Training camp officially ended last Sunday and my team and I have officially been out on our own for 5 days now! And man, has it all been such a special time. One major thing we learned at training camp that stuck with us as we headed out was that the small decisions make the big decisions. The little things add up! So I decided to share three of my most treasured little stories that have made a big impact on my heart! (And to be honest, narrowing it down to just three was a huge step for me…)
One day we were sent out of training camp to walk the streets of a village. As we were walking we saw a woman sewing and decided to talk to her. We found out that her name is Grace, and she is new to this village. She sews for a living, and she lives out of her “shop.” She moved here for work. It was hard for Grace to move because she had to leave her two children and her mother, but she needed the money to support them. We found out to an Anglican church up the road (and through the forest, she forgot to mention). We asked to pray over her and then continued journeying.
Up the road we met an older lady named Maria. We discovered that she plays the organ at the same Anglican church. She was actually on her way there. We asked if we could join. She said yes! We got to the church and Maria played for us. It was absolutely one of the most beautiful things. When Maria played, she was filled life.
She told us about how she quit her job to focus on playing the organ and has become very passionate about helping young women through teaching them to play at church. She talked about all the problems women in Uganda face, but how when you play the organ you have a connection with Jesus and when you have Jesus you have hope.
I asked Maria if she knew Grace. She said she did not but would love to meet her. I asked her when she would be at church, she said she would be playing the organ there till exactly 4:30. (It was 12:30 when we left, talk about dedication).
We prayed over Maria and heading back to the compound. On the way back we saw Grace still outside so we told her about Maria and how she would like to meet her. I asked her if she would want to meet her. She said it was fine. I got my feelings hurt. She said should we go now? (Side note: It is fine means yes here in Uganda, who knew??)
She stood up, packed her stuff, and put on a big smile as we headed out. On our journey to the church we learned more about Grace and how she was about to separate from the father of her kids and move villages because she had Christ, her strength, all she needed. We got to the church, and Maria was still playing the organ. We watched them instantly connect. We did not get to stay long because we had to get back to the compound for a meeting. When we left Maria was teaching Grace to play the organ.
Two days later we ran into Grace and she told us that they spent the whole rest of the day together and then reconnected again that morning at church and were going to spend the next day together too. What a perfect picture of the way the Lord spoils His children by connecting others.
“I’m gonna sing, sing, sing
I’m gonna shout, shout, shout,
I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna shout,
‘PRAISE THE LORD’”
This song was stuck in my head after sitting on the ground of an orphanage singing and clapping with three special needs girls.
Here in Uganda often times special needs children are seen as having demons in them. Therefore, they are often left on the street for someone else to pick up.
A little over 20 years ago, a woman named Louise escaped to Uganda from the Rwandan genocide. She was 14 years old at the time. Through the genocide she clung to the Lord and became a born again. (Praise the Lord)
After Louise escaped, she decided that since Jesus saved her life, she was going to give her life to helping others.
That is when she opened this special needs orphanage.
25 children live and go to school in this orphanage.
The three girls we got to sit and sing with were a part of that group. Two could only lay on the floor, rolling from side to side unable to keep their heads or bodies straight. One was only four and the other in her twenties. The other girl who sat with us, unable to stand, was seventeen.
Yet as we sung and clapped and patty-caked away with them, the joy that filled the room was immeasurable.
When my team and I headed to Masaka, Uganda on Monday we knew of a bus and a hostel within our budget. We knew that the Lord had placed the letters J, P, and E on our heart. We knew the Lord placed women and children and dance on our heart. And that’s about all we knew.
We got to our hostel Monday night and met a man named Joseph. The first night in town Joseph connected us with two organizations and a man, who two days later connected us with two other organizations. We also met another man at a super market who connected us with another organization. In the course of two days we had made countless (and I mean countless) contacts and been connected with five different organizations.
And when our team came together after praying over all these connections, we were not expecting what the Lord revealed to us. It was easy to take all these connections and plan out how we would help serve all of them in our own heads. But, when we took it to the Lord, we felt like the Lord was calling us to be a part of just one of those organizations. And the other thing he was asking of us we were not expecting.
Instead of serving all these different “ministries” we felt like the Lord was calling us to ask Joseph (the owner of the hostel we were staying at) how we could serve him. You see over the past couple weeks we had been learning that ministry is life and life is ministry. And let me tell you, that is not necessarily the easiest concept for our team of doers. So tell let go of all these different opportunities for “big, glory ministry stories” and be called instead to help a hostel owner was not our natural instinct.
But where the Lord led we followed.
So, we asked Joseph if there was any way we could help him around the hostel, and his face lit up as he DANCED (he literally did a dance, guys) and SKIPPED off (not kidding) letting us know he would be sure to think of something.
The next day we helped Joseph paint a new hostel he was hoping to open sometime.
While we were there Joseph asked one of my teammates if she was a born again. She said yes. Later that day while painting they got to talk about why she was and why he wasn’t.
That’s it. No big “ah ha” moment or “glory story” here. Just simple seeds being planted.
Over the past day we have seen Joseph dance more than a handful of times. And I’m fully convinced it is because he has been experiencing Christ’s love through the little things – he just hasn’t put it together yet.
Guys, the Lord has been moving in both big and small ways. And it has been the most lovely thing to be a part of. He is alive and moving around the world!!!
But it has not only been gilts and glamour. It has also been humbling beyond words. Through simply praying in a coffee shop we learned the importance of knowing the culture you are walking into and how to best respect that culture. Through coming together as a team, we have been learning what it looks like to let go of your expectations of how to be loved and simply love as others were created to be loved. And through stepping into a city with no plans we have learned the essence of not limiting God to “glory stories” or our expectations of what ministry looks like but to truly follow Him to where He says to go.
Stay tuned to next blog to hear more of the raw ways my own heart has been humbled through this journey!
