I could get my produce from the Embassy Supermarket that is
convenient, clean, and usually devoid of beggars but I have always chosen to
immerse myself with the people I love here in Uganda and try at every casual
meeting to develop further relations. Grocery shopping for 7 years every
week affords one ample opportunity to get to know the people in the
market. I have been around for births and deaths, marriage and divorce,
joy and pain. It is a blessing to me to be among friends here.
Being a long term missionary allows me the opportunity to have the time in
which to develop trust and genuine concern for this place and these
people. I am eternally grateful to God for this but…
Today was a hard day. I am not sure why today was
especially hard as it is not a new phenomenon for me to see the loneliness of
children. Perhaps it is because it is so close to Christmas time, a time
that is already emotionally charged in my heart. Today like every week I
visited, I laughed, I bought vegetables, and I bought my little beggar a
rolex. He is called Baby Rolex and I am Mama Rolex as I rarely leave the
market without buying him a Rolex, a street food made of flat bread with an egg
rolled inside. Ironically his real name is “Lubega” Israel. I say
ironically because phonetically the Luganda name “Lubega” sounds a lot like
“the beggar”. Sadly this makes it most fitting. And then there is
the name Israel meaning “He struggles with God”… Lubega Israel certainly has
his work cut out for him as he ponders the question, “why this lot in life?”
Israel goes to the orphan school down the road and has a
family that lives in Soweto, the largest slum in Uganda, located just behind my
market. He has family but this is his school holiday and his family
cannot financially support him during the holiday. During school term he
gets to eat at the orphan school but on holiday he is sent to the market to beg
for food in order to survive. His dad sells pineapples on the street
because he cannot afford rent for a market stall and his mom sells cow
legs. This is not enough to support a family so the name he was given
seems appropriate. He has stepped into his role as the little
beggar. I love this little beggar yet I know so little about him and
there are so many exactly like him.
I saw him playing with a dull broken box cutter and a burned
out light bulb today and thought that with proper love, nutrition, and
education perhaps one day he could be an inventor or an electrical
engineer. We will never know how much he could contribute but I do know that
God has a higher plan and purpose for this little guy. I saw him standing
in the gutter with his little bare feet about the same size as my 4 year old
Hannah’s and I wanted to bring him home with me. I think, had I done
this, that everyone would have been pleased and how sad that made me that his
parents were in a place of such defeat that it would be better for them to give
their child away. I hate poverty but I know that God is the orchestrator
of life and this life of Baby Rolex is just beginning and could yet prove to be
powerful and bring Christ great glory. But his circumstances still bring
me to tears.
Most of my friends in the market have never even thought to
ask this little beggar his name as they have all consuming issues of their
own. He is just shooed away so as not to be a nuisance to
customers. This week he will eat each day from our food budget as I left
a bit of my grocery money in the hands of a trusted vendor and asked that she
look out for this little one and try to show him God’s love. This is not
a solution just a Band-Aid but today in the market I helped give this little
beggar a face, a name. His name is Lubega Israel and he is not a nuisance
but a child, a blessing from the Father.
God bless the lonely, the hungry, and the forgotten this
year whether they are in the gutter of a slum market like mine, in a bedroom
behind closed doors in a house full of opulence or just numbly looking for
meaning for their lives. We all need to know we are recognized.
Like Israel we all need to remember that He knows our name and He has a plan
for us.
As we thank the Lord for each of you and your unique
contribution to our ministry here in Uganda we pray that you continue to be
blessed through the name of Jesus Christ who imparts great value to you and to
the works of your hands.
Thank you and Happy New Year!
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