0569.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWpBL7YY_1FZOePqhLAduxFAJNJbrVsB9HyjmSBBn1BqXDxq1ChjNJHsW_Wot1MHzUEI9ERUCM6xf-SYY_CvmVvZ_lxqfUcwZZHleHEWJKW-2iu3jmqSaEv0E_UDfrKFKUPiUN7PY-92n/s200/DSCN0569.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="color: #b45f06; text-align: center;"><i>Virunga park's Nyamuragira</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWpBL7YY_1FZOePqhLAduxFAJNJbrVsB9HyjmSBBn1BqXDxq1ChjNJHsW_Wot1MHzUEI9ERUCM6xf-SYY_CvmVvZ_lxqfUcwZZHleHEWJKW-2iu3jmqSaEv0E_UDfrKFKUPiUN7PY-92n/s1600/DSCN0569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cGPuqjPWzRl2GF_yH0otpiGYMrNkU70u2kdU86Y_WIPJRD1BmGhAZJPMq0zGEdyeBchwfiE6rLLwbQkGMGsf29l1QWNqVxVm2o48VeSOyzcRa1Jtv-w3aFvk_J25nspMmo_RuJ4oonxd/s1600/DSCN0779.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;">"The </span><span style="font-size: small;">Second Congo War</span><span style="font-size: small;">
(also known as the </span><span style="font-size: small;">Great War of Africa</span><span style="font-size: small;">)
began in </span><span style="font-size: small;">August 1998... and officially ended in July 2003 when the
Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took
power.... The deadliest war in modern African history, it directly
involved eight African nations, as well as about 25 armed groups. By
2008, the war and its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people, mostly
from disease and starvation, making the Second Congo War the
deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II. Millions more were
displaced from their homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries.
</span><span style="font-size: small;">Despite a formal end to the
war in July 2003 and an agreement by the former belligerents to
create a government of national unity, 1,000 people died daily in
2004 from easily preventable cases of malnutrition and disease.The
war and the conflicts afterwards were driven by, among other things,
the trade in </span><span style="font-size: small;">conflict minerals." </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War</a>,
accessed on 07/06/2012</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Congo's rich mining sector is undoubtedly the world's most coveted at
the people's peril. The Belgians with the help of one Henry Stanley,
an American journalist turned into King Leopold's stooge, were the
first Europeans and the first invaders to plunder the Congo nearly
two centuries ago. On his expedition to find the explorer David
Livingston, Stanley navigates safely the Congo afterwards, reports
his finds to the West, and eventually wins with treachery and other</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikT-IaQZJ10-hHzSis7c0lJyfoBluBnA4OuTA1QlxUuUMxepXre3WqYEb5h6II4FQF7v2B3FnXDH_8QWzJVMR0FpyR6deobE7Uc3bVZVAttXjzsUviAa7rXF78q01al3KNwaI-muk7YZA9/s1600/111116041842-lava-erupting-drc-horizontal-gallery.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikT-IaQZJ10-hHzSis7c0lJyfoBluBnA4OuTA1QlxUuUMxepXre3WqYEb5h6II4FQF7v2B3FnXDH_8QWzJVMR0FpyR6deobE7Uc3bVZVAttXjzsUviAa7rXF78q01al3KNwaI-muk7YZA9/s200/111116041842-lava-erupting-drc-horizontal-gallery.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #b45f06;">Nyamuragira</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
dubious means the majority of the Congo for the Belgian king. The
Belgians</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFwgY2FsKCrcUOGSzvgjRtCSMw1JWTo4y088fahO4a9DbRUcdM5pAHtTFQv0TRiTdIu7qzsVSIHn13zlqjB7tdqlwU2V9BGpkImGNTWOFVD-ljTN11gKIA319SGUhkEwYgFAEg14GcZdB/s1600/111116040347-drc-volcanic-eruption-horizontal-gallery.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFwgY2FsKCrcUOGSzvgjRtCSMw1JWTo4y088fahO4a9DbRUcdM5pAHtTFQv0TRiTdIu7qzsVSIHn13zlqjB7tdqlwU2V9BGpkImGNTWOFVD-ljTN11gKIA319SGUhkEwYgFAEg14GcZdB/s200/111116040347-drc-volcanic-eruption-horizontal-gallery.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nyamuragira</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">quickly adopt a mechanism of plunder and "genocide"
in </span><span style="font-size: small;">order to subjugate, and almost annihilate, the Congolese people.
"Citing </span><span style="font-size: small;">Belgian Sources, Adam Hochchild writes that the
population of the Congo fell</span><span style="font-size: small;"> from over 20 000 000 in 1891 to 8.500
000 in 1911, only to recover somewhat</span><span style="font-size: small;"> over the next decade to 10 000
000 in 1924." (David Renton, David Seddon, Leo Zeilig. <i>The
Congo: Plunder & Resistance</i>, p31). By the end of World War </span><span style="font-size: small;">II, Congo's mines were producing almost all the raw materials needed
for weapons and, therefore, the extremely needed money on the side </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">of
the Allied Forces. "The Congo was able to finance all the</span><span style="font-size: small;">
expenditures of the Belgian government in London including the
diplomatic service as well as the cost of </span><span style="font-size: small;">our armed forces in Europe
and Africa, a total of 40 million pounds, In fact, thanks to the
ressources of the Congo, the Belgian government in London had not to
borrow a shilling or a dollar, and the Belgian gold reserve could be
left intact." (cited in Nzongolo-Ntalaja, <i>Revolution and
Counter-revolution in Africa, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">p.
