Life is beautiful.

Last week in a recap. Monday was an office day so we spent our time in meetings and going back and forth from all the different departments. I recently joined the Planning, Managing, and Evaluating (PME) committee along with Porsche and Victor. We review the following weeks plan and look at any conflicts that may be in place. Mondays and Fridays are typically office days: Mondays are primarily used for planning and Fridays are used as an evaluation time. It is a very effective way to stay involved and to be a part of everything that is going on throughout the organization. Any way- Monday evening we have the special ladies bible study so we met with them. We are still working through Ruth. It has been SO much fun to get to know them since we have visited their houses the want to be so personable. They LOVE sharing with us what is going on in their lives and just how God is doing big things for them. I always walk away from that study so refreshed. Some women even bring friends now. I was semi flustered due to my lack of laptop. Porsche had moved out for a board meeting so our awesome MST’s were so willing to jump in and lead the group! I went to bed quickly Monday night.

On Tuesday the team went to Sanyu Babies home as I stayed back to have a meeting with the PME committee. After the meeting was over I had the rest of the morning off. So I decided to grab a taxi then a boda up to the Mulago cancer institute. I went to go see our sweet friend Tonny. I got to the hospital with Edgar and we just sat on the floor and just spent time just in silence some of the time. Edgar helped Tonny bathe and I sat with Jaja (grandma) and we just sat there and chatted. She is so good to me, everytime I am there wel always talk (even though there is a HUGE language barrier) about how fun it would be if we stayed together. How we would sit in the company of eachother and just have so much fun. She makes me so happy! I am so thankful she stays with Tonny all of the time. I came back to the house and got packed up to head to the village. We left at 2:00pm. When we arrived to the village we were able to get our tents set up pretty quickly. We went to individual homes so we could do some New Skills with them and teach them English. Alison (an 18 year old from Canada), Esther (MST Coordinator), and myself walked down the road to Mama Sunday’s home. As we walked children who had just been released from school would follow closely behind and let out a giggle every couple minutes. I would hear whispers of ‘Mzungu’ and ‘Muwala Wamusumba’. That place is home to me <3. We worked on several phrases like, “Go get a chair” and “Go brush your teeth” . Jeremy the new MST brought a ton of resources for teaching English so we had these HUGE flashcards with pictures of basic home essentials so we worked through a handful of those and then wrote it on her whiteboard so that her and her children can be working on the things we taught them during the week.

Wednesday I went over to the school, Empowered Leaders Academy (ELA) with Porsche and we met with the Bursar for the school to talk about registering a couple kids that a volunteer had left money for. I was also trying to find a way to get a uniform for my sponsored kiddo. I failed. The rest of the team were clearing a path and doing some manual labor. We had some personal ministry time but it was so hot that most of the volunteers found comfort in the shade of the trees around the church. I layed down in my tent for just a moment and woke up a few hours later all sticky! Wednesday evening we had the coolest most radical and loud praise rally. I am not even sure how long we sang- but it was beautiful. We sang until we ran out of songs and then we invited the kiddos to lead some praise songs. There was dancing, jumping, praying, laughing and it was a beautiful evening. During our devotions later in the evening we heard a boda pull up. It was Gaspar, He is a volunteer that has been helping out for a couple months here in Uganda and he is seriously one of my best friends, I am so thankful for him. He spent two weeks in South Sudan just spreading the word of God and visiting orphanages. We spent time catching up and going through every story and adventure he went on. We were so happy to have him back!

Thursday was another day of manual labor but again Porsche and I had a staff meeting with some of the teachers so we went over to take minutes for the meeting and just be another set of ears to listen. It was one of the longest meetings I have ever attended I am not quite sure how they do it but Ugandans like to talk about every detail of every subject. I feel quite knowledgeable of the education system we have in place. J IN the afternoon we headed home and got ready to go to the airport. It was a sad evening for EAC we lost a great volunteer. It is so exciting at the same time though because I know that God is going to use Gaspar in Hungary! He has so many plans for that boy. Porsche, Sandra, Victor, Patrick and I escorted him to the airport. The whole way there I kept asking him to stay and to just not get onto the airplane…he did.

