Obangu ber! (God is good!)

8 hours. Amsterdam. 5 hour lay-over. 8 hours. Uganda. 2 hour bus ride to Kampala from Entebbe. 1 and 1/2 days in Kampala. By the end of the first day, we had met Alice.  We were all sitting in a circle outside our hostel talking about life when she came to us to ask us about Jesus. 2 hours later. She committed her life to Jesus. Our time in Kampala was filled with adventuring around the city. Playing and dancing with street children. Learning that everywhere we go, we get pointed at and called, "Mzungu! Mzungu!", which means foreigner. Using squatties!! (By the way, they are WAY better than regular toilets!) Basically, they are holes in the ground.  We left Kampala encouraged by the power of the Holy Spirit and the reality of Christ in so many people's lives. 7 hour bus ride north to Lira. The bus ride consisted of a continual gaze out the windows as we passed huts, holes in the dirt. fields of fruit and vegetables, cows and goats everywhere, children, lots of children filled the streets and highways, shoeless feet, shirtless backs, monkeys, the Nile River, road goat (Delicious!), the beheading of a bird that our bus hit and then brought home to eat for dinner!, a man trying to get me to sell him my camera, smiles, and heat. I could not fall asleep even if I tried because of all that passed by my window. There is no speed limit in Africa (or it is not followed even if there is one!) and the roads consist of huge holes and speed bumps every 5 minutes or so.

7 hours later. Lira. Everywhere there are smiles. We were greeted by 10 people at our living place with arms wide open and smiles. The people of Uganda are the most welcoming, generous, kind, and compassionate people I have ever met. The next few days, we met many street children and neighbors who taught us the language. We are learning slowly. Praise God for the power of sharing the same lauguage! I wish you all could witness the overwhelming joy of these people when they live in dirt, wear mix-matched shoes, or no shoes, lost families members, eat small meals or no meals, work hard off the land, carry their loads on their heads and backs. These people have nothing, except they have everything: the joy of the Lord! Katie, one of the ladies who works at our place, told me yesturday that she leaves her baby shelby at home in the morning for a couple hours in her little hut and then goes back during her break to get her and bring her to work. There is a lot of brokenness here and I know God has brought my team here purposefully. Already, I don't want to leave. We can't do enough here.

Today was our first day of ministry and I worked with Compassion ministry filing grades for the schools in Lira, Uganda. I was reminded of God's faithfulness even in the smallest things as I did these menial tasks. The rest of the day was spent being climbed all over by 10 or so beautiful children!

With all this time, I have learned that there is no such thing as time in Africa. People here invest and work and serve until they are done. The days feel like 5 days in one with how much we do everyday. I have not looked at a watch ONCE! How beautiful! In America, we glance every hour and everyday is based off of the "little time" we supposedly have to get everything done. Lesson: We get little done in the US.

The last few days have been a time for getting to know my team. My teammates are such beautiful pictures of God's faithfulness and love. I am convinced: God calls those to missions who have experienced great pain and brokenness.

Food: I haven't been able to stop eating. It is all so delicious and fresh. Two days ago, I spent the evening cooking with some ladies. We made Chipati! Definitely bringing it back to the US. Other foods consist of fruit, lots of fruit. Daily, I have a young fellow climb a tree to pick some Mangos for me.

I am not sure what else to include in this blog because there is not enough room to explain all that has happened here in Lira. And I only have a few more minutes. More stories and details to come.

Conclusion. God is still good and faithful all the time! God has commanded us to serve others. There are no excuses to doing the work the Lord has given us: love others unconditionally! In the church that we serve here in Lira, there are six signs that hang: What on earth am I here for? We are here to worship. We are here to grow. We are here to serve. We are here for mission. We are here to fellowship.

Praise the Lord always!