"In all, we bless the Lord"

On Wednesday morning Othy and Archip crowded onto a bus in Kampala to start the day's journey to Beni. The 8+ hour bus ride between Kampala and the DRC border is a wild jazz drive. People and packages fill every seat, nook, and cranny of the bus. Drivers disregard speed limits and accidents are common. Passengers change at frequent and fast stops. Food vendors jump on with trays of roasted corn, screwers of meat and packages of peanuts, filling the aisle at one stop to make a sale, then jumping off the next to catch a returning bus. And then there is the border crossing and the 2 hour (plus) ride to Beni.

Archip and Othy were loaded with several bags and boxes, mostly equipment and electronic items for UCBC, and a few gifts. Somewhere en route someone snatched Archip's bag. The bag contained some of the tech equipment and gifts. It also contained Archip's passport. Jon emailed the news:

Archip and Othy were traveling back to Beni today and somehow Archip's bag was stolen. In it was the GIS computer, money for the primary school, gifts and money from Mary, Archip's passport and other valuables. At a check point it was discovered that Archip did not have his documents and he was arrested. He is now being taken to the border to verify that he entered the country legally. He sounds confident he will be allowed to return to Congo. Please be praying for him.

Later that day Othy informed Jon that he had made it through the border where he explained Archip's situation. Border agents assured Othy that Archip was safe and would be processed into Congo the next morning, Thursday. Othy spent the night in Kasindi, the border town on the DRC side, waiting for Archip to cross the border.

When Archip joined Othy the next morning, we learned that our friend had not been safe. The police had left him sitting in the rain for several hours after arresting him, then beat him and threw him into prison where other detainees continued to abuse him through the night.

Yesterday, Friday, Archip went to the hospital in Beni for treatment to his wounds. He wrote,

I'm safe and I"m home now. I'm feeling sick because I was beaten seriously by the [Ugandan police] and the others arrested guys in prison all the night. But God is
good and he protected me. And thank you for the prayer and your love for me. I'm already going to the hospital for treatment. I'm sorry for the goods that we lost... I'm really sorry... I could not imagine if that can happen... 

Othy wrote yesterday,

...This is a very hard time for us and we don't know what to do neither what to think about the things that are now lost. 

In all, we bless the Lord, our God for what happened and moreover,  we are asking him to help us through what happened.

I cannot imagine why any of this happened or what to think, either. These is no sense to it. There is no good reason. Besides, understanding the why doesn't solve the now, nor does it direct how we should live in the face of the why.

But then we are not called to imagine the why of the worst. We are called to imagine another reality. We are called to imagine the hope of a redeemed and reconciled world. That's what this time of Advent reminds us.

The spirit of the Lord God...has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to comfort all who mourn;... 

to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit... (Isaiah 61:1-4) 

The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 

They will not hurt or destroy on all my hold mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

We are also called to "thank God, no matter what happens" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

No, we do not understand why this happened. We do not understand why the injustice and cruelty Archip endured are echoed across the globe. And to contemplate the why of darkness and evil only sends us to our own private place of darkness and grief.

So we hold to the hope and the promise. We respond in a radical and ridiculous way. In doing so, we usher in something of the Kingdom of God today. We chisel a crack in the darkness so the light can shine through. "In all, we bless the Lord."

Thanks be to God.

Hope

The Advent Hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel calls us to remember the hope of God’s promise to restore the world—all creation, all humanity, all relationships.

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

This hope is not empty. The hope is fulfilled in large and small ways. Just this week Othy Vitswamba and Archip Lobo, UCBC graduates and current staff members, were examples of that hope. They put on "the armor of light" and "put to flight" dark shadows.

Othy and Archip were traveling from Beni to join the CI-UCBC International Staff in Kampala for a week of training with UCBC visiting researcher, Lise vanOverbeeke. At the border the DRC immigration officer demanded $20 to stamp Archip's brand new passport, even though there is no regulation on the books that a fee should be charged for this purpose. Othy and Archip recounted the story.

We spent twenty minutes explaining to the official that we were not going to pay the bribe. We told her, "No. This is wrong. There is no such law." She insisted, "This is how it always is." 

So we said, “And this is why our country is the way it is, because of corruption, because people do not want to do their jobs correctly. You are stealing from our people, from our country. 

The officer challenged us. “Ah! But this is how it is. This is how it was even before you were born. Do you think you can change that? Do you think you are the ones who can change this country? 

We told her, “Yes! We are the ones who will change this country! Our generation will change things." 

She said, “You have money. You are traveling to Uganda. You are with a university. You can pay. I have to do such things so I can get money and my children can go to school.” 

“If we continue like this and you do not do your job properly, then your kids will never have money. They will never be able to go to school. But if we change and do things differently, then you will profit and your kids will profit.” We saw a change in her eyes. She let us go! “OK,  we will see if you can change this country.” 

At the next office, the medical officer demanded $70 to verify our vaccinations.  We told him “No,” and explained that we were going to Kampala for training to help our country, so he should help us. He asked, “If you think you can change this country then you live in a fantasy!” 

We told him, “No, this is a reality. We are leaders of this country. Nothing will take this hope from us.” 

Then he stood up to shake our hands. “We never meet people who speak like you. We will encourage you. Did you train in social science?”

We laughed. “No! I am a computer engineer and my friend here studied communications!”

Othy (L) and Archip (R)

After relaying their story, Archip commented, “I was shocked that all these people have lost hope. They are the ones who should show us the good way. They should be setting a good example for us. Congo is the way it is because most people have lost hope. There were other workers in those offices, and they all heard us. Five people heard our message of hope. We have already done part of the work. If each one of us from UCBC shares this message with just five people, can you imagine what we will do?”

Yes, even in the midst of darkness, God's promise to restore an redeem shines. Our "Dayspring from on high" attends even now.

Thanks be to God.