When I stepped off the plane in Uganda to say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. I had been awake for almost 24 hours, I had to figure out the currency difference so I could then get Shillings out of an ATM so my team would have money, and on top of that all of the teams had to say goodbye in the airport as we went to our different ministries for the month. Also at that point I had not really been upset about leaving home because in my mind I hadn’t gone anywhere yet… But it all kinda hit me at one time and I realized the magnitude of what it means to leave everything I know for a year. As you can imagine I had all the feels along with some tears.
My team has been in the Mmanze Community which is about 22 miles from the capitol city of Kampala. We pretty much jumped right into rural Africa. We have had no electricity, no running water, we are mastering the squatty potty, and I had a bucket shower the other day and a bull walked right by me, #casual. We are all 7 sharing one room that has just enough room for 7 twin beds and barely enough room for our packs in between.
One of my favorite parts of the past week has been playing with a 2 year old named Remmy. He is a beautiful little boy that is becoming more and more comfortable with us everyday. His mother, Juliet has been cooking all of our meals. It turns out that the “terrible twos” are a real thing in every country. Remmy is our alarm in the morning; we usually hear him around 6-6:30am every morning making some kind of squealing noise or yelling or sometimes crying. In the past week, he and I have spent many days kicking an empty water bottle around the front yard. I have also taught him to blow kisses and say my name even though he doesn’t know what he is saying. He is in the stage where he imitates everything I do so anytime I make a sound he does it back to me. Just in the past few days he has let me hold him so if I bend down and call his name he comes running to hug me and if I hold out my hand he comes over and grabs a hold and follows me wherever I go. I am praying for this sweet boy and his heart and what his life will look like growing up here in Uganda.
It has been a difficult transition from small town Mississippi to rural Africa but, this sweet boy has brought me so much joy in the last week. I have also found comfort in knowing that the Lord is always with me and He has my best interest at heart, even if that hurts and is not always fun.
“For God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
-Hebrews 13:5
We had some miscommunication and challenges with our ministry host, so we are in Jinja, Uganda this weekend rafting the Nile. We are headed to a new ministry site on Monday. I will hopefully have a post coming soon about that! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.
We are doing this thing.
With love from Uganda, Carson