117; </span><i>The Congo: Plunder&Resistance</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
p. 66) </span></span></div>
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<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Virunga National Park </i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The first nuclear bombs, with which
America "genocided" hundreds of thousands of Japanese at the end of World War II, was
made with uranium from Congo. "...</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
world’s most abundant supply of uranium was not in </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Czechoslovakia,
but in Belgian Congo. Leo Szilard, a refugee Hungarian physicist
living in the US, was deeply worried that the Nazis were about to
construct atomic bombs; and it occurred to him that uranium from
Belgian Congo should not be allowed to fall into their hands.... 80%
of the uranium later used in the Manhattan project came from the Shinkolobwe deposit in Belgian Congo."<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a> The bombs were eventually used to achieve what the Nazis failed to do, to decimate a whole population with one bomb. The
Congo wars are nothing but a scrumble for its riches. It's been known for decades. "</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
present conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has often been
referred to as a resource based conflict, and as one crucial </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8S7FUt6bp5TyK_MPkvHn6KBgOMkGOLj7OuW8_TgZ0ipuLsry-vC-lNWb3Gg90V5OhDX9-PRwm-aPxPmN8xU3vnKoT5WIYDdM2JD6jXlxwu89Frc8ZRBtLiPebSUH2VIqtZY3JWBw-fPh/s1600/DSCN0535.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;">rapport
from 2002 by the British government has put it: '…the country is
cursed by riches.'"<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
René Lemarchand put it this way: "In its most recent avatar –
the Democratic Republic of Congo – the former Belgian colony is not
just a failed state; it is the epitome of the collapsed state, whose
descent into hell has set loose a congeries of rival factions
fighting proxy wars on behalf of half a dozen African states."<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote3sym" name="sdfootnote3anc"><sup>3</sup></a>
Congo produces more than 1 billion </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Dollars in gold mining alone
every year,<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote4sym" name="sdfootnote4anc"><sup>4</sup></a>
almost exactly the equivalent of Rwanda's projected external
borrowing for the 2012/2013 budget (See budget 2012, </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><i>The
East African</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">,
issue 920, June 18-24, 2012 p.6)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">It's
not the African states only, however, but the whole world.
Multinationals have in the past, and continue to this day, to fuel the instability. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">A
number of multinationals can, in fact, be linked to the wars of the
late 90's. For example, "the UN panel of experts report in 2002
identified eighty-five countries operating in the DRC... In the
ensuing chaos and war of 1998 and onwards, the [multinationals] were
an essential element... American Mineral Fields purchased diamond
concessions in the Cuango Valley along the Congolese-Angolan border
from a firm of Belgian speculators.... 'The joint venture asset is a
3,700 square kilometre mining lease, and a 36,000 square kilometre
prospecting lease which borders the mining lease in the north.'"<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote5sym" name="sdfootnote5anc"><sup>5</sup></a></span></div>
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<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rubavu, Rwanda, towards the border with Congo</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today (30, June, 2012) is our 52nd year of
independence, and the above are still the major headlines of about
any story on the Congo around the world. Ask any visitor about the
Congo, you will almost certainly get an answer like this:"I went
to Goma. I find it to be a very interesting place. Very interesting
because it has a lot of wealth and at the same time great poverty..."
(Pst Alex Ojera, Bombo Pentecostal Church, Bombo, Uganda.) The game of
blame and blame-shifting on who is benefiting from the human
sacrifice, and whose appetite will never quench his drunkenness on
Congolese blood is a familiar one now. However, there is another face
of the Congo that the media never show us. The Congo that is full of
love in spite of great suffering; the Congo full of beauty in spite
of anarchy; the Congo full of promise in spite destruction. This I
saw during the last elections that saw Kabila re-elected (25-30, Nov
2011).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPbFYcoGfTnIGnTb3i0_XcSBQaLrlxvnc6u5aYPTQHBlUwARcLi5w9vfPo1ukFfsuqd4LSb5iW0MNX4Mxs4H2E6eShPu62xIJWmssQoAOoJpWbSzExtGnAboal1qx0wnBd2-BLv2cG8Cd/s1600/DSCN0727.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Goma Town</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPbFYcoGfTnIGnTb3i0_XcSBQaLrlxvnc6u5aYPTQHBlUwARcLi5w9vfPo1ukFfsuqd4LSb5iW0MNX4Mxs4H2E6eShPu62xIJWmssQoAOoJpWbSzExtGnAboal1qx0wnBd2-BLv2cG8Cd/s1600/DSCN0727.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPbFYcoGfTnIGnTb3i0_XcSBQaLrlxvnc6u5aYPTQHBlUwARcLi5w9vfPo1ukFfsuqd4LSb5iW0MNX4Mxs4H2E6eShPu62xIJWmssQoAOoJpWbSzExtGnAboal1qx0wnBd2-BLv2cG8Cd/s200/DSCN0727.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A UN vehicule in Goma</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To the eyes of the viewer, the spectacle begins with
what you see as you travel to Goma through Rwanda. Kigali offers a
real contrast to the life the Congolese otherwise call normal. A
clearly meticulously choreographed life. Clean and fresh roads and
buildings testify a passage. From chaos to order. From poverty to
wealth. from wars (1990s) to stability. From nothing to </span><span style="font-size: small;">something
incredible. Our African emancipation would be meaningless if the
"Rwandan miracle" is not given prominence in our history.
