The screen was lit up behind me as I stood in the centre of the gymnasium. The room was dark and quiet as close to 500 students at Hamilton District Christian High School listened to me share stories of the LRA war in northern Uganda. A few weeks ago, I received an email from a younger cousin - she was hoping I would come and share at the Remembrance Day assembly and I was completely honoured. The theme of the morning was remembering the veterans of the past, but also to realize the wars that are going on around the world today and how that affects all people. Since HDCHS sponsors former girl soldiers in getting them back into school they wanted to focus on the LRA and that's how I got tied into the assembly. For fifteen minutes I was able to share about the work and ministry going on in northern Uganda right now and I'm grateful to have another school of kids out there praying for me!
As I was racing home - in time for my second last shift at the group home - I was listening to the radio. The bugles blared just seconds before the silence began at 11:11 am. At first I didn't think anything of it, but as the silence continued, the tears started to stream down my face. I'm not sure what choked me up... it might have been remembering that Grandpa once fought in Indonesia for three years to help free Indonesia from the Japanese. It could have been the scenes of corpses that I helped to dig up and collect to help build a mass grave just north of Soroti. But I also think there was a sense of gratefulness for how blessed I am to live in Canada. Freedom to love God, express my opinions, work hard, and so much more.
I pray I never forget how much people have given up to fight for freedom and survival.
As I was racing home - in time for my second last shift at the group home - I was listening to the radio. The bugles blared just seconds before the silence began at 11:11 am. At first I didn't think anything of it, but as the silence continued, the tears started to stream down my face. I'm not sure what choked me up... it might have been remembering that Grandpa once fought in Indonesia for three years to help free Indonesia from the Japanese. It could have been the scenes of corpses that I helped to dig up and collect to help build a mass grave just north of Soroti. But I also think there was a sense of gratefulness for how blessed I am to live in Canada. Freedom to love God, express my opinions, work hard, and so much more.
I pray I never forget how much people have given up to fight for freedom and survival.
No comments:
Post a Comment