Thoughts from Dear Friends

I am overwhelmed by the warm responses and encouragement I have received in response to my last communication...thank you, dear friends. I have posted, anonymously, of course, a few excerpts from emails I received over the past few days and included only those which did not reveal too much personal info. ;-) Hope that those who I did include below do not mind; but your words communicate a warmth and love that I feel compelled to share with others.

Thank you, dear friends. Being a stranger in a strange land feels less so when I think of you!

p.s. I haven't gotten around to responding to everyone, but updates will keep coming and will try my best to respond when I can...

Love,
S.

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Hey S! So glad to hear about your trip over, what you’ve seen, and that you are sobered but exhilarated at the same time – that’s exactly how I feel when I am in third world countries. I think some people just shut off and don’t want to deal with it, but it sounds like you’ve really taken everything to heart and are engaging with the people you are meeting. How exciting! I wish I were there with you. I’m so impressed you negotiated with the airline on behalf of everybody on the plane – way to go! You’re a born leader and activist! Heh heh.

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How strange yet exciting that you me those guys who made the documentary!
Crazy. And I am so glad that God was able to provide you with those
missionaries who have taken good care of you. I guess it's true that Korean
missiories are EVERYWHERE.

Your description reminded me of my experiences in Romania and
Vietnam...gives you a whole different perspective on what it means to just
be human, doesn't it? I have a feeling there will be one humbling
experience after another awaiting you.

***

Wonderful to receive your email and I was so happy to read that you've found the silver lining in situations of chaos. That was what my life was like for nearly two years in Thailand & Burma--so many odd, unthinkable, crazy situations. And yes, experiecing and seeing poverty and how people live on so little is a very sobering and life-changing experience. It's indescribable. I'm so happy you are there and enriching your life by experiencing it first hand. I loved reading your email!

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welcome to Africa!! Those are the contacts you need. Enjoy it all.

***

welcome to africa, huh?
talk about baptism by fire. at least you met some cool people though
:o) might prove useful at other junctures in your trip.

as you know, i am sick of being in NYC and miss africa dearly so it is
a welcome break from my desk-work-job at amnesty to receive this
email. and am thankful to be included on the recipient list because i
know just how precious internet time is there. not like in the US
when we fiddle around on the intenet 24/7!

i totally relate to what you were saying about how different life is
there... of course some of that is attributable to the fact that the
culture and life in uganda will, in many ways, be so different from
your life previous to this trip. but as you go deeper and deeper the
longer that you spend there, it will almost start to normalize and
that's really when you know you've changed!

***

i can't believe you're in uganda! well, i mean, i believe it, but i guess it just seemed like it was still a long way off, but there you are! i'm so glad you made it to uganda safely and that you even met some korean missionaries! that was the hand of God, huh? when i lived in switzerland, i found a chinese speaking church and ended up speaking chinese more than french! think your korean will be amazing by the end of this trip?

***

What an amazing story! Obviously your travels haven't been as easy
as I'm sure you hoped for, but isn't wonderful how God works! Who
would have believed that you would meet up with Korean missionaries
in Uganda- not to mention all of the other people you have met?
Definitely more than just "coincidence." :-) And I am so
impressed by the way you stood up for all of the stranded
passengers; I am sure that I would have been far too terrified to
do anything in such an intimidating and frightening situation.

...But I think God has already proven that He's in control in all of your
travels, and I know He'll continue to watch over you!

What I Learned on the Way to Uganda

For efficiency, I've written an email and pasted it below, sans telephone number, though if you post a comment requesting it, it's yours.

Reader, thank you for reading.

***

Dear friends,

Hello - I have limited access to email here in Uganda, but I wanted to let you know that I arrived safely last night into Entebbe airport (about 40 mins outside Kampala) and was picked up by a group of Korean missionaries who took me to their 'hasook jip' or guest house, after meeting several on the long stopover in Nairobi. It was an unexpected turn of events and last minute change of plans, but born of a harrowing journey on the way here...

The plane ran into some technical difficulty with the hydraulic system and so the flight was grounded for 24 hours in Nairobi, Kenya. Bad news - I saw people get very upset and angry, riots almost breaking out in the airport because no one informed about the situation and 10 hours went by before we were sent to a hotel, after a number of phone negotiations with airport authorities at around 4 in the morning. Good news - strangers became friends. I felt like I was being caught up in a fight between airport officials who did not seem to care about the passengers' well-being and the passengers themselves. The passengers were a very diverse group of young and old, African, American, Asian, poor, wealthy, etc. But in this situation everyone felt completely helpless and disempowered - we were held in a room in the airport for several hours before they allowed anyone to move - and no information was given about what was wrong with the plane and how long we might be waiting. It was quite a miserable situation, but I felt compelled to do something, so somehow negotiated to have a hotel arrangements and collected signatures from each of the passengers to use to ask for compensation from the airline when I get back to the States..I have never experienced something this strange and completely chaotic and disordered before...there was some kind of spirit of complete disorder and confusion in the airport that night. Several passengers were escorted away by men in dark suits into a holding room when they made a commotion. And we realized then that we had no real legal rights or protection. Anyway, it's a miracle, we made it safely finally the following day. As mentioned before, tne good thing that happened in this whole situation was that I got to know a number of very interesting people who happened to be on the same flight, including the guys who filmed the now well-known documentary, "Invisible Children." They were returning to Northern Uganda to film a sequel and document events happening in Juba, Sudan with the peace talks. Some of you may know already that "Invisible Children" is a documentary put together by a group of recent college grad guys from California who decided to go to Uganda and find out what was happening to the children there. It was such a strange coincidence to see them on the plane and speak with them after we arrived. I also met a professor at the University of Texas who was visiting relatives in Juba, Sudan; several women from Uganda, one of whom runs an AID/HIV clinic and several Korean missionaries - all of whom took me under their wing at one time or another.

I was able to get a glimpse of Nairobi while being driven back to the airport the next day - and saw lines of people walking and living in poverty - like I've never seen before. The scene was so vivid. People walking in barefoot along dirt streets with shacks made of wood or steel scraps. Kampala is the same, if not more poor. Life is very fragile here, but one also feels more fully alive. Every decision you make and every thing you do matters - for good or for bad. At the airport in Kenya and even now I got the sense that there are people who you have the opportunity to help or ignore moment by moment which could mean life or death, good or bad, for them, and it is a real, in-your-face decision. You cannot escape it here. It's sobering and difficult, but strangely life-giving at the same time. During the last portion of the layover in Kenya, I started reading passages from the Bible and things just popped out at me in a way that really made sense in the context of my new surroundings and recent events.

