Any person of any age shouts “Mzungu!” meaning white person or foreigner when they see us. Even though we are only about 30 minutes outside of Kampala the capital of Uganda, Mzungus are so rare that even I stand out like a sore thumb. Little children follow us in hordes shouting, waving and giggling at how strange we are. I am now known as Mzungu…Welcome to Kampala!
  Leaving Kenya was hard and it was a long 14.5 hrs on roads so bumpy that more than a few times I flew out of my seat and landed on a friends lap with at lease one foot in the air, and that was when we were on the “paved” roads. It had been such a fruitful and challenging month among people thirsty for the transforming love of Christ. I entered Kenya having realized that somewhere along the trip I had gotten overwhelmed by ministry and lost my focus on Jesus. I wasn’t excited about sharing the Gospel because I wasn’t focused on the Gospel, I had become so self centered that Jesus seemed to slip away and everyday was about me and how my needs were or were not being met. After receiving some hard feedback from a teammate who called out the fact that our team wasn’t Jesus focused I realized the truth and went running back to my first love. Since then ministry has become life giving again, not just draining work, but life changing for me and the people we are ministering to. We had seen people of all ages coming to Christ wholeheartedly and having met wonderful people and made great friendships we left on a bittersweet note
 
Kibera slum. The biggest slum in Africa.
  It has only been a few days here but I have not experienced anything like Uganda. Yes it’s cute when the kids follow us but then they start playing in and chewing on trash for lack of toys, food and parental guidance. I have never seen poverty like I’v seen here, not even in rural Cambodia where we had  Cambodian Market Crisis 2011 – VIDEO. Trash is strewn everywhere, literally everywhere and open sewers line the sidewalks. Our contact Pastor Joseph has been kicked out of his house 3 times this year for not being able to pay the rent. His kids miss school for lack of fees. These people are already living by faith everyday, more so than I ever have and I wonder what I could possibly bring to them.Â
It is overwhelming in wonderful and terrible ways to see great faith and love among great poverty and pain. The atmosphere is so spiritually charged that my teammates and I have already experienced feeling excited and moved by the presence of the Lord and just as quickly will feel attacked with irritability and discouragement by the intense need here.  It is impossible to deny being thrown into the middle of the battle between good and evil but is it so exciting and inspiring to know that there is nothing I can do of my own works here. There is nothing I can bring these people and absolutely no way that I can meet their needs. Only God can make a difference here and for the first time really all I can do is turn to Him.Â
It is terrifying and exhilarating to have to rely on God in such a way and there is no doubt in my mind that this month we will see God do amazing things!
