Climbing Mountains

So this week I’m going to try and be really spiritual and relate my everyday adventures with my walk with God. Yesterday morning we climbed a mountain that is just behind the base. It had been something we had been planning to do for sometime. Anyway, we set out right when the sun began to rise. At first the journey was really easy as we were full of energy and excitement. We would only be a little ways up and we would stop to look at the view because we were still full of amazement for what was ahead. But as our adventure continued and we had to crawl through thickets of thorns and up steep and slippery slopes we soon forgot about all the amazing things around us and complained about the difficult journey. Finally we reached the top exhausted and dirty but pleased with ourselves. Looking around we could see the breath-taking view. Lake Victoria stretched out before us in its entire splendor and a rainbow on one side. 

As I was thinking about our journey, I kept thinking of how it relates to our spiritual journey. At the beginning we are so excited for God and cannot wait for what awaits us. But as the journey continues we often start to focus on the hardships and not the ‘view’. We lose sight of why we really are climbing up this mountain. We need to remember the glorious riches that lay in store for us at the top and the promise that God has given us through the rainbow. He alone is the reason we can make it to the top of the mountain. “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:16

(hopefully you can see the rainbow in the picture because it was beautiful!)

Refreshed.

This week has been refreshing to say the least. Sunday started off with a church service at a ‘missionary’ church. So it consisted mostly of mzungos. It was exactly what I needed after such a fukwe outreach. It renewed me. It’s amazing how much you can actually miss the ‘boring’ church service of the West. We sang English songs that I knew, didn’t dance around with chairs on top of our heads, and it only lasted an hour and a half or so. It was amazing! Other crazy things that happened this week; I tried some fried white ants. One of the guys here just came up one night with a bucket of what looked like ants with wings, and threw them in a pan to fry and we ate them. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed them but I ate bugs! :P On another note, also we played with a wild chameleon on Thursday! I’ve never expected that to happen coming here. Other than that, it has been great to get back to the base and settle in to our ‘home’ here. It is amazing how it feels like home now, being away from it from so long. We rejoice in the little things now that we used to complain about, like the cold shower and unpredictable electricity. Its the little things in life that let you just breathe. Even the most simple weeks can bring around a renewal that we didn't even know we needed. Isaiah 57:10, “You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ 
You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.”

Fukwe.

First of all, let me tell you about this word; fukwe. It is basically a word made up by one of our leaders that can mean anything you want it to. It is usually along the lines of crazy, wild, intense, stupid etc. This word has been used more times than you could even imagine in the last two weeks. It is really the best word I can used to sum up what has happened.
Let me start from the beginning. Upon arriving I was dreading the upcoming time we were about to have. We arrived in a beautiful village right on Lake Victoria. The village was made mostly of mud huts, with fish, fishing gear, and boats all over the place. The first night we slept with nine girls on four mattresses in a tiny room that only had left over room to stand three people when we were all lying down. The night was hot and filled with rats and cockroaches. Needless to say the next morning we were exhausted. I thought the two weeks were going to take forever. However, God slowly revealed Himself the longer we were there. We moved our sleeping locations and we’re able to rest easier.
Once we started the ministry, God’s presence was ever upon us. Crusades were bringing many people to Christ and there was a whisper about us all through the town. On Friday, April 6 we had the most fukwe day of my life. The day started out normal as ever. Then after breakfast, a lady came over to the church and told us she had been coming to the crusades and needed prayer. So we brought her inside and next thing I knew we were casting demons out of her. This lasted for approximately an hour. Then we ventured to her house to pray for her family. When we arrived, we began praying and cast out some more demons. Her husband showed us a small plastic bottle buried in the ground, something from witchcraft. So we burned it. All throughout this time, the song that kept playing over and over in my head was, “Let it rain, let it rain. Open the floodgates of heaven.” After leaving we were stopped numerous times and asked to pray for various people. We finally arrived back at the church in time for a late lunch. At lunch, I was told that I would be preaching at the crusade that afternoon. Instead of preparing however, I went swimming in Lake Victoria. I arrived at the crusade exhausted and with nothing ready to preach on. I prayed for God’s peace and the words to speak. As soon as it came time for me to speak, the heavens opened and rain came down. Lord, let it rain. I can honestly say I have never in my life been that comfortable speaking in front of people. It was rather amazing, considering I had no idea what I was going to say when I walked up there! When I had finished, amazingly the rain stopped. A fukwe day to say the least. At a later crusade, the woman we had been praying for was there. Which was incredible, because it is over an hour walk for her. She was so happy to see us and was completely healed! I have never seen somebody go through one eighty to that extreme. Her story is just one of many that we experienced throughout the two weeks. Besides ministering, we also were able to eat lots of fish, swim, go for boat rides, roast a goat over a fire, and just enjoy God’s creation in the fullest! This outreach has been a challenge both physically and spiritually and I feel drained from it but I wouldn’t have it any other way! God certainly let his grace rain down on us, and my song, “Let it Rain” soon became the theme song of the outreach.