Upon arrival, one of the Korean missionaries and intern insisted I go with them to their 'ha sook jip' or guesthouse. We were picked up by a jolly Korean pastor/missionary who whisked us away to their guesthouse and arrived there close to midnight. There I met about 3 other missionaries with their wives and was fed a big Korean meal and escorted to a modest bedroom to sleep. The next day they invited me to stay with them during my time in Kampala and one escorted me to do a number of errands, including emailing (here at their church where I am writing to you now), visiting Makerere University where I had planned to stay, and bought a SIM card for the phone.

Sorry this is soooo very long. It's only been 4 days and I am already overwhelmed by how much I have seen and experienced in Africa. It's amazing, it's sobering, and it's also exhilarating...I urge you to consider visiting someday. Something changes in you when you see how people live here. I'll try better to articulate what that change is or why next time (and hopefully more succinctly!). Also I will try to update the blog instead of writing you these long individual emails. But for those of you on this list, I wanted or intended to simply to let you know that I was well and could be reached by phone here at: 07742170_ _

This is my cellphone number and I carry it around with me wherever I go.

Thank you for your patience in reading this message and allowing me to share my thoughts with you. I hope you are doing well; and please do call me here if you ever get the inclination; or have tips for contacts and travel here in Uganda. ;-)

All the best,
S

Rock Star

The title is in reference to an incredibly sweet email from someone I met only on several occasions, but was always encouraging and friendly. I hope she doesn't mind my broadcasting this to the world - well, let's be honest - my mom and sister and maybe two other people in this universe - but I had to share. Maybe it will help my mom sleep better at night:

s! you are so sweet to invite me and i'd be there in two seconds, but
alas i'm going out of town this weekend to visit family and must miss
your fabulous send-off. really i'm just so excited for you! a very long
brunch will be in order once you're back so you can tell me all the
stories (and i can have travelled vicariously!)

have a very safe trip and don't forget to take it easy. once you're
there you'll get treated like a rock star so live it up :)

c

Interesting, because it's true, I remember meeting a few of the delegates from Africa a few weeks ago at the UN Conference on Small arms and they treated me with such care and respect; I was pretty blown away. Not to generalize or anything, but I did get the sense that the standards for hospitality in African cultures are quite different than what one might be used to in the West. For those who hate this 'east-west' distinction; let's be real. There's something to it. Within minutes of meeting a few of the delegates from Nigeria, Liberia, Uganda, South Africa, Lesotho, and Sierra Leone, among others; I had the sense that these people would invite me into their homes if I asked. I also just felt a more easy rapport for some reason with these delegates than with most other countries, barring a few random meetings with an Italian priest who lived and worked in Uganda for almost 30 years and was gracious enough to provide a few contacts he know of there...

Back to the title and this theme of Rock Star. Maybe that could be my cover. Hide my true identity as a researcher and pretend that I am really there to make music. hehe. For those of you who know me well - you know this would be my dream come true. Aw yeah. ;-)

Love it.

Juba: What it means for Uganda

This week is the start of peace negotiations between the LRA and the Ugandan NRM government. While some are skeptical about the outcome of these talks - whether real progress will be made towards peace, it marks a historic occasion given the level of demonstrated commitment and international attention these talks have received...let's pray for peace and for the LRA and the NRM to come to a solid agreement, made in good faith, which will bring an end to the untold suffering of so many civilians in northern Uganda.

Here is an article from BBC about the talks, being held in Juba, Sudan.

***

Uganda peace deal 'will be done'

Government delegate Ruhakana Rugunda (L) threatened to walk out
A senior mediator at peace talks between the Ugandan government and rebels says he is confident they will reach a deal, despite initial problems.
Salva Kiir, president of southern Sudan's government, said both sides pledged to negotiate "in good faith".

The Lord's Resistance Army rebels have been tabling their demands in Juba on the fourth day of talks.

Last week, Uganda extended a deadline for thrashing out a peace deal in Juba in southern Sudan to 12 September.

"We want compensation for losses... we want a programme of national reconciliation and national unity... we want a new national army," LRA spokesman Obwonyo Olweny told the BBC.

The talks are considered north Uganda's best chance for peace in years.

Tension

The historic talks in southern Sudan had a difficult start when rebels accused the government of corruption and threatened to continue fighting.

The government delegation then called on LRA fighters to hand over their weapons if they wished to receive an amnesty.

Thousands have died in the two-decade conflict between the LRA and the government, and some two million have been forced to flee their homes.

Over the weekend, mediators were trying to calm tensions between government and rebel delegates.

The government side was angered by what it regarded as belligerent remarks by rebels at the opening ceremony.

Correspondents say the Ugandan delegation at one stage threatened to return home on what was scheduled to be the first full day of talks, last Saturday.

'Rude shock'

At the opening ceremony on Friday night, delegates from the LRA warned that the Ugandan government would be "in for a shock" if it thought the rebels were about to surrender.

The head of the government delegation, Ruhakana Rugunda, was more conciliatory, saying that they had come to negotiate and conclude peace.

The rebels - who have been promised an amnesty - have not sent their top leaders to the negotiations, but say they are willing to sign a ceasefire.

Few of the 17-member delegation have combat experience and many of them are based abroad.

It is debatable whether they have the influence to negotiate on behalf of the leadership in the bush, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Juba.

LRA leader Joseph Kony and four of his commanders are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered them a full and guaranteed amnesty as long as they renounce violence.

Coming Back a Changed Man

Reflections from a Dateline correspondent, Keith Morrison on his visit to Northern Uganda....

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Coming back from Uganda a changed man (Keith Morrison, Dateline Correspondent)

Yes, Virginia, there is a boogeyman. Most people in America can muddle along for years without thinking much about a place like Uganda. But go there once, and you come back changed.


Dateline NBC
Keith Morrison overlooking the Pabbo displacement camp.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Look out your hotel window at Kampala. Green hills and graceful villas roll out toward the source of the Nile and Lake Victoria. Domes and spires of Evangelical Anglicans, Baptists and a dozen Pentecostal denominations line the horizon. Look down at the intersection a few meters from the hotel entrance to the very spot where Idi Amin staged a car accident to murder the Archbishop. Just beyond it is the compound where his enemies were tortured, where their corpses were thrown into the backs of closed vans for the drive down to the river. Bodies in the river meant Amin was cleaning house again...

This is, need it be said, a country with a colorful past.

