Oh hey there!!! So this past week in Uganda has been pretty great!! God has been showing me so many things in big and small ways. On Thursday we met with a couple kids who lived on the street. Their english was not very strong, but that didnt matter to me. I communicated with them through thetheir eyes. On Friday we went to the Church and I got to eat sim sim for the first time…..Yay for sim sim haha. During the afternoon I got the opporunity to go to victory outreach north, a branch of the church we go to. While i was there my eyes were opened immensely. It was a very poor area and just made me really think of how truely blessed I am at home, and where I am currently living. On saturday we spent the day with the compassion children. It was… interesting and tiring. Its crazy how these children have been raised with no teaching on how to treat one another. Throwing stones and hitting people with sticks is just normal play. Needless to say i was extremely exhausted after that. Sunday was a good day. We went to church and just had some time to spend with our team doing a bible study and hanging out watching a movie. I always find Sunday the hardest for missing home… so i was kind of homesick but i soon got over it thanks to my amazing team mates. On Monday I got tested for Malaria, by my roomie Sarah! It was fun and guess what? I am Malaria free! which is a miracle considering i have 39 mosquito bites, NO JOKE and I am still finding new ones!
On monday afternoon i had my first encounter with a cult type thing. A man came up to me and started telling me about his prophetic church and how he had this vision. I read his information, which talked about how if you go to this church you will be cured of AIDS. and the sabbath day will be changed to friday… etc. I just prayed for strength to be able to speak to this man. It was definately out of my comfort zone.
On Tuesday we went to the Happy Time primary school. It was very interesting to see how one man basically started the whole thing, and in some cases he has to pay for many childrens school fees. Its crazy how big his heart is for God and the children he cares for. Tuesday afternoon was a little more difficult.. We went to thee hospital and spent time praying with patients. I had prayed for courage as this was hard for me. I went by myself to talk to people and almost every single person i spoke with could not speak any English. I was just frusterated because they would go on and on about what was wrong with them, yet i had NO idea what they were trying to tell me. Even asking if i could pray with them was a challenge. Although the language barrier was tough, I saw some things that i will never forget. I saw a woman whos arm had been burned really badly house fire. After that I saw a woman in the fetal position who was nothing but skin and bones. Then when i left the surgical ward i met a little baby who had been badly burned in a fire. His mothers english was poor, but she told me/ acted out that the baby had lost his fingers. My heart literally sank.
Even though things are hard here… I can feel God strengthening me through everything. I know that he is the strength in me and I am beginning to realize that I can do NONE of this without him!
See ya next wednesday!
