I Know Who I Am

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praise of He who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” – 1 Peter 2.9

When I arrived in Uganda I was met at the airport by a very nice guy with a sign which had my name on it. I travelled up to our ministry site in Lira with a lot of excitement about seeing old friends and new with my feeling of being one seriously lucky traveller only being increased when Richard, who was driving, said, “We are about to cross the Nile.” Having already seen Lake Victoria that morning I couldn’t really believe that the Nile was also on the list. I strained my neck to see as much of the furiously rushing water as I could, taken aback somewhat by the power of this famous river. In its youthful arrogance it was pushing forward as fast as it could like a sprinter who had inadvertently found himself at the start of a marathon and hadn’t yet realised. It would be three months before that water reached its Mediterranean destination.  We joke in Sierra Leone about how Uganda is paradise. The stories that we hear from there and from those who have visited are always so glowing. My introduction to the country did little to dispel the myths.

At Children of the Nations we enjoy honouring our guests with little welcome and farewell programs, bookending their stays with words of thanks and songs of appreciation. If you’re lucky maybe even a dance of awesome. I arrived on the same day that some dear friends were also leaving and so their farewell and my welcome were combined. We sat together in the middle of our home in Uganda and I had the opportunity to hear from and speak to members of my family I had never met before. When I introduced who I was and mentioned who my brother was there was a ripple of recognition and a few bursts of the shrill cry East Africa uses to express excitement. We were about to finish when one of my friends who was saying her fond farewell put in a song request. And boy, am I glad she did.

What happened next will stay with me for a long time. All of the kids and staff present got up and treated us to a rendition of a song that I had never heard before. Excitement and joy seemed to build with every line and the kids danced as they sang. The lyrics pounded on my heart, their truth only highlighted by the stories of those singing:

We are a chosen generation
Called forth to show His excellence
All I require for life; God has given me
And I know who I am

At COTN we believe that we were called because children in desperate need prayed. And in response to their prayer, God chose to use COTN as part of how he would answer. It started with the faith of the children. The rest of us are seeking to be obedient to the call that they initiated. And when we are successful in doing so an amazing thing happens. These children orphaned by war, injustice and brutality, become children once again. No longer orphans, they once again live as part of a family. They discover who they are and they are known by others. They belong.

I know who God says I am; What He says I am
Where He says I’m at; I know who I am,
I’m working in power; I’m working miracles
I live a life of favour, Cause I know who I am

When I then travelled to Malawi I was once again welcomed with a number of programs and once again, I was welcomed by name and with warmth. I was known. I had been expected. I was welcome. And once again in Malawi this song was sung and danced as part of that welcome. Later, one of the school choirs, “Citizens of Heaven”, would treat us to their own rendition and they went down a storm when they sang for a big, local church. The COTN choirs are pretty amazing in Malawi and these girls are no exception. At my favourite part, Daphless (pictured above) strains her voice to cry, “Everybody shout out,” and the girls join in with “oh oh oh, I know who I am!”, knocking their chests as if to dare anyone to challenge them. Then everything gets taken down a notch as we hear just who it is that they are…

I am holy
I am righteous, oh
I am so rich
I am beautiful

Orphans? Destitute? Poor? Hopeless? Broken? No. These are young, confident, African women who know that they are the children of God. Daphless steps forward to cheers from the crowd and raps a little more explanation...

Take a look at me, I’m a wonder
It doesn't matter what you see now
Can you see His glory?
Cause I know who I am!

Shouldn't I Be Taller?

Saturday morning in Africa. You have your seat on your veranda, your coffee in hand and some reading material in your lap. These are the things that bliss is made of.

Today’s location is Njewa, Malawi and my soundtrack is Malawian hip hop blasting from a sound system set up to entertain the students of Children of the Nations’ boarding school, the International Christian Academy, as they go about their morning chores. Moments of solitude and real soul rest have been in short supply as I have travelled from west to east Africa over these last few months both because of squeezed schedules and my desire to do as much and meet as many as possible. 

Today is to be different…

My reading material is an old Relevant magazine and I am turning the pages and see a familiar face – Justin Zoradi, founder of the non-profit, These Numbers Have Faces and fellow alumni of DV’s volunteer/intern programme and Capetownship. As I have been living out my thirtieth year of fallen-ness one of the things that I have noticed myself doing is comparing my position in life with that of others. Whether it is the friend with the wife, the house, the career and the kids or the one with some other perceived significance or recognition, I am tempted to stand with them back-to-back and see who is taller – a test I have never done well in. It’s a pretty human thing to do given the perpetual dissatisfaction of a creation made to look upon the divine when they choose instead to look upon the earthen. NGO/ministry types are always at it – quietly comparing each other’s “impact” and judging who is the most innovative, sustainable, indigenous or whatever is the most current measure of success. So I first have to shake that off before seeing what JZ has to say…

What I have always appreciated about Justin is that he saw what scores of us who went on Capetownship had seen before but was not satisfied with allowing it to be a mission trip that he came home from.* Instead he was broken down, re-formed and inspired to make his home amongst the challenges that he had seen. He writes that he was tempted to give up on the vision he had had and I am sure that this was the problem of so many that had gone before – sparks of inspiration got dampened. I might send a brief but accusing glance at our culture’s tendency to politely discourage the audacious, enthusiastic, optimistic attitude of an individual who has the arrogance to suggest that they might be a solution. In Northern Ireland it seems like everyone must start off with the baggage of a prophet in their own town. Thankfully Justin ignored those thoughts that would cry down his vision and These Numbers was born and grew.

