I asked in a recent workshop I was teaching "how many of you love history?" Only a few raised their hands and most of them were over 50 :)

I love learning more and more about people of history, especially those leaders who lived in divided times and had to navigate through the mine fields as they waved the banner of unity and collaboration.

My love for history drove me to a book about Lincoln's words in his Gettysburg Address. Other than the fact that the Gettysburg Address was delivered on my birthday 118 years prior to my birth, I've been drawn to its punctuated potency.

The book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, has helped me discover a couple pieces of gold that lend wisdom to our current work of bringing local churches together to act as The Church.  I hope to share those with you in a short 3 blog series, the first of which I will share below.

Four years ago, along with good friends and the support of my church community, I began acting on a conviction to live out the values of our Christian faith more fully. Not on a two-week overseas mission trip, not once a month at a soup kitchen for the homeless, but daily in our immediate community.

Up until that point, I was king of my life, where safety and comfort were the edict of my kingdom. But as I pursued the Christian faith, it humbled me from this throne that was not mine to claim. My faith invited me to submit my life to be a part of something greater then myself, which consequently meant abandoning my own aspirations for safety and comfort.

This is what led us, and many Christians, to identify intentionally with the poor. It is not required for acceptance in the faith, but I don't think one should be surprised when Christians do choose to reach out to the downtrodden of their community, even at great personal risk to themselves....

It has taken some time to reflect back on this latest trip to Africa. There is still a lot of reflection and discernment to be done, but I know I have learned a lot up to this point already. I could best wrap up my own personal lessons in one word: weakness.

I feel like I’ve learned a lot about my own weaknesses. It seems clear that being on your home turf allows for a certain level of status quo and comfort to develop even if things are busy and difficult. Operating within a comfort zone seems to be something that will naturally and inevitably come upon us…no matter how much we teach and talk about living with radical faith…or stepping out and serving God in ways that are breaking the worldly patterns of religion....

We traveled into the African wilderness and looked it right in the teeth…and realized we are tired and worn out. It would've been better at the beginning of this long trip. We were in a town of about 20,000 which may not sound like wilderness…and it really isn’t, but it is a lot more rough than the places we have been in Africa. It is clear that as you get out of the cities the conditions worsen drastically.

We went to Lukaya, Uganda at the invitation of some leaders at Good Shepherd Child Care Centre. They had found us online back in Jan. 2009. We have been in email communication since that time, and they have accepted our encouragement of gathering leaders to pray and serve together. So it seemed that it would be good to visit them on our conference tour.

We arrived there and quickly realized that it was going to be very different....

We want to quick sum up what we did while in Kampala before heading west to a small town called Lukaya (Map).

On Wednesday the 8th we had a spectacular meeting with an old "mosei" (wise man with gray hair), and his son in law.  Both of them are pastors in Kampala.

The elder shared a long story about his time in prison during the Idi Amin's regime in Uganda...

Travel days are good days to fill space and time. There is no sitting around to be burdened by the thoughts of family and home….not as though they are unwanted burdens..they are just heavy. When you spend hours in a car in Africa it feels like 10 minutes. Nowhere I have ever been has as much color, flavor, and people along the road as in Africa.

We started out early from our $8/night hotel…which ended up being worth just about that much....

Today was one of the most encouraging days. I know I keep saying that a lot but honestly God keeps revealing more and more and showing us more and more things that are aimed at affirming and encouraging the work and calling we have.

The plan was to leave very early (6:30am) in the morning to head to Mt. Elgon (Kapsokwany). This would be our second location for a conference, but only a one day conference. Early on, while still planning in the US, we were very discouraged to discover that the friend (a student of ours in 2008) we had been planning with had some serious moral allegations and we were advised to plan through someone else. We have spent a lot of time and effort ensuring that we have heard both sides of the story..i.e. meeting with both parties. Nevertheless we ended up working with a bishop in the region to plan this one day conference.

The day started very much in line with the saying T.I.A (This is Africa)....