Indeed, Rwanda is the "dear" of the world presently due to
its recent economic successes. As you cross over to Goma, the
Kivu-North's provincial capital, you're greeted by dusty and sandy
roads. a few kilometres further, sand gives way to rocks but</span><span style="font-size: small;"> main
streets remain extremely dusty. for a few years now, the Kinshasa
government promised to rebuild the roads. In fact, bulldozers and
graders were sent in to remove the remains of tarmac patches, which
had been the marks of roads until this </span><span style="font-size: small;">point. However, no single road
construction project </span><span style="font-size: small;">has been completed yet. What a clear difference
from the carpeted ways </span><span style="font-size: small;">snaking along the beach of lake Kivu in Rubavu, Rwanda, just a few kilometres away. You see the hotels and
tourists, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc</span><span style="font-size: small;"> along the roads, especially
near the rwandan boarder. There, security is guaranteed. In fact,
when the president, Joseph Kabila, visits the region, he </span><span style="font-size: small;">sleeps
there. Near and around, you see goma's rich suburbs. Multimillion
residentiall houses and appartments erected in just months. The UN
staff, White people, and business men live there, enjoying the
beautiful but rocky scenary the kivu </span><span style="font-size: small;">shores offer. Then the city
centre. it's only formed by a long strech of the only tarmacked extra
large road whose main features are the highly erected street lights
and three not-so-bad roundabouts. A number of buildings along the
road house the UN, banks, NGO's, and other rich international
organisations and projects. A few more streets give you access to the
shops around it. and that's it. as you</span><span style="font-size: small;"> progress north towards the
airport, and west towards Masisi, or round the Kivu in the south
towards Kivu South, the reality of a suffering people strikes you </span><span style="font-size: small;">the
more. You may call it "life on the rock," for, indeed, the
rock is all they have ever known and harmoniously
lived with. I call it a paradox.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXIXnCzL1n68y0x5XV85Yhi3KFKrmFB6LElQoEQcvFXToH9mk_DkOn2uY0qh7bSvsRrATLQrXjp-m1LV-oS_NLf-ABKibdu6AklDAf60mzIEjphbR_gLhESCo9QwO5-jlEYMCLorAQOM-/s1600/DSCN0519.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXIXnCzL1n68y0x5XV85Yhi3KFKrmFB6LElQoEQcvFXToH9mk_DkOn2uY0qh7bSvsRrATLQrXjp-m1LV-oS_NLf-ABKibdu6AklDAf60mzIEjphbR_gLhESCo9QwO5-jlEYMCLorAQOM-/s200/DSCN0519.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Goma suburb</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The life. It is said that Congo is the worst place in
the world for a woman to be. Different reasons are attributed to this
claim. first, rape. "About 48 women are raped in the
<span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/congo">Democratic
Republic of the Congo</a> </span>every hour," writes the
Guardian based on the American Journal of Public Health's June 2011
publication on a study carried out on Congolese women aged 15 to 49
in 2007 by three public health researchers from the International
Food Policy Research Institute at Stony Brook University in New York,
and the World Bank. </span><span style="font-size: small;">"...sexual abuse," it says, "was
rampant not only in conflict areas but also in the home, with nearly
one woman subjected to some form of sexual abuse every minute."
According to the Guardian, this suggests that the problem is bigger
than previously thought: "1,152 women are raped </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbB6omtr88rfTD1y3ste_GvzOsfzPhdu3GWCgC2Ow3Dzi1bAwhahh03OUj7BIW6YJVpXsCPFmG87EaaaHdjAZQs0nhztNZZC4xddJnYx2yHhmUQBrLrFzfLdrzmhuhEuoX-oTjMDHp2kO4/s1600/Children+of+the+Congo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbB6omtr88rfTD1y3ste_GvzOsfzPhdu3GWCgC2Ow3Dzi1bAwhahh03OUj7BIW6YJVpXsCPFmG87EaaaHdjAZQs0nhztNZZC4xddJnYx2yHhmUQBrLrFzfLdrzmhuhEuoX-oTjMDHp2kO4/s320/Children+of+the+Congo.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">every day – a
rate equal to 48 per hour. That rate is 26 times more than the
previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the United
Nations. The figures showed 12% of women had been raped at least once
and 3% of women across the country were raped between 2006 and 2007.
