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!