“Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
~ Psalm 37:4 ~
I
can’t really put a date on when my heart started to beat differently, but it
has been about 3 or 4 years since Africa became a huge part of my life. It may
have started when my husband (Bryan) & I watched the movie, The Machine Gun Preacher (I don’t recommend
this movie for families with young children as there is some language &
lots of war-type violent scenes, but it is an awesome movie based on the life
of real life preacher Sam Childers.) Or maybe it was
that everything else since that movie & in my life pointed to Africa. I cannot,
even today, explain why Africa, but I do know there was a point in my life
where my heart starting beating wildly to an African drum.
I
used to kid Bryan a lot about packing up & moving to Africa. I had friends
that couldn’t understand where this passion that I know God placed upon my
heart. I researched, studied, prayed of the day Bryan & I would call Africa
home. Unfortunately, Bryan wanted no part of Africa. He would say that God
would have to send him an email before he would go to Africa. I remember
getting so frustrated because I know this yearning, this desire, came from God,
but I couldn’t understand why God would give me such a desire & not my
husband, knowing I can’t move without him. I finally gave this desire to God,
knowing if it was truly from Him, HE would be the one to make Africa happen, in
the way He planned.
As
our Lord promises us in His Word, if we “delight in Him”, following &
obeying Him, He will give us the “desires of our heart.” And once I stepped
back & allowed Him to work in His own way, oh, how He did! In the fall of
2015, a friend that knew of my desire told me about a group from First Baptist
Church here in Tifton that were planning a trip to Uganda the following year.
She gave me the information to one of the team leaders & of course, I
contacted her right away (I think the more accurate description would be I
harassed her, but you get the drift.) They had a team planning meeting set for
October & I was determined to be at that meeting! Bryan still had not
received his calling for Africa, but gladly gave me his blessing to go forward
with attending the meeting.
After
the initial planning meeting, Bryan & I discussed at length the things that
our team was supposed to be doing in Uganda. The more we discussed, the more
God worked on Bryan’s heart. By the time the trip commitment money was due in
December, Bryan felt God’s tug & committed to going with me! Talk about God
giving me the desires of my heart! As much as I longed for Africa, I long to
serve God with my husband more! My heart was overwhelmed! The planning of the
trip from this point on seemed like such a whirlwind & yet also seemed to
last forever. It didn’t seem like the day to leave for Africa would ever get
here! The day finally did come & I will be forever changed because of this
trip! Please take a moment to read about our trip & the missions we served
below. I have tons more pictures than I have put in this blog, but I have
linked the Facebook photo album to each section so you can go browse through
all of the pictures I took during our time there (please click on the link in
each section title to find pictures for that section.)
Goodbyes &
Farewell - 041516
Our
team headed out on Friday, April 15, 2016 from First Baptist Church, Tifton
after the blessings of prayers from our families & the church. Our team
consisted of Bryan & I, Kim Colwell, Brett Meeks, Nathan & Alice
Johnson, Wes Ross, Cassidy Ingram, Ron Lawhon, Shannon Ross, & Eddie &
Jaclyn Bennett (left to right on the picture below.)
We
flew from Atlanta to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam to Rwanda, & from Rwanda to
Uganda. This was mine & Bryan’s first time EVER on a plane, so to say we
were nervous is a huge understatement! This was truly an experience of a
lifetime for us both! We finally arrived in country around 10:30 pm (their
time) Saturday night (April 16.) I cannot tell you how my heart raced & the
feeling I had getting off of the plane & setting foot on African soil. Just
one of the many overwhelming moments I constantly praise God for!
After
a 2-hour bus ride to the village of Buziika, we finally arrived at Canaan Kids Children’s Home around 2 am Sunday
morning (April 17.) It was pouring down rain when we arrived, yet we were
greeted by so many smiling children & staff. I don’t think we had to lift a
finger to get anything off the bus into what would be our home for the next few
days as all of the children & staff pitched in to help. After giving us
quick hello & goodnight hugs, we bid farewell to these sweet children, with
promises to see them bright & early in the morning for church. After being
on a plane for 2 days & having to get up for church in a couple of hours, I
don’t think any of us had any trouble falling asleep fast.
