Who Created God?
As you all probably know I am in Uganda. I left for Uganda on May 17th and did not get to Uganda until May 18th,
which was a very epic 29 hours of traveling. Someone puked on someone else on
the plane and the plane ride was just ridiculously long. So long that when I
got off the second flight to Amsterdam I felt okay but then as soon as the 3rd
flight started going I just felt like poop. I could not eat, sleep, move too
much or do anything. But it was totally worth it. Uganda is called the Pearl of
Africa and I can really see why. I have never seen such a place, with beautiful
rolling green fields and mountains scattered farms and homes, it is so great
and has really captured my heart. The country is like nothing that I could have
pictured or even imagined in a dream. But anyways back to what I have been
doing The first 5 days I was here I stayed at Sozo House 1 and met some of the
most Godly people I have ever experienced in my life. God has provided some
truly great people, I had never met anyone or spent much time with them but we
all got along so well and so perfectly. The way these people interacted with
the 24 orphans at house one and the way thier heart spilled out during these
interactions it was just so encouraging.
So during the first week I was told that I am going to be a
family leader. And I had no idea what this meant. When I first got my group of
3 girls (there are only 2 full term guy interns) I was not sure what to think
at first. I knew God was going to make it okay but I just was not sure what to
do or think of the people in my family really because I did not know them. I
did not even remember them from the Sozo weekend that the interns had to attend
in February. So the first meeting we get to talk about ourselves to everyone in
the family and tell them just something about us. And that first meeting went
great; God really put our families together perfectly. We all opened up and
shared about ourselves and really put ourselves out there in faith because we
saw that this is going to be our family for the summer. After the first week
needless to say we were so close all of us were like brothers and sisters. It
was very comforting that God put us together so perfectly to bring himself
glory.
While at house 1 I got to experience devotion with the
little children there which was amazing. Every night all the children gather in
the living room and sit in a big circle and we sing and dance while some of the
older boys play drums. It is so African and so great. After the worship one of
the older girls states a prayer topic and everyone prays for that, typically it
is something like give thanks to God for today, and everyone prayers out loud
at the same time. It is so cool to hear English and Lugandan prayers mix and
low voices and high voices all calling out to God. It is so awesome. Then after
prayer one of the interns would read Jesus calling and all the little kids say "we have to do Jesus Is Calling". As one of the interns reads one of the children
that speaks great English will translate into Lugandan for everyone. It is so
awesome when we are worshiping to see the children singing with there eyes
closed and heads looking up really calling out to Jesus from their hearts and
you know what most of them have been through and they still see the need to
praise the God that has brought them to where they are now.
Well, after the first 5 days we interns were getting split
up into different houses, and this kind of made me feel nervous/anxious in a
way. One reason being that I had no clue
where I was going to be placed, I had no idea about the parents at the other 2
houses and all the interns had really grown such a close relationship together
that we did not want to leave one another. But when I found out that I was
going to be placed at house 3, I was even more nervous. House 3 is just a different
house compared to the other 2 houses and mainly the nervousness came from the
locations of house 3. It is in another district and the other 2 houses are in
the same district. And House 3 is on the other side of town from the other 2
houses. But nonetheless this was going to be my home for the next 3ish weeks.
And did God ever turn it into a home for me. At this house there are normally
14 teenage boys that live here but 10 are off at boarding school and that
leaves 4 at the house. Their names are Daudi (Lugandan for David) Samuel,
Ronald (Ronnie), and Wilson. At first the boys were very shy but man have they
opened up. God has really blessed us here at house 3 with such an awesome group
of boys. They have such good hearts and all of them really love the Lord and
love hanging out with the Mzungus (white person in Lugandan). And one of the
biggest blessings to me while I have been in Uganda was meeting Saka Joel. Joel
is the headmaster of the Rays of Hope School on the edge of the slums. He has a
spirit like no one else I have ever experienced. His laughter is so great and big
for such a small guy. And his heart for the country of Uganda and for the
children there is remarkable. He has really become one of my best friends, we
laugh so much that you would think we were little kids. He is has such a heart
like Christ, more so than I have ever seen in anyone before. He has such a
child like faith for a grown man, he lives and breathes from the Word and
really longs for the Spirit to guide him. He lives on every word that comes
from God. I can’t really describe how wise he is in Christ; it is so great. Gods
provision in the people he has surrounded me with has been remarkable. He has
really shown me that He is the provider.