About 22% had also been forced by their partners to have sex or
perform sexual acts against their will. The study also revealed
alarming levels of sexual abuse in </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cGPuqjPWzRl2GF_yH0otpiGYMrNkU70u2kdU86Y_WIPJRD1BmGhAZJPMq0zGEdyeBchwfiE6rLLwbQkGMGsf29l1QWNqVxVm2o48VeSOyzcRa1Jtv-w3aFvk_J25nspMmo_RuJ4oonxd/s1600/DSCN0779.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;">the capital, Kinshasa."<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote6sym" name="sdfootnote6anc"><sup>6</sup></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Second, Maternal health. It is of no, or little
concern to the government. That means, of course, that hospitals are
in terrible conditions if they exist at all. Many women die of
pregnancy related complications every day. "Congo is a beautiful
place but don't have a baby here," reports Van Lieve Blancquaert
"One in thirteen women die here during pregnancy or labor. In
remote villages it's even worse. There, a pregnant woman has one
foot in the grave... One in every five children die before they're
five. In Belgium, that's one in 1000."9 (<i>Van Lieve
Blancquaert and Joeri Vlekken for Journeman pictures, "Babes to
the Slaughter", Kasongo Lunda at the boarder with Angola,
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEC1kylOx4E">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEC1kylOx4E</a>, accessed 15/06/2012</i>.)
Goma boasts of the "Hospital General." However, its capacity
is overwhelmed by the health needs of an outgrown city, therefore
being unable to help the people adequately.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDUQ47s25GA-LxfzixRiwOXVXCYQs93mWZ6SdK1TXVSbGFJt81qIjAgV_QJUxoEvzBvme6UMYrLxgXNORCc_jxDyogsZ-W6qNCLuNwVDL6g3JuqcWlPAt0-v1okDFup1_zd8QisIB1mnY/s1600/DSCN0763.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDUQ47s25GA-LxfzixRiwOXVXCYQs93mWZ6SdK1TXVSbGFJt81qIjAgV_QJUxoEvzBvme6UMYrLxgXNORCc_jxDyogsZ-W6qNCLuNwVDL6g3JuqcWlPAt0-v1okDFup1_zd8QisIB1mnY/s320/DSCN0763.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #b45f06;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Goma, from Border 2 with Rwanda</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">Sanitation is a big problem. While you may find one
tap of running water in a neighborhood (where the few fortunate ones
will buy water instead of fetching from the Kivu), toilet facilities
exist only by name. It's impossible to dig a deep latrine, so a small
pit is made (no more than five or a dozen metres) and then the floor
is raise and suspended high enough to add a few more metres </span><span style="font-size: small;">(that
is, for those who can afford the cost). If you're among the luck
ones, your landlord will have one for the dozen
wooden one or two-roomed little apartments in his compound. Any acrobatic skills will help you fit in and use such a toilet, while
you train your eyes to ignore what you see below you. in the
villages, it's similar but the number of users is smaller.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The people of the Congo, however, present the
greatest paradox of the rich and poor. The first thing you see on the
face of the <i>"Gomatraciens"</i> (residents of Goma) and
those from the villages, is their will to live, and live well with style. In spite
of the chronic corruption, insecurity, and government's neglect,
free life on the rock is more preferable than a muzzled mouth in
paradise. The best way to </span><span style="font-size: small;">understand any community is to be within.
No sooner that have you stayed within the Congolese community will
you understand their unbroken will to to make the best of this lost paradise, their refusal to bow down to dispair.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">During the evening I crossed the border, election
fever was in the air. As the <i>bodaboda</i> man or <i>motard</i>
drove me to Katindo, we encountered pockets of hundreds of party
supporters. Many parties, and many candidates, and lots of campaign
posters for all kinds of candidates. like in every country, they
promised all kinds of things and money in exchange with a ticket to parliament to earn at least 6000$ and 12000$ a month. with it's 600
members of parliament, that means the country's budget is almost
entirely dedicated to paying government officials. Congo is indeed
rich. in all, there were 218 candidates for the national parliament's
seats in Goma alone. Countrywide, they were over 21,000 candidates
for the 600 seats. Presidential candidates were 11. Voting was all
that mattered at this point, even to the elderly. There was pride and
a feeling of patriotism on the face of every voter. </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtewv8T5txZRlSs9mrhHgPPyQ0YsRdY9DuFMrQAoK-tjSt-8gQ0Sthb5j6GqV69YflhDQVFXH6ENSnFIKswC36VcQYSYuidE3qrE8kzMCYOiSNgXbrHnR-G0avhf9B3ewdkBkfUvV10oP/s1600/DSCN0483.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtewv8T5txZRlSs9mrhHgPPyQ0YsRdY9DuFMrQAoK-tjSt-8gQ0Sthb5j6GqV69YflhDQVFXH6ENSnFIKswC36VcQYSYuidE3qrE8kzMCYOiSNgXbrHnR-G0avhf9B3ewdkBkfUvV10oP/s200/DSCN0483.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbdLFLsDnOmPmzB5eMULBzjFJoHt_GmtQAEDpfP6mWGJXRs4IYSj0Kjg4itcECl7xWXGR8BhNfAHDCwXnISeknjz56gBBNktJse7_iUkzQcSIvqCKg3KqZ36H5C2P2Ykx4MY9J1opzUP0/s1600/DSCN0482.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbdLFLsDnOmPmzB5eMULBzjFJoHt_GmtQAEDpfP6mWGJXRs4IYSj0Kjg4itcECl7xWXGR8BhNfAHDCwXnISeknjz56gBBNktJse7_iUkzQcSIvqCKg3KqZ36H5C2P2Ykx4MY9J1opzUP0/s200/DSCN0482.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Although I'd registered in Goma, I went to the
village as an observer. As the taxis van we were squeezed in carefully made the 75 km journey to "Bulayi",
from where another vehicle would then take us to the </span><span style="font-size: small;">village, I took
pictures of almost everything that caught my attention. Large farms
and plantations are the main features on the ever cold and misty
hills of Kibumba, 16 or so kilomitres from Goma. It is the bread basket
of the city. Goma, in fact, enjoys a constant supply of food stuffs
from other places as well, such as Sake, Masisi, Rutchuru, etc. For
example, while a few grams of a dairy product like cheese cost 10$ in
Kampala, in Goma, an equal size of fresh cheese cost only 3$ at the
time. Besides fresh produce on the streets, nature testifies of the
uniqueness of </span><span style="font-size: small;">this place. Nyamuragira, a small volcano situated at a
few kilomitres from Goma in the Virunga national Park, was erupting.
