Karamoja Okkens

For those of you who were praying with us for the elections here in Uganda, here is a part of our teammate Dorothy Wingard's update about it: "....we want you to give thanks with us for the peace that the Lord has given to Uganda during the parliamentary and Presidential election and its aftermath. The Mbale area is one of the more volatile areas of the country, and on Friday, the day of the election, and on Saturday, there were disturbances but only a few hurt, maybe one or two killed. Given the emotional nature of the campaign, the memory of horrific times under Amin and Obote, and the revolutionary events north of us, there was much fear in the country. Some of the Indian shop keepers left the country, people left the city for home villages, and, especially in our area, police and soldiers, as well as heavy weapons, were much in evidence. The day before the election, a demonstration filled the main street of Mbale, but the day of the election and afterward the streets ...

The busyness of politics make for challenges for the ministry. I thought David put it well in a recent communication to his Presbytery. "With the upcoming elections (presidential and many others), in Karamoja and throughout Uganda, campaigning is quite a focus of attention and can be a distraction to ministry. Just today, when we reached one of the villages where we lead a Bible study every Thursday afternoon, there was absolutely no one around as all had been suddenly called to attend a political rally for a man running for a position in our local district. In keeping with the common practice, after hearing the candidate’s speech, filled with all of his promises to greatly improve their lives with paved roads, electricity etc., the crowd is treated to a generous round of the local brew as an advance ‘thank you’ for their votes. Sounds like a good time, doesn’t it? Much like American politics I guess, except for the booze. Hard to compete with that. But we press on. We have b...