On Friday we had an evaluation and planning meeting.

Saturday we went to see Tonny again. He was not as good today. He got up to take a shower. He is not very responsive. Edgar helped him bathe and then he came back to eat some food- A cup of tea and two boiled eggs as he began to eat the eggs he just quietly asked for a bucket in Luganda. Edgar brought him a bucket and he immediately began to throw up the little he had managed to eat. I would give anything to take this from him. I was just asked to make a small write up for how his sickness started so I feel even more connected to him and my heart just breaks into a million little pieces every time I think about it.

Sunday we went out to the village for church but the youth had left before we arrived to go minister to a neighboring church. I am so proud of them that they are going out and doing things on their own and not feeling like they have to wait for our lead!

On Monday we had so many meetings and just brainstormed new ideas for the coming months. In the evening Porsche and I were exhausted so we snuck away to the little café nearby the house and picked up some milkshakes to go. When we got back to the house we noticed our special ladies had arrived for bible study so we jumped right in. There were a handful of kiddos though that were being a distraction so I went and led a small group study with the kiddos. We sang some songs and read scripture and just had some fun times, we even invited the neighbour kiddos.

Today we had team bonding that I get the honor and pleasure of leading every week. We started with some praise and worship and then made a poster for Tonny. We spent some time in prayer for all of the sickness that has affected our team. I had everyone trace their hand onto the poster and then we wrote i<3Tonny on the paper and took a group photo it is going to be a part of a collage that we are putting together for them. Then we played a scavenger hunt. I cut up a piece of paper that had the word teamwork on it and then taped it all around the house and compound the team was divided into groups of three and they had to go searching based on clues that I made up for the places. After devotions Esther and I took the MST’s to the hospital. First stop? Tonny’s room of course. Last night in the middle of the night Tonny was having difficult time breathing so he began to pray out loud and then the doctors came in and gave him an oxygen tank. He is so swollen. In his stomach. Face and feet. He is very weak, he cannot even keep his head up. I presented him with the poster and then not long after that he laid down and went to sleep. No reaction. No communication. His heart races through his chest. I would give anything to have this hurt for him. This afternoon I have been working on his poster and spending some quality time with the great provider and just really seeking after His heart. <3

Heavy Hearted.

