Shalom Home

Although I sit comfortably here in my kitchen in New Castle, Colorado, my thoughts travel to the distant land of Karamoja, a remote region in the northeastern corner of Uganda. I think back a few months and find myself sitting again in an unfinished building under the starlight worshipping God with people around me singing in several different languages. People took turns playing the guitar, sharing songs they'd written and singing familiar songs of worship together. Before we realized what was going on two and a half hours had passed. Verses were shared from the book of Isaiah, from the heart of God for his people in Karamoja. Many of these verses were a call to repentance while some were an encouragement to the faithfulness of the Jesus followers.

What brought us all together that day was a shared heart for the children on the streets with no place to call home, no one to call dad, and no one to be called by. Sitting under the stars that night, I knew that God had created a special place in my heart to care for these kids. What I didn't know was that he was creating a place in the hearts of many back in the states. I needed to come back and share their story. I believe with all my heart that God is doing something AMAZING! in Karamoja currently and he is asking us if we want to be a part of His work. Yes, I do, dont leave me out father! Include me in the work you're doing!

The Beginning

I made a little spot here, a tree stump if you will, in the great big world of cyberspace to sit and share my thoughts, available to everyone and possibly read by no one. My mind has been dwelling on the "yawthome" and my relation to these people for the last year and a few of my friends have come alongside and wrestled with me. Yawthome is a Hebrew word that literally means "the lonely." In the Bible this word is used to refer to the poor, orphan, widow, foreigner, homeless, oppressed, hungry, etc. The yawthome is generally the people found on the fringes of society, the people that nothing great is expected of. The yawthome are also the people that occupy the heart of God. They so much occupy the heart of God that he requires the first of our income go to them; (Deut 14:28,29) Our worship is to give to/help them (Is. 58:6-10); Our identity is found in them (Deut 24:17-18). We are to be concerned with the yawthome because its is how we remember who we are. My friends and I are seeking and learning daily what it means to journey alongside the yawthome as family, to share our possessions, our blessings, our homes and yes, our families. I am coming to believe that the people of God can never know the heart of God until they walk among the yawthome.