After awhile I emerged from my daypack, determined to not let the
circumstance get to me. I thought about a conversation I’d had back in
Nairobi with Julia and April. We were talking about the fruits of the
Spirit and how we want to pick one from now till the end of the race
and focus on that particular fruit that month. I decided that mine
should be joy this month. You see, I always like big and epic things,
but I’ve realized that everything can’t be big and epic all the time.
(Which is kind of a bummer, but true).
Joy isn’t an exploding sunshine
and rainbows kind of thing. Its something thats inside of you, deep
down at all times. Sometimes it does bubble out as the sunshine but
its so much more than that. So I wanted to find joy this month, even
in the mundane things. Like crowded, sketchy, bumpy bus rides with
drying mud spattered on my legs and my knees slowly brusing against
the seat. So I chose joy. I realized that this really wasn’t so bad
and by nightfall I’d be able to wash off the mud, I’d have a place to
sleep and this wouldn’t last forever. I put in my headphones and
started listening to music. I couldn’t stop smiling and couldn’t help
but hum along and even sing out loud from time to time. I just felt
happy. I was enjoying my time. I even broke out my Horror Mix
(halloween themed gummy bats, snakes, skeletons etc.) that I got in
Nairobi and shared it with my teammates. They were delicious! I
watched the jungles of Uganda fly by and made faces at the baby
sitting nearby. Everytime she looked at me she smiled. This was
especially useful when she started crying because it didn’t last for
long once she saw me smiling at her.
Our bus stopped at Mbale and all we could do was laugh when big pieces
of chicken meat on long toothpicks seemed to magically float to the
windows. A little while later we bought a bunch of bananas through the
window for 1000 Shillings (50 cents) and then we proceeded to get
whiplash as we hit every pot hole known to man on the road.
We finally arrived in Soroti. It was dark. We were met by our contact
Jane and she took us to our home for the month. We were blown away at
the place we were staying in and before eating a late dinner, most of
us took showers and got clean. For many of us, it was the best shower
we’ve had on the race so far – thats sayin’ alot. We couldn’t get over
how blessed we were to be in this amazing place.
So this month our ministry is really diverse. We are working with
Victory Outreach Church. We help lead the church services twice a
week, go out and do door to door evangelism, encouraging home visits
to believers, kids ministry (this includes working with about 200
Compassion International children every Saturday), youth ministry,
hospital and prison ministry. Its been great so far. We’ve had several
people give their hearts to Jesus so we’re really excited about that.
All we can do is ask for God to keep bringing his presence and using
us in whatever way he chooses.
