So, how many of you left the theater after watching Schindler’s List wishing you had had a chance to kill Adolf Hitler? Or, how many watched Valkyrie and wished you had been part of the underground plotting to assassinate Hilter? Be honest. I imagine most of you have had those thoughts go through your head. I did. It is not the only time those feelings have surfaced.
In 2006, I traveled to Uganda for the first time. I did not choose to go to Uganda for any particular reason. I picked that country because that’s where I found a solid tour company to take care of me while there.
Before going, I researched Uganda and tried to learn what I could about this East African nation. One thing I learned about was the war going on in the north – the Ugandan Army against the rebel forces, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – led by Joseph Kony. There were warnings at the U.S. State Department’s travel site and general news articles. So, I knew that I wanted to learn more when I reached.
It was not quite safe to travel to northern Uganda in the summer of 2006. One would probably be fine, but there were still scattered attacks in outlying areas of the region. There were rumblings of peace talks happening sometime in the near future, but that seemed uncertain and unstable.
When I journeyed to Kampala that summer, there were smatterings of news about the LRA in the local papers. And, when I asked local people, some few knew a bit about the war. But overall, those in the central region of Kampala simply knew to not go north and that Kony was a bad guy. They were not particularly concerned or bothered by it. I later learned, after living there and getting to know people better, that this was probably in large part due to the fact that people in the north were looked down on. In general, Acholi’s were not seen as equals. Plus, there were longer-standing issues, politically and ethnically, that affected the relationship between those in the north and those in other regions. Additionally, Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, personally did not like the Acholi – according to many people I’ve spoken with through the years from various parts of Uganda. Keep this in mind as I continue to share.
When I went in 2007, a main goal was to go north. Something about the situation there, based on what I had researched and heard about when in Uganda the year before, caused quite a stir within me. Thankfully, my now good friends with the tour company I went with the previous summer also had an interest and curiosity to go to Gulu – to the north. It was now considered safe to go. Kony’s men, the LRA, had not attacked on Ugandan soil in some months. They had been pushed into Sudan fully by now.
I have yet been able to put into words my feelings and impressions from that first trip to the north. The sea of huts rolling over the hills, the straw roofs glistening in the sun – it was like looking at the waves of the ocean. Though, like the ocean, as I entered the camps, I discovered the fierceness of the undercurrents – the riptides pulling to suck one under and kill. There were just so many stories of death. That is what got to me. For sure, the poverty and awful conditions in which these people lived were enough to make your stomach churn. But, it was the hollow eyes – the hopelessness, where even fear is so common they hardly feel it anymore – that left me indignant like never before.
I wanted to know more about this guy Kony – this strange religious, spirit-based, cult leader who slaughtered his own people in ways that are not fit to be discussed. To try to learn more is like going down various holes in Wonderland. It is legend as much as reality. Bizarre.
I left there knowing that I was to go back – to do something.
I was also appalled at the amount of NGO’s and agencies supposedly in existence in that area, while seeing very very little, if any, fruitful help given to the people. So much that I saw just didn’t add up with things I would hear. I figured maybe it was just that it’s so far out and with such little infrastructure that maybe word hadn’t spread yet about how things were currently. For instance, I went to the night commuter center – where the children would go for protection during the war. I was under the impression that maybe thousands of kids were there even still. But, by June of 2007, only about 100 came, and that was mostly because they didn’t have a good home – not because they were needing security from Kony.
But, back I went – to live in Uganda in 2008. I did not know how or what do to exactly, but I knew that I was to go to the north and help people in northern Uganda start life again – after a generation of oppression at the hands of Kony – and the Ugandan army. What happened in the north – all the atrocities – were mostly started by Kony, and unspeakable things were done by him and his men. But, the Ugandan Army also had a bad reputation for how they treated the Acholi people. Remember what I mentioned earlier?