Around 5 am Sunday, we were woken
suddenly by this loud talking & cackling over a loudspeaker. This was
apparently some sort of radio show from the village that we soon discovered
would be our alarm nearly every day we were at Canaan. About an hour later, the
church (that was literally outside our home) started practicing for Sunday
service. With no choice but to get up since I was already awake, I stumbled to
our rudimentary showers that thankfully did have hot-ish running water to get
ready for our first day in Africa!
When Bryan & I were done getting
ready, we went outside to find many curious children who had come to check out
the new mzungu (white people.) Since it had rained the night before, there were
red clay puddles everywhere, even near the swing set & see saw, but that
didn’t discourage the children from playing & asking us to play with them.
So what do you do but play along?! I instantly knew that these children would
be the best part of this trip for me!
Our team was tasked with the honor
of teaching Sunday School. The women got the pleasure of teaching the younger
children while the men taught the older youth & adults. When my group got
into the Sunday School room, we were astonished at the large number of children
(from Canaan, as well as the surrounding village.) It was definitely one of the
largest Sunday School classes I have ever had!
Most
of the children speak English, but some of the village children did not, so we
had an interpreter with us the entire time. We introduced ourselves & let
the children introduce themselves to us. We started out singing Bible songs
with the children & they were so eager to sing us some songs in their
native tongue, Luganda. I feel in love listening to their sweet voices praise
God!
There
was this one little girl who sat beside or on me the entire time. She was too
shy to take a picture with me, but she talked to me softly during our time
together. She told me she was glad I was there & kept telling me she loved me.
She kept giving me the “sparkles” off of her shirt, telling me she wanted me to
have them. I put them in my Bible where I pray they will forever be in the
crevices of its pages.
After Sunday School, we all met back
up as a team where we were seated at the front of the church as guests of
honor. The worship was definitely different than we are used to here in the
States, but they worship with a passion the same Lord we do! I was overcome
with emotions many times watching them praise God. I became overwhelmed at the
reality of God’s promises coming true for me in that moment. I have no doubt He
placed Africa on my heart & He showed me His will & blessings because
He had brought me where He said He would. My God is so great & worthy to be
praised!
After church, we had a quick bite to
eat before the men headed to the town of Jinja to do a men’s conference, while
we had our women’s conference there at Canaan. (Since I don’t have first-hand
experience with the men’s conference, I’ll focus on the women’s conference, but
you can click on the link above to see a couple of pictures taken at the men’s
conference.)
We had about 110+ women attend our
conference, which started out with some of the staff leading us in worship.
Alice introduced us, telling the women what had brought us all the way to
Africa to them. In our planning for this conference, we had decided to have our
theme of the women’s conference be Identity in Christ. Each of us had taken a
topic & researched & prayed over it before we ever boarded the planes.
I am not much of a public speaker at all. Especially with over 100 women
watching me! I believe each of us women felt the same pressure & anxiety to
speak, but I can honestly say that when I got up to speak, no anxiety was
present. God is amazing!
After we completed our speaking part
of the conference, we prepared to commence a feet-washing / blessing ceremony.
I had never participated in one before & was a little apprehensive as to
how this would play out. We set up 3 stations (2 women to each station) &
told the woman we wanted to serve them by washing their feet. At first, not
many women came forward, but when a few started down the aisle, it gave courage
to the rest of the women to come forward. As worship music played softly in the
background, women would come forward to have their feet washed & a prayer
of blessing prayed over them. This was the most surreal experience I’ve ever
experienced. So humbling & overwhelming. I believe we were blessed as much
as the women during this ceremony.
While the men were still in Jinja at
the men’s conference, the ladies got to have a dance party & some play time
with the children. They took each of us under their wing & attempted to
teach us some African dance steps. It’s been years since I danced that hard,
but it was so worth it to hear their laughter & see the smiles on their
faces!
And, of course, they loved to take
pictures! Make sure you click on the link above to see their silly, smiling
faces!
