Part of the Family

Dragonflies over Lake Victoria

This past weekend, I had a mini-vacation. I traveled to Kalangala, the largest of the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria. The woman I stay with, Betty, had invited me to come for a family gathering there, as it is the village where she grew up. Every year they gather to remember and pray for the soul of her mother, who passed away in early March several years ago. She tries also to plan the event on March 8^th, which is a special day in Uganda, as it is the Woman’s Day, a national holiday in which the achievements and advancements of women in Ugandan society are celebrated. It is a beautiful tradition.

In the culture here, when someone’s mother dies, another in the family steps into the role and is called mother. So Betty introduced me to her “mother” and immediately, I was confused. (Aren’t we celebrating a Mass for your mother’s soul?) As well, people oftentimes call their cousins and other relatives “brothers” and “sisters.” So I was told, “This one is my brother,” and I was thinking, “How many brothers do you have?!” No matter. I am pretty sure everyone on the island is related to each other somehow. The man we traveled with was the half-brother of Teo, the young girl that lives with us in Kalisizo. We also met his full-brother and another half-brother of his. As we passed a home, Betty announced, “That is where so-and-so’s mother lives.” Then we would stop somewhere and she would say, “There is a relative here I want to greet.” When we were waiting for the ferry to come, a man walked past and she said, “That is the son of the woman whose house we have just visited.” I gave up trying to understand the family tree.

Before we had Mass at Betty’s home, we had some time to introduce ourselves to the rest of the family, to state who we were and how we were related. So, as Betty’s daughter was not present at the event, I stood up and said, “My name is Nakato Lindsay and I am Betty’s daughter from the USA.” They were happy to receive me into the family. In fact, they told me that I should stay in Kalangala and raise my family there. I replied that I had no husband. At that, they offered me a piece of land if I would marry one of their sons. Hmm….a piece of land in Kalangala…. ; )

Some of my Kalangala family: Grace, Betty, Sandra, Jejje (grama) and Richard (from left to right)

A week or so ago, Betty and Teo and I were saying evening prayers together after dinner and Betty began by singing, “This is the day ”. Then she added another verse:
This is the fam’ly,
This is the fam’ly that the Lord has made
Let us rejoice,
Let us rejoice and be glad in it

Praise God! I had to smile and reflect on that for a moment. Teo is not Betty’s daughter; she is her neice. And me? I am just some American missionary who ended up at the house. Why is it that we are living under the same roof? What kind of strange series of events has brought us together? It is the Lord, and His Providence, His plan. Now, I have a large extended family in Uganda. My brothers from another mother. And it is all due to the amazing plan of God, who has gathered us together from every village and every corner of the earth to meet each other and know each other at this particular time in history.

The family of God is a great mystery. I have brothers and sisters I have never even met, hidden in towns and cities and villages all across the world, related to me by the Blood of Christ, adopted and grafted onto God’s family tree because of the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross. This is the family that the Lord has made. What a strange, yet beautiful family. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

An addendum: Thank you so much for your prayers for Sr. Regina’s recovery. She is back at the convent now and continuing her healing at home. She is doing well and moving around much more easily.