These last two weeks have been so challenging and has really made me grow in more ways than I had originally planned on growing. But that is how God works. Huh? He uses experiences and things that come up in our lives so that we will fully rely on Him in every aspect of our walk. Sometimes we have to endure certain things in order that Christ may be glorified. This week was exactly that.First of all I am going back to the old fashion way and using paper and pen for everything. I have had a glitch in my laptop and it has really been something that I have been struggling with. The not having it. It has become quite frustrating to accomplish the work in which I want to do. I constantly have to remind myself that it is just a thing. It is a thing that people have been working without for many years. But it sure makes the work lighter. My heart was being played with. We went to a place called Banda- right outside of the local university to get my computer “fixed” only to have sat there for 3 ½ hours to have windows 8 cleared of my laptop and no wifi capability left in sight. I sighed. I was ready to freak out. I am so thankful for our sweet team. They have been so helpful and encouraging and offer to let me use their laptops in my laptops absence. This is most likely the reason I have taken long to blog I was letting my heart settle down so it wouldn’t turn into a rant….oops. here we are. Ok. Moving forward. I am trying to think of what I even blogged about last time it is not even near the front of my head by any means…Ah yes the youth. How about we start from there- the youth are incredible and I am so thankful that I have has that opportunity to watch them grow just in these last two months. They have been so encouraging and I am grateful to be so close to them even with some of their ages, it is really like seeing good friends I always tell people when I have to wait a week in between to see them that it is like seeing one of your best friends and when we arrive in Zirobwe on Sundays I always go looking for them. This last week I had the privledge to share with the youth bible study. I shared about being the salt and light to the world. How it related to evangelism. And how it should look in our daily lives. We are so excited to see how God is going to use the youth- it is so beyond anything I could have ever imagined. We are still planning and inviting guest speakers and the like to be a part of our youth conference. (If you attend CRCC- I know you already know this and that you are praying for me because when my dad was on the stage on Sunday I was sitting in the front row on my sisters phone watching my dad talk about me and eating mango ice cream on the couch in the living room. Technology is so cool.) We know that everything that goes into planning this event will fall into place and we are hopeful for a big turn up! Last Sunday we picked a leadership team among the youth: Alex is the leader, Frank is the assistant, and Mastulah is our communications. We had all of the youth vote for our leadership team and the new spent time in prayer and just asking the Lord to lead these youth to exactly where we are supposed to be. Tonny, oh Tonny. My sweet boy. I am so thankful for this kid and wish you could all meet him. I feel like I have connected with him so well and he is really one of my great friends. Seriously don’t know what I would do without him. Tonny is 16 yrs. old. Earlier this summer he was diagnosed with lymphoid cancer- stage four. After his first round of chemo he got to come back to the EAC compound and he was doing well. He was able to walk about the compound, drink juice, make jokes, and just have regular conversation with you. After some time he would get a headache and make his way back to his room. I was determined to make him smile and get him anything he needed. We have pasta in the evenings for dinner and he is not supposed to eat it because it doesn’t mis well with his meds. So whenever it would be on the menu I would go get him whatever he wanted. Most of the time he just wanted local food. So Edgar and I would walk to the ghetto in the dark and get him some real food. There was one time we went after it had rained all day and it was so slippery but all three of us had gone. There is a trench that separates the ghetto to the main road (that is all muddy and slippery) and we had to jump across in the dark that I couldn’t already see I think I stood there for a solid three minutes before I took the leap of faith never have I ever seen Tonny laugh that hard. I thought he might break a bone because he has lost so much weight through this process that he seems so weak. It just makes me more passionate about going to see him and making sure that he is ok and purposing to go see him and make sure he is doing alright and just watching his face light up. He has such a great smile and when he is happy everyone in the room is happy. I know the Lord is going to do great things with this young man and this is only the beginning of his testimony. Anyway last week he headed back to the Mulago cancer institute so he can start his second round of chemo which is supposedly more intense. He has no appetite and is not able to  keep any food down. I asked him if it would be alright if I visited him and he was quick to assure me that I was most welcome. I asked him what I could bring for him and he said Lucozade (it is like a juice energy drink). Saturday we hooked him up with all the juice he could want, along with some potato chips, and candy. I also brought him a spiral notebook with a letter in it and asked him to be writing to me while he is there, I wrote some of my favourite bible verses in there and encouraged him to be reading it. If you would like to write to Tonny some sort of encouragement please email it to me shannengrace26@gmail.com and I will print it out along with a picture of you so that he can be blessed!! He would absolutely love that! At the moment he is struggling to even speak sometimes. Some days are good- and others are really hard for him. BUT to be honest I rarely even notice I am to thankful to see him breathing another breath and seeing him just be totally in love with Christ even through all the hardiships he is enduring. I don’t know why God is allowing this in Tonnys life but I do know that God has a master planned that is grander than anything that I could even imagine. I know that he is still good even through this.There is so much going on right now and I wish I had more time to write. It has been such an incredible blessing to be back, things are moving so fast.I just added another button onto my blog for one time donations which will go towards flights, bibles, hospital visits, among other things. If you are wanting to donate a one time gift of any size that will be such a blessing! Thank you so much for considering me. I am still short a couple of monthly sponsors. If this sounds interesting to you there is a link at the top of my blog on the right hand side! A gift of any size will help. Thank you so much. 

Here we are, SEND US OUT!

What a beautiful day.

 

 

 

Matthew 10:5-6 (ESV)

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 

 

 First of all I just wanted to say that I have been so blessed by the youth bible study that we have been having on Thursdays and on Sundays. It had been super rewarding and I have been so encouraged by the kids. They are such a great support to the team and just seeing them doing exactly what God has called them to do is just more than I could have ever asked for. Porsche (My permanent prayer partner) has been leading the group the last few weeks and encouraging the youth about how they are empowered by the Holy Spirit and that they have been given incredible power using only Jesus’ name. It is something that we all need to take time and give thought to. If we want to move mountains than we need to be putting our faith and that God will fulfill everything that he has given us the power to do. That seemed a little wordy but it made sense in my brain.