Our story was up north, hundreds of miles past largely abandoned tourist destinations — gorgeous scenery, brazen baboons, — in a conflict which owes its beginnings to the long departed Mr. Amin. Up here in towns with names like Gulu and Lira are the northern tribes from which Amin came. When he was driven from power 20 years ago, many northerners expected reprisals; an independence movement began in anticipation. And though the reprisals never came, the movement morphed into a bizarre rebel "cult" lead by a man who claims to be a reincarnated Jesus (and Moses thrown in, too): Joseph Kony. Some of the poorest of the poor around this part of the country — and there are millions of them — believe he has mythic powers, that he can kill with a curse, or throw an invisible net of protection around his soldiers.

Trouble is, the soldiers are kids. He kidnaps them and forces them to fight for him.

And this is the reason we are here. We met children who were taken when they were 7 or 8 years old, trained to use weapons, forced to kill friends, family — anybody Kony wanted killed. Why take the little ones? Because they are malleable, they can easily be brainwashed. So now this army of children wanders around northern Uganda, living entirely in the bush, striking villagers who neither know nor care why Kony is opposing the government. We talked to kids— escaped soldiers— who had been forced to beat their parents to death. Others told us they had been forced to kill infants who cried too much, or stragglers unable to keep up. Usually, they said, they would beat them with heavy sticks. Something like a baseball bat. They also had a supply of lightweight assault weapons, just right for a pre-teen to carry. Kony's misinterpretations of the Bible have led to heartbreakingly brutal mutilations. Because the people oppose him, he has lips or ears or breasts cut off. He attacks at night, targets rural villages, mostly.

During our visit, we noticed a few people from the International Criminal Court in the area to prepare a case against Kony. There are government soldiers everywhere, you see them strolling up and down the red dirt roads out in the country. Their campaign against Kony, however, has been decidedly mixed. They do engage the rebels, but often end up killing a bunch of kids.

So far, it’s the local efforts, and especially the brave work of one Ugandan woman, which seem most promising. Many of the Ugandans we talked to wanted to find a tribal solution: If Kony will agree to give up and apologize, the locals could start a complex ceremony leading ultimately to something that looks a lot like forgiveness. Sounded weird to Western ears, but the idea appears to have support.

When we visited one of the refugee camps I found myself wondering how long I would survive in one of them. A few days? A week? It’s humbling to realize how soft life is in the West — how tough these people are.

They have no food because they can't work their farms. Too dangerous. So we drove by countless empty food store-houses. Northern Uganda lives on UN handouts and the apparently tireless work of the NGOs. One of the UN people told me that most of the food is donated by the US, but the help is a drop in the bucket compared to the need.

And then we saw the night commuters. So strange and sad. They were little kids — 5, 6 years old. There were teenagers, rowdy boys, mothers with brand new babies. The kids had gone to school all day, then walked for miles and miles just for the chance to sleep safely where the rebels can't kidnap them. They filled up tents set up by Doctors Without Borders and other groups. They filled up city schools, libraries, enclosed courtyards, any available safe place. We asked some of them, how often do you eat? Once a day, they told us. They drink dirty water. Most of them are at risk of dying from malaria and other diseases the rest of us could cure with one trip to the drug store. They have no shoes.

But you hang out around one of the sleeping centers and they look up at you and laugh and laugh. They chatter, dance, organize games, tell jokes.

Even while they deal with horrors so vile they are beyond imagining.

As I say, you come back changed.

Why Abortion is Wrong, wrong, wrong...did I say wrong? yes, wrong.

I don't know why I am sharing this information with anyone and everyone...but this issue of abortion has been rolling around in my head for a while and has gained much more urgency in recent weeks and months. It's been spurred by a number of random happenings.

1) Upon my second visit to the nurse to receive a travel assessment, including the necessary shots and vaccinations for my upcoming trip to Uganda, the nurse asked if I may be visiting any 'dangerous' parts of the country. Yes, I said. I will be visiting some IDP and refugee camps. Ok, she replied. Just in case you get raped, you may want some morning after pills. Here is a prescription.

This all happened in a matter of minutes, the conversation, that is, but something about the matter of factness and the implications of this exchange stayed with me.
Hmmm. It was sobering to think about this topic and whether in fact, I would take a morning after pill, even if a baby was unwanted and I happened to get pregnant. While the chances are not high, nevertheless, it got me thinking about the reality of being in a situation (as many young girls in northern Uganda are) where one is faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

2) My sister gave birth to a baby with Down's syndrome. A few friends and acquaintances thought that it would be only 'natural' to consider abortion. Something in me rose up and I knew from the pit of my being that this idea was not only horrible, it was evil. What made it more difficult to accept, was that these ideas were coming from people I genuinely liked and cared for.

3) Seeing and learning about the many, many orphans in Uganda has made me think about the possibility of adopting a child from the country. I have joked about it with friends, and usually in some self-deprecating way; like, "Oh, yeah, I would love to adopt, but who am I kidding? I can barely take care of myself, let alone another human being." But that is not really what I am thinking inside. Inside, I do think it's a possibility; and the thought of caring for an orphan and bringing one home, as weird as it sounds, is appealing to me, but not only because of the superficial reasons I share with friends, but because what has really struck me in all of these situations, and conversations of late, is the ease with which people de-value human beings and de-value life, without realizing that that is what they are doing.

I think about children, I think about people who are suffering - and I realize that this talk about abortion is about them, too. When it's not convenient for us, when it causes too much effort or pain, we should ignore them - worse, we should kill them. It's too much trouble, it's not wortwhile. Some people may even justify it in the name of some 'noble-sounding' cause - oh, why put that person or child through unnecessary suffering? Wouldn't it be easier to not have them be born at all?

Friends, regardless whether you are 'pro' or 'con' - the issue of abortion has nothing to do with being on one side or another. Yes, people will probably continue to have abortions, no matter what the law is in the country; but at the heart of the matter, as I have thought through the issue and seen how people talk about it, is a lightness, carelessness and ignorance about the sacredness of life and the deep and eternal love God has for every living being. Abortion is absolutely, unequivocally a source of deep sadness and pain to God.

