I'm Thankful I have Lips

Could you imagine not having lips?  Not only could you not enjoy a tall Starbucks Pike’s Peak, you couldn’t sing Amazing Grace and whistle “Winn Dixie” (well, if you even know Winn Dixie).  You couldn’t blow a kiss to your little niece or plant a wet one on your beloved’s cheek.  Forget the times when outside on crisp, winter mornings in December, you would lick your lips and the icy wind would bite them.  

I am thankful that I have lips.  However, this amenity that is not often thought about is not even a reality for many children in the eastern African country of Uganda.  Now they only dream of slurping Coca-colas through a straw.  It’s not that these children were born without lips, but contrarily, their lips were violently seized from them by the machetes of guerrilla soldiers.  

Before these atrocities, any of these children might have been living in their home villages and having a normal African life.  What they knew of life was playing with their friends in the dusty roads, singing silly songs and climbing up large mango trees and getting their faces full of the sweet, sticky juice.  Yet in only a brief moment, a child could be violently seized only to have either have a gun thrust into their hands and commanded to murder under the threat of their own lives, or they could be violently assaulted by a child soldier that’s maybe around the age of a sixth grader.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by witchdoctor-turned-military general Joseph Kony has been terrorizing northern Uganda and other close neighboring nations for nearly twenty-five years using children as recruits to work as their armed forces, slave labor and even serve as their commanders’ wives.  The effects on the social landscape of northern Uganda are far and wide.  At the height of the LRA’s power in 2002-2005 there was about 1.8 million who were displaced from their home villages which become unlivable because they were burned.  They made life outside of the major cities nearly impossible and forced thousands, who became known as “night commuters,” to travel to the city centers from the surrounding communities to find a safe haven for a few hours before rising early to go back to their homes only to repeat the process the next night.  Although there has been much work by the national Ugandan army and other neighboring allies to put an end to the merciless raids, it has been estimated that there has been a range of total children of 30,000 to 66,000 who have been a part of this brutal rebel forces in the last twenty-five years.  Many of the children who weren’t killed in battle have been rescued and brought back into society- yet not without great challenges to face after re-entry.

Thousands of ex-child soldiers from eight to eighteen years of age have been freed from the clutches of their oppressors, but not without escaping some major issues upon returning to Ugandan society.  Now they must learn how to reintegrate into the villages- if there village hasn’t been completely ransacked and burned to the ground.  Many challenges arise with this endeavor such as: facing their home village where they have often been forced to kill their family at the threat of their own life or the need to regain a conscience after years of trauma through combat in the African bush.  The girls that were forced to be wives of upper ranking LRA military personnel often have to deal with childcare of their little ones born out in the bush without anyone to provide basic necessities.  The ex-soldier boys often relapse into a killing mentality which has often led to carrying out acts of terror again.  These children are brought to a few rehabilitation centers such as World Vision which have done much good in bringing holistic restoration to the children.  

Even with all of this brutalization, there have been some steps in reconciliation with former soldiers and commanders of the LRA which have brought much hope for the future in these young lives.  One ex-LRA commander went to Gulu, Uganda, the largest urban center in northern Uganda, and went to ask for forgiveness from some of the victims of LRA abductions and even some of the former girl wives.  This man had killed many and coerced many into recruitment through manipulation and deception, plus he had taken a number of girls to be his wives. Acts like this have been a pivotal starting point for the rehabilitation of survivors of the LRA’s treachery.  Social workers who focus on restoration and reintegration of ex-child soldiers say that the issue of forgiveness is paramount to the child’s rehabilitation process.  If they learn to forgive than they will be able to do a lot of things.  

 With all of the work that is going on to lead these children on to a path of healing and restoration, the scars of tyranny remain.  I rejoice with those who have learned how to live again outside of a world of hatred, but I remember with a gripping empathy all of those who have had to adapt to live without a limb, ears, lips, etc.  Next time I am tempted to use my mouth to curse the guy who just cut me off in the road, I want to remember my brother who wishes he could even talk to his neighbor.  

We can make a difference though.  We can pray for those in need by getting more information on the situation in Uganda through World Vision and other organizations.  We can support the house of prayer in Gulu who are laboriously interceding for that region with prayers of the saints from all over the country.  We can also give contributions to those in need.  If you want go support an ex-child soldier, I recommend supporting an ex-child soldier through World Vision which you can do through the link provided.