I should probably just back track for a minor second. This week we had three girls come this week. Lydia, Emily, and Alison. So if I talk about them at all you will understand who they are. I always love hearing about how they got here and how they are wanting to be involved in the ministry. Lydia is from Ohio and there are 8 kids (Emily also has 8 kids in her family and they have adopted). All three of the girls just graduated from high school so they are literally right where I was just one year ago. It is such a blessing (I was just told that I say that phrase way too often) I am really excited to see how God uses them and watch them get involved. I feel like I am getting to re live the same feelings I had when I got here for the first time.

On Saturday we got to go see where Gaspar (our Hungarian boy/ best friend/ step son) has been spending all of his time lately. He has been keeping his eye on this young girl, Mercy from Zirobwe. He thinks that she has great potential to be a professional futbol player. So he has been going back and forth from the stadium and has been finding new ways to get her into training. She has officially been put in the program and Gaspar has done everything he could to support all of the girls. He REALLY wanted us to go share devotions with them. Nothing was planned and it was really on a whim and we didn’t know where we were going. When we got there the girls greeted us. They are from all over Uganda so some of them don’t know English where as others didn’t know Luganda. It was so diverse. They invited us into their home. Two small brick built rooms and mattresses that covered the floor. We took our shoes of at the entrance and trudged through their small living space. Practically crawling into the second room we all sat around in a circle and introduced ourselves. Had a time of worship. Then prayed. Everyone in their own words prayed and it felt like the Holy Spirit really entered that place. It was HOT. And sweaty and stinky. There really is no such thing as deodorant here and it was hot so you can only imagine. At one point one of the girls wiped the sweat off of my face. Mercy was so excited to see me and it was almost like seeing a family member after being away for a while. I got to share about the story of Ruth and how it doesn’t matter what background you are from that God will use them and that no matter where they go in life whether they are an Olympic champion or a peasant farmer that the name of the Lord will be praised.  

Alright, back to this great day. So- we usually take the class out to the cattle shed. I always am so blessed out there because I feel like it is strange that we get to learn about God in a similar setting the Christ was born in. Sometimes I just catch a small glance at what it might have been like. After the youth worshipped with the adults we all surrounded the jack fruit tree and talked about how we wanted this service to look. Our sweet young musumba (pastor) Alex (also the boy that gave me the chicken) lead us in a prayer. We all lifted our hands to the sky and he began to pray in the local language of Luganda. When they pray they pour their hearts into every phrase and every word that they speak. After we prayed we broke into small groups of about 5 or 6 kiddos. Porsche and I already “Called” our favorite kids. We were hoping that we would get the chance to visit the witch doctor and pray with him/her. (That is going to come at a later time we were not able to get to it today) as we set of for Kawanda- the local town in the village. We stopped about half way at the water pump. Porsche and I wanted to give the youth an opportunity to go wherever the spirit had lead them. We formed a small circle in the middle of the road and began to pray in unison. Some people prayed in English and other in Luganda. As we were praying our voices got louder and louder. When the prayer ended Porsche asked them if they felt like God had put anyone on their hearts that we needed to go pray for, of course he had, off we went wandering down the bumpy, long, red dirt road. We came to a small home that seemed mildly unkept- several of us walked into the small mud hut as the rest of the team waited outside. It was very dark, the home belonged to an old man who could not see and who had a really hard time walking. There were many things on the floor of his home and it smelled of smoke. My HEART was filled and I was so ready to pray for the whole day. One of the youth said to our small group inside the home that we needed to seek Gods hand here and ask for his provision. I was trying to figure out which one of us was teaching who. We prayed for him for…I lost count of the seconds and minutes. We just prayed. I didn’t realize until after we left that house but the team that was waiting outside gathered together and prayed for the old man as well. After that we met a young girl at her home, she just watched us as we were walking by and decided that we needed to pray for her. We asked if we could enter the property and the girls mother asked that we NOT pray for her. One of the youth translated for us and then added that it didn’t matter because we needed to follow Gods calling so we just started praying for her. I don’t know what was wrong with her but what I could see was that she was missing her fingers on her right hand, her head was misshaped and almost looked like she had a burn on her head, and her sight was not very good. As the morning went on we came across several individuals asking for prayer and it was so beautiful and we shared scriptures encouraging one another as we walked. We even had an opportunity to speak to the gamblers of the town and invited them to come to bible study. They all called themselves Christians but the kids we were walking with said they have no fruit in their lives. On our way back to the church it began to sprinkle and we started playing some worship music on my phone. Alex then started sharing with the group that if this village of Nawabango is going to change it is going to be the youth that change it. It is going to be Christ through us. He told us that we need to be finding ways to further the kingdom right here in their home town. I am feeling so blessed and refreshed for this following week. Our church is real. I get to see His work right here right now.

