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Which gift is the greatest?!

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Believer
 
Joined in 2011
June 16, 2011, 18:25

Ugandan people are reputed for their friendly and hospitable character. When you visit Uganda, you will notice that when we greet someone, even a stranger, we don’t say hi! We say “How are you?” if you loose your way, you won’t only easily get directions from happy locals, often times, you are taken or ‘escorted’ to the place – free of charge! There is a genuine desire to help each other which is born out of the African Community life which is replicated through out many African societies.


These small acts of love are simple and to a certain extent obvious, well, because they are kind of expected! 🙂 In a society where communities are organized in such a way that everybody knows everybody and even a simple thing as someone you ‘know’ consciously refusing to greet you may call for a third party intervention, private life revolves around social life and social security becomes, not the only thing but everything!


Given such a back ground, custodians of social life, leaders in their various colors and shades wield tremendous power and influence, with political and religious leaders the run away pack. Whereas political leaders jump at anything ‘popular’ for their political life, religious leaders have over time built powerful institutions and vast followings. In fact, in Uganda, it is thought that only one percent of the total population are non believers with Christians the overwhelming majority enjoying around 93 per cent and the Muslims in the area of 6 per cent.


So, in a nation where 99 percent of the total population are governed by religious prejudices towards the lgbt community and live in a society which has languages that don’t even have a direct equivalent for the word ‘sex’ in their vocabulary, and where it exists, it’s mentioning is taboo, homosexuality is in a very harsh environment – and that is before you factor in the ever growing influence of the Evangelicals, mostly American, the immense ignorance and fear here about homosexuality and homosexuals among the locals, and the local religious/political leaders playing into the factors mentioned above. It is not uncommon to hear pastors say they are ‘fighting to protect our children’ – from gay people, as a reason for fighting homosexuality. This plays easily into the conservative and not so well informed minds here.


Does this mean that the situation is hopeless? Absolutely not! First and foremost, Uganda is a signatory to most if not all international human rights charters so upholding the rights of the lgbt community in Uganda or appearing to do so is in the best interest of the country and its political leadership. Secondly, about a half of Uganda’s total budget is funded by donor countries – which are also pushing for gay rights. So sooner or later, the political leadership in Uganda will see that it has more to loose than gain from persecuting this harmless minority group. We should not forget that draconian laws against homosexuality already exist in the Ugandan penal code. These are bad enough and should probably be the next target after this bill is defeated.


NOTE: The ninth parliament, which is yet to start work, agreed that pending bills from the 8th parliament (including the anti homosexuality bill) be disposed of before embarking on other business in the August house. So we will probably be knowing the fate of the anti sexuality bill in the coming few weeks.


Back to the issue at hand, I believe that the religious leaders and their deliberately confusing and hateful messages are the most harmful. The church has sowed seeds so hurtful, so harmful that although penning the right legislation in crucial, it can not wash it away in one wave. As people fighting in this war, we need several wings. We need activism – which thank God is doing quite well. We need education, which am afraid is not doing as well. We need a wing dedicated to education. Who is a gay person? Is homosexuality a habit? Can a person be Christian or even Muslim and still be gay? Can a gay person be in a committed loving relationship? These issues and many more need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We also need a dedicated wing of flag bearers if you like, professionals like Doctors, Nurses, Engineers who are gay and can demonstrate that gay people have a life outside their sex life and their lives can and in fact do impact us all in different ways. Build wells; organize mobile clinics and so on. We can call this a human face.


We also need to train local gay affirming clergy within the Church as an investment for the future justification being the church still wields tremendous power in Africa. True change will ultimately come from within the Church in this part of the world because this is where most of the intolerance is rooted. We are going to need religious leaders who can demonstrate the love of God as it is and not what head quarters is telling them to do. In May this year, I applied to Bishop Tucker Theological Institute for training but failed to raise funds required for the 3 year course. I had to put it on hold till September when hopefully, funding will be available for my training. Am willing to walk the talk.


Two days before David Kato was killed, he had called me and told me that he was working on something he wanted me to part of. We set an appointment for the following weekend, but he was killed mid week and the meeting never happened. At his funeral, speaker after speaker spoke of the love that David had toward all those who knew him, a love that cost him his life and the bible tells me, it IS the greatest!


God Bless You All

Believer



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
June 19, 2011, 15:14

Hello Believer……all the way from Uganda…..it is so good to hear from you. many of us have been following the recent events of the Bill and also the death of gay activist David Kato. Our hearts go out to you living in a country where being openly gay or lesbian has huge costs and can even be life threatening.


you may have noticed that I moved your post to this section as I think it is more relevant for here. I hope you don’t mind.


