Last night, I sat and listened to a
wonderful man, whom I have known for several years, and feel privileged, to
call my friend, tell his story to a team of young people, all of whom hung on
his every word.
I don’t have time to relate the whole story
now, but the summary version is this:
John was born to Rwandese refugees, in
Uganda, the youngest of 4 boys. His dad worked on a British owned tea
plantation, and John’s first memories are of life in the servants quarters,
occasionally catching a glimpse of a white person, but mostly having to stay
out of their way.
His mum was in Kampala where she had gone
to seek work, and John’s childhood was split between the tea plantation at
Mityana, and at Kampala – a day’s bus ride away. Both his parents lived in
extremely poor conditions, and John would often go all day without food.
During John’s formative years, first Uganda
was in turmoil, with a number of uprisings, coups and other civil unrests, and
then the Rwandan genocide impacted the family. Although John was too young to
be in danger of being enlisted to fight for any side, his brothers weren’t, and
all three were killed when they fought alongside the RPF in Rwanda in 1994.
From that point John had to take on the
role of head of the household, and care for his sick mother, and help find
money to pay the rent each month, as well as try to do his studies on an empty
stomach, and with no electricity to do homework by.
But luck was on his side, or as I prefer to
think – God had better plans for John. He was able to obtain the opportunity,
through the tea plantation, to go to study in the UK for two years at a Welsh
boarding school, and during that time he completed O levels and A levels in parallel
(whilst trying to understand the weird Welsh accent, cope with the harsh
weather of Wales in winter, learn that ‘tea’ isn’t just a drink but a meal, and
deal with all manner of other cultural differences).
Having completed his A levels, John returned
to Uganda to build his mum a 2 room house (that was infinitely better than the
shack she had been in), and then went to University at Liverpool to come out
with a combined honours degree.
John is now married to Sophie, with a
lively, and lovely 2yr old daughter Patience, and his work is varied, selfless
and inspiring. He has built his own house; a house for dad that has solar
power, rainwater harvesting, biogas fuel, and cows and chickens for milk and
eggs, as well as a vegetable garden for other food stuffs; a house for mum; a
dental and medical clinic at Maya plus a house for an elderly lady and her
grandchildren; and biogas projects at several other locations as well. He is
also involved in supporting the Acholi people living in Kampala, and has fingers
in many other pies.
As I said, that is the summary version, but
what comes through in it all is John’s passion that underlies all of his work –
to help liberate people from the crushing cycle of poverty.
Whenever I bring teams here, I come away,
as do the teams, richer for the experience. Whether we are working with the
Acholi Quarters project, or helping advance the biogas project, or going into
one of the many rural or slum schools that he has contacts with, or visiting
the Maya project – just listening to John talk about the projects and his
visions and dreams, is an absolutely wonderful experience.
His faith perspective, and his unswerving
belief that his poverty-ridden start in life was the best start he could have
to get him to where he is now, is very challenging and thought-provoking. No
‘poor little me’ syndrome, or seeking out charity, or feeling that life owes
him something. Instead John feels that he is privileged to have experienced the
cycle of poverty, and know that it is possible to climb out of it.
And it is that experience, and that
knowledge that drives him forward each day, to do what he can to help others
climb out, through access to more sustainable living, and education.
As well as leading the team this week, I’ve
also had the chance to have some wonderful conversations with John about dreams
he has for the future, for projects that will empower the vulnerable and
liberate those trapped in poverty. It is exciting to hear those dreams, and to
talk them through with him, and to consider ways in which the dreams could
become reality.
I’m sure there will be more blogs on that
in time to come, but for now I just lift a prayer of thanks to God – for John,
and his lifestory, that is so entwined with God’s provision and guiding hand,
and that is so encouraging and uplifting as a demonstration of how God can take
each of us, whatever our start in life, and use us, to bring about positive
transformation – if we will just be open to His calling, and His guidance.
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