I love Uganda.

Uncontainable Contentment

Thank you Lord for loving me.

This has been a growing month for sure as I reach the one month mark I have already learned so much and I have been able to be so involved in this short amount of time.

Friday I got to rest in and spend time with some of the team. We have a couple kiddos living with us right now. I am just finding so much joy in my housemates and I am so thankful for the growing friendships I have with this team. They teach me something new everyday.

Saturday we went to an introduction it is much like an engagement party and it is more extravagant than the wedding itself. Beautiful tents, so much culture, lots of food, and beautiful decorations. I was shocked. I had always heard of them but never attended one while I was here last time. It was a series of many people just welcoming the man into the family and the man has to really show and prove to the family why he deserves this girl. It is seriously like totally a show of how good of a party the groom can present. Little did I know that we were a part of the ceremony. We got to dress up in the traditional dresses called Gomesi's also known as Gomez' they are pointy shouldered- make a statement fabric kind of dress. AND they are like a toaster oven. It was so fun getting to dance and greet, and just be a part of the ceremony. One of the women told me that I am too happy and she wanted to give me to her brother. I declined.  I was so thankful for the opportunity to experience this Ugandan tradition. It was a very long service, The man gave so many gifts complete with many baskets of food, living room sets, and cows! The whole side that was seated on the grooms side just kept pouring in with more and more gift to show the girls family that he values her.

It just made me think of the "introduction" that we have with Christ and we really don't have to show anything for. We don't have to lavish gifts on him and try to prove ourselves. We have to simply give our lives to Him. I am so thankful for such a loving and giving savior. I, all too often,  take that for granted and don't realize the opportunities that he has put in my life to show him how much I love him!

Then today I really got thinking about our purpose in life and how do we find that purpose? How do we know if we have chosen the right path and if we are really following the calling God has for us? Did I make the right decision coming here? Is this where He wants me? What if I had gone to school? What if my husband is waiting for me at GCU right now? What if...

But living in the past brings regret and that is where right where Satan wants us. I am so thankful that I am sitting in a bunk bed in the middle of Uganda listening to turkeys and constantly being covered in red dirt. I love it. I know that God has me right where he wants me and it has been confirmed countless times and I don't have to wonder what my life would be like any other way because I know that God is using me in an incredible way. God has shown me countless times that He has a plan for my life and all I have to do is trust Him.

People keep telling me that they couldn't imagine me being anywhere else and I feel the same way...NOW. All this time I hadn't realized that God has been preparing me for this my whole life. From the first time I saw an outline of Africa down to the fact that I hate wearing make up. Protecting me from relationships. From the big to the small. God had a purpose for me and he knew it was going to be used right here at this point in my life.

I can honestly say that I have no idea what tomorrow will bring or if I will go to school, or stay in Africa, or even live in a mud hut for the rest of my life. All I know is that I am going to follow the Lords leading in my life no matter where he wants to send me. I am so grateful that I have the chance to serve in such a beautiful place. I am thankful for the dirty stained feet.  My life is changing. and lives are being transformed for Christ. not only here. but in America as well. I pray that the Lord will use me and they will see Him through what He is doing through me.

 

1 Timothy 6:6-19English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and^[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before^[b] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
¹⁷ As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹ thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

 

 

Killing a chicken and drinking Mata

Sometimes God works in mysterious ways. This week was another great week in Africa.

