Yet another week has passed, and things are very much the same. I wake early and spend the first moments of daylight with the Lord. My team meets the organization’s staff in the office for breakfast and a quick meeting before the workday begins. Because there isn’t enough room in the vehicle for all of us to go out to the field (refugee settlement) we take turns staying back to help with paperwork or anything else that needs to be done. Those who go out to the fieldwork alongside the staff visiting beneficiaries in their homes for counseling and prayer, participate in vocational training and other educational activities with the young women, and sit in on various community awareness meetings.
Friday it was my turn to stay back. There was very little paperwork to complete so my teammate Carly asked if we could go to the reception center to play with the children. This center is where the refugees are brought after crossing the border and before they are relocated into the settlements. The children there have seen and suffered violence we can only imagine. They traveled miles and miles on foot sometimes carrying their younger siblings. They arrive with only the clothes on their backs. Many have either lost or been separated from their parents. Their little minds and bodies have endured so much suffering. I’m not going to lie and say I was excited to go there Friday. We visited that center our first week here and it was overwhelming. Entertaining a large group of children has never been my strength. During our morning team meeting before deciding who would participate in each of the day’s activities, my team spent time in prayer and asked the Lord what He wanted from us that day. The Lord spoke to me through Psalm 54:6 which says
“Lord, I will offer myself freely,
and everything I am I give to you.
I will worship and praise your name,
O Lord, for it is precious to me.”
I decided at that moment to fully surrender the day to whatever the Lord had in store. I gave Him free rein to use me however He chose. When Carly asked if we could go play with the kids, I flinched a little inside, then I remembered what I had prayed just minutes prior. I made a choice again to walk into that center with a joyful and willing spirit. Guess what? There’s no place I would rather have spent the morning! From the moment we stepped foot inside the gate we were welcomed and received like a breath of fresh air. The staff there were encouraged by our willingness to go out of our way to interact with the kids. And those kids… wow! We danced, built with Legos, colored, and tossed around a teddy bear. My favorite part was when I started to sing. Most of them spoke very little if any English but had been taught the alphabet. I started singing and clapping the ABC song and soon had a crowd joining me. Carly and I combined our groups and taught them Jesus Loves Me with clapping motions. I probably sang that song 35 times, but it filled my heart to see them try to follow along with smiles beaming from ear to ear.
Somehow this update has turned into a testimony, praise God! Let me just finish by sharing a little about what the rest of our days look like. After returning from the field or finishing in the office, we have a late lunch then have our team time which we take turns leading. As the afternoon progresses, people work on individual things like blogging, catching up on reading, handwashing our laundry, helping in the kitchen, etc. Once it starts to cool off, some of us go run laps around the soccer field then clean up with a nice cool bucket shower. We have dinner together outside as the sun goes down and the moon rises. My evenings are spent either chatting with the staff and my teammates under the stars or sitting in the hammock listening to worship music. Before bed, I make the journey down to the outdoor bathroom facilities and back up to my LL Bean tent. I do a quick check to make sure my humble abode is zipped up tight to protect me from mosquitos and the nightly rains then it’s lights out on my headlamp. This is life in Uganda… full of surrender and the blessings that come from having an open heart.
