Greetings from the land of (what seems like) eternal lockdown!
We were just getting on our feet again with churches and ministries opening, businesses recovering, and people living their lives when our COVID numbers started ballooning and we got locked down again. Our lockdown includes no movement of private vehicles or of public transportation, no crossing from one district to another, arrests and beatings for not wearing a mask or shutting down your business, and people who sell food in the markets not being allowed to go to their homes but being required to sleep in their stalls in the markets. The word from the government is “Just stay home.” Of course, for most Ugandans who live hand to mouth, buying food for their families daily, this is not an option. The outcry here is that people would rather die of COVID than starve to death. And many are hungry. During the last lockdown, there was food in the villages, and the people who lived in towns struggled the most. This time, after the drought during what should have been the rainy season, even the people living in the villages do not have food. It is a difficult time in Uganda.
But “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We had a staff devotion recently where we discussed whether we really believe this. How can COVID and this lockdown be good for those that love the Lord? We named a few good things, such as Christian families being able to have devotions with each other every day, but the main summary was that we don’t always know how or where God is working, but we trust Him completely anyway! He is sovereign, and He is always working, whether we see it or not.
Instead of being able to do our usual ministries in schools, prisons, hospitals, and local communities, we have been focusing more on the Biblical command to feed the hungry. James 2:15-17 says, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." At this time, Called Christians has partnered with The Bridge Calvary Chapel (the church that is located on the Called Christians compound) to feed the hungry. We have been able to provide food for about 300 families, including widows with children, child-headed homes, boda boda motorcycle taxi drivers, mechanics, elderly people, and people with disabilities; today we are working on a third distribution to at least 100 more families. This doesn’t begin to touch all of the hunger around us, but for those we can help, it is a picture of the living Christ who loves them.
Private cars are not allowed to travel right now, but pickup trucks can because they are considered to be carrying cargo. So our double cabin pickup that we have had since 2000 is our workhorse. It has been to the mechanics three times in the last week, but it comes back home and goes right back to work. We use the truck to buy all the food supplies and charcoal that we hand out, plus any errands in town that need to be done. Passengers are limited to only the driver and one other person in the vehicle, but that works for us most of the time. They have allowed us to have four people in the truck when we are buying and distributing charcoal because it is so heavy and awkward. We also use the truck to distribute medicines, soap, razor blades, and Bible studies to the prisons. No one can go into the prisons to visit or teach right now, but we are allowed to take these supplies. It keeps us in contact with the prisons, and also gives us ways to show the gospel of the love of Christ to the prisoners and the guards.
We are also still picking up sick prisoners and taking them to the hospital, getting them treated, and buying their medication. We have a 29-passenger bus that does this during the week. And when it breaks down, we have a “baby bus” that does the job instead, although it takes many more trips back and forth to get everyone to and from the hospital. When we are able to do this ministry, maybe three or four prisoners die per year in the prisons in which we minister. When we do not do this, maybe three or four prisoners die every month.
We also use our smaller bus to help the local hospital as a sort of ambulance. One of our workers, Aaron Kirunda, is a social worker and can work directly with the hospital's social worker. We are still supplying food and medicine to the COVID isolation ward and to the TB wards through Aaron and the hospital social worker, but when a patient is discharged, they have to have a vehicle and driver with a special movement document in order for them to travel, especially across district lines. So Aaron uses our van to pick up patients at the hospital and take them home. We also have a “grandmother van” that Called Christians has had since 1993, that we use as a backup when these other vehicles are broken down (a daily occurrence around here). We have also sent our wrecked Prado to the garage to start repairs that will be done “slowly by slowly.”
I mentioned earlier some of the “good things” that have come during this lockdown. All the schools are closed right now, so to keep all of our boys out of trouble, they are working here on the compound during the lockdown. They normally work during Saturdays and holidays, but this feels like a very extended holiday. Since we can’t do as much ministry as usual, we are trying to repair some of the broken things on the compound, like our rotten roof. We have an excellent carpenter on staff, Grace, who was actually the carpenter when our house and the church were built. The boys normally just mow, cut the fence, wash the cars, and take care of the dogs, but Grace is training them in other skills as well. A large part of our roof has rotted and needs repairs, so the boys are learning to use a hammer and saw properly, to mix and lay concrete, to lay roofing tiles, to paint well, and many other lessons that will be valuable in their future. We will be sending most of them back to school when the schools open again, but for now, what a great thing it is to learn these new skills.
There is one more “good thing” I want to mention. Many of the people who need food are from districts that are far from Jinja, so we send them food money by “mobile money.” We all have a bank on our phones where we can deposit and send money to others on their phones. We recently sent 110,000 Uganda shillings (about $30) to a former School of Ministry student who is now a pastor. He and his family had no food and are surrounded by Muslims who have been persecuting them. This pastor and his wife saw that the Muslim families also had no food and took 90,000 shillings of their food money and bought food for nine Muslim families. These people were stunned, and this week, one of the men who has three wives and twelve children came to the pastor and gave his life to Christ, kind of like Nicodemus. He wants to keep it quiet for now, but also wants to lead his wives and children to the Lord. God is working!
The faith of many is being tested in this difficult time, but for many, it has strengthened that faith greatly. Please keep praying for Uganda and sending financial support when you can. You are blessing others more than you will ever know, and many are coming to Christ because of the love you show.
With much love in Christ,
Beverly