Well.. This is Africa (TIA as we like to say):

  • Fitting 13 people in a 4 person vehicle
  • Seeing  baboons on the street
  • Getting laughed and pointed at because you are white
  • eating lots of bananas and pineapple (I don't mind)
  • Having absoluetly no concept of time (also love)
  • And looking like a fool as you try to speak LUO (their language, or one of their languages)

Those are just a few highlights of what Africa is like. It is such a beautiful place with so many wonderful people! We have no been here for about a week and I am truly enjoying my time. We are working with Pastor Johnson and his Wife Betty who are really greaty Godly people. We have so many ministry opportunities to get involved in. I am planning on working with children, and doing some stuff for compassion, possibly some media stuff, and maybe even visiting prisons and hospitals on a weekly basis to pray with the people there. I'm excited to see how God uses us as a team to reach out to the people of Africa, but also how God uses them to reach out to us.

Yesterday we spent some time with a young man named Nelson. Nelson was abuducted at the age of 16 by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). He and 7 of his friends were taken from their hometown. His Best Friend attempted to escape but was killed because of it (they also did brutal things with his body which I will not go into details on). Nelson was a soldier for 2 and a half years when one his commanders accused him of being a witch. They beat Nelson so hard until he agreed to say he was a witch. He than was told to perform a spell, and when it did not work, he was beat even harder and told he would be killed. While traveling to go fishing with his group to have his last meal of fish, Nelson turned the opposite direction and ran. He ran for miles, and eventually climbed a tree where he was able to hide from the group chasing him. He had to keep running and hiding as the group continued to chase him. Eventually he was able to get away from them. He had not eaten or drank anything for 4 days and he thought he was going to die. As he fell asleep, he gained the strength after a 30 minute nap to keep on fighting. After a long hard escape with even more encounters with groups and people that tried to kill him, Nelson finally made it to a barrack. They announced on the radio that their was a child soldier rescued, and Nelson's mom was able to come and rescue him.

Even though Nelson was rescued, what he went through is just heartbreaking. It breaks my heart to know of how many children have been abducted by the LRA and how many innocent people have died in this over 20 year long war. If you want to find more out about child soldiers, please check out www.invisiblechildren.com they are a great organization. There are plenty of ways you can help end this war, so please check out this organization!

So despite some very trying moments and experiences so far on this trip, I know that God is still faithful. I thank God that he did rescue Nelson and I pray that he is able to use his story to help raise more awareness of the awful things that are happening.

I look forward to so many great things God has in store for us. Please check out my other team members blogs as they will inform you on some more things we have done or even some funny stories 🙂

Love you all and God Bless,
Aly Reed