A Day in Quinn’s Life: A Ugandan Undergraduate’s Experience at The Institute for G.O.D.
A Big Big Thank You!
I would be doing the community here and myself a great injustice if I didn’t first thank the LORD for the amazing opportunity he’s given me to receive an education that is informed by and rooted in his word. Now in the third year, I attribute all that I’ve learned and achieved to God and the incredible people he has and continues to bring into my life; from my parents, siblings, friends, and professors, my greatest achievement is and will always be the strong meaningful relationships and bonds I have built over the years.
An undergrad, big sister, friend, Service Project Coordinator, worship leader, and aspiring healthcare worker & advocate. These and many more are the titles you may or may not agree to call me. However, just like you, I’m only another simple human trying to avail myself to God in humility to be shaped and transformed by him so that I can be a worthy vessel ready to be used by Yahweh to bring about a change in the World.
A Different Setting: The Same God All Around
Now, allow me to walk you through my typical day here at the East African Hub in Kabonge, Uganda. I am Sanyu Quinn Semakula; an online student at the Institute for G.O.D International. I don’t have a definite schedule that perfectly portrays my daily routine and that’s partly because it's an ever-dynamic and unpredictable routine. Nonetheless, One thing’s constant for sure; and that’s the fact that every day I get to talk to God. Not only through my short evening prayers; but also through each lecture podcast I listen to and the time I spend working through my assignments.
Perhaps you’d be tempted to ask me: Do you only witness and talk to God through class and prayer? Of course, my answer would be, No. And it's a no because I get to see the word of God come to life in more numerous ways than I like to count. From my parents getting up at 7:00am during the weekdays to head to the elementary school; to my sisters, Genesis and Genevieve waking up at 6:30 am to gather with the rest of the youth for morning devotion; and lastly but definitely not the least, I get to see my younger siblings, Shadhai and Shaniah trying to imitate all the good that they see us doing. So wide-eyed and mystified by the simplest things, I get to see them try to clean the compound the same way they’d seen Mom do it, hopelessly making efforts to hold the guitar and try to make a tune like my Dad does, pulling out some paint brushes and acrylic paints and making attempts to paint like Genesis and I do, Cutting up veggies and making endeavors to prepare them as perfectly as Genevieve does (cause she’s quite the sucker for Cookery), or even try to do the dishes as carefully as they’d often seen me do–because, yes, at 21 I still do the dishes usually from about 10:00 am-11:00 am every day, and it’s no problem at all.
I spend about 6 hours a day working on my school work and about 4 of these come out of my nighttime. Why? Because I like to think that I’m Nocturnal. Nevertheless, the real reason is that I prefer the nighttime because then my world’s quieter, and peaceful, and my overall tranquil surroundings allow for better concentration and more commitment to whatever it is that I'm doing. And secondly, whenever I get exposed to cold temperatures, my body tends to exhibit symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis; some of which may include sneezing, runny nose, and itchiness. These have become more pronounced in recent years.
The Toll That Collective Identity Exerts
Regardless, during the afternoons starting at about 2:00 pm, I’m either folding up everyone’s laundry and putting it in their respective cabinets or reading a good book while listening to Music. I believe that every process that occurs has a pattern to it; so while I read, I make sure that I have one of my favorite songs on loop. I harness its pattern and then I try to read at the same pace as the pattern in the song. I can’t explain my reading routine better than this. My most recent reads have been “Introducing World Missions by Scott Moreau” and “Cross-Cultural Connections by Duane Elmer”, for my Intro. To Community Development Class; “The Prophets By Abraham J.Heschel” for Prophets I class and lastly “Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.”
In both my classes this term, I have loved learning especially about the theme of “Justice”. Not only as it unfolds in Micah 3: seeing how Micah possesses the ability to stand in Yahweh’s place as one authorized by God and being animated by his very spirit to speak to Israel and show them what’s Justifiable and what’s not. but also being more impactful as the writer, Heschel highlights that the “Prophet’s calling may be described as that of an advocate/a champion speaking for those who are too weak to plead their own cause”. Relating this to how professor Garner expounds about Prophetic vocation/call and Prophetic movements; These lessons continue to compel me to be a person who seeks to discover the role I play in the body of Christ and also how I can recognize that it's through our collective identity that we can holistically become a Prophetic community that seeks to subversively do justice by becoming advocates for those who’ve been constantly trampled on, marginalized, and disabled by our world systems.
“An act of Injustice is condemned not Because the law is Broken; but because a person has been hurt”- Abraham J. Heschel
Still, as the evening sets in, I halt my reading at about 5:00 pm to start preparing for dinner; all the while making sure that if there’s no water in the house, I fetch about 3 jerrycans so that there’s plenty to be used for evening baths and other errands. At the end of the day, I usually drift into either more reading or writing. Whether it is typing out my class assignments, sending emails to friends, Journaling, writing a poem or two, taking a Spanish/Tagalog lesson, or helping my sisters with their Math assignments; I can then talk to God, give him thanks, and sleep at around midnight or 1:00 am in the morning.
Proverbs 16:20, “Whoever gives thought to the Word will discover God, and Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.”