Skipping all the details of the work and what not, I want to just say that I heard the stories and saw first hand the affects of this war. I’ve held kids in my arms as they wept and somehow tried to let go of the memories – the nightmares – of when their parents were slaughtered, or how they lay among dead bodies for days playing dead to be sure Kony’s men were gone, or people being strangled with their own intestines. I’ve watched the escape to alcohol in attempts to obliterate the memories of these things, only causing more problems. Even after living there for so long and being among these lives, I still weep as I write this. It is almost unbearable for me. Imagine how it is for them.
I have wanted to kill Kony.
I am not kidding. I would be driving in the beast on the way back from the village – from one of these encounters with the people. Or, I would finish talking with my dear friends and co-workers, Martin and Sam, seeing the depth of loss in their souls and hearing of all they experienced (like Sam and his son both being abducted), and honestly wish that we would encounter Kony. I wanted to kill him – that God would give me the strength and purpose of David killing Goliath – valid and with justice. Somehow it seemed like this would help.
It always seems that revenge will help, doesn’t it? Or, to avenge? Or to gain justice on our terms?
And then I would think about what I also may have just finished teaching on during that same village visit. About forgiveness, the power of God, freedom, having hope, looking forward, seeing purpose amid tragedy, and on and on – these convictions – direction from the Creator and Savior. And I would think at how the people themselves – including Martin and Sam and Joel and Fred and Esther and Maria and Jimmy and so many others – loved to praise God and worship and dance and simply live, because they could, because they were alive. They were not bogged down with anger and hatred. Bless God. Many were – are. And, unfortunately, they are the ones not free.
Kony and the LRA continue to wreak havoc in neighboring nations – in the DRC, CAR, and Southern Sudan. His forces are not as strong and the numbers of deaths and abductions not as large, still hundreds of thousands are already displaced and living in camps – the same pattern that began in Uganda 20-some years ago. He needs to be stopped. Or, I should say – I want him to be stopped. Who wouldn’t? How couldn’t we?
I almost had the chance to go to these countries last year and see up close what is happening. You see, the Brigadier General for the Ugandan Army in charge of the forces fighting Kony just happened to own the hotel in which I lived in Gulu. Martin is his nephew. I’ve sat with this man and was personally invited – welcomed – to go on his jet and let him show me what was happening. He was kind of a busy guy, though, as you can imagine, and I kind of ended up moving back to the states. My point for saying this, though, is that I guess I figure I had a pretty decent inside view of some of these things.
And yes, when this opportunity came up, I would actually think, “what if we came upon Kony?” What if? And despite my overwhelming ire over all he’s done, I would also imagine myself telling him about Jesus. The real Jesus – not his convoluted ideas of Bible things. Let the Holy Spirit deal with him – or something. I realize how that may sound simplistic or silly. Kill him or share Jesus with him?
Why hasn’t he been killed yet? I would hear that question from westerners so much through the years. And, that has such a longer answer than you would think. It isn’t like people haven’t gone after him. These geo-political, cultural, ethnic, spiritual issues in regions like this do not have simple backgrounds or solutions. And seldom can someone from outside grasp the complexity without much time spent in the region and among the people.
I grieve for those still enduring the violence and terror of the LRA. I long to see this stop. Believe me!
But mostly – mostly – most importantly – I go back to…the people. Alex, Peter, Christine, Katarina…. All those who are so deeply scarred. And I go – what do they need? What kind of on-the-ground, hands-on, direct, long-term, life-changing help can they receive? They do not need band-aids, welfare-type help, or our western ideals or Christianity manipulated over them.
They need Love. Love and encouragement. Love and letting them share the best way for them to live and thrive. Then, love and simply saying – how can we help you with that? Love and empowerment. They need people to be present – consistent. Love and the freedom to be themselves. Love and skills. Love and education. Love and the ability to release – to let them live anew – fitting their culture. All under the love and truth and power of Christ.
If all of this information about the LRA and Joseph Kony makes you want to “do” something, great. I encourage you to pray. Pray for the people. Pray for Kony (our enemies. Let’s see how God wants to bring justice.) Pray for what you should do – if anything – to be involved. Feel free to be in touch if you want to help in some way.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
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