I came to Africa expecting to make a huge impact, expecting to be the next “white missionary girl” to change the world. Coming to Uganda, I’ve realized that if anyone has been changed, and if anyone has been impacted, it has most definitely been me. The Christians here have taught me so much, and have spurred me further in my walk with Christ.
If I had to describe the Ugandan church in one word it would be joyful. It is so evident in every aspect of their lifes, and radiates off of their faces. Some of these people literally have nothing, and yet they meet on Sundays and dance with joy. I am told story after story about villages running from and being attacked by the LRA, and yet they go on to say that God is good. I read the Bible to a blind woman named Rosa, and she lifts her hands in awe. Going on to state that if we pray, she knows she will be healed. We go to church at a prison and watch the inmates dance, so passionate, so thankful for the God we serve. Everytime I pray healing over a Moses (who is in the hospital due to being HIV positive, causing him to be unable to use the restroom) he falls to his knees and lifts his hands in reverence. The Ugandans have taught me that being joyful is a deliberate choice you have to make on a daily basis, despite your circumstances.
“The young women will dance for joy and the men-old and young-will join in celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.” Jeremiah 31:13
The Ugandans have taught me what the church should look like. Passionate. On Sundays I sit in amazement of the beautiful hearts, so eager to learn, and so eager to serve. All they want is to glorify the Lord. They aren’t concerned about how long the service will be and when they will get out, or what others think of them,all they want is to glorify and honor God. When they worship its pure. When they serve its genuine. When they pray its passionate. I came here expecting to be broken and although I’ve heard story after story that causes my heart to ache, my heart doesn’t break for the Christians in Africa, my heart breaks for the American Church.
