A Reminder of God's Goodness

Submitted by adamsweb on January 19, 2006 - 12:58am.

Tonight, the Watoto Children's Choir performed at my church. The children's choir from Uganda is composed of children who lost their parents to the AIDS pandemic or wars in Uganda. It was moving to see their testimonies.

I had several thoughts during the course of the concert. The first is how lucky those of us who were born in America are. Though, we have problems, they're nowhere near as severe as faced by those in Uganda and much of the Third World. We may have to worry about money for college or having "enough" health care, yet Ugandan children face situations where one or both parents dies of AIDS and they are left to struggle on their own or deal with extended families that are strained to the breaking point by AIDS orphans.

The second thought I had is that this is why I want to be financially successful. Here's the simple truth of the matter. Without money, the only thing you can do is pray. Prayer is powerful, but faith without works is dead. So, the greater the money you have the more chance you have to make to make an impact.

The final thing I'll share is that I was moved by the children's bubbly joy, despite all they've been through. In our culture, we tend to let trauma eat at us, to wallow in it, and let it define our lives. Yet, they talked of how good God had been to them.

Wow, so maybe I shouldn't complain so much when Burger King takes 10 minutes to get my food.

Watoto

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re: God's goodness (Watoto)

Submitted by o ceallaigh on January 19, 2006 - 8:14am.

Watoto performed in mid-coast Maine a year or so ago. I also came away with two thoughts.

The young people of Watoto (and some of them are very young) are exceptionally talented, and their show is exceptionally well, even slickly, produced. And therein lies the rub. I found myself hoping that God respects child labor laws - that the Ugandans haven't merely exchanged the excesses of their European-scrambled native culture for the excesses of the American entertainment machine. The word exploitation entered my consciousness.

And then there was the young white person I was running with on the indoor track at the YMCA (please note) in Maine (which, please also note, supposes itself "liberal" but is also the whitest state in the Nation - I am white), who noted in passing that he didn't like Watoto. I innocently asked why. It's because they were black and smelled bad.

Maybe Martin Luther King has died in vain.

HYPOCRITICAL, adj. A drug addict complaining about the quality of the needle and syringe. The most common form of criticism now to be found in the United States of America.

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There Is That Concern

Submitted by adamsweb on January 19, 2006 - 6:10pm.

That's a legitimate concern, though from what I gather the Watoto Children change frequently, so they're not out on the road for but a few months and then they have a new group for the next tour.

-That's my thing, keeping the faith, baby-Joe Friday

The Screwtape Reports

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I know what you mean

Submitted by I was framed on January 25, 2006 - 9:22am.

Ever since I spent two weeks doing a granted study in Malawi, Africa, I feel a little twinge of guilt when I complain about much of anything. The children I encountered had backgrounds similar to what you described. Similarly, I felt my conscience scold me when I was greeted by these children and adults with so much joy, passion, and love.

I will never forget how lucky and fortunate I am. I am pretty sure the people of Malawi, Uganda, or any other suffering nation could care less whether my cable went out for a day.

Good post

Later

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