Once the guys got back, we had
dinner. Let me take a moment to speak of the food we had while here. It was
definitely not food from home, but it was very good! Florence (our cook) did an
excellent job preparing our meals & loving on us. We even had fried
chicken! Yes, the chicken was a lot smaller than we are used to, but it was fried
chicken! And the fruit! I don’t think I have ever tasted pineapple that was
sweeter! I will tell you I worried about the food as I am a little bit picky,
but I assure you I did not go hungry. I did have to quit taking my diabetic
medications while over there because my blood sugar dropped too much with it.
No preservatives & added sugars really do help!
After a good night’s rest (thanks to
a busy Sunday & medication from the doctor), we started our day with a
yummy breakfast thanks to Florence. That morning, Josephine (one of the staff
at Canaan) took us on a tour of the property there at Canaan. We took a look at
the site where the men would help start building a chicken coop. This was one
of our main missions for Canaan as having chickens would greatly benefit the
children with the extra protein & it could even provide Canaan with extra
income for other needs.
We looked into some of the
children’s living quarters. The children are separated by sex & age in the
quarters, but they all live the same way. They eat & sleep in their
designated dorms. Of course, because of malaria, they have to have the mosquito
nets on their beds (we did too.) You can also see that the children follow a daily
schedule that includes morning prayers.
We
even got to see the sewing / craft room where they teach usable skills to the
children. At Canaan, school work is most important. In Uganda, when the
children get to a certain age, they must take a test to see if they will go any
further in school. If they fail, then they can no longer go to school (it is
very expensive there for them to attend school.) This is why school work it
priority, but also why they teach the children how to sew & make crafts
such as bracelets. If a child happens to not pass the test, then they will have
some skills that will help them provide for themselves as they grow older. It’s
heartbreaking to think of a child having to support him/herself at a young age,
but this is their reality in Uganda. Thank God for people like Papa Isaac &
his staff that are building Uganda’s future through these children!
As we toured more of the property,
we came up on some squatters who live on the property (it’s too expensive &
a long process to have them removed.) They children thought it was hilarious to
see so many mzungu in one place. They walked with us through most of the
property, their smiles & laughter grabbing at your heart strings.
The overall beauty of Uganda is
incomparable in my eyes. The lush green against the red clay roads is
breathtaking!
Due to the heavy rain the night
before, there was an impassable spot in our journey, so we had to make a detour
& go back to Canaan via the village of Buziika. Like any small town USA,
you could find people peddling their ware or services on the street.
Since we were walking through the
village, we made a pit stop at Canaan Primary School to meet the teachers &
children there. We went from class to class, letting them sing songs & show
us what they have learned.
After we left the school, we headed
back through the village toward Canaan for lunch. In the village, there is a
Muslim school (probably more than one) & the time we were headed back must
have been lunch time for them because there were several little ones in school
uniforms & hijabs. One little girl ran up to me & grabbed my hand, walking
with me through the village until she reached her destination. She had such a
sweet smile, but my heart broke for her. For her parents, or the ones that take
care of her, for the other children running home from this school. From where
we were at Canaan, we could hear the Muslim call to prayer each time it rang
out…such an eerie & sad sound, knowing they worship a dead god. How I long
for & pray that I am able to be a presence in this community to spread the
love of Jesus to these precious, lost souls.
This was a long, hot morning, but
one filled with such beautiful scenery & wonderful memories I’ll forever
hold in my heart. By the way, most of you probably don’t know this about me,
but I used to have severe back pain so severe that I could not walk some
mornings or after trying to walk short distances. There would have been no way
that I could have endured what ended up being a 4.67 mile walk over slick,
inclining surfaces had my Lord not healed me in 2014. Praise Him!
Monday through Wednesday evenings
consisted of a youth conference we held there at Canaan (youth in Uganda
consisted of ages 13 & even up to age 30.) We decided to do a study on the
life of Joseph for the theme of our youth conference. We started off with
praise & worship, & then we broke up into a couple of small groups.
Some
Mamas brought their babies & I was happy to help distract them so their
Mamas could get some Bible study in!
After the first night of the youth
conference was over, we just hung out with the children at Canaan. We painted
faces, nails, played jump rope, soccer, & loved all over them.
The
children loved playing with my hair & ended up giving me these lovely
braids that I wore all night to the delight of the girls!
Eddie
& Little Isaac pulled out the guitar & we sat around singing praise
& worship songs with them well into the night.
