Religion and International Development

Today is Sunday... church day. In the past, church has made me nervous. I grew up not going to church, and most kids in my school never went either. Religion was something that wasn’t widely talked about. When I started doing international development work, I began seeing religion more and more often, and began getting curious about where I stood on the topic... what my beliefs are.

That said, I have had some bad experiences. Ethiopia was the first time that the organization I was working with was Christian (not by choice, but because it was the only NGO I could find that did short-term volunteer trips). It really turned me off Christianity as I got the impression that all they wanted to do was convert with a level of insensitivity. Having rarely even been to church, I was sneered at when I was not comfortable praying in front of a large group of people. To me, religion is a very personal thing and while I do have beliefs and I do pray when I feel the need to, it is never something I am comfortable sharing with strangers and having people treat me so negatively made me even surer that organized religion is not for me. Later, I worked with another Christian organization, and from day 1 I felt judged because I do not go to church or didn't identify as Christian. I was never asked what my beliefs are; it didn’t matter. I have never experienced more hostility and judgement in my life than I did during that time, and I again decided that if Christianity is all about such negativity and hatred for others who don’t think the exact same way, it is not for me. I sporadically attend a Unitarian church at home, and it is all about accepting everybody, learning about world religions, and promoting social justice. This seemed to go against everything I believe in.

Needless to say, I was nervous about going to church today as it has been uncomfortable for me in the past. When we arrived at the church, we were early, but Hellen began singing as people came in, and we were greeted with great excitement.... visitors! Muzungu visitors! Baby Immaculate arrived (with a diaper this time, teddy bear from Nana in hand) and families whom we had visited greeted us happily, proud that they were already friends with these visitors. We were given seats at the front, and for the next four hours (!!) we enjoyed the service. There were 2 preachers, 2 choirs (adult and children) and a time for testimonies.

At the beginning of the service, Hellen pulled us up to the front and we each went to the microphone and introduced ourselves and shared a bit about who we are and how much we have enjoyed getting to know them so far. I nervously thanked them for welcoming me into their church, their community, and their homes, and told them how much I have learned from them and how I will take their stories and the memories of our time together back home with me. Sarah hilariously quoted a bible passage in an attempt to be inspiring (I won’t bother explaining that any further... you had to have been there, but we are still laughing about it!)

After one of the men preached (about the 7 things God can’t tolerate; lying, killing, etc) Hellen asked those who have testimonies to come up and share. About 7 people came to the front to share a story about what they had God to thank for. Of those seven, three were the parents of the three families we had done home visits in earlier this week; Bena’s mom, Sylvia/Joseph/Javel/Immaculate/James/Hellen’s father, and Rita’s mom. Bena’s mom, her usual emotional self, began cheering and sharing excitedly about how we had visited her house. Rita’s mom called the sponsoring of her child and the home visit “a miracle”. Sylvia and family’s father touched me the most. He had been at the stone quarry when we went to visit, and we hadn’t met him yet. Most fathers are absent or not very good parents. He loves his children so much. He shared with everyone how grateful he was that his daughter Sylvia had the opportunity this week to see the Nile River, and how surprised he was when he came home earlier this week to see his 6 kids with new clothes after having us visit. His words spoke a lot to me, particularly coming from a father.

After the testimonies, there was singing. This was my favourite part. I admit that the sermons didn’t particularly touch me, although I could see that the congregation enjoyed it, but the singing made me emotional. The children’s and adult’s choir performed, and every single person, even the toddlers, were on their feet, hands raised, dancing up a heavy sweat. With eyes closed and hands raised, I could see their faith shining through. I could see how important their belief of God is to them and how it gets them through many of the tough things they experienced.

I was never drilled on what I believe, I never felt judged or as if I am a bad person, and our differences didn't even matter. I simply felt welcome. And the welcoming joyfulness that I experienced as I was brought into hug after hug after hug made me inspired. Ugandan church is definitely something I would do again, and something I will never forget. (On a sidenote, the NGOs I had a negative experience with were both run by foreigners (Americans, in both cases), and this is run by a local Ugandan... interesting...)

The rest of the day consisted of meeting with 4 of the 6 Escape girls (Scovia, Dinah, Ketty, and Darphine) and hanging out with them and telling them about their sponsors and getting updates, then going for a swim and watching the monkeys by the pool again! Tomorrow is a big day; school starts up again after term break and we have 170 children to update and many of those to find sponsors for!