Besides it, even much smaller craters smoked into the open Virunga's
airspace. The scene was amazing. In fact it was recommended by the
<i>East African</i><span style="font-style: normal;">' s ravel guide</span>
as a must see during that month. At Bulayi, my uncle and I took a <i>moto</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> at 7$ for
the 25 km journey on a rocky and dusty road. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">It was a Sunday and
the worship service was a bout to start. Some minutes before the
preaching of the word, we were entering into the old sanctuary almost
full to capacity. After a quick prayer, I raised my bowed head
carefully screening through faces and everything else. On one raw of the roof frame was written </span><i>"Hubiri Yesu
Mpaka Kurudi Kwake"</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> , in English: "Preach Jesus Until his Return". The familiar
phrase brought back memories of a dozen years ago before the first
and the second wars when our village knew no war related deaths, no
soldiers, no politics, and no "partisanery." Times have indeed changed.
As is the tradition, before the pastor made his way to the pulpit,
the</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> women led the song: "</span><i>E Mungu wa upendo/</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
t</span><i>wakaribiya sasa/ chakula cha </i></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1VYR9aBeSoGazY4KWa53QKdbiqBVXlb046sPnlR1g5CiRS_IZ8AHfvQb2Ic-ze_8y2PTr7wXThJDEZU5QZdS2X2XOZ10xHacXEHrQWNtFTPUUwcVk8bQl6TY9X0sKz7yarCi8nVV2kFS/s1600/DSCN0607.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc1VYR9aBeSoGazY4KWa53QKdbiqBVXlb046sPnlR1g5CiRS_IZ8AHfvQb2Ic-ze_8y2PTr7wXThJDEZU5QZdS2X2XOZ10xHacXEHrQWNtFTPUUwcVk8bQl6TY9X0sKz7yarCi8nVV2kFS/s320/DSCN0607.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><i>uzima/ lililo neno lako/
Safisha, Takasa, Bariki, Eh Mungu/ Roho Mtakatifu, Atufundishe sasa."</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
(</span><i>Oh Father of Love/ It's now about the time/ for the bread
of life/ Your Word/ Cleanse, Sanctify, Bless Oh Father/ May The Holy
Spirit Teach us now.</i><span style="font-style: normal;">)The whole
congregation participated in the antiphony. I closed my eyes and
listened. It was a taste of heaven that made me forget the squeeching
sounds of the church's old PA during earlier performances. In fact, it made me forget all our troubles for a moment only to focus on the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ; That by his once for all atoning sacrifice he has redeemed people, even in Congo, for himself. That the troubles of this world will end some day and we will live with him forever in his dwelling. Praise God for his love for the Congolese people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The pastor's sermon was a
mixture of politics and exhortation. Attempting to explain the
genesis of Congo's problems, he made reference to the reign of
Mobutu. It is believed that Mobutu was kept in power by spiritual
forces through witchcraft. In his analysis, therefore, Congo had been
surrendered to the forces of darkness, thus the shedding of innocent
blood, the plunder of resources, and perennial wars and poverty. The
Sermon was also a call to the people to exercise their democratic
right, to vote in a "cleaner" president. The will of the
people to live, and to enjoy their country, the determination, and
the expectations radiated on their faces.After the sermon, a man
working for the electoral commission was invited to explain the
voting process and other matters related to that. The major concern
was the missing names. Some voters could not find their names at the
places where they had been registered. Nonetheless, the will to
decide the future by the polls was to strong to quench. When it was
all done, prayers were offered and soon after that the service ended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEylVx2MDSN8KK5tiJ0G_fy0PnMw19zsGQQTxHj4h7cQM-M6xspg59IOcc2G1IlyLGJ-wf3oTX_0pwSExoEvbfKBTPrpdAnYTG7T2G50MUu6dyW7cdFrTdbI-p-WHtwRePkPaSgDVK09Th/s1600/DSCN0715.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEylVx2MDSN8KK5tiJ0G_fy0PnMw19zsGQQTxHj4h7cQM-M6xspg59IOcc2G1IlyLGJ-wf3oTX_0pwSExoEvbfKBTPrpdAnYTG7T2G50MUu6dyW7cdFrTdbI-p-WHtwRePkPaSgDVK09Th/s200/DSCN0715.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63OyDaN4XbE3ZwgquiBjZzclFhkFMwmzYM0KewSCClFKk0LI3XeqSljYciQ2g-6kP5irIfmaBViJsSj8DljYguXOawG_F8Zuh1ar-XE_ruNZZsMdMfT0kS5jJnWM-MJl9GOAm_c8kjb4b/s1600/DSCN0622.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63OyDaN4XbE3ZwgquiBjZzclFhkFMwmzYM0KewSCClFKk0LI3XeqSljYciQ2g-6kP5irIfmaBViJsSj8DljYguXOawG_F8Zuh1ar-XE_ruNZZsMdMfT0kS5jJnWM-MJl9GOAm_c8kjb4b/s320/DSCN0622.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">My curiosity led me to
inspect the village. The main features are the missionary residences
on top of the hills, the Church, the hospital and its surrounding, the
Bible Institute and the primary and secondary school, and the aerodrome. Apart from two or three buildings, the rest are in a sorry
state. With my friends, we made a quick stop at the polling station.