I want to introduce you to Shafic.
He is friends with Little Isaac, one of the staff members at Canaan. He came to
the youth conference earlier & hung around with us afterwards. He was
sitting there singing with us when he suddenly got up & went to find
someone to talk to. He wanted to learn more about this Jesus & wanted to
become a Christian to have the happiness like we did, so Nathan shared the
Gospel with him. Praise God Shafic is now one of our brothers in Christ! This right here is why it is important to be
there! Through our joy in spending time with these children, these people
from around the world, Shafic saw Christ & wanted to know that Christ for
himself. This makes the long plane rides, the hot weather, the cold shower
water…this makes it all worth it!
Tuesday morning, the guys were
scheduled to help the Canaan staff move bricks for the foundation for the
chicken coop (us women were told we were not allowed to do such manual labor,
so we happily submitted & obeyed.) Our men worked so hard moving bricks all
morning. It was funny to see the African men throwing & carrying bricks
back & forth with no protection while our men donned thick work gloves.
After the men carrying the bricks back & forth from the pile to the work
area, someone finally came up with the bright idea to form a passing line. This
was a long, tiring work day for our men.
While the men slaved away on the
chicken coop, the ladies got to go to the Canaan Kindergarten. Cassidy
presented the kindergarten class with some things that her Mom’s class had made
for them (reusable white boards for each student, as well as a banner colored
by her students.) We sang songs with the children & even read books to the
students.
That Tuesday evening, we held an eye
clinic for the staff at Canaan before we opened the eye clinic for the rest of
the village. This was another main mission for our trip. We had collected
donations from our community for several months & had so many reading
glasses, prescription glasses, & even some sunglasses donated for this. Wes
is an eye doctor, so he dealt out jobs for each of us to do while he checked
eyes.
I, of course, took advantage of some
down time & loved on some of those sweet babies!
After dinner & the youth
conference that night, the Canaan children wanted to give us a special welcome
presentation to thank us for coming. Each dorm came up to sing & dance
whatever they had prepared for us. It was such a fun & lively time watching
the joy come from these children when they performed.
I, again, took advantage to love on
some sweet children during the performances! This sweet young man’s name is
Derek. He hung out with Bryan & I most of the night & week.
Wednesday morning, while the guys
continued to sling bricks, the women went to an orphanage in the village to
love on some babies. The ride to the orphanage was rocky, at best, as the roads
were still slippery & bumpy due to the rain. But oh the scenery! We passed
some mud huts, the mosque that was close to Canaan, & even a house that I
believe is being built for Bryan & me to live there one day!
The most beautiful view was when we
finally reached the top of the hill (of which we had to walk from the road
because the van would not go on the road up to the orphanage.) What would you
do to have a view like this to wake up to every morning?!
This
view, unfortunately, is overshadowed by the desperate need this orphanage has.
Most of these orphanages are started by individuals who have a heart for the
unwanted child. These are people who live in the community & know these
children need somewhere to go, somewhere with someone to care for them. There
are so many of these homes that need our prayers & financial help. Please
visit the Sangaalo Babies Facebook page or their
ministry partner, Hope Grafted In, for information on
the orphanage or for information on sponsoring or general donations.
When we first arrived at the orphanage, the
children were sitting on the front porch eating. So many sweet babies! We made
ourselves at home among the babies!
So, if you know anything about me,
you know that I LOVE babies! I would adopt a household full of them if I could.
Well, I found me 3 sweet babies right here at this orphanage! Meet sweet
Brandon (3 years), Terri (10 months), & Keaton (5 months)! Brandon’s eyes
looked so sad so I couldn’t do anything but love on him! Terri was only 10
months old, but she drank her porridge (a watered down millet porridge) from a
“big girl” cup, not spilling a single drop! And my Keaton! Oh, how I loved to
listen to him laugh & see him smile! If I knew I could have gotten away
with it, I would have taken these babies home so fast!
We hung out with these sweet babies
for a while, & then we talked to the women that ran the orphanage. They
showed us some jewelry they had made to sell, so we browsed through the items
to find treasures to take back home to our loved ones. Since this was a source
of income for this orphanage, as a team we ended up purchasing all of the
jewelry they had!
