Thank You

As the trip has come to an end there are so many things I have truly loved and will miss terribly that I never thought I would. I never thought I would be physically exhausted and sweating after worship at church from so much singing and dancing. I never thought I would find myself leading worship in front of the entire Makobore student body. I never thought I would look forward to drinking porridge and eating posho and beans with Ugandan teenage boys every day. I never thought I would make friends with a man named Pius that works at a gas station in town and look forward to seeing him every morning and evening when we walk to and from school. I never expected that an all boy’s high school would become my home and I would leave with 200 brothers in Christ. I never expected to fall in love with this beautiful country and all the people in it as much as I did. And for that I can only thank God and praise Him more. Because He brought me to this wonderful place and put all of the amazing people I met in my path and because of that I am forever changed.
 
Before coming to Uganda I had never been absolutely exhausted after worship. But after each fellowship and Sunday service at Makobore High School I find myself trying to catch my breath and fanning myself to cool down from so much singing and dancing. Worship has always been something I truly enjoyed. Over the past four months I have fully realized how it completely fills me with joy from The Lord and often times is when I feel closest to My Heavenly Father.
 
Dancing around in Wednesday and Saturday fellowship with the students of Makobore gives me great joy. Joy beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It doesn’t matter what language you’re singing in or how silly you look dancing. We are worshipping our Great God and that’s all that matters. It doesn’t even matter if you have a good singing voice. I happen to have the worst voice but the boys would continually ask me to lead worship, and I absolutely loved doing it. Its moments like doing the Bernie and cat daddy with students I won’t forget. Or starting a conga line on Easter morning. Or getting everyone in fellowship to the Macarena to the song “Glory glory glory somebody touched me glory glory glory somebody touched me and it was the Son of God.”. I have mentioned in other blogs how there have been so many moments on this trip where all I can do is look around and laugh with pure joy at what my life has become. These moments definitely fit into that category.
 
This trip has continually taught me that God is working even when I am unaware of it. Every time I talk with my friend Pius I am reminded of that. There is a gas station down the street from Makobore that we walked by twice a day every day, which is where I met Pius. Throughout the past few months our conversations have changed from small talk, to sharing Bible verses, to me praying for him and his family as they mourn the loss of his sister. Seeing his hunger to get to know The Lord more has inspired me.
 
When coming to Uganda I didn’t expect to work at an all boy’s high school. But God had a plan for us and I truly believe our team was placed there for a reason. Over the past four months I have absolutely loved leading morning devotions, playing soccer, volleyball and basketball with the boys, building relationships, attending church services at the school and surprisingly enough I have thoroughly enjoyed drinking porridge and eating posho and beans with the boys. A few of us even bought our own porridge cups and started having “porridge dates” with the boys. Which were awesome times to share testimonies or go deeper into the morning devotion lessons with the boys individually. Not only has drinking porridge with the boys become extremely enjoyable but so has eating posho and beans with them for lunch and dinner. Sitting in the DH (dining hall) were always times full of laughter. Normally it consisted of the boys laughing at us because of how little we eat and them trying to sneak more posho onto our plates. But as our time with them started winding down those were times I really cherished.
 
Leaving somewhere has never been so hard. Rukungiri and Makobore have become my home. I didn’t look at going to the school as “ministry” because it was so much more. I was going to be with my friends, my brothers. I was going to play soccer, hang out, read the Bible and worship with them. I honestly can’t think of anything better than that and there is no other way I would have liked to spend the past four months of my life. So Lawrence, Lucky, Ronald, Noah, Nickson, Emma, Onesmus, Douglas, Junior, Fred and every other boy at Makobore High School, thank you. Thank you for laughing with me and crying with me. Thank you for letting me be me, thank you for letting me dance like a fool at fellowship and be super sassy. Thank you for showing me what real love is, for looking beyond the color of my skin and getting to know my heart. Thank you for being amazing men of God. Thank you for letting me be a part of your school and thank you for letting me be your sister.
 
If I’ve learned anything in the past few months it’s that God is always in control and like it says in Jeremiah 29:11 He knows the plans of our future, plans for prosperity. Our team could have been placed anywhere in Uganda but God chose Rukungiri and Makobore, and they will forever hold a special place in my heart. I am so thankful and grateful God brought me to Uganda and I cannot wait until He brings me back.