Rafting the Nile
- Rafting the Nile with logistics peepz and our Australian captain, Tom. Captain Tom was hilarious, and even let me sit in the captain seat for one of the rapids. We fell out 3 times total, but none when I was steering the ship!
- Preaching at the prison with Rayna and Pams. Rayna has been to jail before, and the inmates seemed to be very uplifted and encouraged by her message, and Pam did a great job.
- Settlers of Cataning all the time. Best board game ever. Addicted? Maybe.
- Jamming out on the drums with Daniel. Josh Hughes, you’d be so proud of me.
- Praying for people with Chelsea. Especially the drunk guys, the smoker, and the married couple who forgot how to have fun. The smoker walked up to the bar/store while we were praying for the drunk guys. He said he had just come to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and he really wanted to know how to stop. “Turn around and walk away!” we said. The married couple wanted prayer for their marriage. I suggested that they do something fun together at least once a week. Their response was, “like what?” Oh no… don’t tell me you forgot how to have fun!! We gave them some ideas.
- Sitting on the netball field on the side of a mountain with a beautiful view watching the netball players laugh and play together with genuine joy seeping out of their smiles. It was just one of those “life is good” moments. There was a beautiful breeze, the sun was shining, we had just finished our day’s work, and the villagers were having a blast playing basketball without dribbling.
- Seth (my contact) asking me about what makes a good leader. Good conversation. I think a good leader is someone who is selflessly lays down his time, energy, etc. for the wellbeing of his team.
5k/10k Runners
- Running up the hill of death. I ran a lot this month, and there was this one crazy steep hill that we would run up. At the end of the month, I even ran a 5k. My time was 29 mins and some seconds. Not bad for my first time running 3.1 miles.
- Talking to February on the hill about deep things. Yes, his name was February. I had just met him, and we immediately clicked and had this deep conversation about God.
- Do I have malaria? “Some.” That was the doctor’s answer after I got tested. He gave me a prescription, and I’m fine. Good thing my case was so mild.
- Sitting on the rock overlooking the Nile with my logistics partner, talking about everything but logistics.
- Cooking outside on the tiny little charcoal fires, sometimes spilling cooking oil all over the place, outraging the fires. I helped cook a lot this month, and I think I want to continue learning! Nonna, you’ll have to give me cooking lessons sometime.
Too Fast, Too Furious
- Four wheeling it up through the villages of Uganda with friends.
- Going to the island with the floppy volleyball net. Nice relaxing day on an island.
- Playing Pokemon with Josh and Grace. There’s just something about that game that gets me every time.
- Hanging out with Daniel in Kampala while applying for his visa. We drank lots of coffee and rode on the back of lots of motorcycles.
- Accidentally talking on the day I wasn't supposed to talk and then explaining that story to Ben without talking. I went a day without talking and accidentally talked a few times.
- Swing dancing lessons. Yes, Hayley: swing dancing lessons. One two three, one two three, rock step.
- Preaching on Jonah when I had prepared to speak on a different passage. I had a nice message prepared for a couple verses in Jonah, and then when I started to preach on them, they informed me that I was supposed to speak on the next group of verses. Oops. “God, help me out on this one.” He did.
- Estimating the number of bricks in a church building with Ben. We got really into it.
- Walking with JETSYDON and praying for that guy. Although it sounds like a prehistoric monster, “Jetsydon” is actually a combination of the names Jah-Jah, Betsy, and Jordan. We just walked through a banana filed/village for about an hour to this spot with a really nice view. On our way back, this guy asked us to pray for him, and we prayed an awesome prayer for him.
