GUEST BLOGGER: SOPHIA JENKINS - MISSIONARY KID REFLECTIONS ON THE USA REFUGEE CRISIS OF UNDOCUMENTED CHILDREN

Sophia as baby on the back in Uganda, 1993

Growing up in East Africa, I have many friends who were born in times of trouble, war, and genocide. Often when given the opportunity their families left their countries in order to save the lives of their children. My friends lived in refugee camps and were fed by relief efforts of wealthier nations. Neighboring countries opened their arms providing refugee children with the opportunities to go to school and gave their parents jobs. I did not fully understand the complexity when I was a small child in Uganda; and my best friend was not Ugandan, but Rwandan. Our favorite thing to do was sit under the jack fruit tree’s at church, tell stories, and take turns on the swing. As children our stories never involved violence and abuse.  My friend and I were blessed to live with our parents in safety.

 As I grew older and lived in Rwanda, one of my best friends in high school was

Doreen Rwigamba and her dad who served with others to stop Genocide

born in Uganda during times of trouble. Her father served in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and she and I talked much of war and politics that raged throughout sub-Saharan Africa past and present. We had the luxury of attending a school where we were taught to engage in public issues and social change, because we were all aware of how our country Rwanda and the region was changing all around us.

Now I live in the US, and it is very easy for me to forget about the ugly, war ravaged places in the world. It is very easy for me to go through out my day and never once read the news. I am grateful that I still have friends and family, who continue to share stories that are often ignored.

          This week I have not been able to avoid the stories on my Facebook feed or the news on my television. I am bewildered and disgusted by watching the stories on the US News. If a nation in the global south had between 60,000 and 80,000 children cross their border fleeing violence the western media would call it a "refugee crisis."(http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/a-refugee-crisis-not-an-immigration-crisis.html?referrer=,
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20140629-refusing-sanctuary-to-children-in-need.ece.)

2011 Kigali International Community School Graduates

How do we show compassion to these children? I do not know what I can do to make a change. I am overwhelmed with questions.  How can we provide for these children? How can we welcome them into America? (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/some-towns-immigrants-met-aid-instead-anger-n148956, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bethany-anderson/unaccompanied-alien-child_b_5555584.html?utm_content=buffer3f3a1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer.)

          On the news I see plenty of discussion centered on border control, more agents, more guns, and very little discussion on protection of the most innocent and vulnerable. My father reminded me of some African stories.   President Kagame and Museveni when they guarded borders would let children cross and protected them from men with guns. Many of the children who are coming to the US have been victims of rape, abuse, their lives have been threatened.  Yet in response the most common public response is to say, “Return to your country.” I question this line of deportation thought that encourages children to go back to their abusers; the drug lords and gangs that control their homes.

         

Sophia and Doreen Rwigamba

Today I am grateful for the resources, the compassion of the church, African nations (and others) who cared for my friends when they lived for a season as refugees. I am praying that the same or even better treatment, care and compassion can be extended to the thousands of children that are fleeing Central America for the United States (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/the-moral-failure-of-immi_b_5557775.html.)

 I fervently ask, “Lord Jesus send us Your hope, provide a way for the most hopeless in our world. As Your people we often strip the dignity away from the most deserving. Remind us that You yourself came as a child. Jesus You fled to Egypt as a refugee. When I cry out in confusion and grief for these children, I am reminded that You are there with them. You have experienced their pain, and You are caring for each child now. Teach me, teach Your church, Your people how to love the way You love and to see the humanity in each child You have created”

UGANDA MARTYR'S DAY REFLECTIONS ON BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR TO SAM KUTESA

Three of my five children - Ruth, Timothy, and Ethan

Last night I was homesick.   I spent the evening reading newspapers from East Africa and drinking chai (tea.)    My spirits healed a bit.

I also remembered that today is Marty's Day in Uganda.   I've decided to keep my Ugandan children home from their American school day.    My children need to know being a Ugandan means one has a dignified place in the history of Christianity.     There are many historic events for which Uganda is remembered for, but I want my children to never forget two.   First, Christianity in Uganda began with martyrdom.   Two, Uganda was a catalyst in the East African Revival.   All Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa must include Uganda in their history.   

As I read news last night I discovered that Uganda's Minister of Foreign Affairs Honorable Sam Kutesa has been nominated to become the president of United Nations General Assembly.   He has been endorsed by both the African Union http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/643128-au-endorses-kutesa-for-un-presidency.html and the Non-Aligned Movement http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/656153-sam-kutesa-heads-for-un-top-job.html.

