On Fridays, at Kitiibwa Home, we have, what we’ve lovingly
come to call, Fiesta Fridays.
I cook an entire Mexican meal and a handful of friends come
over to join in an evening of food, fun, and fellowship.
Each week, I’ve transitioned further and further away from
store-bought and incorporated more “made from scratch.”
The first week, I made all the salsas- pico de gallo,
mango-pineapple salsa, and guacamole. The second week, I made the tortillas.
The third week, I made every single thing from scratch- including the enchilada
sauce.
As I was standing in the kitchen simmering the enchilada
sauce, made from fresh tomatoes, olive oil, flour, and lots of herbs and
spices, I was talking with my best friend who is half the world away.
“Besides the fact that it’s easier, why do we even eat that
pre-made junk?” I asked her.
Yes, it’s easy and fast (for Americans) to run to the
grocery store and buy a package of tortillas for dinner.
But it only takes four ingredients and a little bit of time
and you can have an entire batch of made-from-scratch tortillas that are so
much better and definitely more fresh than the store-bought kind.
Sometimes, it’s the strangest things that I say or think
that God uses to teach me something.
I haven’t posted a lot of details here or even on social
media yet, but two weeks ago, God gave me a huge vision for beginning a
ministry here.
When my plans were all shifted literally days before I
boarded a plane to come here two months ago, multiple people asked if I was
going to come and begin a ministry of my own.
I think I responded with something along the line of, “No
way-- that would be crazy! There are thousands of ministries and non-profits in
Uganda doing anything you can imagine. So why would I need the headache and
hassle of starting my own?!”
Well, I was right. There are thousands of organizations
doing lots of different things in Uganda, specifically Kampala. It is a lot of
work and details to launch something from nothing. And it might be slightly
crazy of me to begin a new ministry. (But a lot of things God has called me to
over the years has seemed slightly crazy, to myself and others, and I’ve always
seen God’s plan in them.)
So, I’ve been walking forward, one step at a time, on this
path of building a ministry where there is an unmet need and I’ve seen God
answer lots of prayers for clarity and direction.
There have already been a few times, though, where I think,
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to partner with a pre-existing organization that is
doing similar things?”
This is where God used my enchilada sauce as a life lesson.
The can of enchilada sauce that you can buy from the store
(but not me because they don’t sell it in Uganda hah) is great. At one point in
time, the creator had a dream to make good enchilada sauce and used their time,
money, and resources to develop and grow it to what it is today. It’s good, it
serves its purpose, it’s successful, and there is really nothing wrong with it.
But why do we feel the automatic need to go with something
safe, easy, fast, and familiar?
Why can’t I spend a little time, money, and resources to
develop something that meets the need I can see and has every part of what is
needed or not?
I often alter store-bought sauces anyway. I add spices,
herbs, and sometimes even other things like fresh produce to them to increase
the flavor and make it the way I like it. So why don’t I begin from scratch and
make it the way I want it to begin with?
Usually, it’s fear.
Fear of failure. Fear of trying something new. Fear of wasting time, money, and
resource.
Or it just seems like too much work.
When I came to Uganda, I wanted to fall back on the safe,
easy, fast, and familiar option. I knew of something pre-existing and I wanted
to just step right in and help build on their foundation. Not a lot of risk.
Not any fear. And, honestly, next to no strenuous work.
Thankfully, God had bigger plans and he made the comfortable
option very uncomfortable for me.
I’ve left the safe, easy, fast, and familiar option and
begun to fully embrace the scary, hard, slow, and unknown.
This upcoming week, a lot of things will (hopefully) happen.
There are mission and vision statements to write, a P.O. box
to open, a social media presence to build, a website to consult with
professionals about, projects to describe, a workspace to create, and artwork
to paint and hang to complete its identity.
This week, Kitiibwa Ministries will transition from a big
dream in a notebook to a tangible, operating ministry!
In the midst of the transition and the “to do” list being
completed, I will also be writing a follow-up blog about the dream and meaning
of Kitiibwa Ministries, in order to help you understand more about it.
But for now, I’ll provide you with a quick Lugandan lesson:
kitiibwa means glory.
Kitiibwa Ministries will bring glory to God by helping vulnerable, poverty-stricken
children thrive through education, sports, and the Word of God.
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