Mirembe Apondi

Mirembe Apondi…Joy Apondi…Hidden Joy.  How else to describe the ministry God has laid out before me? Tucked away in the kitchen at SEEK, I have found a hidden joy.  Prisca and Joy bring a light to this place, bring a sense of peace and happiness into the hearts of all those around them but especially to me.

While I was gone at outreach, I missed those two amazing women so incredibly much, missed the love and fellowship, missed our discussions and laughter.  We had moved to a level of trust in our friendship, a place where we could be completely open with one another. I was so fearful that when I returned after being gone for 3 weeks, it would have changed, that we would have to begin at square one.  Yet God is so faithful!

When we arrived back, I dropped my belongings at the cabin and sprinted to the kitchen, so great was my anticipation to see them.  I whipped around the corner and saw Prisca who screamed and threw herself into my arms.  As we hugged, Joy came rushing in from the kitchen and we embraced as well, cried, and laughed all at once.  They have become like sisters to me and no amount of time changed that.

So these past few weeks prior to our next outreach were truly amazing.  God has brought a new depth to our relationship.  Beyond talking as we work, sharing in one another’s hopes and struggles, and pouring love and life over one another, we have begun to have a women’s bible study a few days a week.  We just finished studying 1 John, which I absolutely love, but I especially enjoyed studying it with them.  Not only do we discuss the word, but they yearn to delve deeper and challenge me to do so as well.  Joy isn’t afraid of asking difficult questions and challenging us all to truly apply to word to our daily lives.  She understands that the word is living and is to be LIVED.  Prisca also seeks a deeper understanding, yet she tends to ponder on her own and then push the rest of us with her insights and questions. 

I read that and immediately agree with the first part.  YES, I want to know Christ, to have a deep relationship with Him, to know the POWER of his resurrection!  Then comes the second part… to participate in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.  That is a bit harder to stomach and truly DESIRE.  Yet I have to ask myself… if I was truthfully following Jesus’ commands, picking up my cross and following his walk, would my life back home look the same?  It is easy for me to say it does right now, as a missionary in Africa, yet my life back home looks so different to me.  Would it be so neat and tidy, so easy, so worry free if I was really following Jesus’ commands?  If I was honest, truly honest with myself, I would have to say no.  I would have to admit that I have taken the easy road many times, the one that leads to minimal struggles and no suffering for the kingdom.  I have picked which commands to follow and in doing so have limited myself and placed Jesus on the sidelines instead of front and center. 

Joy and Prisca challenge me in this, force me to confront my choices and lifestyle by simply living their lives, giving all of themselves for God and his Kingdom.  How incredibly grateful I am for that… for them.  I don’t know if they will ever understand the impact they have had on me and the hard lessons I have learned from knowing them. 

Last week, as a special treat, Nadia and I were able to spend some special time with Joy and Prisca AWAY from the base.  We cooked lunch early in the day so that by 11 we could head next door to the Safari Village for lunch and then sodas in town.  I say it was a treat for them, but it felt more like a treat for me!!  We sat and talked and laughed throughout lunch.  We spotted a monitor lizard and got to witness Prisca’s first fish tank experience.  She was simply flabbergasted at first that anyone would keep fish in tanks, as pets no less!  After that she would just sit and watch them, in awe, just like a kid in a pet shop.  It was so fantastic to watch, to see that childlike joy that so many of us give away for a more realistic, worldly point of view. 

I think that’s what I love the most about Joy and Prisca.  Though they aren’t naïve by any means, they have a child-like faith, a joy and playfulness that brings a radiance to SEEK that it would otherwise be lacking.  Especially Joy… my long lost sister, my confidante, the one who gently pushes me towards the greatness she sees that God has planned for me, my dear, dear friend.  I thank God each day for these women and only pray that I can have half the impact on them that they have unknowingly had on me.

 

(from left) Prisca, me and Joy in the kitchen