In Uganda, plans change as quick as your underwear

Here's hoping you're in the habit of changing your underwear!

I'm gonna be home soon. quicker than i imagined it.

I'm in Kampala today.

I'm broke.

I had a hamburger yesterday.

I am not crazy.

yet.

and i've been running round in circles for a few weeks.

Life of a missionary.

Mountains

 

 

I’ll start off with a quote.

Francis of Assisi – “Lord, what is this mountain?”

I read his book and heard that quote and it floored me.  Lord, what is this mountain. Wow. But, Francis is referring to a challenge. A mountain is a challenge. For Francis, his mountain was poverty. It was this struggle with wealth and poverty. If you know of Francis of Assisi, you’ll know that he humbled himself to the point of renouncing all physical wealth. His struggle was putting wealth into a proper place. It was Francis’ mountain.

Our lives are filled with mountains. Like, “I look to the mountain, where does my help come from.” I’ve encountered mountains in my life, and some valleys. The mountains are those spiritual challenges, when we have no choice but to seek after God. Our mountain experiences are when we have such challenges that faith, hope, God’s mercy, Grace, love, compassion… all of these things become realities because we are dealing with struggles day in/day out, when prayer is more than just prayer. Meditation on God is like a breath of air to a drowning person. Those times in the mountain, God is palpable, you can feel his presence. You have to deal with his mercy, because without it, you would not be able to survive. His grace becomes something more than clichés because without his grace, you would not be able to tackle the mountain ahead of you.  So, I’m sure, at this point, you can agree with me that Francis is saying something remarkable, “Lord, what is this mountain?” Lord, I simply can not accept this challenge on my own. I need your help, I look at this mountain and only your help will free me. I’m oppressed, I’m dragged thru the mud, I’m down and out and without you, this mountain will finish me. Lord, what is this mountain? So, look to my time in Uganda. There have been challenges with sickness, with people opposing the Gospel, day in, day out, challenges. But, when you come to the other side of the mountain, you are stronger; you have a clear mind as to what to do to make this mountain easier for other pilgrims.

I wouldn’t trade this mountain for the world.

So, during the mountain time, we have challenges that make faith come alive. We grow stronger, we fill up, we are being molded and fixed by God. So, let’s go to these mountains. Lets tackle the mountains with God. The valleys? Who has ever asked “oh Lord, what is this valley?” That’s silly. Valleys, those are the times when we are doing it all on our own. They are the times when we start to grow comfortable, when we feel fine with the world. It’s the base camp experiences that refresh us after a mountain, and prepare us for the next mountain, but the valley, the base camp, that is not the place to stop. We can’t stop because we are comfortable. It must be continuing to the mountain.

Where is your mountain?

Or are you chilling in base camp? Getting out of shape, growing a beard and long hair(mitch hedburg). Base camp is worthless if you don’t ever climb the mountain.

“Lord, help me climb this mountain.”