Our God is Stronger

In this post I am going to try and give a perspective that I feel God wants us to have when seeing the pictures you have seen of everything happening on this trip, hearing the stories of the poverty and the lives of the people of Jinja. I also want to lift up Healing Faith and Imani Tumaini Upendo and try to express to you the tremendous impact these organizations are making in our world. I am not a seminary graduate, I am not someone who believes himself better than anyone, if there is anything I know for a fact it is that I love my wife and that we are so thankful to be children of the Lord and thankful for His grace and mercy.

Seeing the lifestyle here first hand has opened my eyes to what is here, it is hard to really know until you walk the villages and talk to the people. These people live like nothing I have ever seen back home. I know there are people who live in poverty back home, but it is not like this. And even those that live in tremendous poverty back home still have access to much more than these people do. In USA we have access to a much higher quality of education, water, health care, safety, food, shelter, security, etc. than they do here in Jinja. Regardless of your stance on these items individually, this is a fact.

When is the last time you had to walk 3 miles just for water? On top of that, it is contaminated and will give you worms in your stomach after drinking it. Or when was the last time you stayed anywhere that did not have power for miles and miles and the only form of lighting at night was candles? Or worked a full day for $1? These are just a few examples but there are many more. Some that would make you sick to your stomach.

Let me now transition to some lyrics from a song you might recognize…“Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, our God is healer, awesome in power, our God….our God. And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us then what can stand against?“ (read those lyrics one more time and soak them in…say them out loud if it helps) These are lyrics from a Chris Tomlin song, chances are you have worshiped to it. This song is using our words to express how grand our God is, but do we really believe this? I only ask this because when seeing the situation here it is very easy to be overwhelmingly emotional, sad and even think “how could we live in a world (subconsciously knowing created by our God) that has people living this way?” Let me ask this another way, ask yourself…”do I really believe that God is working in all circumstances for His glory?” I want to reference a scripture at this time:

Colossians 3:1-4

3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We have to wrap our minds around this truth. This is not life, our life is hidden away with God. That is true life. Right now God has put us on this earth for a very short, and temporary time. We can’t forget that God is in process through all things.

With this being said, ask yourself again… “do I really believe what God says…do I really believe that God is working in all circumstances for His glory?” If you don’t see this life as a short, temporary life which is a tiny part of an enormously eternal life with God, I challenge you to do so. I am also challenging myself as I write this. If you don’t trust that He is at work in difficult and overwhelming emotionally sad circumstances, I challenge you to do so. It is hard, I know, but He wants us to understand this.

I want to finish with sharing how much I respect and admire the Segner family for answering the call that God gave them and moving their family to Jinja and truly impacting the people here. In the action of selling all of their possessions and moving here alone I knew they had done something radical.  But now, after spending a week with them and actually seeing the works they are doing (all in the name of the Lord and not for themselves) I am very moved. Their kids are 2(Pierce), 4(Hadlee), 5(Everett), and 7(Karson)…wow…would you do this if God called you? Jason and Keri Segner are truly “healing” the people of Jinja, not just physically, but spiritually as well.

-Charlie Lima