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~ Region of Alapat south of Amudat ~
The Pokot people of Amudat live in the Nakapiripirit district in the west of Uganda in the shadow of Mount Kadam. The Amudat area is a tough place to live. The land is harsh and unforgiving. Water is scarce. Vegetation is thin. Trees are stunted. The soil is sandy. The topography is flat. On those rare occasions when it rains, the land floods as the normally-dry creek beds flash-flood carrying the copious runoff to who-knows-where. The Pokot people are pastoralists - mostly raising cattle, goats, or camels. The boys who tend the flocks carry a bow with well-made arrows as protection against lions, hyenas, and raiders who are well-organized and armed, frequently rustling cattle and driving them hundreds of miles to the south. Besides their bow, these young herdsmen carry only two other items - all their earthly possessions. The first is the sheet they wear wrapped around them which is also their blanket at night. The second is a carefully whittled seat the diameter of a soda can at the bottom but with a wide top to sit upon. Cattle are driven across the thick low-lying bush towards the regular watering holes or to one of the infrequent wells where the boy will pump water for them. The Pokot are similar in many ways to the Massai and some wear the same bead necklaces and ornaments as the Massai. The older Pokot men often have chin plugs or ear plugs. It's probably the closest I've been to what most people think of when they think of Africa.
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~ Pokot man breaks from whittling for tea ~ Communities in Amudat are distant from each other and our journey into that area involved a considerable amount of driving to reach these far-flung trading centers. There are no paved roads in the entire district, and many of the roads between villages follow whatever natural pathway may be in place - from cattle paths only slightly wider than the truck to dry creek-beds. Vehicles are seldom seen, and most people walk to get where they need to go. With water scarce and cattle plentiful, African Tea is the drink of choice - generally consisting of boiled milk, tea leaves, and ginger (no water). It's a good way to get liquid and nourishment, and ensures the milk is safe. Everywhere you go, every time you stop, you should plan on drinking tea - it will be offered to you, hot, and frequently in a tin cup (that gets pretty hot itself). It's very pleasant in the morning but not so refreshing in the heat of the day.
Fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard and I were returning from a one-night stay at Matongo Lutheran Theological College in Kenya and turned north after crossing the border back into Uganda. We picked up Reverend Charles Bameka in Mbale where we stayed the night. The next day we were delayed somewhat by a concern about the CV (constant-velocity) joints on the front of the Land Cruiser which appeared to be leaking a considerable amount of oil from their seals. Unfortunately, the mechanic in Mbale didn't have the seals but topped up the joints with oil and assured us they would last until we returned to Mbale. Not satisfied, but having no other options, we picked up some foodstuffs to carry to Amudat: fresh vegetables, sugar, rice, and other staples. We then traveled north around Mount Elgon and through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen - mountains rising from the plains, areas lush with bananas, rice, and gardens, and vistas that make you gasp. The villages and trading centers got smaller and smaller as we traveled, well past the last electricity pole and even beyond where the taxis and public buses go. Finally, after three hours of mostly murram roads, coming down a gentle incline, we spotted the small town of Amudat.
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~ A herd of camels crosses the road ~ The people of the Lutheran Church in Amudat greeted us with singing and dancing and Reverend Moses Lokong made introductions and welcomed us warmly. The congregations of Amudat (around 10 churches) used to be ministered to by the Lutheran Church in Kenya in part through Reverend Moses. The Lutheran Church in Kenya entered into discussions with the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda (LCMU) to ease some of their difficulties in managing churches from a neighboring country and last year handed over these congregations to the LCMU. Reverend Moses is Pokot and is a true blessing to these congregations, contributing in large part to the success of these churches in this remote area. After some tea and a lunch we began our visitations, traveling first to the most remote congregation, about an hour's drive to Alapat. ;)
~ Lutheran worship space in Alapat ~ The Lutherans of Alapat worship under a very large tree and we were again blessed to be greeted with singing and dancing as the congregation sang their way from the trading center to their place of worship. Introductions, speeches, and a small devotion were shared and the people of Alapat placed branches onto the truck as a sign of blessings for the journey - even covering the windshield! I'm sure we were very blessed by the branches, but as soon as we were out of sight of the congregation I did stop and remove them from the windshield. Blessed or not, I think it's prudent to be able to see as you drive.
About an hour from Alapat we arrived at Alacas Lutheran Church, again being greeted with joy, and enjoying a cup of tea. The congregation at Alacas worships in a mud-walled building with a tin roof. They are well off the dirt road and we had to be guided there maneuvering around the bushes and frequently scraping between small trees. After our time at Alacas, it wasn't too much further to Nabokotom Lutheran Church. We arrived at Nabokotom after dark and we used my big Maglite to illuminate the brick and tin-roofed church building as we made introductions and sang together. Finally, it was back to Amudat for the night, arriving at the unstaffed hotel in the dark city (remember, no electricity). After Ambrose, our local guide, asked around a bit, we headed back into the city center to find the manager of the hotel to let us in and let us a room. The rooms were good sized, with a nice clean bed and mosquito netting. At some point in the past a solar panel and batteries had been installed at this hotel, but it wasn't functioning any more, so the hotel provided complimentary candles. Water was dipped from a rain barrel for washing and we were pointed in the direction of the pit latrine out back. No running water, no electricity, but a clean bed and a good mosquito net - well worth the $4 per room. I slept well.
