Wow, this has definitely been my favourite month so far. I LOVE Africa. As soon as we got on the bus at the airport to head to Ginga, I just had this immediate feeling of peace and comfort. It was so cute hearing children yell “Mzungu!” (“white person!”) as our bus drove by, and giant smiles greeted us everywhere! After 5 days of debreif – full of great conversations, a talent show, some rest and relaxation, annnnd some adventure (…I might’ve rafted some class-5 rapids on the Nile…), we met our contact for the month! His name is Pastor Joseph – he has a giant smile, laughs at the drop of a hat, and has a lovely wife named Mama Beatrice. They have 5 children with one on the way, and we feel beyond welcomed and cared for here. They really do feel like family, and we’ve only been here a week so far!
All six of us on the team are in a 10 x 10 room with two three-level bunk beds and our 6 expedition packs (making it feel like 12 people in the room!) but you know what? We love it! There’s a living room and dining area and a handful of joyful kids that live in our gated community – so there isn’t anything more that we could ask for! Everyone we’ve met has been beyond loving towards us. The church service (which lasted 4 hours or so) was the most charismatic thing I’ve ever experienced – and I LOVED it. There was singing, dancing, shouting, rapping (for real…Pastor Steve starts yelling “PUT CHA HANDS UP, UP, UP. PUT ‘EM UP NOW” during any breathing breaks throughout pumpin’ worship songs) and choruses of Amen’s beyond count. I felt like I was in a movie. But this is real life, and it’s the neatest thing. We’ve thrown down a number of rounds of Uno with our host family, coloured and drawn together, played keep away in the yard, enjoyed lots of chit chat together, and have watched some classics (The Grinch/the Lion King) with our friends here too. I have so many favourite moments already, I wish I could describe them all in perfect detail!
I just feel so moved by the Spirit. And I know that’s because I’ve been more intentional in doing my devotionals, and diving into ministry while being more honest with my teammates and leaning on them too. We’ve all turned over a new leaf, and our word of the month has been “ownership.” Let me tell ya, so far our team has been owning it. And it’s only going up from here. I honestly feel like a brand new person. I feel renewed, revived, and energized. I’m excited (more than usual) and though I wasn’t so sure before, I’m now SO pumped to experience the Christmas season here in Uganda.
Each afternoon we’ve been doing door-to-door evangalism. I know what you’re thinking – I was thinking the exact same thing coming into this: “This is the absolute worst method of sharing the gospel ever, I wonder how many doors will be slammed in our faces.” But you know what? Ugandans are A LOT more open to what people have to say here than in North America. In fact, most were excited to hear what we had to say! It’s been really neat to share about the hope of Jesus Christ and be able to pray over numerous families and communities. The pastor has told us that many of the people we’ve met have said that they were encouraged by us – and that’s alllll glory to God. I also had the opportunity to preach at this past Thurday’s women’s service. I was scared to get up infront of the church and talk about how God uses all kinds of people to do His work. But then it dawned on me. God uses all kinds of people to do His work. Funny, eh? Just because I haven’t gotten a degree in ministry doesn’t mean that God hasn’t worked in my life or shown me something that others could learn from too. I know how to read. So the Bible is fair game! Why not share things I’ve learned with others? Practising what you preach. Classic.
We have been so blessed with the family, ministry and location that God has given us. The people here have amazing hearts. “Amazing” isn’t even a good enough word to describe them. Selfless, blessed, joyful, peaceful, hopeful….among ten thousand other positive adjectives. I feel so loved, which is funny, because I thought this month would solely be about me being able to love OTHERS to the best of my ability. God’s been teaching me to accept BEING loved. He’s been teaching me that I have gifts and that He wants me to USE those gifts, in addition to exploring talents I may not be as well-practised in. Why am I always so nervous to use the gifts God’s given me? I’m afraid of the attention… because I’m afraid of messing up…because I’m afraid of not meeting people’s expectations. I just finished preaching for 45 minutes on how my identity is in Christ and not in what others think of me though. So I think it’s time I start living that.
God already showed me the great things that can come from trusting Him in doing something I wasn’t super comfortable with (*cough* preaching…I wish Dad had been there… I probably spoke and received more “Amen’s” then in his entire preaching career!). And that’s just something small. Imagine if I were to take bigger risks? Imagine the things God could do with those?!
It’s Christmas time, and I’m so thankful for all the Lord has given me. This month has been incredible and will continue to be – I just know it. I’m so happy God’s brought us here. I’m already talking about when I’ll be coming back.
