Raised from the Dust

Traveling the rocky roads in the Kayunga District of Uganda is dusty business. Expertly navigating the crater-like potholes, Steven our driver kicks up a red haze as we blaze the back roads towards the swamp where Pastor Elijah was born. "This brings new meaning to the scripture: 'He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump,' " I say.

 "Oh my friend," Elijah replies, "just look behind us." I glance out the back window of our SUV and barely make out the figure of a shoeless woman and child walking, completely smothered by dirt. The corn stalks are dressed in red as if God took a shaker of paprika to the fields out my side window.

Arriving later at Kayonza C.U. Primary School where Elijah completed his elementary education, 1,056 bright, beautiful, dusty students gather at his feet. His words drip with inspiration. They listen wide eyed and barefooted as he shares the story of his first pair of shoes.

"All of you here are not wearing shoes. That is not your fault. You don't need to feel sorry for yourselves. I didn't have shoes until I was 15 years old. I got my first blanket when I was 13 years old. That means I went through this school without shoes. I don't remember putting on a full pair of shorts, but wore only rags to school. I'm not ashamed to talk about it. So, when you look at your friend putting on a torn shirt, please don't laugh. That friend may end up being the next president of Uganda."

I see the light dance in their eyes as this tall, articulate Ugandan pastor speaks life into their tattered, hungry lives. Their enemies plague them daily, not the least of which is abject poverty. Elijah remembers well the pain of poverty but chooses to focus on God who has raised him from it. He now pastors Kampala International Community Church, oversees 67 churches, heads up the Hands of Love Foundation which includes 3 schools and two orphanages, and hosts a weekly national radio program. His story of a redeemed life empowers Ugandans on a daily basis.

"Some of you have parents. Some may have no parents. Some in your families have died of HIV/AIDS." He continues to name them: sexual promiscuity, tribal fighting, cannibalism, child sacrifice. Rank after rank, the enemy's army assaults Uganda's culture threatening to annihilate its future.
 
"But let me tell you who will change all this.  It is not the President of Uganda. It is not the prime minister. Elijah Sebuchu will not change Uganda. Your teacher will not change this nation. Touch the hand of your neighbor and say, ' It is YOU who will change this nation.' "

 A frail looking girl seated just in front of Elijah studies the dust she sits upon as his words settle in. "I grew up from the dust. You can make it! It is a matter of time. You will get your shoes. You are just passing through this," he declares.

 He squats down and firmly takes a hold of her slight frame. Whisks her up into his strong arms. "Look at this child! God has the power to lift every one of you up." He holds her high above her friends as the other students erupt with joyful chuckles.

And I believe it, as I hear the laughter and see the hope rising in their chocolate brown eyes. I know he's right, this Hands of Love leader whose hands of love raise up another young life from the dust. They may pick through garbage tonight to find their dinner, but shoes or no shoes, there is a future president among them and they will change their nation.

"He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order."
1 Samuel 2:8