"My Power is Made Perfect in Weakness"

Oh, where to start?! I guess the beginning of the week is as good a place as any. On Monday several of the girls left. Three of them came the same day I did, and two had come the week after I arrived. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to these girls who had become my sisters over the month we spent here together. But as they left, we all had to be reminded, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The weeks they had here were specifically laid out and planned for them by the Almighty God, and obviously He knows what He's doing!

The next three days were probably the most physically challenging I've had since I've been here (although slashing grass might tie). During our days in Zirobwe this week, we had the opportunity to help build mud huts as well as have our children's program in the evening. Each day we worked on the huts in some way - carrying water, carrying bricks, mixing mud, or actually putting mud on the structure. (You have no clue what I would have done for a Bobcat!) We were all so physically tired, but we were in it together. In a way, it reminded me of Cross Country. You grow together as a team because you know that everyone is going through the same pain and struggle you are. "Coincidentally," before we left for the village, I was reading in 2 Corinthians 12, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." I was continually reminded while I was carrying water and bricks that my strength comes from God. As small as it might sound, there's NO way I could have carried all those bricks and jerrycans full of water out of my own strength and still be able to go with full strength to the children's programs or whatever else we had to do that day. I'm so thankful that I have a God who is my strength.

The inside

The hut structure

With the girls ready to work!

Making progress!

Almost done!

On Friday we had the opportunity to go to a secondary school in a nearby village to help put on a conference with a group called YouthQuake. It was an amazing opportunity. The YouthQuake team was so fun to work with, and we were able to break up into "small" groups with the kids to talk about real life issues. I ended up being with the team that went with the Senior 2 class. (S-2 is similar to middle school in the States). After some brief introduction, we opened up for questions, and they had so many!! It was amazing to be able to pour into those kids where they were at in life. Some of the questions asked you would have heard just about anywhere in the world - America or Uganda - the kids still have the same questions about life. But then, there are some questions that bring the reality of these students' lives into the light. One question that came at the very end spoke about a student's struggle to keep up her grades and abuse from her father. She was sponsored, but if her grades weren't good for her second term report, they threatened to take away her sponsorship. She simply wanted to know what to do. We didn't have time to answer her question, but honestly, how would you answer it? Trusting God takes on a whole new aspect here; you actually have to trust and fully depend on Him. It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience.

So, yes, it's been a hard, long week, but it's been amazing and God is still moving. Amen!





Blessings!