Its official! I’m in Uganda training to do ministry and be a better servant of The Kingdom. It hasn’t even been two weeks and I’ve already collected so many memories and stories. My favorite memories collected so far are of the people I’ve met. My squad of 20 is incredible and the people of Africa are beautiful and beyond friendly. However, in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve had to change my name in various ways.
First off, the name “Dakota” is way too American and hard for the people here to pronounce. With my first couple of introductions I realized my birth name wasnt going to work and that it actually hindered relationship building. So, to keep things short and sweet, I just shortened it to “dah”. It may have been silly, but the locals could pronounce it comfortably and it no longer hindered introductions or conversations.
Another way I changed my name was a little harder. I already mentioned my incredible squad, but I left out why their incredible. Already in such a short time, I’ve learned so much from them. Each and every single one of them are unique servants and have served me in various ways. Whether it be through completing a task for me, telling me jokes to lighten my mood, or just sitting with me so I had company. I didn’t realize how many ways someone could be served until this Fusion Squad. And though it may have been reluctant, I changed my name from servant to served in Uganda.