There is a quote by C.S. Lewis to the effect that people deny heaven, not because their idea of heaven is too lofty, but because they are too content to play in the mud. When I've spoken to several people about abortion, and related issues, like prostitution, etc. I realize this thought captures exactly the problem. So many people fail to realize the real sacredness of life - and I don't mean just of babies or an unborn fetuses, but the real sacredness of everything God gives to us as gifts in this world. Gifts He meant for us to cherish and take seriously. Gifts which are so valuable, He was willing to be tortured and killed on the cross for you to have and experience. The gift of your life, my life, human life which is more precious and weighty than we often realize or appreciate. And instead of speaking about life (and sex, I may add) with awe, trembling, unspeakable splendor and respect that is due such topics; we tend to view life through the prism of popular culture, or in ways that deny the sacredness of all that is living and being in this world.

Once we deny the sacredness of life anything goes. What was once beautiful, special and sacred becomes expendable, manipulable, buyable, commodified. It becomes a 'choice' a 'convenience' - a pill.

Oh, Lord. If only we could stop playing in the mudpiles and see what living in heaven really is like: sacred, beautiful, eternal, hopeful, life-giving, pure, loving, good, and all that we deny ourselves when we fail to see that you are the true giver of all things good.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17

Sorry, I just needed to get this out there.

No Refuge

A shameless plug for a book called, No Refuge: The Crisis of Refugee Militarization in Africa.

Why Uganda is Called the "Pearl of Africa"

Ugandan Crater Lake

Aside from Churchill's comment that Uganda was the Pearl of Africa, more recent visitors have marveled at its beauty...

Imagine my surprise and joy to be greeted by an email from a friend who asked someone she knew about a recent visit to the country and others, including Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi (text from the email cut and pasted below):

"here's what we did in uganda and we really enjoyed it:

go to kampala (the capital!). it's one of the best e. african capital cities we went to and we enjoyed riding all over the place on moto/boda boda motorcycle taxis and enjoyed the city. we also walked everywhere there (very different than nairobi or dar...even at night!).

we also went to jinja, which is where your friend could do the white water rafting down the river nile. really, really amazing experience!!!!!!! if she wants input on specific companies to go with, let us know. it's kind of pricey, but totally worth it!!!!! jinja itself is a really cool city to explore. they also have nile brewery tours there, but we weren't able to go because the day they had the tour, museveni was being sworn in again, so everything was closed that was gov't run (even the brewery...what crap!).

we did not see gorillas, but have heard that was fabulous as well (just couldn't fit that in our budget).

but, one place we would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend FOR SURE is the sipi falls area by mt. elgon. we stayed at the crow's nest, which was started by peace corps volunteers, but now run by locals. it's a fabulous place that is just breathtaking. she could stay about four different places there on the main road and have a great time. we hiked to all three major sipi falls and then did a day trek on mt. elgon.

we could also hook her up with some friends/NGO's in kenya, tanzania, or rwanda, if she happens to be going to any of those places, too."

Wow.

Purist vs. Pragmatists: Why the latter usually do better

Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the ICC

There has been a lot of debate about the future prospects for peace in northern Uganda in recent years. The debates have tended to focus on two specific mechanisms established by the Ugandan government and the international community to bring an end to the violence in northern Uganda: 1) the Amnesty Act, which would grant immunity from criminal prosecution to members of the Lord's Resistance Army from the lowest to the highest ranks, if individual soldiers agree to lay down their weapons and turn themselves in to the government; and 2) the International Criminal Court's prosecution of members of the LRA, (in particular, Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti) for their crimes against humanity. Anyone who captures these rebel leaders are bound to bring them before the court where they would be tried and prosecuted under international law.

What are the debates? I won't go into the whole set of issues these two mechanisms have ignited, particularly among human rights advocates, policymakers and scholars in recent years - but noting the establishment of recent peace talks being held in Juba, Sudan with the LRA and the Ugandan government, and the increasing pressure placed on countries, including the DRC and Sudan, to arrest Joseph Kony and several of his commanding officers - I have found that those who had bemoaned the role of the International Criminal Court in Uganda may be forced to reflect on the pragmatism of their purist views. The general purist position on the matter goes something like this: the Ugandan government, under President Museveni, has been the perpetrator of massive human rights violations of its own, against the Acholi population in the north. While the LRA has no doubt perpetrated horrible acts of violence and even genocide against these people, the policy of placing these same civilians in internally displaced camps and failing to protect them in any way, makes the government culpable for the perpetration of its own injustices against this vulnerable minority population.

A number of important figures, both within and outside Uganda, have begun to point the finger of responsibility towards the Ugandan government in recent years. The extreme version (promulgated by Joseph Kony, among others - see the posting re. his interview below), states that most of the atrocities committed against the Acholi - have been committed by the government. In some cases, the government has tried to hide its own culpability by blaming the LRA. Few people believe this to be the case. However, many human rights advocates and local Ugandans have begun to criticize the ICC process for not bringing to account the role of the Ugandan government in perpetrating injustice by failing to protect and adequately provide for the needs of the Acholi. A kind of racism, tribalism and exclusion pervades government policies with regard to the North - and has not been addressed by those who are attempting to bring the LRA to justice. Some also argue that the ICC may only perpetuate the violence by interrupting domestic and local efforts at building trust in the amnesty efforts. (see this article for example)

However, while it is clear that the Ugandan government is itself responsible for some of the violence and the poor plight of IDPs in the North, the purist position leads to a renouncing of international efforts to bring the LRA to justice in the name of bringing all guity parties to the table. The purist position denounces attempts to bring one group to justice because the other/real perpetrators are not being held accountable.

My view is that taking the purist position only undermines any effort at promoting peace and justice. Our nature is to want to blame one or another - there are the good guys and there are the bad guys. The debate on amnesty and the role of the ICC has tended to stress the need for justice either with regard to the LRA or the UPDF. The reality is some murky middle. Museveni took power in a coup. It's alleged that his government is quite corrupt and benefits from having the LRA continue its attacks in the North. International aid flows in, government officials wad their pockets with money; and everyone (except the displaced, who have no voice) are happy, at least for the time being.

Well. This is not an ideal state of affairs. But despite the mixed possible results of an ICC in Uganda, progress towards peace is being made. And despite skepticism about how this might impact the LRA given the undermining of the Amnesty provisions, it is clear that the LRA has been backed into a corner and is being forced to negotiate. This is certainly not a clear 'win' for those advocating for the ICC's role, but it does seem to undermine arguments to contrary.

I could say more, but will save more thought on this vein for another time...

Why Success is Overrated

Some of you may wonder about the relevance of the article below for a website devoted to Uganda. You may need to read between the lines...but it has something to do with an earlier comment and a running theme here: why the rich need the poor. (Ramachandra, Vinoth - see first post).

This excerpt is from Christianity Today. I ask you to meditate (once again) on its implications for what this means for bringing God's kingdom to earth...


