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Friends United Meeting |
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December 1997
Shadrack's Story
by Pam Ferguson and Shadrack Ogemba
Although we worked for the Mennonite Central Committee as country representatives in Uganda, as Quakers we chose to worship with the small Quaker meeting in Kampala. It was here that we met and befriended Shadrack O. Ogemba.
Shadrack taught us, as Christians in a culture not our own, to look at our heritage of Quaker faith through the eyes of an African, to see how simple the testimonies can be and that they should be lived out on a daily basis, in Uganda and in North America.
In 1984 just before we left for our first year in Africa we stopped by to visit an 80-year-old retired pastor to tell him of our plans to work in Africa. His first response was "Why do you want to waste your lives and ministry on those poor people over there?" There have been days when I've been tempted to think the retired pastor asked a good question.
I'm too aware of the hundreds of hours spent working out bogus phone bills, getting the electricity to work or water to our house; beating the streets of Kampala trying to find spare parts for our volunteers' vehicles, keeping track of grants and financial accounting for volunteers, and so forth. There were days when concepts of service and ministry tended to get lost in the mundane "stuff" of life in Africa.
Since 1984 there has not been a whole lot of good news out of Africa. There are too many wars and ethnic conflicts. Peace accords have failed. HIV/AIDS has spread and poverty has grown for the majority of African citizens. There are too many refugees and internally displaced people, there is too little access to health care, too many droughts and famines.
In spite of all the negatives, these have been important years filled with important people. Shadrack Ogemba is one of them. Shadrack isn't perfect. But neither are we. He and the Quakers we worshiped with in Kampala have given us hope for Africa during difficult days.
This is Shadrack's story.
How I Became a Quaker
In late 1984, I completed my education in Kampala. Every evening in our residential estate I sat and visited with Hezekia Kisanya. Hezekia was one of the Quaker pioneers in Kampala in the early sixties. He used to relate how they used to worship in the Quaker style. He took me to the Kampala meeting house which at that time had broken windows and cracked floors. Only bats occupied the building.
The building was abandoned during the regime of President Idi Amin when he banned all churches other than Muslims, Catholics and Anglicans. Many of the members were Kenyans and they left the country.
In October 1984, one pastor from Mbale town came to Kampala and visited Hezekia. This was pastor James Lubisya. He was the General Superintendent of Uganda Yearly Meeting. At this time I met the Quaker pastors who told about the historical background, from George Fox in the beginning to Quakers in Uganda.
As I already showed interest in Quakers, James decided to stay in Kampala for one month, residing with Hezekia. During his stay he taught me how Quakers conducted their programmed and unprogrammed meetings.
With the help of the elder Hezekia, we moved around the community and found other Quaker members to join us for a revival of the Sunday worship in Kampala. We encouraged one of the old Quakers, Peter Wasike and his family to join us. In the reorganization of the Kampala meeting I was chosen to be the recording clerk. It was during this period that I started visiting other Quaker groups in the Eastern part of Uganda.
What Impressed Me with
the Quakers
I had never in my life realized the importance of silence as a means of direct communication with God. As I got used to this part of worship, I discovered that, in silent meditation, a Christian could abandon all one's load, and go directly to Jesus by offering your heart to him. Silence also allows Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to teach you as you communicate directly with him.
Simplicity in word and life is a vital testimony for Christians in Africa. Many people in Africa talk big and boastfully. Many people want to show their superiority to others so that they could be honored by their inferiors. This causes jealousy and makes many feel inferior.
I learned how Quakers believe that swearing in the court while holding the Bible shows that a man can only speak the truth when forced to swear and hold the Bible. I'm in full support of not swearing, because as Christians you should speak the truth all the time. We should live a holy life and we should have holiness at heart.
We are living in a violent world, full of sophisticated crime. I feel peace should be the talk of the day. We hear of civil wars, corruption, robberies and deception all over the world. Quakers dwelling in peace show the work of Jesus who came to save the world which had lost the path. This marks the continued teaching of Jesus after his death and resurrection.
Most African Christians are brought up in the Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches. When we come to Quakers, we find freedom in community worship and in group discussion-regardless of rank in the church. Since everybody will be involved in solving problems, worship and group discussion among Quakers are very interesting and joyful.
Quakers are committed to the work of God. The early Quakers used to suffer for others, visiting the prisons and praying for the convicted and sharing the suffering with others. All these activities and events convinced me that Quakers are the gallant group of people which I should join.
My Vision for Quakers
in Africa
I feel that the examples of the early Quakers like George Fox, William Penn, and others have not been followed. We have divisions in our churches. People struggle for leadership. Discrimination and segregation affect many meetings.
If we are true Friends why should we not ask for God's guidance? Why should we count votes at the time of choosing leaders?
We are not involved in peace work; we don't visit the prisons; we want only to take, but we don't think how we can give or how we could solve our problems by ourselves.
Some good Quakers who could help in lifting up the church spiritually are oppressed by the elders of the church who claim to be pioneers and nobody could perform any miracle apart from them.
Equality has not yet been practiced in much of Africa and in many Christian groups in the actual practical sense. We pretend outwardly but inside we do something different.
With time and through God's guidance, I feel that African traditions and culture should be studied and compared with the teaching of Jesus. But this needs to start with those who are capable of learning new things.
There is a need for much education for the sharing of resources with those who don't have. This subject needs much attention, because this has brought a lot of conflicts and jealousy among Friends in Africa.
And there needs to be an understanding of the role of a true Christian in this society, walking in the light.
Shadrack Ogemba has been a partner with Friends United Meeting, helping
to complete some development projects in Uganda started by Lorton Heusel.
Pam and Ron Ferguson returned to the United States this fall after nine
years of service in Africa with Mennonite Central Committee.
Copyright (c) Friends United Meeting 1997
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