This past week has been exhausting, inspiring, and it has also been such a growing experience. It stretched my physically, mentally, and spiritually. My mind was opened to the immense suffering around the world, and it breaks my heart to see those in despair. I don’t have words adequate for all that I’ve experienced, but I’ll do my best and pray that God touches your hearts as you read. My team got the opportunity to spend a few days at a refugee camp in Northern Uganda where about one hundred forty children and young people called home. They all fled South Sudan to Uganda five months ago because it’s too dangerous to stay, and it just keeps getting worse.
The camp was extremely hot and dusty. There was little shade, and their “homes” (big tents made from UNCHR tarps) were too hot to hang out in and barely big enough to sleep in. Their homes weren’t much like homes at all. All the boys slept together in one building and the girls slept in another. Their toilets were holes in the ground, and they took bucket showers because water is scarce. However, Food for the Hungry is digging a well on the property. Hopefully they will strike water soon so the water supply is no longer scarce.
We arrived late afternoon on the first day. As soon as we pulled up the children all ran over to our van and started jumping up and down and waving. Joy filled their faces. We spent that night dancing, worshipping, and just being present and investing in their lives. The next day we split up into smaller groups and each one of my team members got a group of kids. I had the middle school boys. It’s tough to get middle school boys to open up, especially after everything these kids have gone through. I talked about David and Goliath. I shared that no matter what giants they were facing they can overcome anything with God. A leader from the camp helped get them to talk about their experiences in South Sudan and lives in the camp. Almost all the kids have lost their parents, siblings, or loved ones. Those that are still alive have been split up in the process of fleeing. It was hard to hear their stories because they all had different experiences and were trying to process them in their own way. Some of the kids have experienced so much trauma that they’ve shut down. It was a difficult couple of days for sure. But we got to love on the children and let them know that they have hope in Jesus no matter what they have gone through. Some of them just needed an encouraging word. Quite honestly, I learned more from the children at the refugee camp than I taught them. Hearing them speak about God and how they want to grow closer with Him and how much joy they had in their hearts; that was inspiring. The biggest prayer request they shared was that there would be peace in South Sudan. So in your prayers, ask God for peace so the kids can go back to their homes.
We then decided to go to the mountains to reach the unreached. It was hard leaving the camp, but I know God is in control and he is faithful. We took a five-hour bus ride up to the mountains. We stayed at a farming compound near the mountains of Northern Uganda. It was right on the boarder of South Sudan, so every day we saw South Sudanese people crossing the border into Uganda. They were carrying their clothes, beds, and all the belongings they could bring. The farming compound was owned by two missionaries from Texas. They moved to Uganda about five years ago to teach the locals about farming while training local leaders to be pastors and teachers of the word of God.
The first day we were blessed to be a part of some discipleship training at a local church. I don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into. They preached for six hours straight! We got there around ten in the morning and met people. Then we had lunch and the preaching began. Around 2pm one of our leaders got up to speak. He said, “I know you’re all tired and hungry so I’ll make this short!” Three hours later he was still going strong! When he finished we prayed for over an hour and ate dinner before leaving. It was a long day, but such a great experience. The people were so passionate and you could see the Holy Spirit in them. They would’ve stayed there all night if they could. It gave me a new perspective on what spiritual growth looks like. In America, we get annoyed when a church service goes over the allotted time (which is usually only an hour). In Uganda, I’ve noticed that people give up their time for God no matter what they are doing or how long it takes. One of my teammates said it best, “In America, we let life interrupt church, but in Uganda they let church interrupt life.”
The next morning, we headed up to the mountains to speak to more people. It was a two and a half hour ride which could only be done in a Land Cruiser. We fit twelve of us in the back! Once we got to the top, we hiked about an hour down into the valley where the people lived. It was mind blowing to see people still living in mud homes, sustaining themselves off the land and using water from a spring in the middle of a valley. It would be a two day walk to the closest town if anyone ever got sick and needed medication. They didn’t speak English, but we had a translator. We gathered together (about 25 from the villages) and two of us gave a testimony. We then headed to another village. There, two more people spoke followed by a lunch they prepared for us. They made us chicken which was a huge deal because they only do that on holidays and special occasions. It was hard for me because they watched us eat. You could see how hungry they were, the kids had hunger bellies, yet they still fed us the best meat. It was humbling to see the gratitude and sacrifice they made for strangers. Also, it was so encouraging because many of them were filled with life and showed the love of Christ to us.
Sunday morning we all had to preach. We were split up into teams of two and sent out to local churches to testify to the work of the Lord in our lives and teach the word of God. That was a growing experience.
Even though we were only in Northern Uganda for a week it was life changing. I saw how willing people were to give up everything to learn more about Jesus. I got to see how the unreached live in the mountains of Uganda. There are still millions of people around the world that have never heard about God. There’s such a need to reach those people and it was cool to see how the Lord is/was changing hearts to be His. So far, they reached nine of the small villages in the mountains. There are thirty one more to go! So our prayer is that God brings people to those villages so all will hear the truth of the gospel. A lot went on during the week, so I apologize for the long post! Thanks again for your love, support, and especially your prayers!