Honorable Uganda Minister Sam Kutesa

Yet, Honorable Kutesa's nomination has controversy.    Social media is rapidly promoting a petition for United States Secretary of State John Kerry to deny Honorable Kutesa a visa to enter the United States and for United Nations member states to vote against Honorable Kutesa's presidency http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stop-sam-kutesa-from-becoming-president-un-gen-assembly?recruiter=45859428&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_mobile.

Honorable Kutesa has a controversial past http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Push-to-block-Kutesa-UN-job-gathers-pace/-/688334/2334132/-/item/0/-/jc2fg5/-/index.html.   The Western media is reporting on Honorable Kutesa's past and focusing on the Anti-Gay bill recently signed by His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/01/uganda-anti-gay-minister-human-rights-kutesa,  http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2014/06/01/ugandas-sam-kutesa-at-the-un-bring-him-on/, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/03/the-u-n-s-next-president-is-a-gay-hating-friend-of-uganda-s-corrupt-dictator.html,and http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/06/01/3443560/sam-kutesa-un-general-assembly/. 

I have never met Honorable Kutesa.  However, our lives are intertwined as neighbors.  His daughter

was my neighbor in Uganda.   Though she came from a very influential family and married into another still she greeted us, stopped by our home to drink chai, and always extended neighborly kindness.    I can't help but believe the Spirit of the Lord moves in the Kutesa family.    Without the Lord's movement in one's heart how else would such humble hospitality thrive?

I am also friends with Honorable Kutesa's sister-in-law.    Her husband is one of my better non-believing friends and advisers.    Our families attend movies together and share meals. I always come away wiser.   My friend has as many failings as I.   We've both married well to gracious women who love us and accept our failings.    I can't deny that gift of the Lord.

Lastly as a Mulokole (Born Again / Saved / Evangelical) I inherited the legacy of the East African Revival.    Sam Kutesa's father, Kosiya Kyamuhangire was one of the early leaders of the East African Revival.    Mzee Kyamuhangire was a true visionary who died on a mission in Gahini, Rwanda.   His death seemed inconsequential at the time.  His grave was unmarked.    Yet, he was a true visionary who saw the colonial borders separating East Africa as irrelevant.   He left a legacy of a dream for a united faith and people.   His ideals saw the family of God rise above artificial divisions such as race, nationality, denomination, and ethnicity.    I cannot count the number of times this legacy marked both the readings of East African history and ordinary conversations in churches, schools, government, business, and social settings (http://www.newvision.co.ug/mobile/Detail.aspx?NewsID=632330&CatID=1, http://en.igihe.com/news/president-kagame-pays-tribute-to-kosiya, http://allafrica.com/stories/201206250097.html?viewall=1, http://www.chimpreports.com/index.php/mobile/news/4848-kagame-pays-glowing-tribute-to-kutesa%E2%80%99s-fallen-dad.html.)

Honorable Kutesa is my neighbor.   My Boss instructed me to love my neighbor as myself (Leviticus 19:18,  Matthew 5:43,  Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33,  Luke 10:27, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8.)  How do I practically do that?  With today being Martyr's Day it seems especially relevant to reflect on the art of neighboring a controversial neighbor.   

The instructions of my Boss in Leviticus 19 is a hodgepodge of rules for neighborly living thousands of years ago.   Some seem rather silly in today's context such as not planting two kinds of seed in a field or using two types of material in a garment (Leviticus 19:19.)    However, when compared to the documents of their day these rules have many enduring principles such as truth, justice, and the protecting of life.    This instruction of loving one's neighbor as one's self has a unique interpretation, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord, (Leviticus 19:18. New International Version.)"   Loving one's neighbor means we know when our neighbors have done wrong.   Yet, we don't nurture a wound and seek an opportunity for revenge.    Instead we forgive and seek to build unity.

So much of the news from social media and Western news on Uganda focuses on the recently signed Anti-Gay bill.    Yet, the whole story is not told.  

There is historical evidence that homosexuality exited in pre-colonial Africa.   Yet most historians conclude the Baganda (largest numeric ethnic group in the nation-state of Uganda) found the practice of homosexuality abhorrent.  Buganda faced competing interests between Muslim Arab traders, French Catholic missionaries, and Protestant missionaries from the United Kingdom in the early 1880’s. Many believe that Buganda Kabaka (King) Mwanga was influenced to become a homosexual practitioner by Arab Muslims. When his pages resisted his homosexual advances it led to their martyrdom on June 3, 1886. It is little wonder why the discussion on homosexuality so rapidly stirs such deep emotions.    Uganda does have deep historical wounds related to homosexuality and violence.   I cannot imagine that these old stories do not impact today’s perceptions.   Uganda’s history of homosexuality is perceived as one of outside influence and violence.

