Thursday, January 22nd, was
our last full day in Soroti, Uganda.
We spent the day tying up loose ends
with contacts and ministries as well as packing up and cleaning our
personal belongings.
I took everything out of my pack to
reorganize. All of the items took up the space of the twin size bed I
had been sleeping on all month. I looked at the pile of clothes,
toiletries and other “gear” – I thought, that is a ton of
stuff. That statement is true when you are thinking about putting it
into a pack. A few moments later, I was reminded that it isn’t a
“normal” thing to live out of a backpack or to think that a pile
of stuff on your bed is a ton. Once again I was reminded that I
wasn’t necessarily called to live a “normal” life.
According to the schedule we were to
have an evening of fellowship with some of the church members and our
ministry contacts. About 9:00 p.m. the food began to be brought into
our table area. At first there were three pots and soon after that
the pots multiplied to about 10 or so. The table looked like a feast.
We were served chicken, goat, rice, chapati, cabbage, beans, soup,
potatoes, pineapple, bananas and passion fruit juice.
After our lil’ bellies were full,
each church member/ministry contact was given a few moments to share.
Most of the persons spoke about a certain ministry activity we
engaged in or something we had preached on. It was at that point that
I was again reminded that this isn’t necessarily a “normal”
life. Even though I felt that I was just being me and doing what I
was called to do – it had more impact than I could have ever
imagined. Hearing the words of the persons was a confirmation that
the Lord truly used us in Uganda and will continue to use us no
matter what country we are in.
We closed our evening with a song. A
favorite African song … ‘Jesus is the Winner.’ I love this song
because it makes me laugh. The Africans sing this song with their
accent and excitement … it usually sounds like, ‘Jesus in the
Weiner.’ As we were all singing this song most of our team couldn’t
help but smile and laugh – the perfect closing to our month in
Uganda.
We departed for Jinja, Uganda early the
next morning. Our transportation was actually EARLY – something
completely unknown to Africa! We finished our month with a squad wide
rafting trip down the Nile River. Despite two rapids that caused our
raft to flip and one rapid that caused me to fly out we survived! It
was crazy, intense, but completely worth it.
in Africa – Tanzania! What will cause me to remember that I’m not
called to live a “normal” life – I’m going in expectantly!