I got to lead devotions on Tuesday before we left for the village. We played a team bonding game where we each had a partner and had to find thing in common with each other. It was very successful and took up our whole devotion time. I never know how to plan for devotions because things take longer or shorter than I expect. After devos we ran a sponsored kid party. They all came about 9am and Portia and I got to lead praise and worship. The kids love when us mzungus lead because we really have no idea what we are doing half of the time. We also got to lead a bible study with them and encourage their spiritual growth. We talked about how they are such a treasure in Gods eyes. The message was led by Gaspar and then we got a chance to spend time answering questions and praying together. After that it was time to EAT! We made porridge for them and gave them each a roll. I would say there were about 75 kids but I could be totally off I am not much of a gestimater.

 

I still cannot believe I am here.

 

Then we loaded up the van for a week in Zirobwe. We were on for manual labor this week.

I always set up as fast I can and then run to my favorite houses and play with my friends. I feel like a kid again running over to my neighbors house and playing with the kids and visiting other peoples houses. I grabbed my bag of string and beads and ran to Mama Franks house. On the way I ran into one of my best friends Sande and we walked to Franks house and sat and beaded with mama- I taught her how to make the bracelets that I always wear. She has really bad eyesight so it took her a good 3 minutes to put one bead on. As we sat on a mat in the dirt and we all lounged around the children that live there (Fred and Gaba who are both under the age of 5) ran around and picked up Encocos (chickens) and through them as high as they could to see if they could fly and the chickens face was obviously in some sort of distress. As I was falling asleep a bug kept hitting my tent thinking that it could get through and paranoid as I am every couple minutes I would shine my phone light around the tent just to make sure it wasn't actually inside.

 

I woke up to the rain (encuba) pounding on the tin roof that was above our heads. I smiled because I knew that meant I could get out of manual labor because we cant work in the rain here. Somehow God knew that was why I smiled because it stopped raining as soon as we were meant to start work so we went. We planted maize from 9- noon and spent time singing. After it rains here- when the sun comes out it get SUPER HOT...like unbearably hot. It feels like you are standing still and the sweat is just pouring off of you. With that said I am looking into getting a solar paneled refrigerator so that we can have cold water waiting for us. If you want to donate or know someone who wants to please let me know I will be eternally grateful!

   

We had rice, vegetable curry sauce, and matoke with Gnut sauce for lunch.

 

We also had a financial planning meeting with the teachers from our primary school. I didn't realize what little resources the school is running off f right now. It was great to be able to hear what they invision for the coming years. They currently don't even have plates to eat off of, the kitchen they use is falling apart, and many of them do not even have the materials to clean their classrooms along with many other things. All that aside this is our first year and I am excited to see how the Lord is going to provide. During this meeting though- one of the teachers heads up the "senior women" section of the school which educates young girls about their bodies and helps them in crisis times. All the male teachers plugged their ears, or left, or started making silly jokes because they were uncomfortable. It was an INCREDIBLE reminder that boys are boys no matter where they live. :)

 

Now: the story you have been waiting for.... the ENCOCO

Alex came to me two weeks ago and just was asking me questions and asked me if I eat chicken. I said not in Uganda because I am scared of the meat haha. This week he told me he had asked that only because when I left in February he was able to work for some money and buy a small chick...now five months later it was grown and ready to eat. He had bought it for me in hopes that I would return. Of course I felt like the worst person in the whole world because I had let him down when he had asked me if I liked meat. He told me that he wanted to meet at 5 and we go to his moms house. it was a very cultural experience we walked about 3/4 of a mile to his moms place and all of his siblings and his mom were there waiting for us and greeted me very traditionally kneeled down and brought me the best seat that they could. We had a film going that had been translated into Luganda so Alex didn't want to stay long so they presented me with the chicken and off we went. Mind you I am always scared they are going to try to peck at my hand and so I was super nervous about killing it but I had to redeem myself and embrace the African way. As we waled back to the training center Dad Sande stopped me and asked me if I would come to their house in the morning to take Mata (milk) and that he would have it delivered if I wasn't able to make it.

