UGANDAAAA BE KIDDING ME! Month 1 seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. I fell in love with Uganda and it’s warm and vibrant culture. The people are pretty sweet too! My team and I landed at Entebbe International Airport in Kampala and traveled by bus about 10 hours North to Lira, Uganda. To give you a bit of history on Uganda; less than 10 years ago the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) caused massive devastation to Northern Uganda when it’s army massacred thousands of innocent lives; kidnapping school boys and turning them into violent soldiers, as well as kidnapping school girls and returning them pregnant or killing them. The aftermath of the LRA is still lingering and very much present. While doing door to door evangelism in the village, I spoke with many people who lost loved ones and experienced the trauma and devastation of the LRA, including my sweet translator Walter.
Despite the heartache and loss Northern Uganda has experience over the past two decades, there is still hope. The Holy Spirit is alive and working to restore hope and joy to all. It’s been a beautiful process to be apart of. I was humbled to be able to pray over individuals and families who needed healing and restoration. I saw steadfast hope through immense suffering and saw many people give their lives to The Lord. Throughout this month, my team has been doing a plethora of different ministries including prison ministry, school missions, and door to door evangelism. Just lovin’ on all types of people!
Prison ministry was incredible, but I won’t lie, at first it was super intimidating! It’s not like American prisons where you walk in and see all the inmates behind bars, secure, and at a distance. The fence in front of the prison was actually broken and inmates were just basically hanging out… free to linger and just do whatever (I guess they could’ve escaped hahaha). The inside was infested with mice and the atmosphere was just dark and gloomy. Trash covered the grounds and I couldn’t breath without inhaling intense bouts of smoke and pollution. The guard just ushered us in and I was taken aback to see hundreds of inmates covered in orange jumpsuits just walking around freely (a little terrifying).
What seemed at first to be kinda overwhelming turned into a very beautiful picture of what redemption looks like. At least a hundred inmates sat on the ground and listened to my team along with another local team of Ugandans preach about grace. They were so joyful and excited to receive encouragement and hear how much they are deeply loved and known by our Heavenly Father. Despite their circumstances, they knew and understood that Jesus came to redeem, not condemn; to love, not to reject. They understood the Prophet Isaiah when he spoke about the redemptive blood of Jesus in the Old Testament. The Lord said in the book of Isaiah, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as snow.” These men have come from all different walks of life, everything from hard crimes to being put behind bars for crimes they didn’t actually commit. It was so beautiful to watch these men embrace their identity not in the crimes they committed but in their identity as precious sons of God; as new creations. It was so apparent that they didn’t embrace shame, but instead embraced the truth of GRACE. They were no longer clothed in orange jump suits but they were clothed in white; reflecting images of Christ. I walked into that prison with eyes that saw murderers and thieves but The Lord gave me eyes to see these men as children of God, renewed and no longer rejected; forgiven and wholly loved. & Man oh man did these men worship. They danced and sang for Jesus like there was no tomorrow. The building was actually shaking from their jumps and screams, it was awesome!
Overall month 1 was incredible, I really fell in love with Uganda and I saw redemption like never before, but it’s time for month 2 in RWANDAAAA! Please continue to pray for health and safety over our entire squad. Most importantly pray for boldness and courage in listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing him to guide us. We are soooo excited to continue doing ministry here in Kigali! Finally, I’m about 1,000$ away from being FULLY funded! That’s crazy! Hallelujah! Please pray about partnering with me in ministry around the world!
