Uganda
Where: Bulenga and Kampala
Host: Patrick
He is a 24 year old man with a vision. At 16, the Lord showed him the path he wanted him to take and 8 years later he has a boys home, girls home, safe house for boys, safe house for girls, the village of hope, and a free school for children.
Ministry: Rising Up Hope Uganda. We hung out with the children at the homes, taught at the free school, prayed over the Village of Hope and loved on the boys in the slums. This was my hands down favorite ministry month! I am so glad I was able to start the race with such a strong host!
Favorite things: experiencing the slums, meeting some of the sweetest and most memorable children ever (Joseph, Walduh, Atebo, Eric, Lubega- I miss them so much!)
Least favorite: finding out two of the slum boys had been beaten to death by the police right before we left.
Funniest moment: We were camping one night at Village of Hope and it was really dark out. I was trying to find the bag that had our s’more ingredients in it and couldn’t really see anything. We had pitched our tents on a concrete platform that was about two feet off the ground. Well, I walked right off that platform and fell flat on my stomach, scratching my knees and hands in the process. As I was rolling around crying in pain, Emily was yelling for me to bring the s’more stuff and the rest of the team was laughing and taking funny pictures together.
Food thoughts: I loved the food made at our house. The soup was always really good and I loved the fresh pineapple. I hated the restaurant we had lunch at everyday though so I ate a banana for lunch everyday instead. I had the best brownie I have ever had (except yours of course, Cassie) at a restaurant in the mall in Kampala.
Weather, Climate and Landscape: it could get warm, maybe mid 90’s, zero humidity and cool in the shade. The weather was really nice! It rained every single day for about an hour. The landscape was very dry looking, brown and lots of dirt…not much plant life.
Rwanda
Where: Nyagatare and Kigali
Host: Fatier
This woman is strong, loving and God fearing. She loves Rwanda and desires to see everyone come to know Jesus. She was like a mother away from home to me. She allowed us into her home, gave up her bedroom in fact, and loved us well.
Ministry: Leading small groups and delivering the message on Sunday mornings. We also taught at a free school and led worship with the children. This grew me so much in the area of public speaking and speaking with confidence and authority. I loved it.
Favorite things: Sharing a message on my birthday at church and how beautiful Rwanda is!
Least favorite: it was interesting learning about the genocide that took place there but also really sad and scary to see how easily that can happen.
Funniest thing: I fell again. On my birthday. It was the most graceful fall ever though. I slid on some loose rocks right into a sort of split and skinned my knee up pretty badly… But the scab ended up looking just like Africa so that was pretty cool!
Food thoughts: Our food was cooked at home and I loved it. The beans were my favorite and when mixed with rice they tasted so much like red beans and rice at home that it was crazy. I also tried passion fruit for the first time and I discovered that I liked it.
Weather, Climate, and Landscape
Rwanda is seriously beautiful. I mean breath-takingly so. It was mountainous, green, and perfect. It’s like living inside of a picture. The weather was wonderful too. It rained for an hour every other day
Ethiopia
Where: Yirgalem and Addis Ababa
Host: Abenezar
He is a 25 year old man who helps his mother run their amazing ministry. They started out working with teenage girls in destitute situations but have now branched out to having a home for abandoned babies, a feeding program for children and a sponsorship program for the elderly as well. The love he has for the children and babies is so evident and their faces always lit up when they saw him.
Ministry: We worked with an organization that began to help guys in destitute situations. As they began working with these girls however they also saw a need to have a home for orphaned babies. They had seven babies while we were there, two of which were in the process of getting new parents and homes :). The organization also does a feeding program for children in the area and has a sponsorship program for elderly people who are no longer able to take care of themselves. It is a wonderful organization!
Favorite things: loving on the babies and getting to do beauty for ashes with some of the women we met
Least favorite thing: the town we stayed in (it just felt unsafe)
Funniest thing: a huge bat flew at my face on night when I was outside brushing my teeth so I screamed louder than I think I ever have and ran into the house, slamming the door shut behind me.