After we came back for lunch, the
guys took a very deserved & needed afternoon of rest while the ladies
learned how to make chapati! Chapati is the most delicious “bread” that
Florence always had at our meals. We wanted to learn how to make it so we could
treat ourselves to some back home, so Florence took us under her wing &
into her kitchen to teach us.
Florence taught us what she put into
the bread, how to knead the ingredients into the dough, & finally, how to
shape the dough. Once we had our dough ready, we each took turns cooking our
bread over the small open flame stove she had.
Of course, after it was all cooked,
we had to sample our bread! This was the bread we served at dinner that night!
I don’t think ours will ever compare to Florence’s, but it was yummy!
Since this was the last night of our
youth conference, we decided we wanted to show them the Joseph movie & have
a fun ice cream night to end the conference well! We had some of the younger
kids from Canaan join us for the event. They especially loved the ice cream
part!
This was a fun night to hang out
with the children & love on them! And love on them we did!
After the movie, we hung around
(which was typical for down time) & sang worship songs until it was time
for bed!
Thursday was reserved for an all-day
eye clinic for the people in the village. We all had pretty much gotten used to
the jobs we had been assigned during the eye clinic, so we stayed in our
trained lanes. Well, since I didn’t have a specific job, I got to hang out with
the patients while they were waiting to be seen. I used this time to evangelize
& get to know them a little better. Even though many people do know
English, many in the villages do not, so we had some interpreters to help us
get rid of the language barrier.
Thankfully, many came & got their physical
vision corrected, but praise God two had their spiritual vision corrected by receiving their salvation in Christ! This is what mission trips are all about!
Towards the latter part of the day,
we sent a messenger to the Canaan Primary School to have the teachers send down
those children that may have complained about headaches or not being able to
see the front of the room. We expected a few children, but the whole school
ended up coming! It made for a very busy, & sometimes stressful, afternoon,
but the kids loved getting out of school to come see the doctor.
After our eye clinic, we had to say
goodbye to the Canaan children (we were leaving the next day to head to Kampala
for the last part of our mission trip.) This was much harder than I realized.
This was such an emotional week for me as it was & this was almost my
undoing. I have longed for these children since we left them, but I knew God
would bring us back one day!
Thursday night we got to go into
Jinja to eat at a “real” restaurant! We took Mama Rebekah, Little Isaac,
William, & Josephine out on the town with us to thank them for their hard
work (Papa Isaac wasn’t feeling well & couldn’t be there with us.) This was
a beautiful resort located directly on the Nile River.
Bryan told me this should count for
our date night. I think since he brought me all the way to Africa, I’ll give
him that one!
William & Little Isaac are
“products” of Canaan. The week were came, they both graduated from university
& we wanted to give them some things that would help both of them in their
future ministries as preachers (we gifted them both with tablets to help with
sermon preparation.)
I believe this is what Papa Isaac’s
vision was all about when he established Canaan. To help the orphaned child
become productive in life that will in turn benefit the country of Uganda.
Praise God for the work of Papa Isaac & Canaan!
Friday morning, we packed up &
left Canaan headed for the capital city of Kampala. While en route, we stopped
in Jinja for a leisure lunch & shopping day. Since it was dark when we came
in from the airport, we didn’t get to experience the travel & traffic.
Goodness, was it scary! I think the signs & the lines in the road (if there
were any) were merely for suggestion. There are way too many pictures to post,
so make sure you click on the links above for the albums on my Facebook page.
Interesting scenery & sights! I do want to post these 2 pictures. The
presidential elections for Uganda had just passed & there were still some
civil unrest, riots, etc. Police trucks (& military trucks) like these were
all over. We even passed this riot that was currently being broken up (you
can’t see the fighting, but batons & such were being thrown…scary.)
