I’m listening to the birds chirping in the distance. I feel the breeze blow across me and the coolness of it refreshes me. Even though it is the middle of the Afternoon in Uganda, the day is far from hot. This afternoon, after church and a wonderful lunch, I find myself sitting on our front porch overlooking the rolling hills off in the distance. I really can’t imagine a more perfect afternoon (unless of course I could figure out some way to strap my hammock up on this porch!)
We officially arrived to our ministry site yesterday. We had a short, 2 hour drive from Jinja to Mukono where we received the warmest welcome from our host for the month. The pastor and his wife and several of their children welcomed us into their home with bright smiles and hugs. We immediately felt at home.
As I sit here typing my muscles are tired from our first night of “ministry”, and this is why I say I’m in love. Me and the rest of the team spent last night being human jungle gyms to a mass of kids. At any given time last night each of the 7 of us probably had 4-5 kids hanging from our arms, legs, and back. 6 months on the race I have waited for a moment like this. I chased the kids and spun in circles, with them on my back until I thought I would be sick. But with the normal childlike resilience they never tired. I found a spot of open grass and set down. They were all just as content sitting on me as they were when I was tossing and spinning them around. My once yellow t-shirt told the story of the couple hours we had just spent with those precious kids.
Their favorite game was to swing from my arms… probably the reason I'm so sore today 🙂
This is my new little buddy, Zephaloo. He is so darn cute… a little mischevious too, I think.
Sometimes so many of them would climb on me I literally thought I would fall over.
After a game of tag, and learning that I was a good jungle gym, Meydoo became my buddy.
This little girl, who I decided to call glory, stole my heart as she talked to me in Luganda (her native language) She doesn't speak any English but that didn't slow her down talking to me!
After playing with the kids we came home to hot tea and muffins. A perfect ending to a perfect day. I already love Uganda and I can’t wait to see what else the month holds. This is one of those days where I just sit and reveal in the fact that this is my life. I am more blessed than I could ever imagine.
Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this journey! I am truly grateful.
