Hope in Devastated Places, by Oria Dale

Published: March 29th, 2007

I recently spent some time in Uganda where I had the opportunity to visit the northern part o the country.  Our mission there was small but significant.  Kampala Children’s Centre was transporting 9 orphans down from the north to adopt them.  We were to travel overland to the Pader District, collect the children and take them on the 10 hour journey to their new homes.  This was to be a pivotal point in my life.  It was the first time I would be going into what is a long-standing conflict zone.  I was choosing to be obedient to God despite the potential risks and dangers ahead of me.

For 20 years, a war has been fought which has devastated northern Uganda.  Things have been relatively quiet for about 8 months now, but an end to the conflict is still not in sight.  Millions of people have been forced into Internally Displaced People’s camps….refugees in their own nation.  They have been stripped of everything.  Children have guns instead of toys.  Boys are abducted and forced to kill, rape and torture others.  Women are kidnapped as sex slaves.   Families are ripped apart.  Thousands more children are left orphaned.  HIV/AIDs, disease, loss of identity, a place to belonging and constant fear…These are just some of the many hardships the people of northern Uganda have been facing for 2 decades.

In the short time I spent in this camp (one of the many in Uganda today), which boasts 36,000 inhabitants, I met people who had experienced some or all of these tragedies. These are people who understand what it means to have literally nothing.  

So many of us have heard these realities before.  In fact, you could take these lines and substitute the name “Uganda” with any number of nations currently in a state of crisis.  I quickly found myself almost numb to the sting.  Another nation at war, another government crippling its people, another country devastated by AIDs, another life robbed of innocence - the injustice is overwhelming.  The history behind the injustice goes so deep.  It’s so detailed and complicated.  The devastation and the needs are so great it seems too much for one person.  Do my seemingly feeble attempts help or will they actually bring about another whole area of problems and issues in the future?  How do I even begin to pray about all of this – and after that – begin to engage with these issues by putting those prayers into action?

And yet as I sat there in the IDP camp and shared in these stories, I was drawn to Jesus.  The answers have to come from Him.  His life was for these moments.  He fought for our freedom, that we would have life to the fullest.  That we might be fully alive.  He was a passionate warrior for justice, for the brokenhearted, and for those left devastated.  And He was always moved with compassion.  I found myself praying that I would never turn my eye away or ignore the ache that sits high in my throat - the screams, the cries, the desperate hope for more of God in this moment.  I pray that I would never become hardened to the realities around me, that my heart would stay soft, that I would be intentional with my actions and reactions, that my character would be ready for the call and that I would seize every opportunity that comes my way with fervor.  I pray that I would be positioned in a way that my life, my possessions, and my time is not my own.  I ask God to make me willing to risk my life for another should it come down to the wire.  I humbly request that He would spend my life championing justice for others for the glory of God.  That I would see people become who God created them to be, see the gold shine out of their characters, see them go from devastation and mourning to vibrancy – fully alive in Christ and all that He has for them.  

And my hope was restored… despite what I was experiencing around me - because ‘the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’  - John 10:10

“The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who mourn in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.  They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated….” – Isaiah 61

Photo for title image and thumbnail provided by candace under a Creative Commons License.

Oria Dale is a Canadian currently splitting her time between Zimbabwe and Canada.  She has spent the last 7 years journeying with community living and 24-7prayer in both Canada and the UK. Oria loves travelling, dreaming, pilgrimage, snowboarding, adventuring with God, long talks on the beach, and seeing people freed from their boxes to live out their adventures with God.  You can contact her and dialogue with her by visiting her blog.

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