Serving Others

Well, it's been yet another full week here in Uganda. Every week, we choose a theme to talk to the kids about. This week, our theme was "Serving Others." We had the opportunity to both teach about serving and work on serving others ourselves as well. 

My namesake tree is growing!! 

On Tuesday, we went to Katalemwa (the children's hospital) as well as having the opportunity to go to a new place. We were able to go to a place called St. Andrew's Church and spend time with their youth group. It was so much fun! Honestly, I almost felt like I was at home with our youth group; we played team-building games and ultimate spoons, had worship, a lesson, and of course snacks. It was awesome to be in fellowship with those students and they were so ready and open to learn.

We also got to go to Zirobwe this week! I think I learned the most about service while we were there. On top of the children's programs we did there, we also planted TONS of "trees" (shrubs) to outline the grass we planted a while back. We planted and watered trees forever on Thursday, and we were all SO tired. But we were amazed as well - the kids in the village came out and helped us in the heat of the day. They were so willing to serve; we almost felt like they should be teaching us about serving. 

The boys in Zirobwe playing "crab soccer"

Then, Friday we had the opportunity to go to Jinja and see Amazima, Katie Davis' ministry. It was an awesome trip, and learning more about her ministry was great, but the thing that struck me was the peace I experienced there. Very few times in my life have I experienced such peace, all of which are burned in my mind. It's the kind of peace Paul and Timothy write about in Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Simply overwhelming. And good. 

Another thing this week has been a hard lesson. With the passing of the lady in our church last week, I've had to learn to trust in God's character despite my own feelings, clinging to verses like Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him..." Even if I don't "feel" like He's working for the good, I have to believe and trust in who He is. He is loving, faithful, powerful, perfect and He will NEVER change. He will always be who He is. I just have to have faith and trust Him. 

The girls in Zirobwe waiting for their turn to play

I know this is all rather sporadic and scattered, but honestly, that's just how my week has been, and it's okay. God's got it under control. Blessings to you all! 

Battles.

Jennifer, one of the babies of Zirobwe

This has been one of those weeks that's just impossible to sum up in a blog post... Well, really, it'd be hard to sum up in any way at all, but for you all, I guess I'll try!

On Saturday evening, I had the opportunity to go with the team to Watoto church here in Kampala. The thing that hit me the most came from Exodus 14:14. It says "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." I feel like I've been fighting battles all week. First of all, we had over half of our team leave to go home on Monday, so we've all been adjusting to a smaller group. But most of the struggle was due to hearing about my community back home going through a rough time. After learning at the beginning of the week that a beautiful lady in our church who had been fighting cancer was doing badly, my heart was divided between here and home. All of my prayers and thoughts were back at home, but I also had to be present here. On Thursday morning when I heard of her passing, I honestly didn't know how to handle it... (really, I still don't), but it has been one of the hardest struggles to be here when I know my whole spiritual family back in Kansas is mourning. After being so prayerfully and emotionally invested in this woman's struggle, I've felt as if I were a part of the battle. But God has called me to let Him fight the battle; part of me wants to keep my battles in my own hands, so I can feel somewhat in control. The truth is - I can't control them. I've had to give the battle I was fighting for her up to God and trust Him with it, and He's had to remind me that understanding something and accepting something are two different things. I won't lie and tell you that I've accepted it yet, because I haven't quite been able to do that yet. But I can tell you that I'm living on in hope from past experiences that struggle brings growth, and in the end, growth in Christ is worth struggling for.

The inside of the church

The roof of the church is finally on!

On a different note, progress on the church building in Zirobwe is coming along! The roof is now on and the next step is buying doors and windows. EAC is asking people to donate money to help with this next step of the project (which you can contact me about if you have more questions). But it's so exciting to see the progress both in the church building and the people of Zirobwe themselves, even in the short time I've been here.

Nothing is impossible for God.



Blessings!

Renewed

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

2 Corinthians 4:16

This week has been one of rest, refreshment, and renewal. Although, at first I wasn't really that excited for it. Almost all of the staff had plans to leave for Kenya on Thursday evening to attend a wedding, so we didn't have the opportunity to go to Zirobwe. After connecting with the kids there so much last week, it was a struggle not to be slightly grumpy about not going. However, as often seems to happen, God got a hold of my attention. He brought to light the fact that recently I'd been kinda skimping on my time with Him. Don't get me wrong, I'd still take some time out of my day to read the word and study, but it had been a long time since I simply went and sat before Him. So, this week I was simply blessed in dwelling in His presence.