both young and old were there reading names on the lists. Excitement
filled the air and </span><span style="font-size: small;">everyone knew who to vote in the next day. Shortly
after, the </span><span style="font-size: small;">UN together with the electoral commission's agents arrived
with the materials. Then, we crossed the runway down the valley to
find shelter from rain in nearby homes. Coincidentally, we entered a
place where a local brew is sold. Both women and men, old and young
sat enjoying a cool Sunday afternoon. here too, elections. When the
rain subsided, we made our way to the hospital. Pockets of people
stood everywhere around the busy street discussing in favor or against
anyone among the candidates. In a few hours I'd seen much of the
village. As night fell on the hills of Rwanguba, the hopes and the
resolve to make a better Congo through the polls was all that the
people of the Congo thought. Unable to vote from the village, I was
determined to go </span><span style="font-size: small;">back to Goma despite attempts to dissuade me.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-6BRj5cG1JinHQrW1kkFWoGx1CeqHYVSo_0yLgbtA4d_-FMCF75jwliPtsl9lO4zJ4mG0QoQlJziOjzjYtNETystB2wnE1wt4a1rFEZyiBnJFgHiWKnaL01cWGHqqrwicIWxbSTO8Jfb/s1600/DSCN0676.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-6BRj5cG1JinHQrW1kkFWoGx1CeqHYVSo_0yLgbtA4d_-FMCF75jwliPtsl9lO4zJ4mG0QoQlJziOjzjYtNETystB2wnE1wt4a1rFEZyiBnJFgHiWKnaL01cWGHqqrwicIWxbSTO8Jfb/s320/DSCN0676.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On the day of elections,
the reality of a people trying to defining a future plainly struck me
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">again. First, the hope and disappointments. Having no other means of
transport at my disposal, I decidedly boarded a <i>moto</i> in order
to reach Kiwanja early enough. From there, I'd take a taxis or a
truck bound for Goma. Frustrations and shattered hopes are very
typical of every conversation. The <i>motard</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
told me that the people don't trust the parliamentarians any more.
"they never do the job," he said. Once the elections are
over they spend all the time doing private business. They seldom
comeback to their </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">constituencies for any meeting or visit if ever.
M.B Jules, a candidate for a provincial parliamentary seat agrees. He
told me</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> the following day that most of the MP's enter politics for
business related privileges. They are able to evade taxes, import and
sell goods at no cost, and to travel within and without the country
almost throughout their office tenure. At Kiwanja, the taxis were all
empty and slow to fill. After paying him 8,000 UGX for the 25 Km
ride, my </span><i>motard </i><span style="font-style: normal;">quickly
found me another to take me to Goma at 8$ instead of 5$ on a taxis.</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6uAk3g0VBNHrwp6ksCwdTqa6YW_4j6duY-HyUkCUEsY3VGCYyR-pLlBgDeAw4YXygjYKEYojurAyU3gLaeiP-c4ShyzjzmijTKQF_nkXyt7S9Sj9Y0ojjjixjw5Toq3CDUCaNbN-WilM/s1600/RSCN0718.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6uAk3g0VBNHrwp6ksCwdTqa6YW_4j6duY-HyUkCUEsY3VGCYyR-pLlBgDeAw4YXygjYKEYojurAyU3gLaeiP-c4ShyzjzmijTKQF_nkXyt7S9Sj9Y0ojjjixjw5Toq3CDUCaNbN-WilM/s200/RSCN0718.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #b45f06;">runway swallowed by the swamp</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4u_RsTVBImiy0BJYknBrW4VwoHexUdKCfmmlWmkYLMcxAIkJFZStvOxsD8QZmsZWGYDR-6SbI9IyrfA5VzZ7U8H4f-NkH5n98p6M4Dv655Frpm5398fauI6ZT1z0AXZXMroSTwvGYkDC/s1600/DSCN0591.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4u_RsTVBImiy0BJYknBrW4VwoHexUdKCfmmlWmkYLMcxAIkJFZStvOxsD8QZmsZWGYDR-6SbI9IyrfA5VzZ7U8H4f-NkH5n98p6M4Dv655Frpm5398fauI6ZT1z0AXZXMroSTwvGYkDC/s200/DSCN0591.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #b45f06;">defunct Heli Mission</i> <i style="color: #b45f06;">aerodrome</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">As
we drove through and over the potholes, rocks, and dust embellishing the
Rutchuru-Goma highway, hundreds of thousands of people walked to
and from polling stations. Then, walking alone, waving. and clothed
with a big smile, passed a short and bearded man. The </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>motard</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
told me he was a </span><i>Mumbuti</i> (pigmy) candidate.
