In order to fully understand this story, lets go back 9 months to my original race. We had just left Vietnam and headed to our first African country, Uganda. I was nervous as heck and couldn’t even imagine what life would be like. And ya, it wasn’t necessarily the greatest of times. In fact it was probably my least favorite. It had great memories and tons of adventure but was over cast by sickness and hardship. As soon as I left, I looked at a teammate and literally said “I am NEVER coming back here”.
At then I heard the Lord’s audible voice. And what it said was something I didn’t want to hear. Just three simple words: Yes you are.
WHAT!? No. You obviously don’t want what is best because you wouldn’t send me back there!
Well fast forward to month 9 when I accepted the role of squad leader. I didn’t know which route (set of countries) that I would be leading but after looking at the possible routes, I knew. Route 5. The first country was….Uganda. This was it. The time when I would head back to the country that I didn’t want to go.
I came around to the idea though. In all reality I got super excited to eat Chipati again but that was about it. I accepted that the Lord was going to redeem Uganda for me and got anxious to see how it would turn out. I thought I had processed as much as I needed to and that I would be prepared for what lay ahead.
Launch came and everything was still great. We left and headed to Amsterdam, landed and then got on the plane to head to Uganda. The second the wheels hit down I burst into tears. Not the pretty kind either. To top it off, I was sitting in a row by myself. The sights, smells and faces were all so familiar to me and I couldn’t believe where I was. It still doesn’t feel real.
Meeting the ministry contact and having a completely different experience is making all the difference this time around. I feel at like I am at home but looking around and not seeing my L squad family is so strange. Every once in a while I get a memory of my time here. I remember on weekends when we used to meet up to have a sports day. I remember sitting in the same Café I am in now and finding out that our coach, Papa Jim, went to be with the Lord. I remember watching an entire season of Downtown Abby with a teammate because team changes were just around the corner and we had to finish that season. I remember so much of the person I was becoming on my race. The struggles I was facing, the lessons I was learning and the journey I was on with the Lord at that point in my life. It’s just so weird to come full circle and see the faithfulness of God.
I am seeing Uganda through different eyes this time. Even though it’s only been a couple days, I can see the reason why the Lord would choose to bring me back. It’s for the purpose of seeing his people in a new light. He is teaching me lessons and allowing me to process my past 12 months of life in such a unique way that I wouldn’t have gotten in any other way. And for that I am loving being in Uganda. The lord redeems.
