This month we are in Kampala Uganda. We are working with restoration bible church, staying with a Ugandan family who has greatly blessed us with their hospitality, and little kids who wake us up in the mornings calling us mzungu, mzungu (translation: white person)! Ministry in Africa looks different day to day. This has been a month of many firsts for me. From doing door to door ministry in the community -meeting people and getting to know them and then telling them about Jesus, going to hospitals to pray for the sick, eating grasshoppers, being proposed to by a Muslim man (who already had a wife might I add), to preaching on a microphone at a big outdoor market/on a radio station – this month had been full of things that – before the race- I never pictured myself doing.
But I won’t lie, this month has probably been the hardest yet. The food doesn’t always agree with my stomach and I haven’t felt great here, the mosquitos really are everywhere, using a hole in the ground outside as a bathroom isn’t always ideal, and operating on “Africa time” and a lack of a definite schedule every day really requires patience. To go from Vietnam to Uganda was a huge change. But The Lord is teaching me a lot through this month. This is definitely a month of pressing into the uncomfortable. And the glamour of the race that you might see from videos or instagrams has now worn off. I’m starting to catch myself daydreaming about Chipotle, my own bed, Nashville. I’m missing my family, being able to go somewhere by myself, brunch with friends, and Trader Joes guacamole. It’s the little things haha.
World Race videos sometimes make it all look like an adventure, and it is definitely not.
But that’s okay. Sometimes doing dishes with your host family is as just as impacting a ministry as teaching or preaching! And God is reminding me that we’re called to praise him all the time, to rejoice in all situations, to find joy in the little things. We’re called to persevere.
This year, the little things I’m missing from home have been replaced with different little things- African style. God is teaching me to find joy in these new little things. – Like Enoca, one of the little boys we live with who dances with me every day (and he’s got some great moves) the extra piece of pineapple I get for lunch, the smiles on the faces of the kids we teach, or the “Hallelujahs/Amens” of the sweet ladies at the church when I speak at bible study. Finding joy in these things is something God is teaching me to focus on. When ministry is hard, when alone time is impossible, it’s easy to become frustrated. But He is reminding me to persevere.
“Do not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. Galatians 6:9
God also gave me some serious perspective when we were at the hospital doing ministry earlier this week. We went to the biggest hospital in Uganda that is government funded, so people often go there when they are very poor. The hospital was completely overcrowded, so people were sitting around everywhere waiting for treatment. We went around and got to meet people and pray for them. I got to pray for a sweet soon to be mother who was waiting to deliver (and I got to feel her baby kick- so cute). We also prayed for many sick children.
Many had sickle cell anemia, some malaria, amongst other diseases. I felt like God just gave me his heart for these sweet kids. I was so overwhelmed by what they were going through. To see these tiny babies with IVs in their sweet little hands was heartbreaking. I quickly realized that my “problems” are nothing in comparison. These kids and their families found joy in their lives, while waiting in a hospital for treatment for some very serious illnesses. And if they can do that, I can find immense joy in the little things in my life here in Africa.
I challenge you to do the same! God is so good, ALL the time. Rejoice in that this Christmas!
Thank you everyone for all your support and for keeping in touch with me this year! & Merry Christmas from Uganda!
peace & blessins!