Affirmative action, I realised, is increasingly finding its way in
government policy. Shortly after that, a woman in company of a few
more people passed by greeting people. This one too was a candidate
for women. Democracy at its best, you may think! I was determined to
enjoy my ride, 75km to Goma, so I held fast onto the flying motorbike.
While <i>bodaboda </i><span style="font-style: normal;">in Kampala are
best at dodging jams and vehicles, the Congolese </span><i>motard'</i><span style="font-style: normal;">s
expertise is in dodging a million potholes and rocks. after an hour
or so, the Virunga park was in view. What a blessing to the region.
Although encroachers are slowly cutting down the indigenous trees for
charcoal and timber, the rain forest remains an untapped blend of
huge trees and thick bushes, and a sanctuary for thousands of wild
life species, including the great gorillas. A few kilomitres into
this natural mixture of vegetation and sounds that all my senses
feasted on, rain was pouring mercilessly in front of us. we agreed to
continue. After securing my documents and books inside the bag I
carried, we thrust into the storm and through the flooded road. I promised myself to comeback as a
tourist sometime in </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">he future. Another hour or so later, socked
and covered in dust (for it had not rained in Goma), we drove through the deserted dusty city to end our
little adventure at my host's home.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Second,
the shared life. The African village's landmark is hospitality. That
weekend, I'd experienced it there. In Goma too. The Congolese are
known to be a hospitable people. This time, another face that the violence after the elections overshadowed, tolerance, I'd witness.
While Kampala is still dressed in 2011 election campaign posters,
</span><i>Gomatraciens</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
unanimously agreed to rip off all the posters immediately after the
campaign hours. By midnight, 26th very little of campaign stuff
remained in the city and around. My vote cast, early in the
afternoon, I returned only to make acquaintance of some candidates. One
of them, Caliste, a civil servant with the Ministry for Higher
Learning in Kinshasa. Even before preliminary results were announced,
he declared the elections flowed. In fact, in his constituency
skirmishes had </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">erupted between various party supporters. However, he
insisted that peace must reign no matter what (see <i>"All we need
is love: interview with M. B Caliste"</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;">).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">That
evening, I learnt that the taxis and the </span><i>moto</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
mean more than transport. They are a source of social exchange of
some sort. Caliste and I boarded a taxi whose passengers and
operators had been terrorized by one man aboard. A tall,
light-skinned, and elegant man had been, for the past few minutes,
cursing and hurling insults at everyone in the taxi. silently we
listened. "I am a Tutsi," he uttered, "who will touch
me?" Everyone was stupefied. we were relieved as he alighted. Then
the talk continued. election rigging by government, violence around
the country. Earlier, a neighbor, a money changer, told us of how
pre-ticked ballot boxes came from Rwanda. Apparently, his source, a
Rwandan friend, had been among the suspected pro-Kabila rwandan connection that
were responsible for that. In the taxis we boarded next, more stories
were being exchanged. Ballot boxes intercepted on the Rwandan,
Ugandan, and Angolan borders, and at the Ndjili airport, Kinshasa...
With regards to Uganda, I'd learn later from an insider that indeed
ballot boxes were brought to the Congolese embassy, Kampala,
pre-ticked and then sent to Congo in cargo containers. It is of
course impossible to verify the authenticity and the truthfulness of these claims. On the
taxis, the social encounters continued. At some point, a couple
entered, found a friend inside. In the exchange we learnt that they
were coming from a hospital nearby where a relative was admitted. As
some quoted BBC while others cited RFI, it was time to go out. "What
a people," I thought. Amidst suffering and all but stability,
life goes on. For everyone, every mind, every heart. As the sun sets over both good and bad, still I see joy on the faces in spite of the disappointing
general elections. As night falls, bars and clubs stay open for a few more hours, the Congolese spirit reigns,</span><i>"l'embiance
a gogo."</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTQBCgmN2Jm7mnv7rCZdxUHikRr8Bt4QTQW1AY9bfJWZt9i3-5N933gSSQW_TPzGwgeu2Yi9m04coe8h8X4Z0XIAXmM7Ror8TNfl6r_KcmRDc4852ej4j-muPBcuXz-DonRod_RlGV5OI/s1600/RSCN0686.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTQBCgmN2Jm7mnv7rCZdxUHikRr8Bt4QTQW1AY9bfJWZt9i3-5N933gSSQW_TPzGwgeu2Yi9m04coe8h8X4Z0XIAXmM7Ror8TNfl6r_KcmRDc4852ej4j-muPBcuXz-DonRod_RlGV5OI/s320/RSCN0686.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Later
in the evening, a friend offered to host me. At 9pm we were cruising
through the wet streets as rain drizzled on our heads. To my surprise, the road lights, where there are any, work, although most
homes never see electricity at all. As a result, some neighborhood
have resolved to share the cost of running diesel generators between
7pm and 10pm daily. My host lives in such a neighborhood, so I was
able to recharge my phone's battery. It's better than nothing. In
fact, it reflects the spirit and the will of the Congolese to live
the life. In Goma, the children on the rock play and smile. In my
village, the presence of the </span><i>moto</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and the coming of the shops on street corners heralds an approaching
new wave of development. As for the mines that so many lives have
been sacrificed for, history will determine what they become. The
fight for a better tomorrow, or, rather, to make today more tolerable
in the midst of rich and pour minds and hearts continues.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<div style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">We may
never be able to prove that someone besides the Congolese themselves
is responsible for the holocaust. We may never know whether the
accusations held against other nations by the Government and the UN,
