For the 11th and last month of the world race, my squad and I are in Uganda! Man do I love it here! The people here carry a type of kindness that is hard to explain. They are just so darn joyful at all times. They live with such gratitude and thankfulness.
My team, The Blonde Bond, plus one of our squad leaders, Rashad, are staying in Lira, Uganda. We are living at Pastor Charles’ house in Jinja Village. Pastor, his wife, Mama Marine, and their three children have graciously given up two of their three bedrooms so that my team and I can use them. I am truly so thankful to be living with a family that devotes their entire lives to Jesus.
Today was our first day of ministry in Uganda! Pastor told us we would be preaching at a women’s prison. I had never done prison ministry before, so I didn’t really know what to expect but I was excited to find out.
When we arrived, we saw a bunch of women dressed in either yellow or orange dresses. Yellow dresses meant their crime wasn’t as serious as the women in orange dresses. I smiled and waved at the women as I walked through the crowd of them. A lot of them gave me a friendly smile and wave back, which I honestly was kind of surprised by. Along with one of us who was going to preach, we found out that three of us would give short testimonies of what Jesus has done in our lives. We already prayed prior and decided one of my teammates, Summer, was preaching that day, but then decided me, Rashad, and Becca were going to give testimonies.
We started out the time with the women worshipping. I had never been a part of worship like this before! All the women were shouting, praising, singing and full out dancing before the Lord. They had so much energy and enthusiasm in them that is was shocking. We danced and danced and were all sweating from the hot sun.
Although we were in a PRISON, I can wholeheartedly say that was 100% one of the most joy-filled environments I have ever been a part of! My teammate, Lauren, said, “How is this a prison?? This is like a kids camp. They’re all so happy!” How were they so joyful you might be asking? The answer is Jesus! The majority of these women’s lives have been transformed by the love, power, and freedom that comes with fully accepting Jesus into your life to change it. Jesus didn’t just come to help us get into heaven, He came so we can experience heaven while still here on earth. That experience comes with fully surrendering your life to Jesus. That means saying and living out, “YOUR will be done, not MY own”.
As Pastor Charles said today to the women at the prison, “Truth is not education. Truth is not university. Truth is not the business you want to open. Truth is not money. Truth is not all the material items you want to buy. Truth is Jesus.” Maybe you’re not experiencing the freedom that comes from accepting Jesus because you haven’t surrendered. Jesus wants surrender. Maybe you’re putting your success, your education, or the next item you want to purchase before Jesus in your life.
I just read in Luke 14: 26-27 today:
“If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus doesn’t actually mean to hate your family, but He’s stressing how important it is for God to be first in your life. When you put God first, He works to make everything and everybody else in your life aligned with His will, too.
So God has put this question in my mind to ask anyone reading this blog: If you haven’t experienced the life changing freedom, joy, peace, and love that comes with giving your life to Jesus, what has stopped you? What are you putting before your relationship with God?
Updates:
As some of you might know, I come home to America on August 25! Ten days later I leave again (to Swaziland) for 9 months to squad lead World Race Gap Year. My squad has 38 18-20 year olds that I will be leading and discipling on the field. We are going to Swaziland, Thailand, Myanmar, and Nicaragua! Since I haven’t had an income for the past 10 months, I don’t have personal money saved for this next trip. In order to have money to pay my bills while on the field, buy extra food, toiletries, pay monthly for my Compassion sponsor child, etc, I have calculated and need around $3,000.
If you feel led to donate, here’s some ways to do so:
PayPal: [email protected]
Venmo: Jillian-Sceski
Check or any other form of payment: contact me and I’ll give you the info!
Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support!! I never can explain how much it means to me!