When we arrived at our hotel in
Kampala & got settled in, Pastor Benjamin with Divine Destiny Ministries
came by. We were going to be serving his church during this last leg of our
trip. We went out to eat with him & his wife, Margaret, at this most horrible
restaurant. The menu was “whole fish, fish fillet, fish fingers, chicken, &
meat” (I can’t spell the African accent, so you’ll just have to sound it out -
more hilarious that way.) Several people ordered the fish fillets, but no one
(save one) got fillets…they got whole fish. And it was the WHOLE fish. When
trying to explain the error, the waiters didn’t seem to care. They left the
whole fish (head, eyes, & all) at our table…we just had to make due. Thank
goodness I am a chicken person (even then, I didn’t get to pick what part of
chicken…I just got what they brought.) Only one of us braved the “meat”…I
believe he was ok the rest of the trip, but we were worried!
Saturday morning, we went to Divine
Destiny Church to minister to the Muslim slum area surrounding the church. Some
of our team members held another eye clinic at the church for the people in the
community.
While the eye clinic was being held,
the rest of us went to the soccer field & hung out with children in that
area. Some children played in the soccer tournament while some children just
hung out & skipped rope, had their face painted, & just sang with us.
Children
came from everywhere to play! They love attention & we were so happy to
give it to them. When I started painting faces, they really came out of the
woodwork! I would draw an image on one side of their face & the put “God loves
you” on the other. Our interpreter, Ezra, suggested that I put “Yesu loves you”
(Jesus loves you) because a Muslim will even call their god “God”. There were
actually a couple of Muslims girls that came up to me & asked me to put “Allah
loves you” on their faces, so I took this moment to witness to these young girls.
I told them I couldn’t put that because I didn’t believe in Allah, only Jesus. They
never responded to what I explained to them about Jesus, only asked me to draw
something else. I can only pray that any seed that was planted was fertilized by
another Christ follower!
I have to introduce you to this
sweet boy, Elvis. He stayed by our side the entire day. When we started singing
songs, he wanted to sing his special song for us. Bryan & I figured he
would come out with any typical Bible song he had learned in the church, but
Elvis sang us “Days of Elijah”…all the way through! He was such a sweet boy! I
pray we can meet again when we go back!
This little girl kept giggling &
going up to Bryan to ask him different questions, sometimes about her
schoolwork, sometimes about other things. She finally took her notebook up to
him & asked him how to pray. He wrote down the steps for her in her
notebook. We have prayed hard that she follows those steps & shares them
with her friends!
Let me stop to explain a bit about
this ministry that Pastor Ben has developed here for the past 10 years. His
church is literally on Muslim property, so most of the community are Muslim.
This is a very poor area, so the children are lucky if they get fed once a day,
much less twice a day. Pastor Ben takes these kids in to feed them at least
once a day, ministers to them, & teaches them about the God of the Bible. The
community doesn’t mind him evangelizing the children because they get fed &
it’s a free babysitter, allowing them to do whatever they may need to do, if
anything. He’s built an awesome ministry within the lion’s den, so to speak.
Many of the leaders in this church were children that have grown up under his
love & direction. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as he witnesses
to this very poor area.
When the soccer tournament was over,
we walked the children back up to the church where they would be fed. There
were children everywhere! I don’t think I can accurately describe the layout of
this community, so hopefully you can see from the pictures on my Facebook page
how poor this area was.
You could tell that some of these
children don’t get much to eat because as soon as they were given their bowls
of rice & beans, they scooped it up with their fingers as fast as they
could & shoveled it into their mouths. It was so disheartening to watch
them eat what probably would be their only meal for the day. Makes you
appreciate what we so often take for granted.
Sunday morning, we got up &
headed back to Divine Destiny to worship with Pastor Ben & his church.
Before church started, different leaders gave us tours of the Muslim slum
community to show us just how poor the area was. As I mentioned earlier, I
cannot describe this adequately in words. My pictures barely do it justice. I
beg of you to please, if you look at nothing else, please look at this photo
album & pray for this community. Let me give you a small taste of what you’ll
find.
Most of the children that were
running around the area had one of these “toys”…a boda boda tire & an empty
plastic water bottle (a boda boda is a motorcycle taxi that can be found
EVERYWHERE.) The children had bent the water bottle in so it formed a cup of
sorts. They would use this to push the boda boda tire up & down the “street”
of the slum area, squealing with laughter every time. This toy is nothing more
than someone else’s trash they had made into something for their entertainment…&
they were THRILLED to have it! Another stepping on the toes moment of how we
are so spoiled in our country.