and by independent bodies are true, with regards to their support for the proxies fighting in the DRC. We may never know who steals
what and to what extent. We may never know whether the elections were
rigged or not. yet this I saw: The future of the Congolese men and
women and children will outshine their present suffering. It will not
be tomorrow. Maybe not in this century. Nonetheless, it will come
like an unstoppable force of nature, when their </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60zi1OlyhlXbSRWwab13o9A-qpm2WDw7wmw9OliYKHmRnXHPJVzaGahWW0FS_v2sYLMK9SASnuiLTpKsmrkAQE1w5fYGAkF5_s3Mmdr1up91IQf0NpkDjcE_P_X-PS-cshwQMvBgZ3RSi/s1600/DSCN0745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60zi1OlyhlXbSRWwab13o9A-qpm2WDw7wmw9OliYKHmRnXHPJVzaGahWW0FS_v2sYLMK9SASnuiLTpKsmrkAQE1w5fYGAkF5_s3Mmdr1up91IQf0NpkDjcE_P_X-PS-cshwQMvBgZ3RSi/s320/DSCN0745.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">enemies crumble. It
will happen because the will to live and live well in Congo is
unquenchable. It will come because democracy is engraved on the
hearts of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">millions of Congolese men and women, young and even very
old, who showed us their plight to restore the nation by casting
their votes. It will happen because God, the Great I am, The God of
history will once again shame those who trust in their might and
money and plot to oppress the poor. As for us, "Let us change Africa and the change of perception of others will follow naturally. But most importantly we need to influence the perception we have of ourselves. We need to instil the confidence to dream, the drive to plan and invest, the capacity and strength to be true to ourselves and believe that we can define our future, mindful of the challenges, but fully aware of the rewards."<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ali Bongo Ondimba</i></span>.*</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>A few months after this, the latest
insurgency in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo broke out, reviving the instability of a decade ago. In many parts of Bwisha, life has been put on hold again. Peace and security are
the number one contributor to any sustainable development and healthy
living. In the next article, I examine some of the key projects apart
from mining that could provide Congo with the much needed financial resources in order to cater for her children.</i></span></div>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Disclaimer: <u>citation of any materials below is not endorsement</u>. The blogger is not liable for any interpretation and, or use of the materials here cited.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a></span><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> Congo Uranium and the Tragedy of Hiroshima</i>, Mads Fleckner and
John Avery, University of Copenhagen, July 2005, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">
<a href="http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/uran.pdf">http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/uran.pdf</a>, 30,June,</span></div>
<div id="sdfootnote2">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0.48cm; text-indent: -0.48cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a>
Ibid, p. 3,</span></div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote3">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote3anc" name="sdfootnote3sym">3</a> Ibid,
p.4</span></div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote4">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote4anc" name="sdfootnote4sym">4</a> Adam
Hochschild, Author <i>"King Leopold's Ghost"</i>, featured
in <i>"Crisis in The Congo"</i>. <a href="http://congojustice.org/">http://congojustice.org/</a>,
accessed 12, June, 2012. <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">(</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The views expressed in the
video are not necessarily the views of this blog</span><span style="color: black;">)</span></span>.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote5">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote5anc" name="sdfootnote5sym">5</a> Minerals
and Multinationals, by David Renton, David Seddon, Leo Zeilig. <i>The
Congo: Plunder & Resistance</i>, p.194, cited, Human Rights
Watch, Ituri p.53
</span></div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote6">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7539407801893001680#sdfootnote6anc" name="sdfootnote6sym">6</a><i> The
Guardian, Forty-eight women raped every hour in Congo,</i></span>
</div>
<div class="sdfootnote" style="text-indent: -0.03cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo</a>,
accessed 3/7/2012</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">*</span>Ali Bongo Ondimba. An excerpt from
a speech to the London Business School on the occasion of Africa Day on
May 25, appeared in The EastAfrican, issue 918, June 4-10 2012</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: cyan;">More Sources</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ross Kemp Extreme World, Congo" <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKsvuey1XIw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKsvuey1XIw</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Congolese Blood in our Handsets"2 ( French) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Jh32CmEy4&feature=related"><i>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Jh32CmEy4&feature=related</i></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Africa: War is Business" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyzo8Pjr1ZY"><i>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyzo8Pjr1ZY</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Les Petits Soldats" <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQS1c-cb_Tk&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQS1c-cb_Tk&feature=related</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Le viol: Une Arme de Guerre au Congo" (Rape: A Weapon of war in Congo) <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGWHHTwZTg&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGWHHTwZTg&feature=related</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The Birma Boy"<i> </i>Aljazeera Correspondent <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/08/2011828135228487172.html"><i>http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/08/2011828135228487172.html</i></a></span></div>
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