The road to Entebbe is lined with an eclectic mix of stalls, nightclubs and crowded, open air markets. Verdant green hillsides with red roofs peeking through the trees alternate with poverty-stricken areas. Crowds of people wander the unpaved red clay earth at the side of the road. Massive bunches of green bananas bring color to the markets. It was pouring rain Friday morning, which added to the challenge of driving, but our driver safely delivered us to Laico Lake Victoria Hotel, a lovely establishment in Entebbe. The heavy rain impacted people’s ability to travel, so we prepared for a late start to the afternoon.
Upon arriving, we discovered that an opening ceremony had been planned with His Worship the Mayor of Entebbe as the honored guest. Each person who gave a speech introduced himself by family and faith affiliation, and spoke of the importance of our work for the town of Entebbe and the country of Uganda. I found myself sitting up very straight, hands in my lap, glued to every word, as Fred and I were honored by the commitment to servant leadership reflected in each of the speeches. Once all the speeches were done, we took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet. We finished only the material introducing servant leadership that afternoon, instead of the two sections we had planned!
Driving back to Kampala during rush hour traffic was absolutely harrowing. The limos are mini-vans that include four plush, comfortable seats facing one another, so that two people sit facing backward. Fortunately, I had one of those seats on the return drive, but I still have images imprinted on my brain of Fred and Cherry starting up from the seats, looks of sheer panic on their faces, as pedestrians darted directly in front of us or a bus would make a turn across our “lane” of traffic. Karen would say, “Look at me and just talk to me,” when I would start to panic. Once in Kampala, there are at least a few traffic lights, but a whole lot more cars, not to mention fearless motor scooter drivers and pedestrians. I would never drive here. I understand that the traffic here is nothing compared to India, but it makes New York City seem like child’s play. We have been known to fondly refer to the traffic as “bumper cars on steroids.”
We gathered in Betty’s room (the Governor’s Suite) for our team meeting, where we shared stories from the three encounters that day and prayed together. Owen and Betty had had a visit from the archbishop during their leadership encounter with Catholic priests. He made an impassioned speech strongly supporting the Lead Like Jesus concepts, saying that only by returning to these biblical concepts of leadership would they be able to reverse the slide in the church’s impact; the priests were very attentive and engaged, and eager to find out more about using this material with the youth of Uganda.
The Kampala encounter at the Hotel Africana concluded well, with people hungry for more, wanting to come back the next day. It was filled with young people, the future leadership of Uganda. One young man apologetically arrived an hour late, explaining that he had to travel 3.5 hours to be at the encounter. Seven hours of travel each day to learn to lead like Jesus! We are overwhelmed with the hunger and commitment of the people here, so unlike those who have so many opportunities for training in the United States.
For the Entebbe team, Saturday morning started at “0h-dark-thirty,” otherwise known as 5:45 AM. We climbed into the mini-van at 6:30 and headed to Entebbe. Fred and Cherry took the forward-facing seats, while I decided I was happier facing backwards. Fortunately, it was a beautiful morning instead of the torrential rains of the day before. The sky was blue and while the traffic was heavy, at least it was daylight.
We made fairly good time to Entebbe, then noticed a crowd on the side of the road as we neared the town. Slowing to a crawl (from our 35-40 mph), we passed a mini-van and saw people looking into a ditch. Cherry glanced and saw a man’s body with a cloth over his face. She was overcome with emotion, as were we all. We drove on in a very somber mood.
Once the encounter began, we hardly had time to think. There was a lot of ground to cover without making the participants feel rushed. We marveled at God’s planning as Fred and I shared from our unique perspectives, Fred as a retired military officer, professor in leadership development, and church layman, and me as a leadership coach and ministry professional. Both of us spoke of how these concepts worked in families as well as in professional and ministry settings. Little had we known when we were assigned that we would have government officials in the audience as well as young professionals and ministry leaders.
One man questioned the wisdom of some of the principles regarding vision and implementation, referencing the recent events in Libya as an example of people without strong leadership. It gave us a good opportunity to talk through the importance of not abandoning people to do whatever they want, but to infuse values along with vision, and create commitment and ownership of the leadership vision. At our next break, I asked Fred when the last time was that a global situation like Libya had been referenced in one of his class discussions! We are very aware that we are not in the United States anymore!
We had special moments during the encounter as we watched the older men and women in the room praying blessings over the young men and women. What a sight, as these young men and women wept, hearing words of affirmation and love. So many in Uganda have grown up without parents, a whole generation is missing due to war and disease. Yet those who remain are eager to build into the new generation, the future of their country.
Our encounter began shortly after 9 and finished at about 5:15 … or so we thought. There followed a 90 minute closing ceremony with more speeches, an outpouring of gratitude from organizers and participants, a blessing being prayed over Fred, Cherry and me, and certificate presentations. The pile of certificates seemed to keep growing, as each person came and shook hands with each of us and then received their certificate!
One final story from the day reminded us that God is often at work in ways we cannot see. A young woman came to Cherry afterward to make sure we knew that she was interested in finding out more about Jesus. Cherry had the wonderful privilege to pray with her, and sometime later our new sister in Christ walked out of the room, saying, “I feel such joy!” Cherry is looking forward to keeping in touch with her, and she has put her in touch with local believers.
By the time we climbed back into the mini-van it was 7:00; it took us 90 minutes to get back to Kampala. We were emotionally and physically exhausted, but buoyed up by the outpouring of gratitude from the people and God’s saving work in the life of this young woman, which in and of itself made the exhaustion worth it. We sat dazedly in the hotel restaurant, sharing our stories, finally getting up to grab a few bites to eat from the buffet, and then heading off to bed.
While more could be said, and I haven’t even touched Sunday, it will need to wait until tomorrow night. In the morning, we start three more encounters here in Kampala. Please pray for us as we lead men and women to the leadership example of Jesus Christ. We are excited to see what these new encounters hold!
Debbie Goes To Uganda 