Watoto

Rewind about a year and a half, think cold dark nights and jersey Christmas lawn ornaments. Before going to a friend’s Xmas party, Julie and I went to hear a Ugandan Choir sing at a church service. It was phenomenal. The choir was made up of both children and adults from Uganda but they focused on helping Ugandan orphans by giving them an education and helping them develop an interest in the arts (dancing, singing, etc.). Julie and I bought tshirts, which was not a surprise for me, but as for Julie, I think it is the first tshirt she’s ever bought! (believe it people!)
Fast forward to this June. While Down Under, I visited a Mega Church the one Sunday morning I was in Sydney. I was sitting waiting for the service to start and reading the small pamphlet found in my chair. When I got to the last page I started to read about the church’s women’s ministry and what/who they were supporting. As I read through the article it started to speak about the women of Gulu, in northern Uganda. I couldn’t believe it. I almost peed my pants right then and there. In just a few hours I would get on a plane, fly around the world and travel up to Gulu to meet the very same women that were spoken about in the article. The Hillsong church in Sydney was supporting the Watoto church in Uganda, and specifically the church in Gulu (not one of the other 5 located throughout Uganda). Needless to say I went to the service at Watoto my first Sunday here in Gulu.
The service was the first of it’s kind that I’ve ever been to here in Gulu. Many of the churches here are either Catholic or Anglican (due to the British Colonization). Thus many of the services are full of ritual and strict practices. Because of the cultural differences I’ve felt at time that these rituals have lost their meaning with the Ugandans. This has made it difficult to attend church and see some of the people as honest in their faith. Although I am sure some of my impressions are clouded since I don’t know much about the Catholic or Anglican traditions. Either way, the service I went to at Watoto was really good. They had people up front playing instruments and a whole choir. The pastor preached a good sermon and then there was even more singing at the end. I think singing is my favorite part of church. I just kept thinking how surreal it was to be at this church I had heard about on two separate continents. The world truly is a small place.
Oh, and I brought my tshirt with me and am wearing it around town of course.