“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
In the last month, I have felt bombarded with chaos. Not just great change, but a feeling of being swirled about in an unpredictable tornado. Suddenly wondering which way is up and how to find a firm footing again. Even my thoughts seem to fly about inside my head with no predictable pattern. I guess that is why I haven’t written much in the last few weeks. Putting more than one thought together seemed like an impossible task. Events in my life and the lives of the ladies seemed to have no solution. The only thing I could think to do was pray and when I did God impressed heavily on me that even as I fly wildly about, he is placed his peace and clam inside me. It is an odd feeling to be totally enveloped in chaos and yet at the same time feel a sense of deep serenity.
It all started about a month ago. My phone rang just after 6:30 in the morning. I woke from a dead sleep and groggily said hello. Joyce’s voice on the other end of the phone was shrill and full of panic, so unusual for her. I shook the sleep from my head and interrupted her, “Joyce, tell me slowly…what happened?” Joyce explained that Idah had begun convulsing at about 4:00 in the morning. Her young daughter had run to get Joyce, as she had allowed Idah and her children to build a small wooden structure near her small home when Idah was evicted. Joyce had prayed over Idah, but she never regained consciousness. Joyce then brought Idah to the government hospital. However, they wouldn’t treat her without her medical record, so Joyce was now frantically searching through Idah’s things looking for her medical papers. I told her that Annet, our Dorcas Widows Social Worker, would come immediately to help her. Annet lives close to her and was able to be there in 15 minutes. They were able to find the card and jumped on Bodas (motorcycles for hire) and sped to the hospital. I then called Suzanne, another Dorcas Widows Social Worker, and asked her to go immediately to the hospital to sit with Idah and her daughter. I live the farthest away from the hospital, so I told them I would meet them there later.
Suzanne, Annet and Joyce arrived at the hospital in time to see the doctor and to give him her medical record. Idah was in the advanced stage AIDS with significant liver disease and had now contracted Hepatitis. The doctor suggested some medicine that might help her regain consciousness, so Annet and Suzanne rushed to the hospital pharmacy only to find they were out of that medicine. So, they rushed to another pharmacy in town only to find nothing again. Finally, after the 4th pharmacy they were able to get the medicine. They rushed back into the hospital only to reach her bedside as she breathed her last breath. She died peacefully with her daughters and her mother by her side. Suzanne then called me and told me that I had missed her. That she had already gone home to be with the Lord. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I had so wanted to say good-bye. I was already headed to the hospital, but Suzanne asked me to turn around and go tell the other widows so that we could support Idah’s mother and children.
Annet and Suzanne had the gruesome task of taking the body to the morgue…a room full of dead, stiff naked bodies in various stages of decay…no refrigeration, so the smell alone will knock you down. They feared I would not be strong enough to handle it and they were right. Our ministry paid to have Idah’s body prepared for burial and while they were preparing her, Suzanne went into town to buy a coffin for her and to arrange a truck to come and pick her body. In Acholi tradition, the coffin is then taken to the mother’s house and laid inside the home. Then neighbors, friends and family come to mourn together over Idah.
I gathered the other widows at St. Peter’s Church and then we walked to the mother’s house as the coffin arrived. Idah’s mother wailed…a cry so piercing and so full of sadness. Her two daughters just sat there staring off into space with red eyes and look of total despair. The Dorcas Widows arrived en mass and one by one grieved, cried and hugged the family. We sat quietly outside the mother’s small home partly in shock and partly relieved that Idah’s pain is now over and she is dancing and singing in the presence of the Lord. Suddenly, one of the ladies, Phyllis learned over to me and said, “I feel the Lord telling me to speak to the crowd that has gathered…to comfort them…to tell them about our hope in Jesus.” So, she stood up, gathered their attention and then began to speak in the local language about our confidence that Idah was with Jesus, about how Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with them, about how God is asking each of us to choose to follow and serve him. It was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever witnessed. Then, the ladies and I began to sing praise hymns. Suddenly, there it was… the tangible feeling of peace amidst the chaos.
