Favor and Royal

So a week ago a nice Ugandan man drove me and some friends to the Friday Market... a local craft fair. He has a very endearing smile, and easy going countenance. I got my shopping done with speed... I knew what I wanted and where to get it. So I stood outside a booth with him and waited for the other family to finish up their shopping and bartering.

I asked him, "So do you have children?"

He explained he did, he and his wife have 2. A boy and a girl. And that was enough for them, because they felt that is what they could properly care for. I didn't doubt him.

He explained that he is "born again" and that God gave him very meaningful names to name his children with.

The boy, the first is named Favor. He explained that when his wife was pregnant one day they drove along Uganda's very bumpy and "bad" roads and it started her labor much too soon. They took her to the hospital where they were unable to stop her labor, so their son came much too soon. They allowed them to only stay as much as they could pay the hospital. This man knew that soon they would run out of money to keep his premature baby at the hospital and so he prayed to God, "God you want us to have this boy, but with out your favor he will not survive." That word "favor" stuck with him, that is what they needed was God's favor... so the child became Favor.

He went on to tell me that he noticed that the incubator the baby was in contained a heat light bulb and as they left that last day they could afford in the hospital they rushed him home and lined a drawer with clothes and blankets, they had available, and this new father fashioned a light right down near the baby to continue to heat and warm him. "Now, with God's favor, Favor is 8 years old!" he exclaimed with a joyful clap.

I literally started to cry when he told me about the drawer and the light bulb. I know another father that would use his ingenuity to do the very same thing.

Then he went on to tell about his daughter, Royal. He said while his wife was in labor with her, he sat and read his Bible. He had NO idea what to call this child... he didn't know yet if it was a boy or a girl. He read this verse, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9

The verse was fitting and the word "royal" stuck out to him... and he decided to call this child Royal, either if it was a boy or a girl. He said, "Royal's name is perfect for her, she is very much her name!"

One of my favorite "past times" here is hearing people's stories. People seem more eager to share them here too, which is nice, because I've never been good at prying. I usually just say something like, "So, tell me where you came from..." or "Tell me about your family..." and even "Are you 'born again' and if so, how did you become a follower of Jesus..." That is the best... the stories are nothing less than astounding.