My Visit to the Karimojong

It is Monday at 9 pm.  I am tired and yet I realize as I write these words that I will lay my head down on a pillow in a soft bed to sleep tonight.  Not so for the people that I met today.  They will lay outside on the ground, surrounded by garbage, the same as every night unless they can come up with 500 schillings (less than an American dollar).  If they can, they will share a room with 9 other people. I took a picture of the inside of one so you could see it. Scroll down at the pics and you will see one with a few women standing inside.
What I saw today was beyond any description I can put into words. Recho is the coordinator for the Karimojong people. I talked about them in an earlier post but I will repeat in case you didn't read it. The Karimojong are a people group from up north, a place called Karimojo Land. They are cattle herders and very good at what they do. For some reason, there is conflicting information, they migrated to Kampala. It is believed they were forced, but the government here is trying to force them back.  They are despised by society and treated horribly.  As a result, they live in the most extreme and shocking conditions known to man. I witnessed it today firsthand and I am forever changed.  It was as if I had entered into someone's nightmare, but it was real. I was having so much trouble comprehending what I was seeing.  They welcomed me so warmly and thanked me over and over and over again...Just for coming.  They sang and danced for me and their leaders took turns giving small speeches to greet me. Recho translated. I sat in awe just trying to nod my head and smile. I held their hands as they knelt on the ground in front of me to show respect.  I should have been on my knees in front of them.  And through it all they sang praises to Jesus and clapped and cheered when I told them that He loved them.  I kept revisiting Bible passages in my mind. The treatment of the lepers became real. I was a part of the story.  I had just read Luke 10: 30-37 ( if you do not know it off hand, please read it), and suddenly I realized why.  And I now really do understand that the ruler of this world is Satan and that he has brought so much destruction and that he wants us to believe that Jesus isn't strong but we know that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.  1 John 4:4.
Jesus has the power and authority to do whatever He wills, but what He wills is for his children (you and me) to love one another. And love means you do not let your brothers and sisters in Christ starve to death and die alone in a garbage heap.  Matthew 25:34-40 is not hypothetical. James 2:1-9 is not a suggestion.  And rich in faith the Karimojong are.  Oh, if only my love and faith for our savior could be as deep and authentic as theirs.
I have never had such juxtaposed feelings. Hating what I see and loving what I witness.  Wanting to run away as fast as possible and never look back and feeling like I should never leave.  Feeling like I was in a bad dream and feeling reality for the first time in my life. Horrible beauty. Satan's evil and God's glory. My heart bled and filled with love at the same time.
It is so overwhelming that it can be tempting to think the problems are just too big, but I have never forgotten the story I was told about the boy walking on the beach one morning where thousands of starfish had been washed ashore. He was picking up one at a time and tossing them back into the ocean when a man came along and asked, "Boy, why do you bother?  Do you really think it's going to make a difference."  The boy having just released one into the water replied, "it made a difference for that one."

Tonight I will wear to bed the simple black rubber necklace that the Karimojong gave to me as a gift. It will serve as a daily reminder that "...to whom much is given, from him much will be required... Luke 12:48