Together for Renewal

Crossing a muddy brown river, one of our trip leaders alerts us that we have entered the Lamwo District, home of the Palabek refugee settlement. Established in 2017, Palabek is currently home to 68,000 refugees, almost exclusively South Sudanese fleeing the chaos and instability set in motion by the civil war that raged in their country for five years, killing an estimated 400,000 and displacing millions. 60% of the inhabitants of Palabek are women and children navigating not only the trauma of displacement, the loss of fathers and family members, but the challenge of food scarcity as well. Conditions conspire to keep the population there, to a large degree, dependent on international aid to simply keep people fed. The land the settlements are built upon is still owned by the local inhabitants and all too often when an industrious refugee family painstakingly clears and cultivates the land for agricultural production the local owners will then reposes the land or charge unsustainable rents, crippling the people’s ability to achieve food security and robbing them of both dignity and hope.

In contrast to the images that readily come to mind when thinking of refugee camps – fences and wall to wall UN relief tents or tin-shanties – Palabek is a rural settlement made of 7 different zones. A small shanty town, less than a dozen small blocks in area, has sprung up near the UN headquarters at the entrance to the settlements. Upon receiving permission to enter the settlements, we crawl over crude roads slowly winding their way into the raw countryside. Villages here are built by hand, baking the natural Ugandan red-clay into bricks that are then fashioned into circular huts. Pastor Moses, our in-country host and trusted member of the Kids Around The World team, himself a South Sudanese refugee raised in camps, tells us that it typically takes several months to construct a hut for a family. It’s a community affair, with neighbors aiding in the labor-intensive process. Within the more established villages there are small family gardens and pens for chickens, ducks, and pigs. Not enough to live on, but every little bit helps.

Food & Story: A Doorway To Healing Hearts
Our small bus, mud-spattered and stifling in the heat, pulls to a stop in a dirt yard in front of a 15ft x 30ft church building, one of a handful that has been established in the settlements to serve the community. Pastor Moses, barrel-chested and with a flashing grin, is first off and excitedly welcomes us to the grounds. Already, a gaggle of young children have gathered in the yard, curious and expectant. In the shadows of the church’s eves and through the open, unframed windows we see young men, flint-eyed and reserved, one on crutches missing part of his leg; a visceral reminder of the violence that drove them from their homes and country.

Within minutes the number of children had doubled as word of our arrival spread and the caution first felt between us had melted. Steve, one of the trip leaders, sprang into action, gathering all of the children into a giant circle with him at the center. We watched as he shed all adult pretense and launched into an animated telling of a scene from the gospels, his voice rising and falling, acting the drama out and inviting the children in call and response. We were witnessing Story Club, a crucial component of the Kids Around The World method for creating community in places of extreme poverty, disorientation, and need. KidsStory, their dynamic method of storytelling, invites children to become participants, rather than distant observers, in the life-giving story of God.

With energy running high, our team began unloading OneMeal boxes filled with nutritious meals to be distributed to the kids, who would in turn carry them home triumphantly to their mothers. Humanitarian aid such as this is crucial in Palabek, where UN support and local agricultural production still leaves at least a 30% gap in regular access to food, leading to chronic malnutrition among children.

As boxes were opened and food distributed the joy and hope were palpable. It was impossible to not marvel at the scene unfolding and the memories of a distant but similar joy, months earlier and halfway across the world, on the piazza of NCCC where whole families had gathered to pack these exact meals. In that moment, it was clear to realize that these simple meals meant far more than simply silencing the grumbles of hungry stomachs for a few days. In truth, they were a declaration of solidarity and a reminder that each displaced child and family have not yet been forgotten, and are worthy of dignity, care, and support. The ongoing commitment of churches like ours and organizations like Kids Around the World bears witness to the God of love, who cares not only for our eternal communion with him, but has a deep care and interest in the health and flourishing of our whole beings.

Over the next several days we witnessed this scene unfold several times. We heard stories of hardship, devastation, and loss. We also saw tangible evidence of how our partnership and involvement with communities in Uganda is about far, far more than simply a food program. We learned first-hand from indigenous community leaders how the tools of food, play, and story have empowered them to bring hope, build trusting relationships, and set them up to work towards holistic, sustainable solutions for people suffering the ravages of war and violence. Seeing this first hand, it is impossible to not have your heart enlarged, and your vision of the church expanded into a global family, rather than just a local gathering. It is equally impossible to not walk away humbled, recognizing how profound our spiritual poverty here can be, amidst the wealth and distractions our country affords us.

An Invitation
Flying back to California, reflecting on the privileged experience we just had, three visions of Jesus drifted into my heart, mingling together. The first, was of him chiding the disciples, then turning with joy flashing in his eyes as throngs of parents brought their children to be touched and blessed by him. “Let the little children come to me,” he says. Next, I see Jesus standing in front of a multitude of thousands drawn by a spiritual hunger for the power of his teaching, yet he doesn’t stop with teaching, he satisfies their physical hunger as well, showcasing the power of the God of abundance and generosity. “I am the bread of life”, he says. Finally, I see Jesus beckoning, standing amidst the throngs of lost, broken, and destitute in our own community and around the world. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me,” he says.

As the plane touches down and the visions fade, I catch one more whisper, “for the joy set before him, he endured the cross..” and I wonder: what joy have I missed out on because I was too preoccupied with my own fears, dreams, and needs to discover the true joy of giving myself away in love to others? How might I, we, discover anew the call to move out into the world with the message of truth in one hand and a fierce compassion in the other? Might this joy be the invitation within Jesus’ call to each of us: “Come, follow me?”