Nothing here is sanitary at all. This
is the community trash pile for water bottles & the like.
These are people’s houses that they
live in, sometimes with multiple families in one home. We apparently
interrupted wash day, because everyone was washing clothes this day.
This is their “sewage line”
consisting of their bathroom waste, among other things that have been thrown in
from time to time. This runs all throughout this community. Kids jump over it
& walk around it all day, every day.
After we finished with our tour of
the community, we joined them at church for worship & praise! The most special
thing about this day for me, besides opening my eyes to our own wastefulness
& spoiled nature, was this boy. Somewhere during the tour, he ran to me
& grabbed my hand. He walked the whole way with us, never letting me go. I
kept worrying about his mother looking for him, but our tour guide, Lydia,
assured me he would get home, so with me he stayed! He sat with me during
church & it was such a joy to see him hop down from my lap from time to
time to sing & dance with the praise team! I want to mention that this
little boy was so dirty, so filthy, & he smelled so bad, but I couldn’t put
him down. He was so needing of love & I wanted to give that to him while I
could. When we came back home, we bleached everything that we could bleach to
get that beautiful Ugandan red clay out of them. I attempted to bleach this
shirt, not once, not twice, but three times. This is how my shirt currently
looks. I cannot get the stains this little boy left out of my shirt, but I’m
not sure I want to. I pray those stains will remain on my shirt for as long as
that sweet soul will remain imprinted upon my heart: forever!
After church, we went out to eat
with Pastor Ben & his family. We actually ate at a pizza restaurant!
Granted, it wasn’t pizza as we know it in the States, but it was something
close to home! This is a wonderful family that has done great things for the
kingdom of God in that Muslim slum community. Please keep Pastor Ben, his
family, & his ministry in your prayers!
Before heading back to the hotel to
pack our things up to head to the airport, we stopped at a Wal-Mart/Costco of
sorts to do some last minute shopping. Bryan & I picked up some seasoning our
cook used in several dishes so we could try to recreate them at home. Some of
the packaging of products were hilarious, such as this honey! Gotta love Africa!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This mission trip was such a life
changer for me. My heart longed for Africa for 3-4 long years before God answered
my desires. And God knew my biggest desire was to experience this with my husband,
so He answered that, too. I think my heart fell in love with Bryan on a deeper
level because of our shared experience here. I love serving God with him. It
makes my heart go pitter pat! Bryan used to be so closed off to Africa, even a
trip like this one. He would adamantly, quickly say, “No” whenever Africa was
mentioned. But this trip…this blessed, wonderful trip…my husband doesn’t say “no”
to Africa now. He says, “Just not now. One day.” Such sweet words!
I know this blog post was long, but
trust me, it isn’t as long as the memories are in my heart. There are so many
things I could tell you about that I didn’t include. Like how the women bend at
the waist, straight legged. Or how all of the children just run everywhere,
without supervision, but always end up back where they belong. Especially about the young Muslim man that happened upon a youth conference at a church where a friend of his went to that, praise God, gave his life to Christ because he wanted the joy he saw in us as we worshiped with the children. And through that same young man, we were able to witness to his whole family when, as a team, we enabled his 18-month-old sister to have surgery for something that could have potentially killed her. Through God working in us, the man, his family, the doctors & hospital staff involved all saw Christ. What more can you ask for in a mission trip?! There is just
not enough space to show you what’s stored in my heart. The friends…no, the
family…we made here will always hold a special place in our hearts. That drum,
you know, the one my heart beats to? It’s gotten so much louder, so much
stronger. And I know, God willing, our one day will come!
We are planning to go back to Africa
this April to be of services to the same ministries we encountered this past year. This has been a hard
year for Bryan & I financially with different things, but we know if this is God’s
will, He will make a way. We have set up a YouCaring page to prayerfully help with the costs of this trip. If you feel led, please click
on the link above to donate. If you choose not to donate through that site,
please email me to see how else you can donate. If you cannot donate or don’t
feel led, your prayers are more important. Thank you all, from the bottom of
our hearts, for your prayers!
In
His love!
Bryan
& Christy Day
