Why Changing the World is Difficult

The past weekend we went to Lira, Uganda.  Since it was only a weekend trip, our Saturday was full of touring/visiting two different organizations.  These two organizations were Otina-waa and Helen’s shelter. 

Otina-waa is an organization that covers a wide range of things: an orphanage, a vocational training center, and a school.  Otina-waa is run by Bob and Carroll.  They are a retired couple from Oregon and are probably two of the most precious people I have ever encountered.  They did not come to Uganda until after retirement, and have now been living in the Lira district for 12 years.  Bob and Carol came to do pastoral training alongside the natives, but followed God’s guidance over the course of time and felt led to begin vocational training as well. 

The admirable part of Bob and Carol’s story is the way they follow God’s agenda instead of their own.  They did not plan on spending the next 12 years of their life meeting the needs of the Liran community, but they followed God’s lead to where they are today. After being here for so long, I have realized how quickly we as Americans are to do things our own way-assuming that we know best.  This more often than not, does more hurting than helping when it comes to meeting the needs of the people. 

I think it’s a great thing to be willing to go to another country and serve that community, but how you serve said community is very important.  Bob and Carroll sought out to meet the real needs of the people, and that is how Otina-waa came about.  Missions is a beautiful thing when done in this context.  The reason I struggle with the motives and actions of mission groups and other organizations is because there are many things they set out to do that the community itself should be doing.  And when these groups come in and take care of the problems for them, the community becomes dependent upon them instead of working together to achieve a better future.  After leaving Otina-waa, our team went to a local-ran women’s shelter. 

Helen’s Shelter is a safe haven for used and abused women and children.  Helen’s story is much different than Bob and Carols.  Helen is a native and is a female cop.  Being so involved in the community during her work, Helen saw the needs and hurts of these women.  She realized the injustice these women faced simply because it is not “culturally acceptable” for women to speak out.  She saw a need and she sought out of fulfill it. 

In life we all-too-often think changing the world means taking drastic measures and choosing a life of suffering, and in some cases, this may be true, but making a difference is really about seeing the needs of the people and meeting them.