Pastor Eugene’s youngest son, we call him JP.
Uganda has been full of unexpected surprises. Exactly three weeks ago team Conquerors piled out of the van that transported us and all of our belongings to Hidden Treasure Primary School. I had limited expectations of what this month was to hold, but as I have become part of the community here in Maya I have discovered that there was indeed a treasure to be found.
Pastor Eugene and his wife, Mama Flo, have warmly welcomed us not only into their lives but into their family. From the very first day here we were spiritually encouraged and I knew that there was a reason that God had brought us to this special place. As we began to discover what we would be doing I realized that I was completely incapable of this kind of ministry. However that challenge was a blessing in that I could truly see God begin to work.
Our first week here we were asked to literally build a wall of the church. Of course we needed much assistance, the contractor working with us was patient and kind in showing us what to do. Sometimes we had to take breaks which our “do gooder” mentalities struggled with but we’ve been learning the importance of staying healthy even at the expense of feeling useless. The sun here is extremely hot and our skin isn’t used to the exposure but as midday faded we could go back to work and continue until evening.
The amazing thing about building this was that it was a community effort. Pastor didn’t worry about where the supplies would come from he simply asked and people began to pledge support. We also discovered that many hands make light work, as it is holiday season and the children were all home from school and we carted bricks together. A group of adults who also had free time dedicated it to laying the foundation of this wall. One body and one church unified to make this thing actually happen.
The following week we began doing outreaches and evangelism in the community. We never actually knew what was in store for each day but our fearless leader Douglas escorted us to families from the church that hosted a meal for us and then we visited their neighbors to share the gospel with them. The open doors were incredible, simply because of our skin color people want to know why we are here. Multiple people made a decision to give their lives to Christ that week and we are praying for desire for continued discipleship whether through our church here or another church in their community.
This past week was the week of Christmas and we had the opportunity to introduce the community to creative ways to celebrate. On the 23rd we spent the evening visiting our direct neighbors with carols. There were smiles brought to so many faces as a group of muzungos (white people) surrounded their houses and sang about the true meaning of Christmas. We also gave them a small gift and invited them to come to our Christmas nativity that would take place on Christmas Eve. I was asked by our director (Shout out to NAT) to play Mary in our nativity and though I was feeling shy about that I knew could do it if only to support the idea of my wonderful teammate. Side note here because I want to encourage you to encourage others in their God given ideas. I could have easily said no because I didn’t feel like it, but in that moment it was more important to bring unity to our team and to encourage and even inspire future endeavors. Praise God, the play was so good we were asked to do it again for the Christmas day service.
Though I haven’t been able to explain in detail all that we have seen and heard I pray that you would understand that God is at work here in Uganda, we thank him for the opportunity to be used by him. I will try to write another blog about a detailed event to give you a little more to chew on but I thought I should catch you up a little so that you know all is well with me. I wish a very Happy New Year to all my family and friends who have been my supporters on this journey. I miss you all! God Bless!
