Returning from Uganda - 2014

After a 35 hour trip (from the missionaries' compound to the church parking lot in East Canton), we returned safely from Uganda.

Or, did we?

Although we Americans typically prefer avoiding risk, no mission trip is without it.  Sure, going to the grocery store includes risk, doesn't it?  But, traveling thousands of miles in the air, and bumping up and down along nearly a thousand miles of really bad roads, that's pretty risky.

Serving in a country that has less than adequate water treatment and availability, that's pretty risky.

Visiting the homes of real people with HIV, that's pretty risky.

Walking around the slums of Kampala, past young men high from opium as they make make fun of the 'mzungus' (white people), that felt pretty risky.

However, do you realize the risk we didn't take?  We did not risk Ebola.

There is no Ebola outbreak in Uganda. The outbreak that is ravaging West Africa is thousands of miles away from our friends in Uganda.  The closest we get to Ebola is in the United States - in Tallmadge or Dallas.

Even as we flew, we flew through a hub that does not fly into West Africa.

REPEAT: We did not risk Ebola.

Regardless of this fact, some of the team that served others in Jesus' Name dealt with some mild persecution. How?

There were children who were not allowed in school for a time because their parent served in a continent that is suffering from Ebola - a continent whose land mass is three times that of the continental United States.

One team member was only recently allowed to return to school - three weeks after our return.

Two of our number had some paid time off.  That's nice, isn't it?  But, would they have jobs at the end of their three weeks? How would they be received when they returned?

There have been friends who won't shake hands - or be in the same room with us.  They're convinced it's better for them - despite the facts.

As I consider this behavior and treatment, I'm sad for the team. But, I'm also glad for the experience.

From this treatment, we see maybe just the smallest glimpse of what our friends in Uganda see all too much after they were diagnosed with HIV (often through no fault of their own) and suffered the shunning by friends and family.

I've been to Uganda several times and the trip is usually over soon after we arrive home.

This one wasn't over so quickly. Not for three weeks (the incubation period for Ebola symptoms).

But, the three weeks passed.  And the next trip will come.

Until then, we're praying for our family in Uganda who deal with risk every day and must rely on the Lord's providence and protection.

We have a lot to learn from them.

I can't wait.

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