Last Sunday, was the last time we visited the men's prison. It was so sad to see their long faces, when we told them we were leaving. We donated 3 Bibles in the Luo language, because they were in desperate need of them. I have never seen people so happy to receive Bibles. They said it was a miracle and praised God. Yet many of us have them sitting at home, on our coffee tables…collecting dust.
There are 3 people: Rose, Joyce, and Pastor Alfred who have been visiting the prisoners and showing them God's love for 15 years. Rose and Joyce walk 45 minutes to the church, to attend the 6 A.M. service and then walk an hour to the prison. Then they walk about an hour back home, in the boiling, hot, African sun. As I said before, they have been doing this for 15 years, completely committed to changing the lives of these prisoners. Did I mention, Rose is a widow, the mother of 4, and she makes money to provide for her children by selling eggs.
I couldn't believe their dedication. It made me think about all those times, I didn't want to get my lazy butt up to go to church at 10 A.M. I didn't want to get into my air-conditioned car and drive 15 minutes. I felt like I worked hard all week long, and I was entitled to sleep in if I wanted to. God would understand…right?
On Wednesday, before our last visit to the prison, Rose cooked lunch for Chris and I. I had only met this woman 2 times before, but when I entered her home, she said it was now my home. She called me her first-born and said from now on, I'm her daughter and I can come home anytime I wanted. She gave us 3 glasses of passion fruit juice, cooked tons of food for us, and made sure we ate at least 3 plates full. She then walked down the street to buy us soda, and wouldn't let us leave until we took a massive, cold bottle of water with us. Talk about hospitality, this is how we were treated by a widow with 4 mouths to feed.
When we were getting ready to leave, they said they were going to name their ministry after me….Melina's Ministry. Hahaha! I told them I don't know when I would be coming back to Uganda, but they didn't care if it would be years from now. They just wanted me to partner with them in prayer, and by giving their names as future contacts for Real Life teams/World race Teams.
Chris and I felt so blessed by our experience with them, we even wanted to come back to Uganda. That's
saying a lot, since we have been in Africa for 4 months and we are exhausted. Africa is a hard place to be, life is very hard and very tiring here. But after our time there, we were all smiles, and ready to hop on the next plane back here.
We went to Joyce's house today. We were just going to pick up a gift of SimSim Paste and natural honey. It turned into songs, lots of prayer, juice, tea, bread with SimSim paste, and photos. We stayed for about 2 hours. This time when we were leaving, they offered us free land to build on if we so choose. Chris was also offered cattle, in case he chose a woman to marry and needed it to pay her dauri ( I think that's how you spell it).
Pastor Alfred, also shared his testimony. From a very young age, he was an orphan. Both parents died and he had absolutely no one to take care of him. He was destitute and suffering severely for many years. People would feed him by giving him food that had already been spoiled. He gave his life to Christ and promised the Lord that he would serve him with his whole heart. The Lord heard him and made 5 covenants with him. That he would be able to go to school for free, that he would have a wife within 3 years, that he would be trained for ministry, that he would bring multitudes to the Lord, and I can't remember the last one (sorry). Anyway all of them came to pass! A church sponsored him to go to school, he received his teaching degree and a diploma in theology. He is married and has 7 healthy children. His wife is now pastoring a church. He has planted a church, and plans on starting more. He is a living testimony to the work of God, especially to the people in his village, who saw him desperate and destitute. He is only where he is today, because of the hand of God.
Me, Pastor Alfred, Rose, and Joyce : )
