“The end of all things is at hand;
therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your
prayers.” – 1 Peter 4:7
We talked about this verse last night
as Nate, Rhoda, Micah, Luke, Courtney, and I sat around the Jore's
living room for a little “house church”. Nate's version had
something along the lines of “be clear minded and self-controlled
so that you can pray”. We talked about how easy it is to be
distracted, especially in America, so the idea of having a clear mind
is something that is foreign to us. Being in Uganda this first week
has been amazing; the distractions that plague us in America
(Facebook, texting, emails, boys, movies, etc...) have completely
disappeared. As much as I would love to be able to talk to so many of
you, it has honestly been a breath of fresh air to have no connection
to the outside world. I'm in Jinja, and I'm all here. We want this
time here to be a refreshing time in our personal walks with the Lord
as well, and while there are certainly distractions here and it's
incredibly easy to be too busy in ministry, the pace of life is
different. I can breathe here. We don't want to burn ourselves out in
ministry, but we wish to stay self-controlled and clear minded, so
that we can pray and so that we can love to the fullest.
“The aim of our charge is love that
issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
– 1 Timothy 1:5
Yesterday we went to the Amani Baby
Cottage, an orphanage here in town. They just shifted (Ugandan way of
saying they moved) to a new location where they built their own
buildings and the compound is very beautiful. They have 61 kids ages 6 and under, and I love it there. We braved the unknown ourselves
this morning by taking a piki (pronounced peachy, a form of taxi
service on a motorcycle) through town and met the woman that work
there. There are many bazungu (white people) that work there that are
called Aunties, but also a good amount of Ugandan woman that they
call Mama. We thought this would be more of a see what it's like
experience, but they needed us to stay with the infants with the Mama
of the room, so Courtney and I got to hug, feed, change diapers, and
kiss 12 adorable babies all morning. We hope to volunteer there about
1-2 days a week, and already love it. There are a few other girls
around our age that are volunteers there as well, so it will be fun
to be able to get to know some more bazungus! As the babies were
crying I started singing hymns, and one of the Ugandan workers (a
Mama) sang along with us! It was beautiful to hear myself, Courtney,
and a Ugandan all singing the same song, praising the same God. We
sang through “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “It is Well”; I
will never forget that moment.
Earlier this week we went to the market
and I was approached by a man who asked me to take his infant and
care for her until she was older. Rhoda said this is common here,
especially amongst the orphanages, where the mother has either died
or is ill, or the family is just not able to care for their children.
It broke my heart to walk away from that man. I think it breaks God's
heart too. While Uganda is beautiful, there is a lot of hurt here. I
wanted to take the child and give it all the love I could; and I want
to do whatever I can to ease the pain and hurt here. But more than
the physical needs that are so prevalent here, I want people to see
Christ.
“Preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete
patience and teaching.” – 2 Timothy 4:2
When we were at the market with Rhoda
we were blessed to see this verse put into action. If I haven't
expressed how much I love Rhoda, I don't think there are words to
describe it. She is amazing. I am so humbled to be able to come along
side of her here. As we were looking through clothes she was in full
conversation with the two women at the stand, talking about God,
heaven, good works, and grace. It was beautiful to see how natural it
came, even just at the market. It has opened my eyes to the openness
that is here and how we can take this opportunity, in season and out
of season, whether we are at the orphanage, hospitals, market, or
just our living room, to minister to those around us with patience
and teaching. Rhoda has been such an example of God's patience and
grace to me already, and I'm looking forward to working with her more
this summer.
As we have been here a few days now we
are starting to settle into life here. We've been so blessed to spend
a lot of time with the Jores, as well as Luke and Micah – who have
been kind enough to walk us home in the dark! Tomorrow we are going
into the village with Nate and we will look into a few more places
next week before we set up a schedule for ourselves. We thank you so
much for your prayers!
To God be the glory,
Kate and Court
Nate and Rhoda took us to Kingfisher Pool on Thursday. It's paradise there. We were so spoiled!
Jeremiah (Jay) is such a character! The funniest things come out of his mouth.
This is Rhoda -- the most amazing woman in the world.
We walked through the rice fields to the Nile. The mud speaks for itself. It was messy.
Chai tea -- made from lemon grass. No tea I've ever had can even compare to how delicious this is!
These trees are on our walk between the Jores and our house. They have huge storks that sit on the top! It always reminds me of a Dr. Seuss book. :)
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