I’m Emily Werness and L Squad and Team Burning Joy safely arrived in Uganda a couple weeks ago – spent a few days in debrief with the whole squad in Jinja – reflecting on the past couple of months and making goals as a team for where we want to grow and accomplish in Africa. It was a relaxing time, but also crazy fun because most of our squad rafted and swam in the Nile. As in the NILE RIVER. As in the river baby Moses went a’crusin down in a basket. They were class five rapids…for those of you who know nothing about rafting (I don’t really) the lady said that class six rapids are only taken on by world championship kayakers…so…yeah. My raft had a raft of champions so we conquered the first 7 rapids no problem and went backwards down a waterfall (no mishaps there except for my squad mate Andrew landing 100% on top of me and smacking me in the face), it was all good. Then we came to the last rapid, the Nile Special, also known as the #1 Flipper. It lived up to its name. It all happened so quickly. All I could hear was “More power more power!” from our guide, meaning paddle faster, and then “GET DOWN!” We slammed into the first wave and thought we had made it over losing only about 3 or 4 people, but we were wrong. We got sucked back down and turned around and all I remember is seeing one face and then the raft went up and capsized and then I was under the raft. I couldn’t see anything, my oar had flown who knows where, I couldn’t get air and I couldn’t see any light. I shoved against the raft trying to push myself out from the side of it but I couldn’t find the side of it. I just kept telling myself over and over, “Go for the light Werness!” And God is good – I finally found my way out from under the raft, but finding my way to the surface took longer than I would have liked – I had swallowed a lot of river and was coughing and gagging. When I finally hit the surface it was only to be swallowed by another wave. And so this pattern followed for what felt like an eternity – to use the words of a Bethel song, wave after wave crashes over me, crashes over me – you sure did make me brave that day Jesus! All ended okay as the river carried me to calmer waters, but it took a few minutes for all the water to exit my system and for my breathing to return to normal. It was intense. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying. It was awesome. And I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Anyway, we have since moved on from Jinja and my team is in a community just outside of Kampala, Uganda. I am still in such shock, awe, and denial about how blessed we are this month. Pastor Joseph and his wife Beatrice (we call her Mama B) love us like their own children and have welcomed us into their home as such. And yes, we are in a home that has a living room and a dining room table!! The six of us women are sharing a 10×10 room with two sets of bunks stacked three high….but it is so good to have a bed and we are actually doing really well with the small space – another shout out to Jesus for that one! Thank you Lord for such a homey environment to spend Christmas in with our Ugandan family! We are working with Ambassadors of Life church and boy do they love to sing, dance, shout, and PREACH. It is so cool to experience and see how other people in the Body of Christ worship our God. Not going to lie, the 4+ hour church services will take some getting used to, but I love seeing them dance for Jesus with such joy. Shout out challenge to my City on a Hill family and specifically Joann: try a few worship songs where y’all just get your feet moving and dance for Jesus like David did. It’s pretty amazing.
Before arriving in Uganda we were told what we would be doing for ministry: “shepherding the lost sheep.” And that’s exactly what we’re doing. Each day we go out in pairs with translators to the community and share the Gospel and our own testimonies of what God has done in our lives. Here’s what it usually looks like: we walk up to some people, exchange greetings in Lugandan and then our translators (fellow church members) look at us and say, “Okay, preach.” At first, not going to lie, it feels pretty abrupt and awkward to transition into the Gospel message from that, but my goodness has the Holy Spirit shown up for every second of every conversation. We have talked with nonbelievers, believers, and Muslims and there are several times a question would be asked and I would have no idea what to say. I would just take a deep breath and dive in and start talking about what I know in my own life to be true and the Gospel just flows. Once I get talking about what Jesus has done for us all and what I have seen him do in my own life, I can’t stop and it just flows out and I just am overwhelmed with joy and such peace and I trust that whatever words come out, it doesn’t matter. It isn’t up to me; it is up to God and his Spirit to do a work in their heart. Today, as we stood on the red dirt road, pairing off, I just smiled and thought, this is exactly what Paul, Peter, and the disciples did. This is how they joyfully gave their lives every day – walking around and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people.
While my team may be physically walking around verbally sharing the Gospel daily, we all can be walking Gospel messages with our daily lives – through our words, actions, and attitudes. All of those things serve as a witness to the people we are around every day at school, work, and with our families. Let us never forget this fact – that we are his witnesses (Acts 1:8). It is such a precious and joyful privilege. I am excited to share some of the crazy things God is already doing here and more that he will do as the month unfolds – so stay tuned!
I’m Emily Werness and thank you Jesus for your obedience all the way to the cross – everything flows from that ultimate sacrifice – life, love, grace, hope, joy…I could go on and on 🙂
