One of Disney’s “oldie but goodie” movies, The Lion King, is by far a childhood favorite! So I was thrilled to come to Africa and meet Simba (partially joking…but not really). I made no prior research of our next country destination, although the option of scrolling down ‘google images’ was available. I had but two expectations of Africa – hot weather & desert plains…not a very appealing imagery. However, now that December in Uganda has passed I must say that I’ve never been happier to be wrong.
This picture was taken at Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River! (By the way, consider adding ‘Raft the Nile’ on your bucket list. It’s totalIy worth every shilling:) Anyway, I loved the green mountainous scenery of Uganda and I miss the cool mornings & evenings. Even more than that, I miss the people in the community of Maya, whom we’ve come to know as our African family. Our host, Eugene Nsamba, is the pastor of Cornerstone Victor’s Church and founder of Hidden Treasure Primary School. Our team worked hand-in-hand with the community in the following activities:
1. Building a wall of the church – I can now add ‘construction worker’ to my resume. This was a beautiful picture of members coming together to literally lay down the foundation of their church and it was finished before 2015 came!
2. Operation Christmas Clean – Again, members of the church came together to pick up trash (& lots of them!), cut grass, and simply share Jesus’ love. Many of the children were also involved and without complaint, they got the job done. The community stood by their convenient shops and were surprised that “muzungos” or foreigners were cleaning after them. It was quite a humbling experience.
3. Door to door evangelism – where we had the opportunity to personally speak with the people that make up the community of Maya. Sometimes, it wasn’t necessary for us to verbally “preach” the gospel because our presence alone brought smiles to their faces. Lives were changed and the seed of the Good News planted. At first, I was afraid because this is a type of outreach that is unfamiliar to me. However, I learned to fully depend on Him and not in my own strength.
Other activities we enjoyed as a team, was introduce some of our favorite American Christmas traditions – Christmas caroling & the nativity play (Ugandan style). Our month was not for a second monotonous. Although it was hard to be away from home for the holidays, my time with my African friends & family will be a merry merry Christmas and New Year’s that I’ll treasure for a lifetime 🙂