I was wondering too….I noticed you put your email address at the bottom of your post…..considering the situation in Uganda…..is it wise to put your email address here that you might be easily identified.



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
June 21, 2011, 00:44

your email address is now removed to protect your privacy



Ann Maree
 
Joined in 2008
June 21, 2011, 00:56

Hi Believer


You’re an inspiration! Are you receiving any financial and emotional support from a church/es or the community for what you plan to do?


It sounds like a very challenging mission indeed and one that will require a lot of cautious and patient work by a team of people from behind the scenes. How do you imagine things proceeding?


Thanks for sharing with us here.


Blessings,


Ann Maree



Believer
 
Joined in 2011
June 21, 2011, 23:18

Hi Ann


Thanks for your words of encouragement.


Like you correctly say, we still have a very challenging task ahead of us. We need ‘systems’ in place to help drive this mission. Currently, my small inclusive fellowship [Rainbow Christian Fellowship] is trying to build a coalition of faith based gay and affirming individuals and organizations within Uganda. So far, am in touch with Bishop Christopher Senyonjo but we are trying to develop a deeper working relationship with his organization [St. Paul Equality and Reconciliation Centre]


I personally feel that the ‘battle for hearts and minds’ – mostly through education and community service here in Uganda, needs to get underway as soon as possible. We don’t want a situation where legislation leaves the population behind and you wind up with scenes like what is now happening in South Africa (Article coming up in a few days).


Currently, we don’t get any regular funding for our work and only recieve small gifts once a year or sometimes none from a Church group at St. LuKe Presbyterian in Minnestoa, USA . In fact, we are currently looking for an inclusive Church that we can be affiliated to and partners in this work. So, Pointers will be very welcome!


Right now, nothing is certain and we are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the now ‘shelved’ anti gay bill. I would like to appeal to all lgbt members of faith whereever you are to stand with us in prayer, for the safety of the gay community in Uganda – and of late South Africa, and the allies involved in this work.


I will update you of any progress.


More in the week.


Blessings,


Believer



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
June 22, 2011, 14:09

Hi again believer……can you tell us how open you can be in Uganda with the Rainbow Christian Fellowship. We read of horror stories in Uganda where people have been attacked, had to leave neighbourhoods and live secretly for personal safety reasons.


What is it like for you and members of your fellowship?



Believer
 
Joined in 2011
June 22, 2011, 23:50

Hi!


The short answer is we are not open – atleast to the general public! This is a small, close knight community where we all know each other personaly. We meet mostly in private homes, we sometimes go out for a drink and hold discussions around a particular subject.


The stories you read are unfortunately true. It is a very unsettling experience but that is how it is so for now, we can only, patiently, keep working at trying to make a better Uganda.


Some of our members are in hetrosexual relationships, even married, in order to ‘fit in’. This is very worrying because this means they end up having more than one sexual partner, one hetrosexual and the other homosexual! If you start factoring in other variables like the presence of an STI along the sexual web, then it really doesn’t make for pleasant reading.


That is why we are doing our best to partner with others who have varrying degrees of expertise if we are to realize growth.


I hope that you are well 🙂


Believer



Ann Maree
 
Joined in 2008
June 23, 2011, 13:50

Hi Believer


I can understand why your work happens within a small, tight knit group. It would be much more risky if open to the general public. On the other hand, I’m guessing the smallness of the group and secrecy around the work might make it harder to reach others with the expertise you need?


Thanks for letting us know about your work and how we can help. Keep us posted.


Blessings,


Ann Maree



Believer
 
Joined in 2011
July 4, 2011, 01:03

Dear Ann,


Many greetings and thanks for the observations you emailed me!


Sorry about my delayed response. I have been very busy – am a research assistant and when I have work, usually, there is a lot of traveling and report writing involved. I have not been in Kampala or Mbale, where my fellowship is for at least 2 weeks now but I hope to be in either Mbale or Kampala this coming weekend.


Yes, you are right about the risk we face of being left out by people who would otherwise be very helpful to our work. However, we do try to reach others in this ministry and sometimes, we get positive feed back. On the other hand, we also have gay folks here who know the work we are doing but would rather stay off for their own safety! There was this really decent girl who was struggling because of her sexuality. She was referred to me and I spoke to her. I got her in touch with a Church group in the US that is now helping her through school because she had no social/family security. We have 2 more girls who need to be helped through school but it is a slow and sometimes frustrating process getting people who are passionate about this silent ministry. There is no funding there so it is always a blessing when you find people who do it because it is what they love to do.


But of course you have to appreciate other challenges that partners go through from day to day like balancing volunteer work with earning an income! 🙂


That said, I have a report to present tomorrow so I will go!!


Blessings to you too Ann,


Moses


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