UGANDA

God does awesome things in a short amount of time! 

In December, my team went on a week outreach in downtown Nashville for New Years. We rang in the New Year on Broadway St in Nashville, while passing out water bottles to slightly inebriated (Okay, really drunk) people.

Marissa & I on New Years Eve, as they set up the stage for the big "keynote drop" counting down the New Year!

Then, on Jan. 6th, we started out for "real outreach" in Uganda! Our traveling was supposed to start on the 6th at a reasonable hour of 10 a.m., which is when we would have been at the Nashville airport. Instead, most of the U.S. was pelted with a snow/ice storm. Our flight was cancelled. Of course. So at 2.a.m. more than 25 of us in 3 different vehicles drove down to Atlanta, GA. Thankfully, we had no other cancellations as we flew to D.C., Brussels, Belgium, then lastly, Kampala, Uganda! I'm not entirely sure when we got there. We "lost" 9 hours from Tennessee to Uganda (a 7,852 mile trip, give or take a few). We were all a little confused for a while. I think we traveled for about 36 hours total. Oh, the delights of sleeping on a plane. (I couldn't.) We were a bit jet-lagged for a while!

After spending a few leisurely days in Kampala, getting rested up, we traveled via the lovely GaaGaa coach bus to Arua, an 8 hour bus ride north. On the way there, we rode throughout the day. Other than hitting a large, antelope-like creature, and stopping what felt like every 10 minutes for hungry/thirsty passengers to have the option of buying street wares, the trip was largely uneventful. i did manage to pay for a water bottle that was 2,000 shillings (less than one U.S. dollar) with a 20,000 shilling note. I didn't notice my mistake (after all, I wasn't used to the whole shilling system) until the bus started to leave the very honest street vendor tried to shove 18,000 shillings (all in 1,000 and 2,000 shilling notes, I believe) through the window. I managed to collect almost all my change! From then on, I made sure to double-check just how many zeroes were on the end of a bank note...

.A few months later, we rode the bus all night back to Kampala. I don't recommend it. Ugandan buses aren't too shabby, but they are NOT built for sleeping. So we didn't.

Uganda is a beautiful country. We did a lot of ministry that at times felt ineffective. We didn't see lots of "fruit" from our seed while there. But the farther I come from Uganda, the more I see what God did and that we did change lives. A big focus of our trip was building relationships and we definitely did that! So even though at times I felt useless, I know we touched the hearts of many children and encouraged many Christians who I know will bring even more people to Jesus.

Welcome to Arua!!!!

 Although the people of the Uganda have little, they lack nothing. We were continually amazed by the stories of provision, their joy, and family values. Even though we went to minister, oftentimes I felt I was the one being ministered to! Our team worked with children every day, including with kids at the local Compassion International base.
The weekly visits to play with Compassion kids was one of the highlights of the trip! We let them get a little crazy with our hair :)

God never changes. No matter where I am, or what I am doing, He is the same God. Sometimes I felt extremely useless in Uganda. Sometimes I feel that way here at home. But I am learning that I am doing the will of the Father. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the Lord directs his steps." Prov. 16:9 As long as I keep trusting and focusing on Him, I am an important tool in building His kingdom.

Uganda and the whole Discipleship Training School was a great learning experience for me. I came out with amazing experiences, wonderful friendships, and a changed outlook on life. Live each day with all you can. Whether a day is extraordinary or extraordinarily ordinary, God plans it all! He is so involved with my past, present and future.
Now I come to the point in my life that prompted the start of this blog, and its resurrection last fall: a crossroads.
God is still working on me. I have to trust Him even when the future is uncertain. I am full of joy at the opportunity to put into practice what I've learned these last 6 months, in my every day life. I am thrilled to go on to the new things God has for me. I know He has even greater things than these.
Leaving Uganda and DTS was bittersweet. I am excited to embrace all God has for me, but I will miss cuddling the children, hearing them yell "moondo, moondo!" as we walk by, and the children running to us just to touch our hands or give us a hug. I miss the times spent talking about God, life, and everything in between in the quiet of our girls' room at the YWAM Arua base. I will miss the sweet worship I had many times, including a powerful time under the stars, with my friend who worships straight to the heart of the Father. I miss the quiet, the beauty, the waking up knowing there were people whose lives we could touch that day. But that doesn't need to change just because I am no longer "on outreach". I know the Savior of the world is just as concerned with my country and home as he is with Uganda. I know there are people whose lives I can touch, right now, right where I am.
This experience has begun to open my eyes just how important it is to really search out the Father's will for each new day. He has placed me where I am for a reason. There are lonely souls crying out for a Savior every day - where you are, where I am! "Who will go? Whom shall I send?" the Lord asks in Isaiah. (Is. 6:8) I say, "Here am I. Send me!" What about you? Are you willing to follow this Almighty God and loving Father right now, right here, no matter what?

The dreams God had for me far outweighed my own! I never could have imagined what this experience gave me. I can't wait to see what HIS dreams are for my tomorrow!