These old wounds also recycle themselves in contemporary times.     With Uganda's culture of same gender affection and many still living in economic poverty, Uganda youth can be particularly vulnerable to exploitation by those from outside Uganda.   (For more pastoral reflections see http://www.hekimagreatlakesmessenger.blogspot.com/2014/03/can-we-heal-wounds-faith-and-ugandas.html.

With so many wounds of the past and present it is tempting to neglect the mercy and justice of Godly love.    My boss however makes it clear - Revenge is bad manners for neighbors.    Mob justice directed against homosexuals is wrong.    Mob justice on social media directed against my neighbor Kutesa is also wrong.    Our neighborly task is redemption.  

 The dictionary defines redemption as “atoning for a fault or mistake” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redemption,) “to make (something that is bad, unpleasant, etc.) better or more acceptable, to free from what distresses or harms,  to free from captivity by payment of ransom, to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental,  to release from blame or debt,  to free from the consequences of sin” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redeem.)    Both extremists in this debate seem to have lost sight of the possibility of redemption.

Redemption goes against our depraved human nature (Genesis 3.)   It calls us back to the human dignity of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27.)    How do we practically return to God given dignity?   

My Boss instructed us that when religious manipulators stir us to hate we choose to pray blessings upon those who choose to be our enemies.   He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43, 44.)"

As we pray we are changed.   We no longer count score of rights and wrongs.     My Boss said, "To love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33. NIV.)”   After all as we count score we find that we too have our failings.  

We may try to define neighbor as someone just like ourselves.   The easiest ways to see our neighbor may be through lenses such as nationality, race, denomination, political party, ethnicity, and economic standards.     

However, what if it comes down to affections and affiliations nurtured by shared fears and wounds?  

My Boss told a story to address the misconception that my neighbor means someone just like me.    Old theologians call it the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37.)   We could translate Samaritan to any cluster of people our wounds make us easily despise.  (For instance - http://hekimagreatlakesmessenger.blogspot.com/2013/10/somali-transporter-rescues-mbale-trader.html.)
  
All are worthy of love.   No one should be the victim of mob justice.   

As the Uganda Martyr's went to their death they did what Jesus' followers through out time did when faced with injustice.    They prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them. (Acts 7:60. NIV.)”

Thus on Martyr's Day as the mobs debate and posture the Martyrs call us to another way.   We cannot deny either the historic or contemporary wounds.    Yet, redemption is possible.    We pray for those who choose to be our enemies and act with kindness, grace, and love to all.   My neighbors include the Kutesa family as well as the victims and perpetrators of contemporary mob justice. 

BIRTHDAY PRAYER FOR PEACE IN SOUTH SUDAN - Adopted from Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Sharing dinner with South Sudanese

The Lord was kind to give our family an extended season in Africa.    Through most of that season Sudan was at war.   Occasionally, South Sudanese would visit our Ugandan church, the Kampala Church of Christ.    Our organization, New Testament Churches of Christ had work in the Kiryandongo Sudanese refugee camp near Hoima.   I had Sudanese students in my classes at Kampala Evangelical School of Theology.

While we were in Rwanda South Sudan became independent.  The war seemed to be over.    Many of us had great hopes for South Sudan.    My business minded friends from Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda were investing.

As we've moved to the USA with a dream to serve the Diaspora I have heard over and over again from Kenyan, Rwanda, Tanzanian, and Ugandan friends, "We must reach to the South Sudanese.   We can not leave them alone."

A few weeks ago shocking news began coming from South Sudan.   Some worry that a civil war is possible.

Tonight we had a few South Sudanese in our home for dinner.   On my birthday, tomorrow I will preach from Psalm 147, an Exilic Psalm in a South Sudanese church.   Yet, our Sudanese brothers stopped this evening to bless our family's home.   It was humbling.  (ABA = Africa Blesses Again.)

Each year I ask for my friends and family to join in a prayer for a specific matter on my birthday.   On my 47th birthday I request you join in praying the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi for South Sudan.
 

 

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

KIGALI AS I SEE HER: RESPONSE TO PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S ARTICLE ON CHRISTINE AGUILERA'S VISIT TO RWANDA

Christine Aguilera visiting Rwanda

This morning as I started my morning ritual of checking emails, news, and social media two Rwandan friends, Denis Kamugisha and Ndahiro Emmanuel drew my attention to a recent article in People Magazine on Christina Aguilera’s June 2013 trip to Rwanda (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20738743,00.html.)  The article states, 

“Christina Aguilera knew visiting war-torn Rwanda would be eye-opening. But it wasn't until she spent time in Kigali, Rwanda, on a hunger relief mission this June – visiting refugee camps and seeing the severe poverty firsthand – that she discovered just how profoundly moving the experience would be.”