Excerpt: Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God
Apparently satanic can be a synonym for relevant.
by Mark Galli | posted 07/07/2006 09:30 a.m.


JESUS MEAN
AND WILD:
The Unexpected
Love of an
Untamable God
by Mark Galli
Baker Books
192 pp.; $17.99

I had a chance on a recent trip to attend one of the most successful churches in America. It packs in more than 20,000 people at its weekend services. Its pastor is the author of bestselling books and is a world figure. The church is inspiring, effective, and relevant.

Fortunately, it became impossible to attend there, and instead I was blessed to end up at an irrelevant church. Our family arrived promptly at 10:00 A.M., and we were greeted by a woman who was getting up from pulling a few weeds in front of the church sign. She welcomed us warmly and escorted us into the nearly empty sanctuary. After we were greeted by two other people, as well as the pastor, a handful of people straggled in and worship began.

We were led in music by the weed-puller, who now had a guitar strapped on. She was accompanied by two singers and an overweight man on percussion. They were earnest musicians who, frankly, were sometimes flat or a little stiff, as if they were still trying to learn the music. The service, which included maybe 45 people, bumbled along—that is, by contemporary, professional, "seeker-sensitive" standards. The dress of the congregants suggested that there were some people of substance there, as well as some people on welfare. Some blacks, mostly whites. In front of me sat a woman wearing way too much makeup (at least according to my suburb's refined standards), pouffy hair, and an all-black outfit.

Communion was introduced without the words of institution—a bit of a scandal to my Anglican sensibilities. The pastor took prayer requests, and petitions were made for illnesses, depression, and a safe journey for my family.

It was during the announcements that I began to suspect I was in the midst of the people of God. The pastor sought more donations for the food closet, at which time he noted a new milestone: The church had served 22,000 people with groceries in ten years. Everyone applauded, then settled in to hear a clear and truthful sermon about God's love for us despite our sin.

Afterwards, my family was warmly greeted by another five or six people, one of whom invited us to lunch. It was evident that they really didn't care that we were not coming back. They just wanted to make sure we felt welcomed.

Nothing slick. No studied attempts to be authentic or relevant or cool. Just a small bunch of sinners, of all classes and races, looking to God for guidance and reaching out to the community in love.

This little church will never make the list of the top ten churches in America. It will never be featured in Time or Newsweek or even Christianity Today. Its musicians will not go on to record a cd; its pastor will not be invited to national preaching conferences. The church will not likely grow into the thousands.

I'm sure that had I attended the megachurch, I would have been inspired by the music, moved by the message, impressed with the professionalism and efficiency of the service, and made to feel comfortable sitting next to people who dressed like me, an upper-middle class suburbanite.

But it was a more godly experience to go to that little fellowship, because I believe that for all the good megachurches do, this little fellowship manifested the presence of Jesus in a way that is unique and absolutely necessary in our age.

What Betrayal Actually Looks Like
From the beginning, Christians have been tempted to confuse success with faith. Peter was the first one to succumb to this confusion.

When Jesus told the disciples he would be killed, Peter was scandalized (Mark 8:31-33). He had imagined, I suppose (for the text doesn't really say, though the larger context suggests it), that Jesus was moving from success to success. Jesus had started with a small band of 12, and lately he'd had up to 5,000 attending his little talks. He'd challenged the authorities of the day, but given his popularity, they had been unable to lay a hand on him. Peter likely imagined that when Jesus spoke about the coming kingdom, he was talking about politics, and Peter and the disciples would someday be cabinet members in his future administration. Power. Glory. Success.

Jesus knew very well that craving success and respectability was a temptation to his disciples, and he spent his whole ministry trying to disabuse them of it. He told those whom he'd healed not to tell anyone—an inept marketing decision if there ever was one. He warned bickering disciples that they should worry less about who would have authority in the coming kingdom and more about serving one another.

And he explained that his ministry, as "successful" as it appeared, would culminate in his death.

Peter would hear no such thing and rebuked Jesus, which provoked Jesus to "rebuke" him in turn. As is fitting, Jesus had the last word: "Get behind me, Satan!" He called Peter the incarnation of evil and then told him (in verse 35 about saving and losing life) to stop measuring success by human standards.

Since Peter is understandably confused—I mean, nearly everyone thought of the kingdom in political terms—Jesus seems cruel to chastise Peter as satanic. Not the most diplomatic approach in any circumstance. But apparently Jesus thought that Peter was not just guilty of misunderstanding, but also of betrayal.

No Slight Misunderstanding
Today, we know all too well that the kingdom of God is not a political entity (though many on the Left and Right are sorely tempted to think otherwise). But we still, like Peter, thirst for glory and power. We make much ado about our Christian superstars—bestselling authors and platinum-selling musicians and powerful preachers who draw people in by the tens of thousands. We not only admire, but we also lift up and reward such success. We too easily imagine that growing numbers are an infallible sign of faithfulness. We confuse righteousness with arithmetic.

Conservative churches, for example, often point out gloatingly how liberal churches are shrinking and conservative churches are growing. The usually unspoken assumption is that such growth signals God's blessing.

But church growth is often nothing more than the product of good social science. Today, when someone wants to start a church, the first thing they do is study the people they are trying to reach and then craft worship and ministry to meet the needs of that target audience. That is, church founders do their best to appear acceptable and relevant to their target audience.

To minister to college-educated, upwardly mobile 20- and 30-somethings—target of a lot of new ministries these days (whatever happened to preaching to the poor and the prisoners?)—you forbid hymns and organs, and preach—no, make that "share"—sans pulpit, while wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt, Dockers, and flip-flops.

And it works, because lots of churches that do this sort of thing are bursting at the seams with 20- and 30-somethings.

Donald Miller, a 30-something himself, talks about this in his book Blue Like Jazz. He has a pastor friend who started a new church. It was going to be different from the old church, Miller was assured: It would be relevant to the culture and the human struggle.

Miller notes, "If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing."

It is not an accident that Miller, like Jesus, uses the S-word to react to what is threatened here. To long for relevance, success, effectiveness, and glory—this is not just a slight misunderstanding of the gospel, but its very betrayal. It is not error. It is, according to Jesus, satanic.

Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard made a similar point when he riffed on Matthew 23, where Jesus speaks his harshest judgment on the religion of his day:

Woe to the person who smoothly, flirtatiously, commandingly, convincingly preaches some soft, sweet some thing which is supposed to be Christianity! Woe to the person who makes miracles reasonable. Woe to the person who betrays and breaks the mystery of faith, distorts it into public wisdom, because he takes away the possibility of offense! … Oh the time wasted in this enormous work of making Christianity so reasonable, and in trying to make it so relevant!
Merciful End to Dreams
Fortunately, embedded in the argument between Peter and Jesus is just the mercy we need. Jesus' rebuke to Peter—and the implied rebuke to us today—is the most gracious thing he could have done. Sometimes, Jesus' rebuke comes to us in words, but most of the time it comes in the warp and woof of Christian living.

The first church I served after seminary offered a traditional Presbyterian worship service. Old hymns, written prayers, formal and, to me, stiff throughout. I remember looking out over the congregation during one interminable Communion service, feeling sorry for the congregants as they had to endure this empty ritualism. During the service, I read the prayers the senior pastor had asked me to read, but in between, I imagined myself in my own church, how I would make worship really relevant to the culture!

After the service, one elderly woman approached me smiling broadly and pumped my hand in gratitude. "Thank you so much for helping with the service," she bubbled forth. "It was one of the most meaningful Communions I have experienced in years."

I was shocked, and it took a few weeks for her words to sink in. But sink in they did, as I informally conducted a survey of parishioners. To my surprise, most of them found our services moving and meaningful. I felt the rebuke of Jesus: "What is 'relevant,' 'meaningful,' and 'powerful' is more mysterious than you imagine."

Like many young pastors, I was afflicted with an ungodly idealism. I believed that a church made in my image—an image I was convinced was formed only by the Bible and my deep theology and uncommon spirituality—was the church of God's dreams. Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned about such idealism in his now classic Life Together: "He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial."

The relevant community of faith we imagine is usually a combination of biblical and cultural and personal expectations, some of them so deeply embedded in our psyches that we assume their inherent righteousness. Because they are dreams, they usually have little to do with the reality called the church. When we try to fashion the church in our image, the result is often anger, division, and hostility. As young pastors, we chalk this up to the price of being prophetic leaders. But often it's merely lust for ecclesial success. And we sometimes end up destroying the very community we came to save.

The reality of that community—the Christians really there, acting as they usually do—is a shocking disappointment to the dreamer. The church is indeed often boring and irrelevant. Its leaders bicker, its members gossip, and its building can be an embarrassment to modern sensibilities (aesthetic and environmental). The old charge remains true: The church is full of hypocrites. The typical church in history, the typical church today, has little to commend itself in the way of glory, power, and success.

And yet it is this institution—not our dream institution—that Christ identifies with. He has put his very name on it, calling it his body. He endorses it, seemingly without reservation, and tells us to draw people into this institution if they are to come to know him.

Along the way, Jesus works ever so hard to snap us out of our illusions. Bonhoeffer put it this way:

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.
What it should be in God's sight is not glorious, powerful, and successful by our standards, but faithful. This means the church, and every member in it, must die to dreams of relevance and success. We have to let all that be crucified. It also means letting the church be the church, the flawed institution that God has used time and again to further his kingdom in the world.

We rightfully glory in the Reformation, the time when theologians like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas Cranmer led the church through a desperately needed reform. But we should remember that those theologians were nurtured in the "moribund" medieval church they eventually reformed. The Great Awakening was a wonderful time of church renewal in America and Britain. But the preachers who brought revival—George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, and others—were nurtured and raised in "dead" churches. Somewhere in that irrelevant environment, God worked in and through the church to renew them, and through them, the entire church.

Crucified Relevance
We are not wise to disparage successful megachurches, which often are catalysts for significant change in the church. What we should repudiate—like Jesus, in the strongest terms—is the notion that these churches represent the true church, the glorious church, the epitome of success.

To be sure, the church is in constant need of reform, during some eras more than others. So we need our reformers and, yes, visionaries, many of whom these days find their way into "successful" churches. But in every era, God raises up reformers within the very irrelevant, unsuccessful churches that need reform. "Relevance" and "power" and "success" are finally a mystery, not something that can be manipulated by church growth science, but something to pray for in humility and faith.

Jesus loves us so much, he sometimes slaps our vague idealism in the face with a healthy dose of reality. This shocks us, and we find ourselves speechless and blushing with either anger or shame. Not only do we not have the cool church we had hoped for, but we also don't have an understanding Lord to comfort us through our faith crisis! Instead, Jesus rebukes us with reality and tells us to stop betraying his cause by worshipping the devil.

Like Peter, we have to die to our notions of relevance and success, and let God—through a crucified Savior, through an amateurish church, through a stiff Communion service—raise up his people when he will and how he will, with a power and glory we can hardly fathom.

Mark Galli is managing editor of Christianity Today. This chapter is excerpted from his latest book, Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God (Baker, 2006).

Reflecting on Peace through "Talks"

I have been attending a conference on Small Arms Trafficking at the UN this week and have attended only one session so far, but it already has me thinking a lot about the value of meetings, the value of 'talks' and what dialogue does to promote peace and justice.

There is a lot of talk that is empty, devoid of content; leaving listeners in a torpor, to be quite frank. There is a lot of posturing and self (or nation) promotion that happens at such meetings - particularly when you place people with a lot of power in one room.

There were bright moments, too. Don't get me wrong. I valued hearing the different voices and hearing what members of the government from Rwanda, the Sudan, Nigeria, CAR, etc. the African countries in particular, had to say about the situation of violence and small arms related matters in their country. Many of these leaders are gifted - hearing them speak to the assembly provided a glimpse of the tremendous giftedness/leadership, etc. these people have been blessed by God with. I was fascinated by the individual personalities and the ways in which they were able to speak with eloquence about some of the injustices happening in their own country (when they were honest); and their attempts to make their own countries a better, more peaceful and safer place to live.

However, there were many times during the session and at various meetings, when I wondered what it would be like if the people assembled had the love of Christ in their hearts. What it would be like if we could speak openly about our need for forgiveness and the mercy and love of God. There were many times, as I saw the reams of reports and documents being passed around and discussed, where I felt that much more could be accomplished when our hearts were in the right place and our attention was focused on what the living God was trying to do...and how lifegiving it would be to pray for one another and pray together.

Do I sound like a naive child to say these things? I suppose I do. Well, I guess this has been a lesson of faith, and a trying to understand what it means to be 'in the world, but not of the world,' as Jesus taught. More importantly, the verse from 1 Corinthians keep coming to mind over and over again:

"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and he chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose what the world thinks is unimportant and what the world looks down on and thinks is nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks is important." 1 Corinthans 1:27

Talk is important, for sure. Dialogue, communication - but it can go both ways. talk can produce peace and it can also incite violence. I admire those trying to build bridges of peace, but I also pray that somehow Christ can be made present to bring wholeness out of brokenness.

