A little surreal

by Bucky Rogers

Founder and Executive Director of Benjamin House Ministries

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As we’ve gone through this week in Kampala, everything I see, I’m seeing in a slightly different light.  In years past, I’ve taken it all in, enjoyed the scenery, played with the kids, and tried to make as much difference as I can in 10 short days.  This year, every moment we’ve had, I’ve looked at things in terms of the future.  What will this look like when I live here?  What will this process be like when I’m waking up here every day?  How will I go about doing this or accomplishing this goal?  Kids aren’t just pictures of faces to me anymore.  They’re not just a crowd of eyes and ears.  I’m asking myself every day… Does that one have a home?  Does she have food?  I wonder when the last time he’s had a bath is?
Yesterday at the festival a group of kids were piled on me and I realized they didn’t have armbands.  The festival costed $1,000 shillings (about 30 cents) to get in.  If you didn’t pay, you didn’t get an armband and you didn’t get lunch.  There just wouldn’t be enough food to go around.  As we sat there it dawned on me that they had been there all day, in my lap, on my shoulders, in my arms and hadn’t had a drop of water or a bit of food the entire time.  I’m just not okay with that, and I wonder what would happen if a few thousand people would join me in not being okay with that…
I would expect to go through the day pretty sad, but its had a very opposite affect on me.  I’ve felt more alive than I have in years. It’s incredibly freeing to know exactly what the Lord created me for, and to be making plans to do it forever.  You may not be called to go for the rest of your life…but what if the Lord would call you to give of your excess, and maybe even sacrifice a little to help us in this task?  That calling is every bit as legitimate.  You might even find that it makes you more alive than you’ve felt in years too.  Help us tell the story of Benjamin House.  Share it everywhere you go.  See if your sleep doesn’t come a little easier and your love is a little easier to access.

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