{"id":6159,"date":"2016-04-20T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=6159"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:46:29","slug":"ugandan-faith-lesson-3-give-from-substance-not-abundance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2016\/04\/20\/ugandan-faith-lesson-3-give-from-substance-not-abundance\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan faith lesson #3: give from substance, not abundance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faith lessons from my Ugandan family<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/em><\/strong> This is the third blog post in a five-part series \u201cFaith lessons from my Ugandan family\u201d by <\/em>Messy Jesus Business guest contributor\/Rabble Rouser Nicole Steele Wooldridge<\/a> about her experiences in Mbale, Uganda (learn from lessons #1<\/a> and #2<\/a>). Stay tuned throughout this week to experience the next two installments of Nicole\u2019s faith lessons from Africa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Electricity can be elusive in Uganda.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s power grid is both incomplete and unreliable. When I lived there in 2006, access to power shifted from region-to-region in a process called \u201cload-shedding.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0This means those lucky enough to be connected to the grid only had power about 50 percent of the time\u2014a reality that was at best a nuisance but could be downright life-threatening (as people living with HIV couldn\u2019t refrigerate their antiretroviral medication).<\/p>\n

My host dad\u2019s computer work was repeatedly disrupted by power outages (scheduled and unscheduled), which made for slow and frustrating progress. Once, after yet another unexpected outage, he confided in me that he dreamed of installing a solar panel on top of his house. (Solar energy is becoming an increasingly popular alternative<\/a> for Africans who wish to shed their dependence upon an inherently undependable source: the government-supplied power grid.)<\/p>\n

\"Ugandan
Ugandan family at water well<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My host dad had researched the costs associated with obtaining a solar panel for his home, and it was within his grasp \u2026 Or, at least, it could have been. \u201cBut,\u201d he told me, without an ounce of regret, \u201cNot all of my siblings have made it through secondary school yet, so I must put their need for education ahead of my desire for electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was floored.<\/p>\n

I understood that Jesus expects us to give from our substance and not our abundance, but I had never before stopped to consider just how many things in my privileged life I considered to be substance which were, in reality, abundance. Things like electricity.<\/p>\n

\"Ugandan
Ugandan unicef<\/a>\u00a0feeding station<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, \u201cTruly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.\u201d <\/em>(Luke 21:1-4)<\/p>\n

How is Jesus calling me to live out His radical generosity?<\/p>\n

I know there is no single \u201cright\u201d answer to this question \u2026 But, having witnessed poverty so abject as to be dehumanizing, right alongside generosity so self-sacrificing as to be miraculous, I also know that I can never, never <\/em>stop asking it.<\/p>\n

For reflection: <\/strong>What \u201cnecessities\u201d could I give up in order to better live out Jesus\u2019 call to radical generosity, especially in the face of so many unmet needs across the world?<\/p>\n

Author bio:<\/em><\/strong> Nicole Steele Wooldridge<\/a> is a friend of Sister Julia\u2019s who writes from the Seattle, Washington area. She spent three months living and volunteering in Mbale, Uganda in 2006, and recently returned with her husband to visit her host family and friends. She is happy to report that her host family now has a solar panel for their house, so that they rarely have to rely on government-supplied power.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faith lessons from my Ugandan family Editor\u2019s note: This is the third blog post in a five-part series \u201cFaith lessons from my Ugandan family\u201d by Messy Jesus Business guest contributor\/Rabble Rouser Nicole Steele Wooldridge about her experiences in Mbale, Uganda (learn from lessons #1 and #2). Stay tuned throughout this week to experience the next...","protected":false},"author":51099403,"featured_media":6172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755598,2528],"tags":[173203,9954,698755374,698755376,542,401,903465,7816,11403,8329,2606,4908,49907,373401,230816,4510],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-6159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-family-life","category-community","tag-abundance","tag-charity","tag-community","tag-discipleship","tag-electricity","tag-faith","tag-generousity","tag-god","tag-grid","tag-jesus","tag-justice","tag-power","tag-sacrifice","tag-solar-panels","tag-substance","tag-uganda","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ugandan-family-at-water-well1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Ugandan faith lesson #3: give from substance, not abundance<\/a><\/blockquote>