Last Saturday, the Dutch team that is doing construction at Jireh ordered two lowrys so we could take all of the kids to Nabugabu Beach! We piled all of the kids and ourselves onto the lowrys - girls on one, boys on the other - and off we went to Nabugabu, singing the whole way. While Nabugabu is far different than Huntington Beach, we had an amazing day! It was so much fun to watch the kids splash around in the water, laugh, play football (soccer) and just enjoy time away from school. I also got a lovely surprise...Emily, a girl from my team who was staying in Jinja met us there! I had so much fun catching up with her, laughing and taking pictures!
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the week was meeting Eric Kabanda, the child that I have been sponsoring through Worldvision for almost two years now. A truck from worldvision came to the mountain and picked me up on Tuesday morning, they then took me 70km north of Kampala to the village where Eric lives. When we arrived at his house, his 5 siblings, mother, two stepfathers, grandparents, and some other friends were all there to greet me! Eric is a very shy boy, but when I greeted him in Luganda, he smiled and after I spent some time there he warmed up to me. I was able to see the pump where he fetches water, his church and his school. I even met his teacher! After the tour of his village, we exchanged gifts. I brought a backpack filled with toys - bubbles, a slinky, an etch-a-sketch, paint, markers, a notepad, balls, glowsticks, candy - so I got to show Eric and his siblings how to play with all of the new toys. Eric's family gave me an amazing array of fruit - bananas, mangoes, guava, passion fruit, jac fruit - and Eric gave me some other special gifts that I will treasure forever. It was an awesome experience!
As far as Jireh goes, the kids have been teaching me more Luganda words, they finally approve of my clothes washing abilities and I was given a Luganda name, "Sanyu," which means "happy." I have been spending every moment of sunlight (when the kids are not in class) with the kids, just enjoying the time that I have left. I have had some amazing, encouraging, comforting, and inspiring conversations, made some new friends, and gotten more attached to the old ones. It has been great.
I am so grateful that God has brought me to Jireh. Everyday I am reminded how amazing God is - whether through the beautiful landscape, children singing, a conversation or a simple moment. It's so easy for me to see His presence here. The trick will be understanding that God has equally amazing ways of revealing Himself to me when I am back home. I know that He does, I just need to work on not getting distracted and looking for Him in everything.
I have only two weeks remaining, and I know that it will be extremely difficult to say goodbye, but I am so grateful for the relationships that I have developed and the lessons that I have learned. They are remarkable - far better than I ever could have imagined.
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3 comments:
I GOT TO TALK WITH YOU BEFORE YOU POSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO. God is doing such an awesome work in you and i understand the type of change is going on. start praying that you will still be able to keep the heart he is given you in Uganda in America. We love you so much and I cannot wait to see you Lo.
Ahhh, Lo...so good to hear that everything is going so well there. We pray for you, that the Lord would work in and through you...and I'm confident that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
Hugs, girl...we've missed you!
Good for people to know.
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