Song of Deliverance

I came to realize in my 5 days in Gulu that there are no birds left or at least they aren’t singing the sweet song of deliverance! I say deliverance, because in April of this year the IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps were closed and people were allowed to return back to their villages. This was a huge step because in the Spring of 2007 the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) that was waging the war there for the last 20 years had moved its conflict to the Congo. Just as the Israelites moved back to their land from Egypt the Acholi peoples are now able to be delivered to their lands again.

I hope that the sweet sound of the birds finally come back. It was such a strange realization for me to not hear the birds. After living in Masaka for the last 7 months and hearing the tweet and chirping of birds outside the windows all the time I found it disturbing. Had all the joy left Gulu with the birds? I pray that the joyful sounds of song return very soon! Just as Prophet Miriam sang a song of deliverance in Exodus 15: 20-21, I pray the song comes back to Gulu very soon!