Beautiful Uganda: Lake Victoria and the Nile River

Greetings from Singapore!  Last year I met a wonderful sister in the Lord at the Beyond Business Conference in Hyderabad, India, and she invited me to Singapore and Indonesia to share the message of DML.  She has been working with universities and Bible schools across Southeast Asia teaching entrepreneurship and has many connections who need to hear the message of "work as worship."  So when I had a week between the Ugandan conferences and the Lausanne Congress in South Korea, she jumped at the opportunity to schedule some meetings.  I will speak at three Bible Colleges on the island of Batam, which is about 70% Muslim and 20% Christian.  This sister is also going to Lausanne, so we will travel there together on Saturday. We expect to have an amazing time as the global church sits down to work out how to be a healthy body of Christ!

Last week in Uganda, we had a wonderful time with the Pentecostal Theological College in Mbale, Uganda and they are hoping to integrate our courses into their curriculum.  We thank God for this! 

I then had the joy of spending a couple of days with a friend who joined me on the Uganda portion of this trip, and we visited the source of the Nile River and a beautiful island on Lake Victoria covered in birds.  What an amazing creation God has made!

Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world (the first being Lake Superior).  It covers almost 60,000 square kilometers and connects to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.  Many rivers flow into Lake Victoria, but there is only one outlet to the (White) Nile River.  At that point, you can see the water bubbling up to the surface from the springs below (see picture below).  About 33% of the water that flows from Lake Victoria from the Nile is from the spring, and the rest is from the lake.  

The water then travels 6,800 km (4,000 miles) over 90 days to reach the Mediterranean Sea, traveling through South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt, joined by the Blue Nile River, coming out of Ethiopia.  Tributaries contributing to Lake Victoria are also in Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea, and the DRC, bringing the number of African countries impacted and impacting this water source to twelve.  This means there needs to be lots of cooperation relating to this very important water source!

We learned that close to where we were, on Lake Victoria, were two prisons, built right on the lake.  We were told that many Ugandans do not swim, therefore the lake served as a natural protection against escape.  The crocodiles are also a big part of that deterrent.  Many factories have been built along the waterfront for easy access to the ports for export to neighboring countries; unfortunately, many were abandoned after the reign of Edi Amin and are still not functioning.

I don't usually do much tourist stuff so this was fun for me!  (BTW, a little promotion of tourism for Uganda - they have bungee jumping and ziplining over the Nile if you are into adventures!  Plus kayaking, fishing, and more.  A beautiful place to visit!)

The water bubbling up from the springs at the source of the Nile.

Rapids further down the Nile from the source.  We met several people worshipping other gods here - praying to the river.  That has been happening for many centuries - we pray for all to recognize the power of God in this river!

These trees are FULL of birds - all around this small island.  So beautiful.  (It's also a bit dangerous to walk under the trees, as there are a lot of droppings!  And yes, that happened to me.)

A new name for God? God as......waiter??!

This week in Kampala, I visited the Gaddafi Mosque, an amazing building built on the highest hill in Kampala and able to hold 25,000 people for prayer.  On one of the walls were written the 99 names that Muslims have for Allah.  As Christians, we also have many names for the Trinity.  Some favorites come from Isaiah:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  

But this week, I learned that some Christians have another name for God.  Well, maybe not a name per se, but definitely a perception of God that is VERY different than my own.  Let me share with you a quote that I heard this week from an American pastor who was also a speaker at the church conference in Uganda, where I was this past week:

"Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He is sitting down.  He is not working.  And He will sit there until He returns.  And it is the same for you.  You do not need to work.  You need to sit there and wait for Him.  It's like you are in a restaurant.  The waiter sits you down.  Then he sits other people down.  Then he comes back for your order and you put it in.  He then goes to get the orders of the other customers.  After some time, you can see that the orders are being brought to those who came after you and you wonder where your order is!  But just wait.  God is going to bring you your order!"

God as a waiter.  A God who takes orders.  A God whose job is to serve us.  

This is NOT the God I serve.  

The theme for this conference was "Possess the Land."  It was a theme that I admitted made me a bit nervous, especially with the history of colonization, tribalism, and civil war.  But I was able to teach it by adding the phrase, "Possessing the Land for the Kingdom of God."  I taught about how we are the hands and feet of Christ, and how we are to work as agents of reconciliation in our relationships to God, each other, and to creation and work.  My goal, given to me by the leaders of the denomination, was to help people recognize the ability of every member to contribute to the flourishing of Uganda, their families, and the church, by using their time, treasure, and talent (what is in their hand) for the glory of God, seven days a week.

The US team that came to speak had a very different goal. Actually, it was a contradictory message, which was frustrating for me and confusing for the audience.

The speaker quoted above said, "Taking possession of the land is more about receiving than working.  Just receive it.  I need you to worship and just receive your inheritance.  You don't have to work for your inheritance.  My son does not need to work for his inheritance - he will receive it.  The prodigal son did not work for his inheritance - he just received it.  You need to do the same."

The prosperity gospel in full.  Just have enough faith, sew a financial seed, and you will get your miracle.  It made me sick to hear hour after hour of this.  I had heard prosperity gospel messages before and have read books on this as well.  But to hear it live for this many hours was a first for me. As the week went on, I moved from feeling sick to feeling angry.  