What then is the point Justin is making in Relevant which has inspired me to type? Simply that the answers we can personally provide to life’s problems will never be complete. We are but part of the redemptive plan that God has for the world. There is no perfect life, no perfect ministry.

 “There is liberation in understanding that you are meant to do incomplete work… You are the worker, not the master builder… Being the worker means your fumbling progress is a step along the way, leaving open the opportunity for God’s grace to show up and do the rest.” 

Chris Clark, co-founder and President of Children of Nations, tells the story of how his mother once said that God was not in need of great men but rather men who would point to his greatness. As I seek to play my part in raising children who transform nations, this is an important reminder of my own limitations and the idea that although I should constantly strive to do the absolute most with what God has given me, there will be a limit and in that limit I can find peace not dissatisfaction. The Bible’s way of putting it is that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Justin ends with the story of Cardinel Danneels of Brussels and so shall I. He said:

When I get home after a long day, I go to the chapel and pray. I say to the Lord, “There it is for today, things are finished. Now let’s be serious, is this diocese mine or yours?”
The Lord says, “What do you think?”
I answer, “I think it’s yours.”
“That is true,” the Lord says, “it is mine.”
And so I say, “Listen Lord, it is your turn to take responsibility for and direct the diocese. I’m going to sleep.”

In Liberia they say that God never sleeps. That’s good. Because I'm always doing it…

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*Notable exception to this would be Stocki whose vision of how to partner for change was Capetownship itself – a now somewhat forgotten ministry except to those whose lives it utterly changed forever! I also acknowledge that there were a number of Capetownshipers there from the beginning, sharing and supporting in the vision of TNHFs. 

Guided Tour of Banta: The Update

   

One of the most popular posts I have ever put up on this blog was a series of pictures showing exactly where Children of the Nations' ministry site is located in Sierra Leone. I was able to show lots of satellite images of the surrounding area including the villages where our children live. However, the images were actually taken before COTN moved to Banta and so I wasn't able to show you where I live! We can now have a look at an updated version of some of those images. The most recent hydraform construction at COTN is not visible yet though - google can't quite keep up with our community's rapid growth! If you click on the pictures you can get a better look at each.

So we start below by focusing on the southern region of Sierra Leone, Moyamba District to be exact. Find the blue lakes of the Rutile mining operation as that is where we will go next.

On the left of the picture below you get an idea of the scale of the rutile (titanium ore) operation - one of the biggest businesses in the country. The lakes are created to allow the earth to be dredged and the rutile extracted. The brown area on the right is the washing plant of the bauxite (aluminium ore) mine - another big employer. Running through the middle is the Taia river which provides the local community with fish and is a great place for a swim....e-coli notwithstanding... The right side of the shot shows lots of the Upper Banta Chiefdom.

North from the bauxite mine, travelling up the mining road, we have Ngolala.

And there it is - COTN's Ngolala Ministry Site, Ngolala Junction Village and Ngolala Village. This area, particularly Ngolala Junction Village, is continuing to experience rapid growth and so if you travelled with me there tomorrow you would see many more houses than what is pictured below.

Below is Ngolala Village, often called the "Old Town". To the north is the football field, to the east is Pa Kobba's palm plantation and the village of Senehun. Many of the children in our Village Partnership Program in Sierra Leone live in those houses pictured.

Below we have COTN - the community gifted us with 100 acres to use for the care of their children. Along the southern boundary of the property we have the village of Ngolala Junction which is rapidly growing up around us. The land rises fairly steeply up hill from the western end of the property to the road which makes up the eastern boundary.

Below is our main "public" area - in the bottom right, by the road, we have our offices and our medical clinic. In the bottom left we have our primary school which has had three buildings added to it since this picture was taken. These buildings house our science lab, remedial classroom, library and nursery classrooms. In the top left we have our Skills Training Centre and to the right of that we have our secondary school classrooms. In the middle we have our football pitch! We have at least 700 children on this site every day!

And this is where our children live - our Children's Home. In the ten houses in the middle live about 100 children and it is one of my favourite places in the world. Surrounded by our farmland (you can see the piggery buildings on the far left), I stay in the house on the bottom left of the Home's horseshoe although a new building is being put up behind the Home. International staff will move in to that house freeing the current house up for the use of our children. On the top right here you see some of our staff houses. Across the road from this is where our new staff quarters have been built as well as our guesthouse.

So that's where it all happens. Where we raise children who will transform nations!