Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Uganda: July 7, 2014

I'm sitting in the Ugandan airport as I write. It is Monday, July 7, 9:45 p.m. God willing, I will board in less than one hour.

Let me catch you up on some things that happened this weekend. Saturday was simply amazing. I went canvasing with a group of the orphan boys. We conversed Soroti for about an hour and a half before we returned to the orphanage. By the time we finished, I was hot, sweaty, hungry, and exhausted. I began crossing the street to Kerri and Pamela's, but I stopped when I heard someone calling me. I turned around, and, sitting on the wall outside the orphanage were 3 young girls (early teens) with their heads covered (obviously Muslim). I began talking with them. They were very friendly. I asks them if they were Muslim. They said they were. I said, "Ah! I have never spoken very long with a Muslim before. Will you tell me a little about your religion?" They got very excited and began telling me about being good and living peaceable with people to get to heaven. Well, after they shared their beliefs, I shared mine using an Evangecube I brought along from the States. We talked for 30 minutes. The girls had many questions including "Is hell a real place?" The last picture of the Evangecube has an image of hell at the bottom, an image of heaven at the top, and 2 hands clasped in-between heaven and hell (one hand representing a sinner condemned to hell, one representing Jesus). Just before I reached that picture, I had given a little bit of my testimony and had told the girls that when I became a Christian, the Holy Spirit came to indwell me, and now I can communicate with my Savior as friend to friend. That prompted one of the girls to ask, "Do you believe that God can communicated to us through dreams?" I said, "Yes, I do. Why? Have you had a dream?" She nodded. "Tell me your dream," I said. She told me that she dreamed she was in a dark, deep pit and couldn't get out, and someone was trying to grab her hand, but she wouldn't take it. Needless to say, I was floored. Immediately, I showed her the least picture and pointed to the flames of gel. "This is your pit," I said. "Jesus is extending His hand to you; you simply have to reach up and take it. I believe God was speaking to you in that dream." At that point, all three of the girls' eyes seemed to open. I asked them if they were ready to trust in Christ Jesus for salvation, and they said, "Yes." I led them in the sinner's prayer. Isn't God good! Please pray for them. They could face persecution for their decision.

Kerri was sick a lll day Saturday and Sunday. She asked me Saturday night if I would teach both Sunday school and junior church the next day. It was so much fun! I had about 90 kids from 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. I taught them the stories "the Fiery Furnace" and "Daniel in the Lion's Den." They taught me some Teso songs! I can't wait to teach them to my class this fall. Immediately after church, I loaded up my things and headed to Entebbe with Mr. Pittman and a Ugandan named Nelson. We arrived at the Joyners' home about 9:00 p.m.

Today I had a blast catching a Ugandan taxi with Sarah Hess to observe her teach music in a government school in Entebbe. We even sang a couple of duets for the kids.

On the way back to the Joyners, we got the taxi to drop us off near Lake Victoria so that we could walk by it on the way to the house. The lake is beautiful and quite large. Maybe one day I can see Victoria Falls.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I repacked my bags to get my souvenirs in my carry-on to prevent breakage. And here I am. Still waiting to board my flight, it is now 10:30.

I surely will miss all these people I have been working with. I will miss all the kids back at the orphanage. My time here in Uganda was way to short. I have seen so many needs here -- needs that I could fulfill if God allows. Please be praying for future decisions. I am torn between Cameroon and Uganda. But I will keep praying for God's guidance. He hasn't steered me wrong yet!

Uganda: July 6, 2014

I am writing this as I am leaving Soroti heading to Entebbe once again. This past week has been a whirlwind. As I said in the previous post, I have been tutoring some little ones in letters and sounds recognition. On Wednesday, John Peter, a little boy who, when he came to the orphanage, could not speak English or the local dialect, read for the first time in class after our morning tutoring session. That morning, it seems that the information I was teaching him finally clicked. Kerri started crying when he read his first words. You should have seen his wide eyes and big grin! Priceless.

On Friday (July 4) we decided to cancel school and have a field day full of games. The kids were surprised in the morning when they were told to gather for an impromptu assembly, and they were so excited when Mr. Pittman announced that there would be no more school until after lunch. We set up races, an obstacle course, a jump rope competition, a ring toss, etc. That evening we grilled steaks and had brownies and ice cream! Yummy! Fourth of July in Africa is possible! Haha!