Dear bloggies-
Week three in Uganda and all is well! I’ve been having so much fun with everything going on here- playing with the children is probably one of my favorite things, but it’s always nice to get to break from the small ones jumping on you. Today I had a nice break from children when I went to meet the woman who runs the microfinance office in the church we work with. Her name is Doreen, and she has amazing insight into God and his heart, and her faith is unshakeable.
When I met with Doreen this morning, I was a little unsure of how our time together would go, because I was unsure of what I could do to help the one-woman loan office beside filing papers for her. I am still unsure of what work she might have for me, because we never quite got to that part of the conversation. Doreen and I talked mostly about our lives- I was able to tell Doreen about how difficult it sometimes was to raise the money for this trip, about having to get back into school when I get back home, about my family, my doggies, and my neighbors. In return Doreen told me about her life- how difficult it was leaving for her recent mission trip to Kenya because of deaths in the family and other illnesses, about leaving work for a week and a half, about transportation- and then we talked about God in Uganda.
I knew Uganda had experienced hardships with war and destructive rebellion groups, but I had never heard anyone recount the pain and sorrow for me- I’ve only ever seen statistics. There was so much emotion in Doreen’s voice as she told me how everyone was affected by the LRA, but then she told me about how amazing God has been- “Uganda is much different now. God has come to heal us, to put us back with hope. I am so thankful for God showing up to answer the prayers of Uganda. He has made Uganda beautiful again.”
Does it ever astonish you how someone who knows the greatest pain can rejoice in the Lord the most? It astounds me every day.
