Today I am leaving the gorgeous mountains overlooking the Rift Valley and flying over to the endless hills of Uganda. Alone. I am going alone.
But that is okay because God is going with me.
There are many strangers here in Africa. But there are also many brothers and sisters. I have a brother who is picking me up at the Kampala airport tonight at 11:30. I have another brother who invited me to visit his church's ministry up in northern Uganda. I have not met either one of these brothers before. But I have no fear of them because we have the same Father.
This is one of the marvelous things about being a child of God.
No matter where I go in this world, no matter how many times I have to fly or drive or walk by myself, I am never alone. Because I am a child of God, there is a whole world out there filled to bursting with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I met one of those children yesterday. His name is Dennis, he is twelve years old, and he lives in a tent in the IDP camp. He is the oldest of four children, and his mother has been away for nearly two weeks now. She went for a visit, but the phone number she left with her son doesn't work, so Dennis has not spoken with his mother in two weeks and doesn't know when she will come home. His father lives in a different town and only visits a couple times a year. Yesterday when Dennis saw me, he shouted hello and invited me into his house that is a tent. There are holes in the tarp ceiling and mud on the floor. Dennis covered a jerry can with a beautiful piece of fabric so I would have a clean place to sit. Immediately after that, he poured me a steaming cup of Chai tea. He showed me his book from school with drawings in it of Kenya and Africa. He told me about the food he was cooking. His eyes were bright, and he was smiling often - just because I was there.
It was perhaps the most happy, hospitable welcome I've ever been given entering someone's home. And it came from a 12-year old. Who lives in a tent. And looks after his younger siblings because his parents are gone.
Dennis is a child of God. He is my little brother, and we have the same Father. Dennis - and so many others like Dennis - is one of the reasons why I can go to Uganda by myself. It is okay because God has given me many, many siblings. And because we are brothers and sisters and we love the same Father, we also love each other. This is one of my favorite things about belonging to the family of Christ.
