There's a lot of plagiarism involved in this piece. I hope you enjoy it. For starters, the title. Ever since I've read the book, The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, I've been itching to use the word ragamuffin. I only hope it fits well with the context below.
"In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dulled and know I had to put it on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well oiled in the closet, but unused." - Ernst Hemingway
Uganda
Ugandans come across as pretty calm, with a clock and time of their own to compliment their calm nature. They lead simple lives with little exposure to the outside world. Still, there is ambition. Inspire them with something bigger to live for, like Jesus, and all they want is to do is the "work of god". Through "preaching the word of god", the "born agains" stir people to also get "saved", or to be born again. Mindlessly, even heartlessly at times, all the while using this very lingo. And you almost get the feeling like they're simply hopping on a bandwagon that could add meaning, and give cause to a simple life.
We're all the same this way. Only we think we know more. We claim to know something, and then live within the confines of what we think we know. It gets worse. Often we expect others to do the same, to also live within these same confines of our lonely knowledge. "Just when you think you know something, you have to look at in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try." (Dead Poets Society - Amaze balls). It's no surprise Hosea 4:6 states, "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,"
If anything, this is my hope for Africa, that our ragamuffin lives might speak something of Jesus, something new and unheard of, attracting people to share in this Gospel. Where Africa is perhaps over-evangelized and under-discipled, to offer up our presence and influence in hope that the Gospel may be seen for what it is. As it was with Peter and the first church, when people came out of their own asking, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).
This is my heart, and I believe I share it with many. A Gospel without toil. Isaiah 55 speaks of it as an Invitation to the thirsty. Matthew 11, translated in the Message refers to it as the Unforced Rhythms of Grace. Come, all who are thirsty. All who are weary and burdened, come. If this isn't the case, you wouldn't come.
It's at this point that I believe our hearts are moved. And rightly so, because you cannot teach what you've never been taught. And you cannot demonstrate that which has never been shown to you. And so my heart breaks for the people of Africa, and that which they have been given. Like buying a man a fish, instead of teaching him how to catch fish himself. Or giving a boy a weapon, but never taking the time to show what it's purpose is, and how to use it. The same reasoning goes.
So yea, this has probably been the greatest challenge out of Uganda. The time we've spent serving does look fruitful. If not for the change of heart we witnessed in the Waninda village, then surely the servants who came to be friends in Busio town. Using the tool we have come to know, we demonstrated and encouraged the use of Discovery Bible Study. Hereby also emphasizing that, 'the only thing more powerful than ownership is authorship.' - Aaron Tait.
Another challenge certainly was sickness within the team. Three members - civilians - became victims of malaria. Apparently, it was something worth experiencing. If anything, it has strengthened us. Besides, 'Nothing in any life, no matter how well or poorly lived, is wiser than failure or clearer than sorrow. And in the tiny, precious wisdom that they give to us, even those dread and hated enemies, suffering and failure, have their reason and right to be.' - Shantaram. Thus it is safe to say, in sickness and in health, we are holding together. In fact, it's only drawing us closer. And with each passing day, the innocent faces we met just 7 months ago, are becoming more like cunning family.
Final thoughts. Africa demands patience. So too, the Gospel.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt
In my defense to all the plagiarism, I'll hand over to my brother Charles Spurgeon:
"The man who never reads will never be read;
he who never quotes will never be quoted.
He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains,
proves that he has no brains of his own."
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