Psalms 18:12-13, “Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.”

Prepared.

As some of you may know on Monday, April 2 we are leaving for our mini outreach. It seems the last couple weeks have been packed full of preparation for it. Our days are filled with skit practices and dances as well as the usual schedule of classes. Each night we fall into bed exhausted, only to wake up at five o’clock the next morning. I will be going to an island in Lake Victoria, which one of my leaders is from. I’m excited to enjoy lots of fish and see the beautiful countryside. However, the village is very rural. No electricity or running water. It will defiantly be a challenge both physically and spiritually. And to add to all of that, Kate will not be coming with me, but instead she is in a separate group, going to a village outside Jinja. I will miss her in the next two weeks but I am also hoping the separation will help us to grow in ways we couldn’t together and also grow closer to members of our team.
To be completely honest, I had been not looking forward to this outreach for the last weeks. I was excited to get off base and see more of Uganda, but the whole proclaiming the gospel didn’t seem like something that I could ever be good at. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to do much but sit back and watch. However, today I had to preach for the class. The sermon wasn’t that exciting, just some encouragement before we left from Ephesians 1:17-19. You know me with speaking in front of people; lets just say it was short and sweet. The weird thing was, after I had finished and sat back down. I realized that I can do anything with God’s help and I became excited to see how He could use me in ways that I couldn’t even imagine. Then I thought about the verse I had just preached about and it hit me in all the right ways. The message I just preached was for none other than myself. Its amazing how God can speak in ways that I never would of imagined He would. Who would ever think that they are preaching for themselves? God works in mysterious ways. Now all I have to do is pack. So I ask you for your prayer in the next two weeks and other than that, bring on the Outreach!

Ephesians 1:17-19 (The Message Version) “But I do more than thank, I ask – ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him, personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life He has for His followers, oh the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust Him – endless energy, boundless strength!”

Another Week Gone By.

Not much has happened this week to tell of. We had some visitors from the States over this week. It was interesting with them around, felt like a little taste of home. They were from a small town in Wisconsin and were coming from a church. The pastor of the church was with them and spoke to us on Monday. It was good to have a "Western" preacher again and I found it really nice to be able to listen without straining to understand. Later, they kept asking us questions about the culture and things, like we were really experienced. Compared to them though, we were. It kinda gave me a reassuring feeling of okay I got it. I think I have this whole other culture thing down. Isaiah 43:5 " Do not be afraid, for I am with you; 
   I will bring your children from the east
   and gather you from the west. " 

PS. Sorry its so short this week.

Ministry in Kakira.

