At Training Camp they told us we should try to blog about two times a week. As any of you who follow my blog know, I am lucky if I post two blogs a month. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about; it’s more that I don’t know where to begin. God has been teaching me through my teammates, the Bible and through the people I meet in each country. This is the story of one specific family that God literally made cross my path.
Team #winning in front of our pastor's house in Uganda
Month 9 took our team to Wobulenzi, Uganda. It was a short month, but we had a packed schedule or “program” as Pastor Moses liked to call it. We spent our days visiting and teaching at schools, praying at hospitals, doing door to door evangelism and preaching at three church services a week. We came home everyday with red dirt covered feet that no amount of baby wipes could undo.
One afternoon after we finished visiting a school, Alyssa and I decided to take a walk around the community. We had been walking for awhile when we both noticed a cow walking towards us. Following closely behind the cow was the most adorable 11-year-old boy I’ve ever seen. His eyes lit up when he saw us, and we took that moment of eye contact as an invitation to strike up a conversation. He was grinning from ear to ear as we tried to ask him about his cow and what he was doing. I’m not sure if it was his shyness, limited knowledge of English or a little of both, but all we managed to get was his name and age. Satisfied with that newly gained knowledge, we said our goodbyes and sent him off after the cow he had let roam away during our conversation.
Alyssa and I became like little schoolgirls as we continued to walk and talk about our new crush Elijah. We were probably still talking about him as we passed a young girl standing on the side of the road with two large water jugs resting at her feet. I immediately looked at Alyssa and said, “Want to be good Samaritans?” Once she saw what I meant she jumped right on board. Soon we were each carrying a full jug and being followed by our new friend, Joann, and a giggling group of kids who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Two minutes into the walk and our arms were already burning. I have no idea how a 50 pound girl could carry two jugs when two grown women were having trouble with just one each. We might have sloshed out a little water, but I think Joann was more than grateful to have us do her work.
The same smile that Joann greeted us with was on the face of the woman standing in the front yard as we made it to our final destination. She shook our hands and in broken English thanked us and told us that we were welcome at their home. The longer we stood there talking with Joann and her mom, Florence, the more kids began to flood the place just to get a look at the “mzungus.” I even saw one boy peeking around the corner of the house and it took a second look for me to realize that it was Elijah. Alyssa must have seen him at the same time because she started squealing and calling him over. It wasn’t until I saw him standing beside Florence and Joann that I noticed how similar he and Joann looked. Yep, we had fallen in love with siblings.
I couldn't help but smile at how God works. He had countless children pass us on our walk, but He put it on our hearts to talk to that specific boy and girl at separate times, in different locations. He brought us to their home and united us with their mother. At that point I didn't know what He had planned next, but we both left that house knowing that God put that family into our lives for a reason.
A few days later Alyssa and Danae stopped by Florence's home and invited her to a womens' church service where we were speaking. When Danae, Alyssa and I got to the women's meeting, there were about 30 women praying, singing and worshipping the Lord. I felt something shift when we walked in and I knew that God was going to do work there. Halfway through Alyssa's talk, I looked up to see Florence walking through the door. I looked at Danae and we both just smiled. At the end of the service, Florence came forward and said that she wanted to accept Jesus into her life (yeahh, God!). Alyssa had the opportunity to pray for her and after the service we spent a few minutes talking with her.
We continued to see Joann, Elijah, Florence and the rest of the family throughout our time in Wobulenzi. When our last night in Wobulenzi arrived, Alyssa and I knew we couldnt leave without saying goodbye to our favorite family. We set out with my headlamp as our only light and made our way down the rocky, dirt roads to their home. When we arrived we were greeted with Joann's glowing smile and were quickly brought stools to sit on. Florence and her husband soon arrived and treated us to some sugar cane while we tried to explain to them that we were leaving the next day.
When they finally understood, Florence stood up and walked into the house. A few seconds later I heard the rustling of feathers and I knew that something was up. I poked Alyssa in the back and whispered "I hear a chicken. What is she doing in there?" Alyssa shrugged me off and I tried to ignore the rustling going on inside, but then she brought out a chicken. Alyssa and I immediately covered our faces and through our nervous laughs/yells, we asked if they were going to kill it right in front of us. All of the children were laughing at this point, the chicken was squawking and no one would give us a direct answer. We sat with covered faces for what seemed like an eternity until Florence's husband, through laughter, said, "She's not killing it. She's giving it to you as a gift." When we uncovered our faces, we found Florence sitting across from us holding the now tied up chicken out to us.
In that moment, my heart officially broke. This family who could barely understand what we were saying was going to give up a whole chicken for us. As much as I would've liked to see everyone's reactions as we walked back into pastor's house with a live chicken, we had to tell them that we were leaving in the morning and would not have time to prepare it. After a few pictures and lots of hugs, we said our goodbyes and headed back home.
I'm so thankful that God brought this wonderful family into my life and that we were able to see fruit from the relationships we formed. It is our prayer that this family will continue to seek the Lord and maybe one day Alyssa and I will be able to return to our friends and receive a chicken from them.