The next day, we arrived at St. Peter’s Church for the funeral. Idah was a member of the Luo Service Church Choir, so her fellow choir members surrounded her coffin and sang a beautiful song of praise…Idah’s favorite. Then I stood and told the congregation how much we loved Idah…all the special things we will remember about her. As the service ended the body was to be taken back to her village to be buried. Two of our widows, Joyce and Ruth, would accompany the mother and other relatives in order to represent us and to support the family.
After such a lovely remembrance of Idah’s life, Ruth and Joyce were shocked to find the mother quarreling with the members of her own family and her own husband after reaching Kitgum. The mother was not welcomed warmly by the village as they had chased her from their midst for being a trouble maker and for inciting some witchcraft against people. Suddenly, a fight broke out between Idah’s mother and her extended family. Joyce and Ruth tried to serve as peacemakers, but were abused in the process. They argued all night and finally in the morning Idah was laid to rest amidst arguing and fighting. As they sat in the truck returning to Kampala, the mother threatened Ruth and Joyce telling them to tell no one about the fighting or else they would be sorry.
Both Joyce and Ruth were quite shaken when they returned to Kampala. They both called me right away to relay the strange events that had just transpired. Joyce was particularly worried about Idah’s children, as this grandmother did not seem stable. Suzanne, Annet and I tried hard to investigate what could be done for the children. Then two days later, we heard that the police had been called to the mother’s place because the neighbor had witnessed her seriously beating Idah’s children with a large stick. The oldest child was somehow able to grab the stick and hit the grandmother on the head to stop the violence. Joyce then asked the children to stay with her. The grandmother then went to Joyce’s house and threatened to beat her or curse her if she did not give the children back. Joyce held her ground, but was terrified of the violent nature of this woman. Joyce then asked the mother if they could sort their dispute with the oldest male relative of that family which is culturally appropriate. The mother hesitantly agreed, but threatened that bad things would begin happening to Joyce. As I write this now, Joyce is been in the hospital for two days on an IV fighting for her life as we pray seriously for God to intervene. As westerners, we naively think witchcraft is some ancient hocus-pocus…something like believing in the tooth fairy, but I can assure you that evil still roams the earth and can wound us. God told us that we were in the middle of a battle and indeed we are. It seems like I am on the front line these days.
As we tried to intervene in this tense situation with Idah’s mother, Jane also became incredibly ill and needed an immediate IV and medical attention. The oldest boy of the family of orphans Dorcas Widows has been helping fell into a diabetic coma and needed us to rush him to the hospital. His life hung in the balance for 24 hours, but God intervened and he is now better. Then if all the sickness of these women were not enough all hell broke loose in Kampala. The Kabaka (king) of Buganda (a large tribe in Uganda) was insulted by a less populous tribe in his own territory and was furious at this blatant lack of respect, so his people took to the streets in massive riots. Suddenly, bullets were flying everywhere, tires were burning, stones were being thrown indiscriminately and people were being beaten or killed if they were not Buganda or did not publicly respect Buganda traditions. The military was sent in and an all scale battle broke out in the middle of down town. Hundreds of people were wounded and many were killed…most of them innocent people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everyone connected with the Dorcas Widows was instructed to stay locked inside their home. This proved to be the safest way to remain untouched by the violence. In fact, to the glory of God we all survived unharmed.
After the violence stopped on Saturday, we planned to meet on Tuesday afternoon at Logogo Baptist Church in order to get on our knees and pray for peace and protection from the evil around us. So, last night we gathered together and sang with arms outstretched and danced before our God with wild abandon. Then each lady prayed in her own language to the Lord reminding him of how mighty his hand is and how vulnerable we are; of his promise of peace and how we are being tossed about; of how he is the great healer and of how sick in body and mind some of us are. Tears flowed down our faces as we knelt before him asking him to intervene in the trauma that has followed Idah’s death, into the sicknesses of so many of our women and into the violence of our beloved city. In the midst of all the voices crying out before the throne of God, I felt a powerful peace wash over my body…it was tangible…I felt if I opened my eyes I would see Jesus face to face. He whispered to me, “In this world you will have trouble, but don’t fear…I have overcome the world.”
So now, I am waiting to see the sick become well, the vulnerable become safe and the violent become calm. In the weeks that come, you will hear from us great testimonies of victory for our great God is on the move.