Alrighty, now that I have gotten my little sermonette out of the way...here's an article below (just posted today) about the upcoming Sudan-sponsored peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA. This is really a historic, significant event. But, if what I said above is true, talk, sometimes, can be just that. Talk. Unless there is a real spirit of cooperation, good faith and a desire for peace; this may go nowhere and lead only to further cynicism or violence down the road.

Nevertheless, I am really encouraged by this turn of events. Partly, because I believe it is an answer to prayer. I have been praying for peace and for the LRA to be brought to justice. Since praying that prayer, newsreels coming in have shown clear movements towards a possible resolution to the conflict and an end to the violence being perpetrated by the LRA and the UPDF.

Lord, I THANK YOU for listening; and for showing me that you are real and answer prayers.

UGANDA: Northern leaders hail talks between Government and LRA
KAMPALA, 4 Jul 2006 (IRIN) - The Sudan-sponsored peace talks due next week between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) provide the best opportunity to resolve the 20-year-old conflict in northern Uganda, leaders from the region have said.

Betty Bigombe, a former Ugandan minister and long-time mediator of the northern peace process, asked all parties to put a "premium on peace", saying this was the priority.

"My hope is that this succeeds," Bigombe said. "A premium on peace is a priority. It is one thing to talk about peace, and completely another for two million people to live it. The two million people who have suffered for two decades must be considered and everybody must put a premium on peace."

Walter Ochola, the resident district commissioner of Gulu district, who has been instrumental in efforts to find a negotiated settlement, was hopeful the Sudanese initiative would work. "It is the wish of everybody in northern Uganda that this time they are serious because that is what everybody has been waiting for," he added.

A government spokesman, Robert Kabushenga, told IRIN that Uganda had agreed to begin peace talks with rebels next week in the latest attempt to end the brutal civil war in northern Uganda. This was after government representatives met southern Sudanese leaders, who are expected to mediate the talks.

"We are sending a delegation to Juba for the talks next week. There will be no pre-conditions because the main priority is peace in northern Uganda and southern Sudan," said Kabushenga, adding that a delegation headed by the interior minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, was expected to brief the government this week on the planned talks, which are set to be held in southern Sudan.

"This is a positive development. I have the impression that people are sceptical but hopeful that both parties are serious this time. It is the hope of everybody that the current security is maintained," Rev. Fr. Carlos Rodriguez, of Gulu Archdiocese said. "It is a good process so long as the LRA does not come back to disturb the population."

An expanded government negotiating team is scheduled to go back to Sudan for the talks, but the date has yet to be decided. "The next task will be to set up a delegation and deciding who should constitute it," Kabushenga added.

LRA negotiators have been in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba for almost a month, waiting for the Ugandan delegation.

President Yoweri Museveni’s government had been wary of talks with the LRA leaders, some of whom have been indicted by the International Criminal Court, but a minister said yesterday that Kampala was ready to talk peace despite the indictments. Last year, the Hague court indicted rebel leader Joseph Kony and his top four commanders for crimes against humanity.

Salva Kiir, president of the autonomous southern Sudanese government, said on Monday that direct negotiations between Kampala and the LRA would start in Juba next week under the mediation of his administration. "We have agreed on how to proceed with the talks," he told a news conference after meeting an advance team from Kampala. "In the meantime, consultations will take place. Next week, the talks will begin."

Several attempts to broker an end to the notorious insurgency have failed in the past to end the rebellion that has killed thousands of people and displaced close to 2 million others since the LRA took leadership of a regional rebellion in 1988 in a bid to oust Museveni.

Bishop Ochola Speaks out

Bishop Ochola (left, at a interfaith conference in 2003), a retired Anglican bishop from Northern Uganda recently addressed the Episcopal church in late June 2006. He called upon brothers and sisters here in the USA, at the annual Episcopal church conference to pray and take action on the situation in northern Uganda. Minority groups, such as the Acholi and Langi are being killed and abducted by the LRA, and also killed by disease, starvation, negligence and violence, in large part, because of the government's policy of placing civilians in internally displaced camps. The retired bishop's talk is powerful and moving. It is a call to action for anyone who professes to believe in a God of mercy, compassion, love and justice. This is what Christ calls us to do, friends. For anyone who rests in the power of Christ's redemptive love - we are called to speak the truth so that the light of Christ would shine in all the dark corners of the world....we are called to repent of our own sin - and then to move to fight sin and injustice wherever it exists in this world.

"Religion that God accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans and widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence."
-James 1:27

Let us not turn a blind eye to what is happening to what some have called the 'invisible' children of the world, or the 'forgotten people.' Let us listen and bring attention to the suffering of those who have no voice and who have been ignored and abused for so long. Here is the speech delivered by Bishop Macleord Ochola:

PRESENTATION BY THE RT. REV. MACLEORD BAKER OCHOLA II, RETIRED ANGLICAN BISHOP OF KITGUM DIOCESE, NORTHERN UGANDA, TO THE 75TH GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

JUNE 2006

The Presiding Bishop, all the Bishops, Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and all Members of the GENERAL CONVENTION in your various capacities, Ladies and Gentlemen, I greet you all in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all I want to thank you all for according me this golden opportunity to address all the delegates and guests of the 75th GENERAL CONVENTION of the Episcopal Church of the USA, on an issue of great importance and urgency; a matter of life and death in Northern Uganda. I have come in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to tell you about the GENOCIDE that has been going on in Northern Uganda for the last 20 years.

You will be sad to know that terrible crimes against humanity have been committed with impunity in Northern and Northeastern Uganda by both the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF). Many people have been maimed permanently for life. Many people have suffered mutilation of limbs, noses, ears, and lips at the hands of the warring factions, especially the LRA. Over 30,000 children have been abducted and taken into captivity in Southern Sudan. Children have been abused and used as child-soldiers, as sex-slaves, and as killing machines against the civil population.

The Government of Uganda has also used violence to force a majority of the population into the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps. The harassment and forcing of the people into the IDP camps started in 1996 in Gulu. As result, many people have lost their lives due to the conditions of congestion in the IDP camps. At the beginning of 1997, the people of Lamwo County in Kitgum District suffered terrible massacre of over 400 people at the hands of the LRA rebels. Thus, the people of Lokung, Padibe, and Palabek Gem and Palabek Kal, fled from their villages and sought safety and security into Kitgum Town in 1997. This was the beginning of the massive displacement in Kitgum District. While in Lamwo County the people fled from their villages in fear of being killed by the LRA rebels, it was a different story in Aruu County where the people were forced by the UPDF into the IDP camps in 1997.

