Another Little Story

Here is another little story that Rehema told me this morning.....

In Uganda, people ask their friends to contribute to the expenses for their weddings, much like we ask for people to contribute funds for a mission trip. Rehema had been asked to contribute by a woman back home. Right now she is living off of a stipened from the Ford Fellowship Foundation, the organization who granted her scholarship. She doesn't have much money, and much of what she has, she sends home.

Still, Rehema considered what she could contribute and decided she could give $50 for the woman's hair-do. Right away, she began to pray for God to provide that for her. Two days later, she was sitting in class and a boy who is a classmate, but who she does not know, came up and put a $20 bill in her hand. The next day when she was on the bus, a girl sat beside her, they said hello to each other and at the end of the ride, the girl put $5 in her hand. Rehema asked if this was for her and the girl said "God told me to give it to you."

This is such a simple illustration of how if we rely on God, and not ourselves, to provide for our needs, He can and will through people and circumstances in our lives. Rehema's faith is child-like, just like we are called to be in our faith. She doesn't question whether God will provide, just how He will provide.

Rehema Gump

There is evidence of God's hand all over Rehema's life. She definitely has his favor and there are so many stories I could tell to prove it. The fact that she is even alive at all is proof. But this morning she shared two very recent events that point to God working in and through her.

When President Obama was planning a trip to Austin to speak to students and faculty at UT's Gregory Gym, just about everyone in town knew about it. Hardly anyone expected to be able to be in the gym to actually hear him speak. But when Rehema received an email sent by the university to the student body saying there would be a limited number of tickets available, she told me she wanted to try to get one. I knew that if tickets would be available at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning she would have to be in line hours earlier to have a chance, but when I told her this, she wasn't discouraged. She was determined to try. Long story short...she arrived at 6:30 on Saturday morning to a very long line that wound through the UT campus. She was told to go to the very end of the line and so she jogged the 1/2 mile or so to the end. She made friends with the people around her, like she always does. Someone shared their water bottle with her, and someone else shared an apple with her...she was provided for. When she finally got to the front of the line a couple of hours later, they made the cut off for tickets. Imagine, you have waited in line for a two hours, you finally are the next person in line, and they cut you off. But remember, this is Rehema and she has God's favor....so a minute later they open the door and say, we can take the next 10 people. So Rehema comes home with one of the last 10 tickets to hear President Obama speak! Obama, who is the first black president of the United States; whose father is from Kenya, Uganda's neighbor; and whose tribe speaks Luo, Rehema's language. She is beyond thrilled! I am in disbelief.

The day of Obama's speech, Rehema dresses up in her traditional Ugandan dress. When she wears this, it is impossible not to notice her. She looks like a queen in her bright yellow skirt and blouse and matching head wrap. I tried to coach her on how to behave so as not to freak out security... I was really afraid she would yodel, which is the way they show appreciation or celebrate. Well, she did yodel and thank God, she wasn't tackled and arrested by the Secret Service!!! But she did get the attention of a reporter, and as she was leaving the gym, he stopped her and interviewed her. When she told me about it, she was a little worried that the Ugandan government would see the article and be unhappy with her comments. But she didn't get the name of the publication, so there was nothing to do about retracting them. I assured her that no one in Uganda would ever possibly see this article, and forgot all about it.

Fast forward to this morning...the first thing Rehema shared with me, even before her good morning hug, was an online article about Obama's speech in Austin, Tx at Gregory Gym. Her son, Churchill, who is in Kampala, sent her the link to it. At the end of the article was a paragraph that included comments from who else, but Rehema Apio! This was the article by the reporter who had interviewed her...and her son had seen in online in Kampala. We would have never seen it had he not seen it first. CRAZY!

This is just one thread in the tapestry of events that God is weaving to make up Rehema's life story. There are so many more that carry much more weight than this one, but this was immediate and on my mind, so I thought I would share. Hopefully, God will give me the time in my life to share some of the more monumental stories...the ones that involve life and death and take a certain amount of faith to even believe. Rehema is truly blessed and I am blessed to be able to share her life with her for a short time.