So the past few weeks have gone on a schedule. Mondays are our “off” day. This is the day that we, the interns, can do what ever really. The
first off day we just chilled at our house, and got to know each other more now
that we were on our own. And the second off day, which was this week we went to
feed the monkeys at the botanical gardens in Entebbe. Which was amazing. It was
so beautiful and the monkeys would come up and take bananas right from your
hand. Then Tuesday is the day that house 3 gets to go to Rays of Hope on our
own. It is where the girls teach and I do some kind of construction work. The
first Tuesday I cut some boards for doors to the latrine and the second Tuesday
I got to paint the outside of one of the buildings. Wednesday we are at Rays of
Hope again, this time all the interns are there and this is the time we use to
meet with the family we are serving in the slum. The slum is something like you
would never find in America. There is no running water at houses, you have to
carry jugs to different community water areas. Also, there is no sewage system,
it's either a latrine or there is a series of ditches throughout that take
away rain run off, sewage and trash. The people mostly live in 1 room houses
some with concrete floors, mostly with dirt floors. They just don’t have much of
anything. The family we got assigned to serve the first time was
great. Me and another girl in our group told the interpreter to gather some of
the women hanging and tell them that we have a word for them. So we got like 4
or 5 women gathered around and I sat on the ground because I wanted it not to
seem like I was talking down to them or that I was better than them and I told
them why we were there: to serve them just as Jesus came to serve us, like it
says in Matthew 20:28. And then I shared some of Deuteronomy 8 and just told
them about how God is a provider, spiritually and physically. This went so
well. I am so excited to see what God is going to do to us through this family
because he always uses the least of these. Also Wednesday we have started a
men’s group for men in the slums to come and discuss the word, hear the word,
and have an opportunity to grow. This is
where my title comes from, because the first question of the group was “Who
created God?” I had never even thought about this. I just thought that He was.
And there is no questioning that. But this lead the
discussion to talk about how faith is such a necessity to worshiping fully and
really showing that you are relying on God. It is by faith that we draw nearer
to God Hebrews 11. Without faith it is impossible, everything is impossible,
you have to have faith. The men’s group is another thing that is so exciting
and God is really blessing us with it. Thursday’s are field days for Rays of
Hope. We take about 150 kids a few miles down the road to a soccer field and
have a huge field day with them. This is as organized as possible and is so
much fun to watch the kids run and laugh and smile! Then Fridays we stay home
at house 3 and help Aunty Dora clean some. This is a good day for some rest and
recovery. Saturday is a day that we help tutor the boys and we just get to hang
out with everyone as a family. Then Sunday we go to church, this is always
exciting. Last Sunday we went with the boys to a traditional African church and
we were there for 3 ½ hours. It was ridiculous. So much singing and dancing and
yelling. But that is what most of the
weeks consist of while I am here.
God has matured me so much in just the little bit of time
that I have already been here, and taught me so many different things. One of
the main things is just the importance of worship. Just really sitting down and
maybe not dancing and singing but telling Him thanks and showing Him how much
he means to you. God loves hearing our praises. Psalm 106: "Praise the Lord! Oh
give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!" Another is just the power of prayer. I have really loved praying the prayer in
Ephesians 3:14 it is just a prayer of spiritual strength. Just to praying and
seeing those prayers so perfectly answered for my own good and for His glory.
It is so rewarding and you feel so loved when you see this. Also just how we
are all one body. We are all on the same mission no matter how different we
look, or how different we act we are all here to work together for the same
God, and His glory. Another key lesson
he has really spoken to me is the importance of faith. And how much of what we
do is all in faith. The men in the Old Testament that you read about all
stepped out into faith and really knew that God was going to provide. And in
the days prior to Jesus being crucified, he knew what he had to do. He had
faith that his death would be the ultimate sacrifice so that Christians after
him would be able to experience Heaven.
And lastly, I would like to apologize for the time it took for me to post this blog. I know you all will understand that I have been busy with different things while I have been here! I also feel the need to apologize for the length of this blog!!! And thank you all so much for the prayers of strength and safety for me while I have been here! It is so important and crucial to being effective here that we all stay safe and healthy. These prayers have for sure been answered and will continue to be answered. Thank you all. And I love you all very much.
This is the house 3 family after church on Sunday: Samuel, Katie, Daudi, Me, Amanda, Ronny, Christina and Wilson.
Thank you all again so much none of this would have been possible with out y'alls prayers and support!
