Dateline: 12:30 P.M. somewhere-over-the-Mediterranean-Sea time. According to my watch, it’s about 4:30 A.M. CST for those of you keeping score at home.
I am sitting on a 767 bound for Entebbe, next to a Senior Principal Auditor for the Ugandan government, flying over the Mediterranean Sea. At some point I will have to stop pinching myself because the bruises are beginning to pile up. That will probably have to wait until after we fly over the Sahara Desert and the sun goes down.
I must admit, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of sitting next to a complete stranger for 8 hours. Especially a man. No offense, but really all I wanted to do was turn on my shuffle, listen to my music, and sleep. I wasn’t feeling the desire to be especially friendly or talkative. But God had other plans for me than sleep. He had some talking and teaching to do, through a Ugandan government official.
We began with introductions and general pleasantries about our families and what we do for a living. In the natural course of conversation, he asked why I was going to Uganda and what I would be doing there. I responded that we were going to visit some friends who run an orphanage there and help them out with some of their responsibilities. When I mentioned we would be going to Gulu, his response was, “Gulu is a vibrant city. You will find the people as warm as the climate. But it is a vibrant city. I think you will like it there.”
I found this response curious. I have no idea if he is out of touch with reality or was just trying to give me a good impression. But to describe a city where refugees live in squalor and orphans were living on the street as “vibrant” struck me as odd. And a bit arrogant. As he talked about the privileges his children enjoy, I had to suppress my anger at the disparity of the children we were going to minister to.
And then, out of the blue, he looked me straight in the eye and asked:
“Tell me, what motivates you?”
Really, Lord? Right here? Right now? THIS moment?
I took a moment to gather my thoughts…to try to assemble some sort of coherency to the jumble that was floating around in my brain. To try to figure out a way to get those thoughts out of my mouth using words and sentences that would make sense.
I told him I have a strong faith. That I’m a Christian and as a result believe firmly in God and desire to obey and follow Him. That because He loves me so much, I try to do the things that would honor Him and please Him. That I try to obey what the Bible says and live a life that reflects that.
He smiled and nodded his head. And I felt the Spirit nudge me. Ask him.
“But, Lord, my heart is still pounding. My hands are still trembling. And I don’t know if I’ve really done a good job of answering his question.”
Ask him.
“But what if he starts to ask questions? What do I do then?”
Trust Me. But just ask him.
And so I did.
“Now you tell me…what motivates you?” I asked with a smile.
He responded, with a hem and a haw and an uncomfortable shift in his seat, “Pretty much the same thing. I am a Christian, too.”
He handed me his business card with his address, telephone number and email on it and expressed his hope that we would be able to keep in touch. Our conversation turned to a discussion of the symbols on the Ugandan flag pictured on his card and his visits to New York and Washington, D.C.
I have no idea how God will use that conversation, but it is my hope that in some small way I may have planted a seed in the heart of a government auditor in Kampala, Uganda…and that someday that seed may bloom and bear fruit.
UPDATE: Just before the plane landed, he informed me that he was heading home because his mother had recently passed away. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to pray with him but expressed my sympathy and told him I would be praying for him and his family. He smiled and thanked me and again expressed his hope to be hearing from me. By then it was time for us to get off the plane and so our conversation ended. I knew I would be going to Africa to minister to orphans. I never expected I might also have the opportunity to minister to a government official, too.