Food thoughts: We ate at a restaurant every day for every meal and it got very repetitive. Halfway through the month we were absolutely sick of it. I prefer the months when we eat food cooked at home!!
Weather, climate, landscape: on the drive to our town, we saw some really beautiful scenery. Because of this, I assume villages here must have beautiful natural landscape but I spent most of the time in a small town with not much scenery. It could get hot in the sun in the middle of the day and cool at night/ early morning…But it was usually comfortable!
India
Where: Nalgonda (that means black hills) and Hyderabad
Host: Solomon (ICM)
He is hard working and a true family man. His wife and children love him and the other pastors look up to him. We were privileged to work with such an experienced host!
Ministry: We went to villages every night and shared the gospel with the villagers. It was a really good experience because you never knew who in the crowd was Christian or Hindu.
Favorite things: the food!!!!
Least favorite thing: the general attitude toward women
Funniest thing: We were eating and a mouse crossed the floor so Raelynn jumped up on the couch, yelled and tooted loudly at the same time.
Food thoughts: ummmm deliciousness. Seriously! We are in a different village almost every night and every night we would say “I think this is the best meal yet”. They would make these potatoes, lentils and a soup that you could mix with rice and put on a chapati- I can’t even tell you how good it was.. So much flavor and goodness. It could get a little spicy sometimes but totally worth it! Plus, chai tea.
Weather, climate and landscape:
It was warm and humid, but we were just super thankful it was winter and not summer!!! We stayed in a smallish town so we didn’t see much natural scenery in India.
Nepal
Where: Pokhara and Kathmandu
Host: none/the Lord
Ministry: We followed the Lord into prayer walking, daily worship sessions and coffee ministry. We would sit at coffee shops and open ourselves up for conversation with other “tourists” in the area. This month held a lot of challenges for me.
Favorite thing: The mountains were absolutely beautiful and it was super laid back and chill in Pokhara
Least favorite thing: I froze and I didn’t feel well and the funk hit
Funniest thing: Well, I got sick and it made me light headed. As I was walking home with my team I got really light headed and fell (again), hitting my knee on a large rock. I have a low tolerance for pain in general but being sick, it was doubly low. I kept feeling like I was going to pass out so I just laid on the ground with my team around me and locals from the area came up and surrounded us, super concerned about how dirty the ground was haha. It was really embarrassing.
Food thoughts: this was another month where we could only eat out at restaurants. The food was always fine, but it wasn’t home cooked you know? I enjoyed it though.
Weather climate and landscape: We were by a lake and when it was clear we could see the Himalayan mountains peaks up behind the foothills we lived in. It was a beautiful place. It was pretty cold! I wore two to three layers everyday and a hat and gloves.
Cambodia
Where: Phnom Penh and Victory Beach (Krong Preah Sihanouk)
Host: Pastor Somnang
He is very hard working and passionate about his church and the work he is doing. He is helping to create sustainable jobs for women in the area and has made his church into a home for several children.
Ministry: We spend two hours a day playing with and loving on the children that have been moved into the church. We play games, sing songs and just hang out together.
Food thoughts: my favorite foods this month are fried noodles (aka ramen noodles) and cereal. I’m not a huge fan of the soup or the vegetables.
Weather, climate and landscape: It is hot and humid so it reminds me of Mississippi but there is almost always a really nice breeze which helps. It’s not unbearable like I heard it would be so I’m expecting Thailand or Malaysia to be. We are in the middle of city so it’s just lots of buildings and concrete. We did go to Krong Preah Sihanouk, where the beaches were and it was beautiful.
I am not going to tell you the answers to the rest of the questions because my month isn’t over yet!
Reflecting back, Uganda and Rwanda were my favorite months so far. I really loved the experience I had in both of them. Who knew Africa would be my favorite? I would love to go back to Uganda to work with Rising up Hope again!
I’m halfway done! I’ll be home before we know it!! I love you and thanks for reading 🙂
