Life in Abundance: Entrusted with Community

How men and women in Uganda are intentionally transforming lives through relationships

By Carla Williams

The young men and women in Adjumani, Uganda walked through the refugee settlement with their visitors from Southeast Christian Church. They had been through the camp countless times, engaging with the families, assessing the needs, and providing community solutions. This time, they were introducing the team from Southeast to a few of the families who benefited from the million meals we packed in November of 2017.

The families in the settlement had fled the war-torn regions of South Sudan with little to nothing, and most of them were women raising their children, nieces and nephews, and/or grandchildren. There were barely any men, as most had died in the war, abandoned their families, or remained in South Sudan entangled in the ongoing conflict.

Life In Abundance (LIA), Southeast’s Mission Partner who stewarded the donated food from the Famine Relief project, had entrusted a local church in Uganda with the distribution of some of the meals. Representatives from the church had walked through the settlement, going from hut to hut to determine the 100 most vulnerable families. In an entire settlement full of broken and impoverished people, they identified those most desperate for help.

As those men and women made their way through the refugee settlement, their interactions with the residents revealed a depth of relationship. There was a clear trust, forged through consistency and openness. They had obviously talked about physical needs like hunger, but also mental health, and relational needs. With all of those conversations, they had also talked about spiritual things. They’re interconnected. Talking about Jesus was not something they got to once they solved those other problems. Jesus was a part of every conversation.

COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
These men and women from the local church were officially called Community Health Evangelists (CHEs). Life In Abundance trained them to wholistically assess the health of families and individuals in need—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But what made them special was that they were just ordinary believers who were willing to engage with their neighbors, identify the greatest needs, and work together to create a sustainable solution.

Jesus came to restore the physical, emotional, and spiritual brokenness of the world. He built relationships centered on trust and walked with ones He called friends. He lived life with people and He has entrusted us to do the same. The men and women serving their communities in Uganda and other parts of the world through LIA are agents of love for the church, showing its concern for the community. They are also advocates for the community, expressing its needs to the church. As ambassadors for Christ, agents of love for the church, and advocates of hope for the community, these men and women are a clear example of what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

This approach is not limited to impoverished villages in Africa, but we can certainly learn from their example. The concept is simple. Those men and women spend a few evenings a week walking around to their neighbors, getting to know them, asking about their lives, and praying for them. Inevitably, they stumble across things like the need for mosquito nets, or how okra could be a more profitable crop than corn.

We probably won’t run into those specific issues with our neighbors and co-workers in the U.S. Our neighbors’ needs may seem more complicated than the needs of impoverished Africa, but at their core, they really aren’t. What we all need is community, authenticity, and a willingness to listen and work together. We need to know and acknowledge that our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are often interwoven. We can’t meet one while ignoring the others.

In Uganda, because the local church identified people who had a heart for their neighbors and then empowered them to love their community the way Christ loved His, lives were transformed. Imagine what God can do in our neighborhoods and workplaces when we apply the same effort in the areas in which God has entrusted us.

This story is written in collaboration with Steven Walker (Communications Director, LIA, lifeinabundance.org) and Jay Schroder (Missions Project Manager, Southeast Christian Church).

This article is from the August 2018 issue of next magazine.