 

Half way home we stopped to take a photo with the chicken and right after the photo was shot the chicken jumped out of my hand and ran as fast as it could into the bushes we had to run after it...it knew what was about to happen.  Alex, Sande, and Frank all helped me because I couldn't do it by myself. I wasn't even strong enough at first but then I told myself I had to do it and then I did it! I became a killer. haha. I couldn't believe I was able to bring myself to it. All the kids that were standing around just laughed because I was so proud at what I had accomplished. the boys gutted it and then we had fried chicken for lunch today.

 

During manual labor Shadia brought me a bucket of fresh cowks milk. Viola cooked it with some Ginger and it was some of the most delicious milk I had ever tasted.

 

That's my week in a nutshell. <3

 

This week was good. As you can tell by the photos. 

Photo Post

This week in Uganda

 It has been a less busy week and we had three of our volunteers head home! So our team is getting smaller and smaller. Sometimes I like having a small team it gives you more time to bond and really encourage one another. This week was letter writing week so we went to several districts away from Kampala and spent time helping kids writing letters to their sponsors.

Monday evenings we do our prostitute ministry so I got to lead that because the rest of the team went to the village to help the teachers prepare lessons for next term. I recently discovered a Christian bookstore/ pastry store in a local mall that some of the other MST’s have been going to. They have some great studies. Originally I had bought the study of Ruth: Loss, Love, & Legacy for myself. I love Ruth. But then I got thinking why not go through this with our women! So we started the journey on Monday and we had a great time the study lasted for about an hour and a half. Some of the women participated in reading scripture, sharing personal testimony, and even praying. I am really looking forward to seeing how God uses this ministry to further His kingdom. Friday nights we go out to pray with the women on the streets. If you would be praying for us that would be so encouraged. J

On Tuesday we had a Kampala kid sponsor party and had about 100 kids come and spend time writing letters, updating their pictures, and bio/ medical form. We all broke up into separate teams and worked together in order that we could have a successful week. We also cooked a meal for them since that spent all morning with us. Kids started arriving about 9:00 am and were there until about 3:00pm it made for a long day. It was so fun though because I was able to see kids that I hadn’t seen in a long time! Some remembered me and we immediately clicked. I am so thankful for the friendships that I have made with some of these kids- I am always surprised at the kids who remember me. It is such a good reminder that we really don’t know WHO is watching us and looking up to us. To be guarding our tongues and encouraging and loving everyone you meet!  

During the Kampala party when the children had finished letter writing we started a dance competition against girls and guys. OF COURSE I participated. I had a great time! I really had no idea what I was doing either. In the midst of the dancing and singing and playing of drums it began to rain. When it rains here everyone finds shelter. I love it.

On Wednesday after we went to a park to do some letter writing at we went over to one of our team members, Andrew, home! He had invited us over to have something to eat. I am always nervous about that because they really could serve ANYTHING and you must eat. That is one thing I do love about Ugandans though- they are VERY generous and so kind! We spent some time crammed into his small but very beautiful home. He had made a cake, some cabbage, sausages, and more. We passed aroud the food and the small television was turned on and played familiar shows from the nickelodeon station. I sat and pondered how MUCH Americans have. Yet we are so greedy with it. It is one thing that I don’t think I will ever forget learning from this place.

Thursday we went to another school and did letter writing. Like I said the whole week was full of it. I sat down in a classroom with the other volunteers and waited for a child to bravely sit next to you. Its like they think you are going to bite them or something haha. One of the young girls that game to sit with me had a very peculiar name - Matrix. I tried to ask her some questions in English and than in Luganda and wasn't getting much of a response but when I got her book to help her write her letter her sponsors name was there Tina Sherwood. I was so excited because she is the other kiddo that the womens bible study is sponsoring! I got to help her write her letter and one of the staff members explained that I was connected. she didn't leave my side the rest of the time we were in that room.

Friday was another quiet day but got some office things accomplished. We still have a handful of kiddos that have been on the waiting list for many years waiting to find someone that will give $35 a month if you know anyone who is or would be interested please let me know! I will get you all the info you need. J

Today I did some laundry and we are headed out to go to church.