In my mind, the prosperity gospel is similar to selling lottery tickets to the poor.  They pay something (which is nicely phrased as "sowing a seed" in the hopes of getting a big cash out. 

I tried to recraft every hour I was given to speak to come against this message.  The one line that often gets people clapping in many churches that are not focused on the prosperity gospel is, "The spirit of poverty cast out by prayer alone will return again."  When I said it last week, there was no applause, just silence with a look of confusion on some faces.  

Brothers and sisters, this message has been exported from the US to the rest of the world, and it continues to this day.  It needs to be combatted.  People are wasting their lives, believing that they must spend their time in church praying for a miracle, afraid of working because they also are being taught that wealth will lead to losing their salvation.  

We need to be in prayer about this and we also need to share the message that God is King (as opposed to servant) wherever we can.  Many doors are opening for this message and we are trying to build capacity in new trainers as quickly as we can. Please join us! (Click here for more details.)

"Church does not create Kingdom. Kingdom creates genuine church."

Greetings from Uganda, where I will have the opportunity to speak at a national conference for a local denomination this week.  Thankful to God for church leaders who are opening doors for this message!

Recently I was forwarded an article by a DML board member in which I found a quote that is the title for this blog:  "Church does not create Kingdom.  Kingdom creates genuine church."  The message articulated well what DML has been trying to say for some time.  The author stated that the church is born from necessity, as described in the book of Acts.  But the Kingdom was formed from the beginning, from creation.  

In too many places, we have forsaken the Kingdom to create the church, often a place of nourishment, comfort, and healing.  Not a bad thing, but not complete.  The Kingdom requires us to attend to the Father's purposes, carrying the message and power to a hurting world.

We have been asking the world to join the church, but we have failed to equip the church to provide hope and direction in the Kingdom.  

The time is coming where this may change.  

At the end of this month, the fourth Lausanne Congress will meet, where a significant discussion will take place regarding the role of the church and the role of the workplace.  The number of global church leaders who are showing an interest in this conversation is significant.  The message of "the purpose of Sunday is Monday" is resonating among many and there is a movement toward understanding the need for holistic discipleship.  

But message and method are two different things.  We may appreciate this message, but knowing how to implement a methodology to help this come alive in a local church context can be complex and rigorous. 

We have found that the first thing needed is to UNLEARN some things before we can learn some new things.  We need to unlearn the definition of the church as a building rather than the people.    We need to unlearn a clergy/laity divide (these are not Biblical terms) and go back to the understanding that we are all the people of God, all called into the general full-time service of giving glory to God, with very different specific placements.  We need to unlearn a sacred/secular divide that is so very deeply embedded into our faith that we often contribute to it without being aware of it!

For example, I was at a church a few weeks ago and the pastor was preaching on Matthew 9, when Jesus had dinner with the tax collectors.  The pastor said, "Maybe this was a goodbye dinner for Matthew, as he would not be able to return to being a tax collector again - not like the disciples who were fishermen and could go back to their craft!"  Immediately, a red flag went off for me, and I wondered why this pastor believed a tax collector would not be able to return to his work.  Is that work too secular?  Too worldly?  Too sinful?  And if that is the belief, isn't it even more important for Christians to be in those places, doing that work with integrity and excellence?  When I shared this story with some businessmen some days later, one said with a grimace, "I was in tax collection for many years."  Imagine the impact of working in a profession that your pastor believes is beyond redemption.

It seems obvious that the church does not create Kingdom.  While 33% of the world professes Christianity, most of us would agree that we do not see the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in any significant way.  In countries where the majority profess to be Christian, we see the same levels of corruption, destruction, and poverty that we see in countries where the majority are not Christian.  There are exceptions to this, of course, but as a rule, we probably can agree that the church does not create Kingdom.

But do we agree with the statement that "Kingdom creates genuine church"?  For this to find agreement, we may need to use our imagination.  Imagine a place where the Kingdom of Heaven is palpable around us.  Where all people are treated with dignity and respect, where every person sees the part that they can play in contributing to the flourishing of others, as image-bearers of God.  Where every person can participate in being blessed to be a blessing, working with integrity and excellence, working with purpose and as an act of worship, while caring for creation and loving their neighbor.  What would such a place look like?

And if such a place existed, how might people respond?  

I know that when I am in nature, there is almost an automatic response to worship.  When I see nature, I see the hand of God.  When I see people and cities, I don't have the same reaction.  But if I saw people and cities behaving in the way I described above, I wonder if there would also be an automatic response to worship?  Seeing the Kingdom displayed in such a way would draw people together to not only worship but to continue to encourage and equip each other to stay true to our purpose, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, a little at a time, every day.

I would like to see such a place.  I catch glimpses of it here and there.  But sometimes it feels like water at the beach...the water hits your feet and as soon as you start to appreciate it, it's quickly gone.  

But we can do better.  We are called to do better.

Please join with me in prayer that the conversations at Lausanne will lead to a revival of the people of God being the church in every place and space.  From tax collectors to fishermen/women, from sales to service, from pastors to teachers to auditors to cleaners to police officers to guards, and more and more!

2.4 billion people living this out.  What an amazing impact that could bring!