Uganda came and went like a flash of lightning. The last thing I remember was sitting on the plane in disbelief that I was actually in Africa. The continent that scared me the most. The place I was SURE I would live among rats, giant spiders, and other unspeakable bugs that want to eat me alive. We would live in a hut made of dirt or plywood with no electricity, running water, and we’d have to walk a mile to retrieve water every morning. We’d eat mush… or I guess what they call porridge, and I’d be sweating CONSTANTLY.
This was my expectation.
And if you know anything about The World Race or Adventures in Missions, you know that their number one motto is to never have expectations, which is the hardest motto to live by. How do we not have expectations? We always think about what we may do in the future, we always have speculations, it’s just the natural thing to do. But we’re told to not have expectations because, well, they’re usually wrong.
And I’m oh, so happy to tell you that I was very wrong. God keeps doing this- He keeps proving me wrong to prove how I need to trust Him.
We walked into a home filled with the most joyful, welcoming, hilarious, and spirit-filled family I’ve ever met. By the end of the first day, we were a part of the family- our host parents already calling us their children, and we were playing games and being silly with our new brothers and sisters. It was the perfect place to spend December and the Christmas season away from home, and it was the perfect place for our team to come together and have our best month so far on the Race!
In my last blog, I told you all that my team wanted to do something special for our Ugandan family. They had blessed us so much, we wanted to bless them through Christmas gifts. I asked you to donate just a dollar or two so we could buy some small gifts for them, maybe a bottle of nail polish or a notebook. We all reached out to family and friends one day, and the next morning we set out to buy them all gifts. We didn’t have time to check the account to see if anyone had donated, so we all agreed that we would buy gifts and just cover the costs ourselves if necessary. In just a few hours, we had purchased gifts for every family member and the church members whom we interacted with on a regular basis. That afternoon, we checked the support account, and saw that we already had donations! The best part- the donations covered almost exactly the amount we had spent earlier that day. God completely blew my mind by providing exactly what we needed!
On Christmas day, we presented all of the gifts wrapped in bright, shiny paper, under the small Christmas tree in the living room while Christmas music was playing in the background. They were all so excited, so grateful. I think we were all more excited to watch our family open the gifts we’d purchased than doing our own gift exchange! Everyone loved the gifts- everything from new sandles, soccer jerseys, and hair clips, to a handbag, cologne, and a cell phone.
A few days after Christmas, we found out that we had gotten even more donations! Our God likes to show off in big ways- and in this case, it was in the form of money. We were able to hand our Ugandan family a stack of money to buy around EIGHTY chickens. WHAT?! They will be able to raise the chickens and earn more money for the family, a gift that will keep on giving!
The month flew by in a blur of door-to-door evangelism, preaching at church services, having morning and evening tea (and having our brother check to make sure we all drank our tea), eating half cakes and grease cookies, laughing so hard we cried because the pastor and his brother were wrestling in the living room, playing with the children in our gated community, doing our team squat challenge (#beyoncebooty), Christmas festivities, and boda boda rides (and being pinned under the boda boda on trash mountain).
Uganda changed every perception I had of Africa. Of course, Uganda is just one small country in this giant continent, and it isn’t right to lump it all into one experience, but after one month in that beautiful country, my expectations were flipped completely. Uganda changed how I interact with my team, how I spend my time, how I spend time with the Lord, and how I pray.
In Uganda, I learned more about listening and following the Holy Spirit.
In Uganda, I learned that God will equip me to preach in front of a church.
In Uganda, I learned how to go up to complete strangers and share a part of my story and how God has changed my life for the better.
In Uganda, our Heavenly Father released me from anxieties and worries back home- how it’s not my responsibility to hold people together, and how to let go of other people and ideas.
In Uganda, I laughed…hard… every single day.
In Uganda, I saw what it looks like to truly be filled with the JOY of the Lord.
In Uganda, I learned that praising God can look very different from standing in an air-conditioned church and timidly singing and (maybe) raising one or both hands.
In Uganda, I learned that when you step out in faith, God will follow through.
As you may know, I am now a week into Month 5 and a week into Rwanda! I’ll be writing about our new family and ministry very soon- stay posted!
But before you go, I have one big announcement!
A few months ago, our squad learned that we would not be going to Turkey because of safety concerns in the country. We’ve been waiting and waiting to see where we would go to instead, and were just told this past week.
In March, L Squad will be making our way to the GORGEOUS country of……..
MONTENEGRO!!!
Alright, that’s my latest announcement, more to come in a hot second. Love you guys, thanks for reading, and I’ll catch ya on the flip side.
xo, Catarina
