Last week we visited a church in Kampala. The pastor of this church is someone that is currently visiting in the states so I had the opportunity to meet him. The church that he pastors is surrounded by make shift structures, children with blank stares and dirt streets. We had just spent the weekend investing in the leadership of the ministry in East Africa and bonding as a team. That training happened in a very affluent area of Uganda.
Stepping into the church was disorienting. It had a make-sift roof and dirt floors. We were getting seated while worship was happening. Having just seen the conditions that these people lived in, it was weird to hear them sing and dance to “How Great is Our God.”
It was an experience I continued to have throughout the week. We have visited several churches since then that had the same effect. The school visit with the shoeless children singing was a greater challenge. We were performing, but I just was overwhelmed with sadness. Our visit was going to be a highlight for them for the foreseeable furture so crying on stage was not the desired outcome. We were performing a service for them on stage to give them a reprieve from the harsh reality around them.
In less than two weeks I will be home with my air conditioning, roofs that don’t leak and food on demand. I’ve begun to understand why the poor have such a strong connection with God. They need Him more than I do.
The point was made even stronger as I handed a plate to a little boy with desperation on his face. We were able to feed him one day for one meal, but you could look at his clothes and demeanor to see that he needed much more. It is from this place of desperation that people begin to rely on God for everything.
Professor Garner put it like this. In the states we pray for our daily bread, but it is a metaphor for our spiritual need for God. In the majority of the world it is a reflection on their need for God to actually provide food, not a metaphor.