Real Life Is Really, Really Real

In the words of our host/Pastor, Pastor Johnson, “This is Real Life.  Their life is really, really real.”  These past few days we have round out just how real it really, really is.
 
Early Sunday morning we woke up to head to a small town called Pader.  Now, if you know anything about Uganda’s history, you know the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) took over and terrorized much of northern Uganda.  The LRA had a particularly strong hold in Pader, and Pader still remembers it, the wounds stinging five years later even though there is now peace.
 
When we pulled into Pader I could almost feel the sadness weighing on my shoulders, and I wasn’t alone.  The whole team could tell there was a heaviness that had been holding Pader down for many, many years.  Luckily, there is a branch of Victory Outreach with an amazing pastor in Pader.  Pastor JJ is one of the strongest, most dedicated men I have ever met, and he really led us to some of the most incredible ministry we have done yet.
 
We were in Pader for 3 days, and in those three days we saw God move as much as He has in our 3 months in Lira.
 
Monday afternoon Pastor JJ led us in door-to-door ministry in a community that was formerly an IDP camp.  The hurt amongst the people who had been persecuted by the LRA was visible, but God prepared the way for us and at least 5 people dedicated their lives to Christ that day, while several decided to go to church to see what it was about, and many more had heard the gospel for the first time.  God was planting seeds.
 
Tuesday was even more exciting for the Kingdom, if you can believe it gets any better.  We started the day with breakfast, and then started our way to the hospital to pray for people.  In the middle of our long trek to the hospital we got stopped by the local radio station personnel, who informed us that they wanted to give the group 30 minutes of free air time to share the love of God.  To say we were caught off guard is an understatement.  We all froze in terror as we expected others to step up and take the challenge.  After we had two people picked out to preach, we all entered the studio where we introduced ourselves.  After the introductions Zach started talking about God’s love.  Then Jessica started talking about His love, then Craig, then Zane, and as I saw everyone scrambling for their Bibles because they were suddenly inspired, I realized God had just told me what to talk about.  Amazingly enough, God told all 8 of us to talk about the same exact thing; what His love looks like and how beautiful it is.  Without us planning anything, God used us to tell people about Him.  After our preaching, a lady called into the station to thank God for our preaching, and to tell us that God was calling her to Victory Outreach, and now she was going to go.
 
After the radio station preaching, we made our way to the hospital.  Of all the people we prayed for, one stuck out in my mind the most.  A young woman named Monica was suffering from several sicknesses at once, ones that had been ailing her for years.  It started off with just three people praying for her, but God ended up calling the whole team to her side.  As we were praying the sicknesses out of her body, the Holy Spirit fell heavy on us.  God met us in the hospital.  The Spirit was moving.  In the end, Monica’s illnesses were gone.  As she cried and cried over her healing, a man sitting next to her touched his shoulder where he had been hurting, and suddenly realized he was healed, too.  The Spirit was so strong in the room that it touched and healed him.
 
God renders me speechless.  I am put in such awe of how great our God is.  I don’t understand how He works, but that’s the cool part about Him; we can never comprehend how He moves, how He heals, how He speaks.