It’s crazy to think that our team just returned from our debrief in Jinja and we only have six weeks left here in Rukungiri. At the beginning of the trip debrief was something I was looking forward to that seemed so far away. The trip to Jinja was a perfect mixed of excitement and rest, and once again it was a time for God to show His unfailing faithfulness.   When we arrived in Jinja I was not sure what to expect to get out of debrief. But in every way God was there to overwhelm me with His power and comfort. I was reminded every day of His unimaginable power as I looked...

For those of you who may not have seen the pictures of me and my teammates free falling into the Nile River or being chucked out of rafts into its white waters, our team has spent the last 3 days at midpoint debrief in Jinja, northern Uganda. In His typical sovereign fashion, God has used this trip to show me how much He knows what I need, and how He delights in giving His children good gifts.   First, I am thankful that He, and the wise people at Adventures, knew this debrief was something we needed, even if I didn't. We are halfway through the trip at this point, and on one...

There are a few things I have learned over the past two months of living in Uganda. #1. Time is irrelevent here. #2. Being called Mzungu by small children who jump up and down and run into your arms never gets old. #3. When it rains, roads become mush yet people still try to drive up giant hills and get stuck. #4. Soccer games here are the most fun and involve lots of cheering. #5. There is a 15 degree change in temperature between shade and sun because we are right on the equator. #6. Ugandans know nothing about their weather and predict it wrong every time. #7....

There have been so many moments on this trip thus far where all I can do is smile with pure joy at what my life has become. I would be lying if I said that every moment here has been easy and full of God’s love, but it’s the moments of joy throughout the day where His presence is clearly tangible that make everything worth it.   This past Saturday the team went with the boys of Makobore High School to district stadium for a soccer tournament. I have played soccer my whole life so personally I was excited just to watch the games. But it wasn’t Makobore winning two...

Several years ago, I was sitting in a youth conference in Florida as Chris Tomlin taught me and thousands of other high schoolers the words to a song called "God of this City". This past week during team worship, I was brought to my knees in our living room as we proclaimed that same song over Rukungiri and all of Uganda.    In the midst of a place where we regularly encounter people who are bewitched or hear stories from students whose relatives have been cursed by witch doctors, or where kids casually ask if you still have both of your parents and the life...

I would be lying if I said that Africa is all incredible, wonderful, and amazing every minute of every day. And for the most part, it really is. But just like life back home, there are challenges and hard moments. Like finding out that our ministry was to be a boys' high school, and feeling like only working with teenage boys was literally the last thing I had pictured when coming to Uganda. Like the fact that we get up before the sun each day, and get home just before dark, leaving us with little time to relax and have alone time. Like how we've spent a lot of time each day sitting...