Sarah

In Kampala we minister to a woman who is named Sarah. Sarah lives in one of the slums. She takes care of 6 kids and I am honestly not sure which ones are hers or the neighbors or relatives; it is so hard to tell here with so many children roaming around. Their home is a one-room, mud walled, tin roof home. She has been amazing. When we first got to meet her she was so happy to see us. It was so awesome to see such happiness just because we came to see her. We made it very clear, when I say we I mean Irene our translator, that we were there to serve her and for no other reason. And so for the past two months on Wednesdays we have been going to Sarah’s home and serving her in different ways. Mostly washing her clothes and dishes, and it has been going amazing. Even though we don’t speak the same language or understand each other at all when talk it has been great. We gave her a Bible a few weeks ago and she had never even owned a bible she had tears in her eyes when she took it from us she was so excited! And so the last couple of weeks have just been amazing being around her and seeing how much she has grown. This past Wednesday when we normally give a word but this time she wanted to share some scripture with us and give us some truth to chew on. I was so excited to hear what she had to say because we knew that God had been working in her heart and in her life. She read the first 2 verses of psalm 122.  While I was reading the verse in English, Sarah was reading it in Luganda. Oh, and a side note she could barely read when we first gave her the bible and now she was reading much better, and I believe the only way that was possible was through Gods love and grace. He was teaching her how to read with His Word. But the Psalm is titled “Let us go to the house of the Lord” and I was not entirely sure where she was going to go with this message but it was amazing. She shared about how she knows and is happy about having community. She was happy that we were there, she is happy about attending womens group, she is happy about her new friends she is making because of what God is doing in her life. She said that she knows that she needs the community and has it because of the faith that she has in God. It was amazing to hear this come from her, just weeks before she could not really read the bible we had given her, but she told us and promised us that she was going to work to read it and practice reading it, and she did. Because of God working in her life she is now able to read better, and get the truth from His Word. It was just so amazing to see this woman that had not even really understood God a couple months ago and now because of what God is doing through His Spirit she is now growing closer to Him and worshiping Him. And I think the most encouraging part is that she knows it is because of her faith and no other reason that she is able to read and tell us a lesson from the Bible. She is so encouraging and it is so great to see her grow every week when we go back! It's really relationships with Ugandans like this that are going to make going back to the States so difficult. But I am fully believing that God is going to keep her in community and keep her in His hands. 

Power of Faith and Prayer

Power of Faith and Prayer

Well to begin I need to say I am sorry for not posting as frequently as I said I would, I had no idea I would be as busy as I have been for the past month. The past month I have learned so much about this country, my faith, and myself. It has been one of the greatest times of my life that I know I will never forget and I thank you all for supporting me through it.

But last week on Wednesday when we were with our family I heard a message that is not commonly spoken of in the States. Because we are in the slums and the people we minister to do not speak English well, we take a translator with our group and our translator is Irene. Irene fits in so well with our family, God has been so faithful throughout this summer to provide Sozo with people that we get along with and connect with so well; it is truly a testament to his plans for good in our lives. But the previous week I asked Irene if should would mind sharing some scripture with our family in the slums next week, and of course she did not mind and she was actually very excited about being able to do it. I had not gotten in touch with her the few days leading up to us going to serve our family in the slums and day of going into the slums we met at the mall near Kabalagala and I asked what she was going to share and she told me Mark 16:17-18, And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Well needless to say I was a little concerned about what direction this could take knowing we were sharing this with a woman who had only heard the gospel a limited number of times and had gotten her first bible 3 weeks before. But I was very confident in Irene and her ability to share these words effectively. And also I saw that it could be very influential for Sarah and her friends to hear the word from a fellow Ugandan and a woman. I did not want her to think that only Mzungus (white people) could have such a faith but Ugandans can too. And I did not want her to think only men can have a vast knowledge of the word because in Uganda men are typically the ones preaching and sharing the gospel which is great but I think for a woman to hear it from another woman that she can relate to, would be most effective. So we begin our walk into the slums and I asked Irene if we could change up things today and share the word with Sarah (our families mom) first and then wash and do other chores she had for us, and Irene said, “sure that is not a problem.”  So previously we washed her clothes and did her dishes and then we shared the word which always seemed to be rushed a little because we would be crunched for time and this time I did not want it to be that way I wanted Sarah to be able to ask questions and for us to ask her questions as well about how she was doing and what she had been reading in her bible we had given her. And then we got to her and we told her we were going to share the word first this week so she ran and got her friends from the surrounding homes so they could listen to what we have to say as well. So now it is Sarah and 3 other women one of which has 2 children with her that both look pretty malnourished, which is sadly a common sight in the slum. But we greeted all of them and then Irene began to share the word. When Ugandans begin to share the word it is so amazing, the tone of their voice changes and they get a very serious look on their face that is really just a respect that they have for the scriptures and God and how he works here.

So Irene is sharing the word in Luganda and I have no idea what she is saying. I can kind of pick out little words here and there but I most definitely can not put together what she is saying which I was okay with because the way the women were listening was so great. They all were listening to every little sound coming out of Irene’s mouth and Irene was getting it she talked for longer than any of us Mzungus had before and it was amazing to see the way that they were listening to her. But after Irene was done she gave us a quick run down in English of what she had said and it was just that through faith and faith alone that we have this power that God blesses with. And I asked Irene if there were any questions so she asked the women and Sarah wanted to know if we could pray over her to heal her cough. And I said of course and so we prayed over her Irene in Luganda and me and the other group members in English and it was amazing to do that. It is such a strong practice and real practice that you never see in the states. We so often run to man to heal things which is not an evil thing by any means, God has definitely blessed those people with great minds that can heal sickness but in this place in Africa there is not that kind of opportunity, yeah sure there is a clinic on every corner it seems but the people can just not afford that. So we prayed over Sarah and for healing of her cough and then the woman with the children asked if we could pray over her daughter Doreen because she had not said any words yet and this girl was probably 4 years old. And so we asked her mother to comfort her and tell her what we were going to do and so we placed hands on this tiny framed girl who had nearly every bone in her body visible because she was so malnourished and the more we prayed you could tell the more comforted she seemed, you could really see and feel the spirit come and comfort this girl, it was so amazing.

James 5:13-15. As Americans I think we are missing a huge part of faith and the power of prayer. Prayer heals. Yes the doctors and nurses do great works and it may even seem like a miracle at times but they are not the ones truly doing it, it is God and the Spirit doing these works. It was just so cool and very humbling to see that all these people had to rely on was their faith and the faith in God being a God that heals physically as well as spiritually. He is the One, through faith, that heals. This in an event that will never leave my mind. It was truly life changing to be a part of and witness.   

 

Me and Haley at Murchison Falls