Last Saturday the Frontline boys all got tested for HIV and AIDS. Most of them came back negative, but I think a couple came back positive L I love these kids so much, but some of them only speak Luganda, so the language barrier can be a huge hindrance, so I’m trying to learn some Luganda J I can speak about six words right now haha, but it’s enough to get me by. I’m starting to develop some sweet relationships with some of them though and I have so much fun just hanging out with them. They had this project they had to do from the week before, where they got in groups, were given a camera, and went out and took pictures of their favorite things or how they liked to spend their time. The winning picture was of a boy against a wall holding an empty cup and a woman in the back making food. The boy who took the picture said it symbolized the suffering they had to go through. Other pictures we saw were of the kids searching for coins and doing their laundry in the dirtiest, most disease infested water! So sad.
After working at Frontline, some of the people I work with took me to this annual Festival of the Arts, which was amazing! There were African dancers from Rwanda, a fashion show, and the Bayimba Kids Choir, made up of these orphan children, who were so cute! They sang and danced about the Lord, and so we sang and danced about the Lord! It was awesome! I was so stoked to finally get to show off my moves, and let me tell you, my African friends were thoroughly impressed ;) haha
Every Sunday morning there’s a service for the Frontline boys, and this week was my first Sunday with them. It was great, and then I went to the regular service. I love the worship here, and the teaching is always really good!
On the taxi ride home I got to share a little about Jesus with the guy sitting next to me. He said he knew about Jesus but that no one had ever sat down and talked to him about Him, so I was super excited to tell him. About the time I got started really talking to him it was his stop, but I’m hoping somehow I’ll see him again and get to tell him the Good News. The rest of my day was spent studying for a Bible study and resting, as I’ve been battling with a terrible cold. I’m praying it goes away fast so it doesn’t affect anything here.
The Lord is opening up so many doors and I’m beginning to be overwhelmed, but in a good way! I’m really stoked about all the opportunities He’s blessing me with! I never dreamed about doing ¾ of the things I’m doing here, but it’s all really good! I just feel so ill-equipped for all of this, but I’m willing to do it if this is what He’s calling me to.
Monday I went to the orphanage again and hung out with the kids J I held 3 week old Moses for as long as I possibly could. If there was one kid I could adopt while I was here it would be him. He is the sweetest thing. He is one that was left in a plastic bag on the side of the road by his mother. Someone walked by and kicked the bag and heard him cry. He came to the orphanage pretty much right after he was born.
Tuesday I taught my first Bible study with the girls of Bambejja. They were all so sweet and so grateful. I didn’t think I was going to have to share this week, but that I would just be introducing myself and getting to know them, so I had to think on my toes. But the Lord totally provided the words and I simply shared God’s love with them. They were so excited to have a white person teaching haha Most of them said they were saved, but a few of them were Muslim, so I tried to answer their questions about Jesus and God. There was one girl named Jackie, who said she loved God and wanted to be saved and forgiven, but she wanted to wait til next month for some reason. I gave her the “Repent brethren! For the Kingdom of God is at hand/ Today is the day of Salvation” talk. She said, “Ok, maybe when you come back Thursday.” I’m praying for her. To see someone come to the Lord here would be amazing!
Wednesday I went out into the slums again to visit some of the kids that come to Frontline. We sat and talked with them and I made a bracelet, which I was pretty stoked about J Then we had a Frontline meeting, where we talked about “contentment” and I realized just how discontent I am. And we found out that one of the kids that’s been part of the ministry for a while now was preaching on the street corner! Praise the Lord! I was blown away! Then I went to church, where the message totally convicted my heart, I pretty much had to rededicate my life to the Lord, and I came home.
Thursday (today) as I sit here and write this (everything else has been written throughout the week, even the things below) I can’t really describe to you how I’m feeling. I’m broken. The Lord is breaking me of so many things. It is painful and honestly, I can’t tell you I’m excited for the rest of it. The only thing I’m excited for is the outcome. The Lord is showing me things here and within myself that I never thought I would see, that I never wanted to see within myself. As the Lord continues to work, Satan continues to attack, more and more each day. I am exhausted and I am weary; I feel so alone and yet I know I’m not. I’m here to do the Lord’s work, but in myself I am not equipped. My full dependence must be on Him. I feel a heaviness today that I haven’t felt in a long time! A heaviness for the people of Uganda, the things I see, and the things I would never want to see; and a heaviness within myself. My heart is burdened. I am broken.
Here are some of the things the Lord has been teaching me:
LOVE, LOVE, and more LOVE!!! But, in order to have a love like Christ’s, I need to have a life like Christ’s; His compassion needs to be the very breath and joy of my life.
Prayer, prayer, and more prayer! The Lord attaches great importance to the things that concern me; even those things that may seem insignificant. And He wants to have amazing fellowship with me, so I need to bring everything to Him, even those things that seem insignificant.
Isaiah 1:18-20- God was still patient and longsuffering, despite His people’s continual sin. He offered them a solution to their suffering. They could either choose to be obedient and be blessed, or to rebel and be devoured.
Realizing that God is on the throne all the time, not just in times of desperation. Anything that obstructs my view of God needs to die, so that I can see Him high and lifted up.
Isaiah 6:8-“Whom shall I send and who will go for Us? Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.”
He’s teaching me to find joy and contentment solely in Him.
Thank you so much for all your love, support, and prayers! Words alone cannot express my gratitude, but know that each and every post on my wall makes me smile a whole bunch! Your prayers are definitely felt over here, as I feel the Lord working in the ministries I’m a part of, as well as in my life personally so much! He is incredible! Akwagalanyo! That means I love you in Luganda J
Phil. 1:3-9- “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I HAVE YOU IN MY HEART, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of me with grace. For God is my witness, HOW GREATLY I LONG FOR YOU ALL WITH THE AFFECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
His love is beyond our understanding. Your human expression of that love lifts my heart.
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