One thing that stuck out the most came from Ephesians 4,

 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness."

Day by day, God promises to renew us. We can be made new in Christ; we are being made new. I don't have to be weighed down by my old self, because I have the option to run to my Father and lay it before Him. This is what He has to say in Isaiah 43:18-19,

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

God is my source of renewal. "Coincidentally," the first song that came on as I was preparing to write this post was "Made New" by Aaron Pelsue. It says, "I am made new; I am made clean. You have lifted all my burdens and the shame that buries me. I am made new; I am made free. You broke the chains that kept me bound. The curse of sin can't hold me down. By the power that raised you, I am made new." 

Now a quick rundown of the week: Monday we went to the babies home and helped out there. Tuesday we went to Jaja's Orphanage and had then had the opportunity to do a program with the neighbor kids that evening. They are so bright! It was a blast to hang around with them, feed them, and play games with them. It's something we definitely want to keep doing in the future. Wednesday we went to the children's hospital, Katalemwa, once more, and on Thursday we helped out at the babies home again. Yesterday and today we've had "days of rest," which prove great for team bonding, movie nights, and getting some stuff done at least. But it's definitely been a blessing! God is good!!

Blessings! 

Shine Your Light to God

I was sitting around a campfire out under the stars of Zirobwe with a young boy on my lap simply enjoying the fellowship of our small "weekend" team in the village and a nearby family, when something beautiful happened. The boy on my lap, Joseph, was playing around with my "headlamp," shining it in people's eyes and everywhere (just your typical boy), when he suddenly stopped and shone the light straight up. I asked him if he was shining it at the tree above us or if he was shining it to God. So he moved it slightly left straight towards the sky towards his Father above - he was shining his little light right to God. I've learned a lot about faith this week, about having faith like a child - faith like Joseph when he shone his light to God.

Working on the ground with
the church roof going on behind!

On Monday and Tuesday we did some of our typical projects in Kampala, but on Wednesday we got to leave for Zirobwe! I was SO excited, however, my excitement was short lived. When we got to the village, one of my little girls, Winnie, was sick. She had a burning fever, a terrible cough, wheezing, and was just all together devoid of energy (she's normally a very ornery one!). I was really worried about her. The next day, she was better in the morning, but by evening time she was even worse. I finally just had to give it up to God, I acknowledged to Him that I was at an end, that my faith was weak - I couldn't take care of her, but He is the Healer. Just as He did in Luke 7 when the centurion said to Christ, "But say the word, and my servant will be healed" (Luke 7:7b), I knew He could do the same thing for Winnie. So, after laying it before Him, I could at least go to sleep in peace, knowing that He had Winnie in His hands. The next day, Winnie came to camp happy and healthy as ever! Praise God, Mukama Yebazibwe! My girl was smiling and shining again.

With my girl, Winnie! (She's obviously feeling better!

I think through that experience I got a little taste of how God feels when we're living our lives as the light He calls us to be. In Matthew 5:14 & 16, Christ explains, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden...In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." God wants us to shine for Him and to Him, but when we're sick in our relationship with Him, when we've taken in the lies Satan feeds us and forgotten what He's blessed us with and why, we fail to shine. When we don't trust Him and don't believe that He can do what He says, we're living as a sick, broken child. When we're living like that, He will do anything to heal us and bring us back to Himself. He desires us to live as His healthy, shining children not only for His pleasure, but also so His light can shine through us into the darkness.

You know what else? It's okay to admit to God that my faith is weak, because He already completely knows me and loves me in spite of that. It's okay to say, "I do believe; help me with my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). Sometimes that's exactly what I feel like, but God can overcome my unbelief.

We made airplanes on Saturday. What a blast!

Switching moods now to what we actually did in Zirobwe: The church ground is making rapid success. We leveled the ground and planted grass on Wednesday and Thursday. The roof of the church is also, through prayer and God's provision, quickly coming up. On top of the normal stay of 3 days in the village, some of us stayed on until Sunday (today!). We helped more with planting and did a children's program on Friday, and on Saturday we held a sports day for the kids. We played games, sang, and acted out the story of Joshua with the kids and just had a great day all together. In the evenings we would sit around the campfire with a nearby family and relax together. It was an awesome time of rest and learning for me, and I was definitely blessed by the stay there.

I guess I've probably written enough to bore you by now, so I'll sign off. God bless, and always shine your light to God.

Blessings!