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~ Amazing. That's all. Just Amazing. ~Sunday morning we got a little diesel in Amudat. Oh, don't be confused. There's no gas station. You buy gas from someone on the side of the road who has a jerry-can full. It comes at a premium but they don't gouge you. It was about $5 per gallon instead of the usual $4. I sacrificed a hankie to filter the fuel as they poured from the jerrycan into my gas tank - well worth whatever a hankie costs. After tea at Pastor Moses' place, we set off for the hour drive to Ding Dinga Lutheran Church (it's as fun to say as it looks like it should be). We dropped off Pastor Charles there for Sunday services and Jake and I continued on with Pastor Moses to Cheralachakoghin Lutheran Church for services. I suspected I would be preaching since it seems to often happen that way, so I tried to pay close attention to the lessons for the day as they were read. I caught that the first lesson was two verses from a Psalm. But no one translated for us when the other lesson was read. So, I started with the Psalm as a base, and since it was Reformation Sunday, I delivered a sermon based on the story of Martin Luther as he struggled towards the clear proclamation of the Gospel. As I've mentioned before, it's always difficult preaching to a congregation you don't know, but I was fairly certain that the people of this area had been converted from African Traditional Religion, so I emphasized the dissatisfaction Martin Luther felt with the church at the time - how the rituals and ceremonies, the mass in a different language than the people, the apparent magic of the church - didn't provide Luther with the assurance that he had been made right with God. I was both pleased and slightly dismayed to find that it was a story these people hadn't heard before. But I think that it was a story they appreciated, and one that they could identify with in some ways. After the sermon, a whole bunch of people left the building. I'm not an alarmist or anything, but I was a bit curious - there was a whole bunch of stuff left to do - prayers, baptisms, confirmations, the Lord's Supper, and the offering (which, when collected, would receive Ugandan Shillings, Kenyan Shillings, eggs, and beans). It turns out the "whole bunch" of people was 30 in number and that they were stepping outside to make sure their names were on the list to be baptized! ;)
~ Pastor Moses and Jake baptize ~ Jake was happy to work with Pastor Moses in baptizing 30 adults! When he asked why there were no children or infants being baptized, he was told that 30 was enough for one Sunday and they wanted the adults baptized so they could be sponsors for the children next time! Wow. I asked why Pastor Moses didn't baptize the last time he was at the congregation. Well, he did! A few months previously he had been there and had baptized at that time too! This congregation is just in an area where the clear Gospel proclamation hadn't been heard before and God was calling people to Himself with complete abandon - praise the Lord!
After service, I left Jake at Cheralachakoghin and returned to Ding Dinga to pick up Pastor Charles - who had also delivered a good Reformation Sunday sermon and had administered dozens of baptisms. On the way there, I began to get a bit panicky as I heard some new squeaking from the truck. I could imagine in my mind the CV joints overheating and seizing out here in the middle of nowhere - no cell phone reception, no roads, no tow truck for miles and miles. I prayed over those CV joints like you would not believe the whole way to Ding Dinga. When I picked Charles up at Ding Dinga we had tea and some chapati (flat bread). I was starting to struggle a bit - would my truck break down stranding us all out here? I didn't want to drink any more tea and the hot church with the tin roof began to seem unbearably hot - especially with the flies arrived, drawn to the smell of the yummy chapati. There were a lot of flies. Like, a lot. Upon returning to the truck, I discovered that a child had come across a black ball-point pen and had doodled from front to back on one whole side of the truck, including on the hood.
At this point I was pretty close to a melt-down. I'd driven about 1000 km over the past three days on bad roads requiring intense concentration, I'd preached a sermon I wasn't as prepared for as I hoped, the truck was about to give out, the flies, the heat, the hot tea in the middle of the hottest part of the day, and now ball-point pen all over the truck. But I have to say thank you to you. What got me back to Cheralachakoghin was the knowledge that people were praying for me in the United States - it was about the time that church would be starting in the States and I know that we are included in both private morning prayers and in the prayers of the church. I relied on those prayers at that moment. I knew there was no way anyone could know how deeply I was struggling at that particular time - without cell phone service even Krista didn't know - but it didn't matter. I knew I had been sent to this place and that those who sent me loved me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. And when I lifted my own simple prayer up as we drove away from Ding Dinga I could feel the weight slowly being lifted off my shoulders. The strange sounds I had heard from the truck earlier in the day were gone - the rear tailgate hadn't been closed all the way. I heard echoes of my own sermon as Pastor Charles told me what he had preached about. The air conditioning in the truck cooled me off and by the time I got to Cheralachakoghin I was feeling much better. We were treated to a good lunch and - you guessed it - tea. Thank you, Lord, for hearing the prayers of Your people.
We departed Cheralachakoghin to go the back way around Mount Kadam and return to Mbale. We drove on the worst road I have ever been on in Uganda. Most roads are okay once you get over about 30 mph - the excellent suspension system on the truck just coasts over the bumps once you get up enough speed. But this road was bad. The "washboard" was about a foot deep and you could only drive about 10 mph - no way you could speed over it - especially when you're trying to be tender to your front CV joints. It was a long way around the mountain but finally we got onto the bigger roads and made it safely to Mbale. Even though it was dark we did a bit of hotel-shopping when we arrived in town because of the mediocre night we'd spent in Mbale previously and we ended up at the nicest hotel I've stayed at in Uganda! We split the $40 room three ways (three beds in the room) and I enjoyed a good dinner, a hot shower, and a pretty solid night's sleep. The next morning we stopped by the mechanic again and he topped off the oil in the CV joints and gave us the go-ahead to return to Kampala. One more stop along the way to Kampala to make arrangements for a short-term mission team coming over Christmas and then we were home. Altogether I'd put 1,367 kilometers onto the truck since I left Kampala and I have to admit it was worth every meter. -Shauen;)
~ Passing by the south side of Mount Kadam ~