I have now been in Uganda for a whole 13 days. How that’s possible, I’m not sure. Because I’m pretty sure I was in America eating Whataburger yesterday. But it has been 13 days apparently. Thirteen days of feeling so out of place yet thirteen days of feeling exactly IN place.
A friend and I got to Uganda at about 11pm on a Monday night. Some friends picked us up from the airport and we came back to our new home. (Side story: Our home is just up a hill from the home of one of my friends who lives here. So when we got here at 1am, the car takes us up the hill, and we sit outside the gate, honking, ringing the bell, knocking, for literally 10 minutes. No one came. LOL OF COURSE. So we got to have a sleepover that first night!)
The next morning, after getting our living situation situated, we took our first taxi. Now, in America, a taxi is a little yellow car, used mostly in like...New York or fancy places. Not entirely sure, all I know is I had never rode in one in Texas, and those I see in movies are nothing like Ugandan taxis.
Ugandan Taxi: (noun) a “15” passenger van (usually seats 16-17 people) that goes up and down one road providing transport. Consists of a driver, a conductor, and passengers.
Now, conductors probably have the most tiresome jobs. They sit in the first row, on the very left side by the window (with their heads out the window & because they drive on the left here, which still freaks me out) and find passengers for the taxi. Within the 13 days I’ve been here, I’ve seen them work for each passenger they get. Sometimes you’ll be waiting in the taxi, while the conductor is outside looking around for other passengers to bring them in. They are desperate, they are focused, and they have a goal.
So, during these long, usually crowded, taxi trips, I’ve been thinking about these conductors. The way they are consistently searching for people to bring in even going out of their way. That’s their job and they do it well. And I’ve found myself realizing that’s my job too (not literally, obvi).
“Then the Master (Driver) told His servant (Conductor), ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house (taxi) will be full.’” -Luke 14:23 (cheesy comparisons added)
This verse popped into my mind one taxi ride, and I have not been able to think of anything else during the rides now. The way Jesus has pursued me, finding me in the furthest of places, and bringing me back to Him. The way I should be the one going out into the roads and country lanes, the farthest and nearest places, COMPELLING people to come and see His hope, His light, His mercy, His GRACE, y’all. To see Him.
May we be as desperate and persistent to get people into His presence. May we go out of our own ways to bring others to Him. May we focus on the task as hand. May I be able to do my job as well as the conductors do theirs. That is my hope and prayer.
A friend and I got to Uganda at about 11pm on a Monday night. Some friends picked us up from the airport and we came back to our new home. (Side story: Our home is just up a hill from the home of one of my friends who lives here. So when we got here at 1am, the car takes us up the hill, and we sit outside the gate, honking, ringing the bell, knocking, for literally 10 minutes. No one came. LOL OF COURSE. So we got to have a sleepover that first night!)
The next morning, after getting our living situation situated, we took our first taxi. Now, in America, a taxi is a little yellow car, used mostly in like...New York or fancy places. Not entirely sure, all I know is I had never rode in one in Texas, and those I see in movies are nothing like Ugandan taxis.
Ugandan Taxi: (noun) a “15” passenger van (usually seats 16-17 people) that goes up and down one road providing transport. Consists of a driver, a conductor, and passengers.
Now, conductors probably have the most tiresome jobs. They sit in the first row, on the very left side by the window (with their heads out the window & because they drive on the left here, which still freaks me out) and find passengers for the taxi. Within the 13 days I’ve been here, I’ve seen them work for each passenger they get. Sometimes you’ll be waiting in the taxi, while the conductor is outside looking around for other passengers to bring them in. They are desperate, they are focused, and they have a goal.
So, during these long, usually crowded, taxi trips, I’ve been thinking about these conductors. The way they are consistently searching for people to bring in even going out of their way. That’s their job and they do it well. And I’ve found myself realizing that’s my job too (not literally, obvi).
“Then the Master (Driver) told His servant (Conductor), ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house (taxi) will be full.’” -Luke 14:23 (cheesy comparisons added)
This verse popped into my mind one taxi ride, and I have not been able to think of anything else during the rides now. The way Jesus has pursued me, finding me in the furthest of places, and bringing me back to Him. The way I should be the one going out into the roads and country lanes, the farthest and nearest places, COMPELLING people to come and see His hope, His light, His mercy, His GRACE, y’all. To see Him.
May we be as desperate and persistent to get people into His presence. May we go out of our own ways to bring others to Him. May we focus on the task as hand. May I be able to do my job as well as the conductors do theirs. That is my hope and prayer.