There were outbreaks of cholera, meningitis, measles, diarrhea, and many other related diseases due to congestion in the IDP camps. As a result many people lost their lives in the IDP camps in 1997. There were over 500,000 people living in the IDP camps, both in Gulu and Kitgum in 1997, under very appalling conditions. By 2002 the number of the people living in the IDP camps had jumped from 500,000 to 800,000 people. At the beginning of 2003 the number of the IDP camps reached its peak of over 2.6 million people uprooted from their homes in Northern and Northeastern Uganda. Currently over 1.7 million people are still languishing in the IDP camps.

The death rate of 1000 people dying every week, according to a health and mortality survey of July 2005, is due to the appalling and inhuman conditions in the IDP camps. The Government of Uganda has carried out this survey in partnership with international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN organizations. While the terror by the gun of both the LRA and UPDF has killed the people of Northern Uganda, the catastrophic and inhuman conditions in the IDP camps have had a greater toll. Whether death by the LRA, death by the UPDF, death by diseases and malnutrition; the people of Northern Uganda have died like flies or rats and continue to suffer in squalid conditions in the IDP camps. This is the genocide I have come to talk about. I have not come to defend which party to the Northern Uganda conflict is more demonic or has killed more people than the other because all who have died, all who have been raped and abused whether by LRA, UPDF or those who have died due to preventable diseases because of the inhuman conditions in the IDP camps are all our children!

Many of the 1000 dying per week have been children dying of malnutrition. It is significant to point out that children did not die of malnutrition before the massive displacement into IDP camps. Malnutrition was not known in the world of plenty of Northern Uganda before the war. Just like your own children, our children too are great resources to our society and the world. Our destiny depends on our posterity. But both the LRA and the Government of Uganda have denied the children of Acholi, Lango and Northern Uganda their God-given dignity and rights to life. As a result, Northern Uganda is the most dangerous place for children to live in.

The children of Northern Uganda have had their growth and God-given potential in life stifled by both the LRA and the UPDF. The LRA has done this through abduction, brutal killings, maiming, mutilation, and gross violations of our children’s rights. On the other hand, the Government of Uganda has been unable and unwilling to improve the inhuman conditions it has created for the children of Northern Uganda in the IDP camps for over a decade now. The Government of Uganda deliberately refused to implement a unanimous resolution passed by Parliament of Uganda in 2004 to declare Northern Uganda a disaster area.

On many occasions the Government of Uganda deliberately derailed the peace process in Northern Uganda at critical points. For example, the President of Uganda Mr. Yoweri Museveni gave a 7-Day Ultimatum to the LRA rebels to come out of the bush in February 1994, when peace was about to be concluded. The 7-Day Ultimatum only marked the beginning of fresh brutalities by the LRA in Northern and Northeastern Uganda. To tell the bitter truth, up to today, the Government of Uganda has not flushed out the LRA rebels from the bush despite the 7-Day Ultimatum to do so.

Rape has been used as a weapon of war against the women, girl-children and people of Northern Uganda. Our wives, daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers have been raped. While their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, daughters and grandchildren were forced to watch humiliated, helpless and powerless. All these have been done to humiliate and dehumanize not only the victims but the whole Acholi and Lango communities. Our own Government in Kampala has framed us the people of Northern Uganda, especially the Acholi, as ‘backward and primitive’, but worst of all we have been framed as collaborators of the LRA that is killing our own children.

Because we have been so demonized, our children have become ‘invisible children’. We have become ‘forgotten people’ and our holocaust has been called the ‘most forgotten humanitarian catastrophe in the whole world!’ We the people of Northern Uganda, especially the Acholi and Langi have become ‘invisible people’ in the eyes of the world. We have therefore been killed and we have died quietly while the Church and the world carry on with business as usual. Why, because our destruction has been accepted and justified since we have been framed and projected to the whole world as ‘demonic’ as the LRA rebels! Thus, the peoples of Acholi, Lango and Northern Uganda have been humiliated, dehumanized, demonized, and stigmatized by our own Government in Kampala on the watch of the Church and the international community.

...

My brief stay on sabbatical in the USA here has helped me to appreciate something fundamental about America. No matter what problems or what failures you may have here as a people, please permit me to say that I have appreciated one thing that truly makes America and Americans great indeed. It is the belief in freedom inherent in fundamental human dignity as people created by God. I have seen this one fundamental belief affirmed across religious, racial or political divides here in the USA. This does not mean that America is perfect. America also has its own problems as we also have our own problems in Uganda, especially in Northern Uganda. But given this fundamental belief in human dignity and freedom that I have seen and admired since my arrival, I call upon you to take this window of opportunity opened by my story and testimony today. I call upon you to stand together in solidarity with us the ‘invisible children’ and the ‘forgotten people’ and the ‘demonized people’ of Northern Uganda. We are the only people in the world today who have been denied the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by both the LRA and the Government of Uganda. I have come therefore to appeal to you, my brothers and sisters, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make our invisible children of Northern Uganda become visible again. I call upon you to remember our forgotten people of Northern Uganda and to reach out and touch us in Northern Uganda who have been demonized and stigmatized for the last 20 years. I appeal to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to become a prophetic voice of Jesus Christ in the world today. I plead with you to call upon your Government of the United States of America to use its diplomatic influence and power to stop the genocide in Northern Uganda, as it can be seen in its commitment to ending the genocide in Darfur in west Sudan. I appeal to you therefore, as part of the Body of Christ within the worldwide Anglican Communion, to join hands with us the hurting, weak and vulnerable people of God in Northern Uganda who are also part of the Body of Christ, and contribute generously towards the healing, reconstruction, rehabilitation, revival and regeneration of Northern Uganda. .

Lastly, but not least, I appeal to you, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to join hands with us, the family of the late Archbishop Janani Luwum on whose behalf I speak, all well wishers, and all the people of God throughout the Anglican Communion and the world at large to celebrate the 30th Commemoration of Archbishop Janani Luwum, martyr of Uganda, Africa’s 20th Century martyr from Acholi, Northern Uganda. The celebration will take place at the martyr’s gravesite in his childhood home of Mucwini, Kitgum Diocese, Uganda, next year in February 2007.

I thank you all in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.