Well its the end of another week and this week has been a good one for sure. The first half was pretty uneventful but once the end of the week neared we could see that this week would be like no other. On Friday we planned to go to a town about a half hour walking distance called Kakira. We practiced a dance and a skit in preparation. All week it was the much anticipated event.
Finally, Friday arrived. We started the long trek to Kakira right after lunch. When we first arrived we weren't entirely sure where to set up and finally found a place. After beginning to set up we had many struggles getting the equipment to work so while we waited we played with the kids of the streets. They came from all over and within the first five minutes we had probably thirty of them surrounding us. They all shouted "mzungu"(incase you didn't get that from before, it means "white person" and is constantly yelled at us everywhere we go) and reached out just to touch us. At one point there was so many children grabbing onto my arm that I could not move. They also loved it when we took pictures of them. I would take out my camera and they would all crowd around trying to get into the picture. Then I showed them the picture and they would all point to themselves and laugh. We even sang some songs with them and I went in the back and danced with one of the the little boys and soon all of them were turned around laughing at the mzungu trying to dance. It was such a joy to see their smiles.
At last we got the sound system to work at around five o'clock! So we did the dance that we practiced and then sang some songs as we danced behind. Mandy, one of the DTS students, made up steps and we all followed his lead. It was really cool but I could not understand any of the songs because they were all in Luganda. So I just danced and tried to follow the Africans amazing lead in dancing. Then our leader spoke to the people. After he finished talking he asked if anyone who wanted prayer or to give their life to Christ to come forward. A few people came forward and they began to pray. But this did not satisfy Mandy. No, he walked through the crowd, wearing his "Jesus gown" no less (because he just put it on for the skit), and asked specific people if they wanted prayer or wanted to be saved. He found three more people that wanted to give their life to God! Praise Jesus! Then we preformed the "Everything Skit". For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about I strongly suggest looking it up on YouTube. I have seen the skit on numerous occasions and I absolutely love it! I was so grateful to actually be a part of it for once. I played the part of the model. All week we had been practicing it and had never once executed it perfectly but the Lord was with us that day because we were able to preform it beautifully. We finished for the day and finally had to walk the half hour back in the dark. Needless to say we all made sure we had a guy with us as we walked through the sugar cane fields. I walked with Mandy and made sure he kept me safe. As we were walking, I was just being stupid and freaking out because the sugar cane workers were going to kill us and Mandy said to me, "Haven't you heard? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Thank-you, Mandy. Its amazing to me the amount of faith the Ugandans have! Each one of them is so anchored in God that it would be impossible to move them. All together, Friday was a day of God revealing His amazing love. It is utterly unbelievable how much love for the Lord everyone could have when they have so little worldly wise. Their faith is stronger than I even imagined. I have so much to learn from them. The children of the street who literally have absolutely nothing praised God with all their heart. Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted 
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit." 

Living out an 'African Lifestyle'.

I think this week has been all about learning how to live like a Ugandan. Sometimes I think they have all their priorities right. They work had but all in due time. Often we say we need to get on ‘African time’, which is very unspecific. On Tuesday, one of our leaders, named Susan, was telling us how when somebody says five o’clock you have the full hour of five. It could mean five fifteen, five thirty or even five fifty nine. Even though they may never have an exact time and are very relaxed schedule it is nice to live like that for a while. Even if I am worried about being late I will probably be the first one there and I find myself becoming more and more relaxed with my time. It is good to slow down and take a look at everything that is happening. However, even with the African relaxed attitude they certainly know how to work. This week we started our work duty, or ‘worker duty’ as the Africans call it, and have been learning various African chores. First of all, laundry. Laundry is all done by hand and has to be washed at least three times before being considered clean. Lets just say after this I will never take a washing machine for granted anymore. Second, mopping. You wouldn’t think such a simple thing would be that much more work in another country, but here its quite the undertaking and must be done often because of the mud. The floors are forever stained red so mopping involves first mopping a thick layer of water on to the floor. Then squeeging the water off and finally dry mopping it clean. Then there is slashing. A lawn mower would be much too easy; instead we must take a long stick with a curved blade at the end and whack at the grass to make it shorter. A small area may take a group of 30 workers an hour. And I won't even mention the sorting of rice and clean up after meals. It truly is great to relax, work hard, and worship God with everything we do. Africans certainly know how to live. They show who deserves the glory in everything they do. Sometimes I think the western society is too wrapped up in their own world and making it on time to this and that, that they fail to see the big picture and what this life is really all about. Work hard and worship God harder, that my friends is how to live. Colossians 3:23, "Whatever work you do, do it with all your heart. Do it for the Lord and not for men."

On another completely random note, we visited the source of the Nile River yesterday. That is why I did not get internet because we were busy seeing the spring where water comes up and travels four thousand miles to Egypt!