Though the article promotes godly values such as empathy and compassion People Magazine’s article was based on inaccurate assumptions.   In that process I believe it created an inaccurate perception of both Kigali and Rwanda that merits correction.   The Kigali People Magazine describes is one I have never seen.  

First, there is no war in Rwanda.    There was a war fought from 1990 to 1994 that resulted in the

2020 Vision Estate, Kigali, Rwanda

1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.   Now Rwanda and her capital city of Kigali are some of the safest places you can find.     

Rwanda has occasionally suffered incursions and grenade explosions in markets from the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) based in Eastern Congo.    The FDLR is largely made up of the remnants of those who perpetrated the Genocide in 1994 that retreated to Congo.   Also, Eastern Congo has been plagued with civil unrest and war for a number of years in which various militia groups (which include the FDLR) operate.   

I am currently living in the American city of Chicago.   Some call Chicago, “The murder capital of America.”   The reality is that Chicago has some tough violent neighborhoods.   Yet, it also has some delightful neighborhoods, and great educational and economic opportunities.    African Diaspora are flocking to Chicago (http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2013/08/05/spc-inside-africa-chicago-a.cnn.)   It would be both inaccurate and hurtful to Chicago for Diaspora to repeat the negative stereotypes.    I don’t know any Diaspora who communicates about Chicago in stereotypes.   I believe Rwanda and Kigali deserve the same dignity.   

Secondly, I am unaware of a refugee camp in Kigali.    However, some refugees do find their way to Kigali.    Most Kigali refugees that I know find extended family with which they live.   Also, most refugees that I know in Kigali are educated professionals who soon find employment.   Kigali offers hospitality and opportunity which should be praised.

 

The refugee camp visited by Ms. Aguilera was in Kigeme.   The Kigeme camp is populated largely by Congolese refugees that Rwanda has graciously received (http://www.wfp.org/stories/christina-aguilera-and-yum-brands-fight-world-hunger-new-psa.)  

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports, 

“Rwanda hosts another 43,000 refugees, more than 99 per cent of whom are also from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The majority of these refugees live in three camps, in Gihembe, Kiziba and Nyabiheke, with a small number residing in the capital, Kigali. This brings the total of refugees and asylum-seekers in Rwanda to more than 57,600. The worsening security situation in the DRC limits these refugees' prospects for return (http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e45c576.html.)”

Besides these inaccuracies there is a YouTube video explaining Ms. Aguilera’s trip that though it may show accurate scenes from Kigali likely creates inaccurate perceptions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aP46YKM-Dg.)  From my perspective inaccurate perceptions actually increase the likelihood of poverty becoming systematic. The video shows Ms. Aguilera with children singing and dancing.   It also shows Ms. Aguilera cooking food, and distributing school supplies.   She says in referring to hunger, “It is time for us to do something about it.”

Kigali is a city of paradoxes.   It has a growing middle class.   The city is not only safe, but clean.   Universities are thriving.   Yet, a portion of Kigali is poor.   I agree with Ms. Aguilera that it is time to do something about poverty.

I suggest the best answer can be found in the dreams of the Rwandan people.   Those of us who

do not carry Rwanda passports should show our concern by first listening.   We should read the 2020 Vision (http://edprs.rw/?q=content/vision-2020.)   Then we should adapt our plans to best fit Rwanda’s dream.   The vision is to transform Rwanda into a middle income country with a knowledge based economy.    The pragmatics of the plan calls for investment in education and business.The images the Western media creates of Rwanda many times negatively affect the implementation of this vision.    Long-term investors in business and education are most stirred by images of hope.   Rwanda has many and these images are the ones that should be most seen.

 

If we from the United States feel compelled to address the Congolese refugee situation in Rwanda I offer two suggestions.   First, it is time to cease enabling the Congolese conflict (For further reflections see http://hekimagreatlakesmessenger.blogspot.com/2013/08/pastoral-reflections-on-congo-stop_30.html.)   Second at the risk of rumor mongering, I have been hearing persistent rumors that some of the Congolese refugees in Rwanda may soon be resettled in the United States.   We should be praying about this rumor.   If it does happen we need to rally American good will to match the hospitality and kindness of Rwanda.

Thank you Ms. Aguilera for displaying compassion to the Congolese refugees in Rwanda.   I ask that People Magazine correct the inaccuracies in their story on Ms. Aguilera’s visit to Rwanda.