Aftermath

So I'm finally healed after a bout with some stomach/intestinal bacteria. It came on very slowly before it really put me down for a few days. The good thing about being sick this past week is that I didn't feel as much like a prisoner with all the rioting going on around the city. If you've watched the news and seen the reports of rioting in Kampala, it might have looked like every area of Kampala was out of control. However, there were definitely pockets of chaos and then many more pockets of "things somewhat as normal". Yes, I could definitely hear gunshots from the school; yes, my friend had to pick up his children from his school because they were near there; however, no one I know or even know anyone who knows anyone who was hurt in the riots.

The riots pretty much ended by Saturday night. Because our area was not that affected by the riots, nothing really seemed different than any other week. However, I had to travel to the west with Oliviah to do some social work for the ministry and we passed by a place called Nateete. This is an area in which the rioting was the worst. Unfortunately for Pastor Dongo and his family, the road to their new house in Bbira passes through Nateete. I had heard that major rioting there was so bad that they burned down a police station and all the impounded cars and let all the prisoners free. I couldn't really picture this in my mind, but I was amazed at the scene as we passed by on Wed. The structure of the police station was no more. There was a definite military presence there to maintain control. And about 20 cars or more were burned to a crisp. I wish I had a photo to help show you what I mean, but I was a little intimidated to take a picture because law enforcement don't take too kindly to having their pictures taken.

I definitely didn't feel threatened during the week, but I'm also glad that I was wise enough to stay home and not run any errands on those few out of control days.

Riots in Kampala

The recent activity in the city of Kampala reminds me of my first trip to Uganda. I was on the plane from London to Entebbe and my traveling companion and president of Buyamba told me I should watch the BBC News on the airplane on-demand tv. I asked why and he said they were rioting in Kampala and that an "Asian" was killed during the riots. I watched and it was funny to me because I didn't even see an "Asian" in the news broadcast. However, I did see quite a number of Indian people (from India not Native Americans). So I wasn't worried. The riot was over by the time we got into Uganda.

I don't know how big something has to get out here for it to make the news back home, but I posted on my Facebook account that I was okay and that the riots were not in our area. I'm not sure if it worried people more or not, but it seems that many people are praying for us out here now. Prayer is always accepted, but I can't say that I feel threatened at all.

I first learned of the riots when a friend who lives on the other side of town called me asking me if I heard any gunshots. I hadn't. He later informed me of the riots going on in the city. If I tried to explain the reason to you, you wouldn't understand so I'll just let it be and say that it should pass by Sun.

On a different note, the riots have reminded me of the foolishness of people. Most of the people who are rioting are just people who are idle and now have a reason to be active in a negative way. It's quite similar to the L.A. riots after the Rodney King verdict. Some of you might not be old enough to remember them, but I do. In fact, I was on La Cienega Blvd. in L.A. when I first heard the verdict. I knew that it was a bad sign, but not thinking of the worst that could happen, I ventured on a shortcut to my girlfriend's house in Westchester. If your geography of L.A. is not very good, it meant I had to drive through Inglewood and other dangerous areas to avoid the traffic on the freeways. I passed a shop called Fedco on the way. To make a long story short, I made it safely to my girlfriend's house in time to watch that same Fedco burning and people looting it.

As I watched the nonsense on the news, I had to wonder why would you destroy your own neighborhood. To this day, that still makes no sense to me. Jesus calls us to forgive...not once, not twice...but over and over. I think the Scripture says something like 70 times 7, but I don't think He meant to count until 490 and then you no longer need to forgive. When we act in ways similar to these hooligans starting fires, etc., we are just thinking selfishly. Instead, we need to think of others as greater than ourselves. Jesus can to serve, not to be served. We should follow His example.