First contribution!

Center holding the sleeping child, the wife of the camp leader at Unyama IDP camp who asked me gently, "Why are you here? and what will you do for us? How will you be different from the others who have come before?"

Sarah Y., from Village Church, is the first to contribute items for the package going to Uganda. THANK YOU, Sarah.

It's interesting to see how people have responded to my request for donations...I think most are more or less skeptical about whether I can and should be undertaking this project to help the friends I made living in the IDP camps in the north. The more typical response is, "are you sure this is a good idea?" "why don't you just donate to an NGO or to the UN?"

I need to wrestle more with these questions, (you can read my blog for more on the UN and humanitarianism) but I guess all I can say right now, is that it's a burden - and strangely, also a source of joy - that God has put on my heart to express my love and desire to remain connected to the people I met in Uganda. Moreover, I cannot forget one conversation in particular with a woman, the wife of the camp leader at Unyama, that convicted me that I had a responsibility to connect my friends with people in the camps in the north. She said to me, "Many people like you have come, promising to do something for us, promising to stay in touch. How will you be different?"

I shared with her my faith in Christ - I shared that this was, at bottom, my motivation. And I remember crying as I shared with her that I loved Christ and I wanted to serve him by serving her and her community.

Friends, I know this might sound like a naive enterprise. Perhaps there are better ways, more efficient and practical ways of doing something to help those I met; but having prayed through it, I felt that nothing was better than sending donated items myself, and enlisting the help of friends and neighbors, like yourselves.

With this first contribution from Sarah; I realized, too, that I was being granted mercy, grace and a glimpse into the generosity and deep compassion of the people in my life. Actually, Sarah may not realize it, but her sending me the short email, soon after I contacted people with a request for donations, and her immediate response - bringing a BIG plastic bag filled with school supplies for the children in the IDP camps to church this morning, moved me deeply. I could see her heart and how Christ-like it is, in this one act. She acted behind the scenes, quiet and unobtrusive...it's a humbling example to me of the quiet, mysterious and beautiful love of Christ.

Thank you, Sarah. And thank you, friends. This simple act of receiving from Sarah this donation, has shown me how beautiful are the hearts of those who love Christ and who desire to share it with others - in ways that are unexpected and yet, deeply meaningful and hope giving.