The
past week of my life has been completely awesome, yet exhausting. My
squad and I were blessed to have the opportunity to finish off our month
in Uganda with a visit to the Nile River for camping, bungee
jumping and white water rafting! I love spending time with these
sixty awesome people, and my heart is so full when I am
around them.
After
two refreshing days at the Nile, we began our travels from Uganda to
Tanzania with a 20-hour bus ride requiring us to cross back through
Kenya. We slept through the night and the next day went by
surprisingly quick as well. Maybe I am just finally getting used to
these crazy travel days! After a dinner break, we soon realized the
bus sounded suspicious, so we made our way back to the restaurant
where we had just eaten. Our driver realized the bus was missing a
part and it would take a few hours before we could get a replacement.
However, since it is not safe to drive in Tanzania past 10:00 p.m.,
we would need to sleep at the restaurant. So there we stayed . .
tents inside, tents outside, sleeping on the floor, sleeping in the
bus. Such is life on the World Race, and once again God protected and
provided for us. At 5:00 a.m. the next morning we were gone again for
another 6-hour bus ride, a two hour break, and then four more hours
to Morogoro where my team and I are for the month. That’s 50 hours
if you didn’t keep count.
Upon
arriving, we dove into ministry and have been quite busy this week.
Each morning we walk to a village about 30 minutes away, where we are
partnered with Pastor Jonathan. For the next three hours we do
evangelism door-to-door, which was no surprise to us. Our month in
Uganda definitely prepared us for this month. We walk around in twos
or threes, accompanied by a translator, approaching people as they
are doing daily chores. The routine is most times very predictable.
One of us takes the introduction . . our names, where we come from,
what we are doing, asking what their names are, do they have children etc.
etc. The next asks whether the person is a church member, or if they
go to a church. After that it could go a number of ways. Either
people have no more time to talk because they are miraculously too
busy, they seem disinterested/disengaged while still welcoming us, or
they respond to our prying questions to find out where their faith
lies. We have seen that in countries outside of America, few
conversations are mutually interactive. On
our walk back from our morning evangelism we typically share stories
from and ponder the conversations we had. By this time each day my
brain generally feels fried and I am both mentally and physically
exhausted. We are blessed with an amazing lunch and break until
around 4:00 p.m. when we walk back to the village for church
services.
Even though this week has been tiring, it has been awesome. We have heard God’s
voice and seen Him begin to work through us already. We have met
amazing people and have had powerful conversations. I have felt His
empowerment and must rely on His strength daily. I thank Him for
bringing me to a point, 10 months into this crazy journey, where I
see I can’t do it without Him. There has been a shift within my
heart and attitude, and I am feeling joy in this type of ministry,
which I know must come from the Lord.
On
Sunday, our team along with another will head into “the bush�,
where we will visit three villages for three days at a time. In each
village we will be camping and doing on-site ministry, which will most likely
be evangelism, preaching, and fellowshipping. However, we truly have
no idea what it will look like! By this point in the race thinking of
the upcoming nine days excites me, while it would have scared me in
the past. I can see how God has been preparing us each day for our
time in Tanzania. I can’t wait to share stories of our time in the
bush with you. Bare with me though because we will be without
electricity for a while!
