Friday, July 31, 2009
Back in America
Monday, July 27, 2009
Two days ledt in Africa :(
Wednesday morning we headed back to the hotel to work with Kelly Green Evangelistic Association. We went with the evangelism teams into some schools and marketplaces. It was awesome! Then that night we had a team meeting, which was amazing! The doctor, Jim, gave a devotion. It was amazing. Then we all prayed for the lost at home. We ended with worship and testimonies from the day.
Thursday was a very interesting day! Tiffany and I went with the evangelism teams again. At one of the schools we went to, a girl started almost like hyperventilating and rolling around on the ground. We took her outside and we all started praying for her. At first, everyone thought she was having a seizure, but she got up and started running around like a crazy person. It took about 4 or 5 people to contain her. The Ugandans were shouting out to God for this 13 year old girl. When you walked towards her, you could seriously feel a heaviness around her. She was demon possessed. We continues praying and she calmed down. Then she said a prayer to accept Christ into her life. The second she did that, you could literally feel the heaviness around her leave. The Lord's presence was there like I have never felt before. The enemy knew he would be defeated so he was using anything he could to distract. This precious girl started saying “Yesu, Yesu, Yesu...” which means “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”. It was amazing at the change in her life in a matter of minutes. There is NO LIMIT to what the Lord can use! I have realized that the presence of God is so strong here, therefore the presence of the enemy is very strong. The Christians here get up at like 4 am to pray EVERY MORNING! Prayer against the enemy is a matter of survival here. We have so much to learn. I think the enemy is very present in America, but we do not take it seriously. We rely on ourselves way too much, but the power of God is stronger than anything we could ever imagine doing on our own! After a few more schools, we went to a bible study at a church here. This church was an orange tarp held up with sticks in the middle of a field. But talk about some on fire for the Lord people. At the end of the study, we asked if anyone needed prayer. Many people came up asking for prayer for sicknesses and things of that nature. But one 7 year old girl, very soft spoken, came up and asked for prayer for wisdom... yes, wisdom. Wow! Within a matter of minutes, a 9 year old boy came up and asked for prayer for knowledge. Unbelievable. When I was 7 or 9, my prayers would have probably been for something so materialistic... never would I have asked for knowledge or wisdom at that age! Not long after these kids came up, a woman name Francis came up and prayed that she would be able to care for orphans. I was talking to her after the service was over and she told me that her and one other lady are caring for 16 orphans in her home!!! Her dream is to be able to care for more. I am just amazed more and more by the people here, children and adults alike.
Friday we went with the evangelism teams again. It was once again an amazing day. At the first school we went to I shared my testimony. As I was sharing, I noticed a Muslim lady standing in the back listening. During the skits, she was crying when Jesus was crucified. I could not stop looking at her. God really laid her on my heart for some reason, even though there were probably 200 kids before me. After the Gospel was presented and people were just hanging out before we left, I went over to talk to her and another Muslim lady that had come up. Over and over, she began to say thank you for the work that was done there and the message we brought. She then kept asking me when I was coming back. Even more amazing, she gave me her phone number and asked if we could stay in touch. God was really moving in her heart. I did not ask her if she had accepted the Lord because of another Muslim woman was with her. If they accept Christ, they basically are ostracized. But I have her phone number and plan on calling her soon to find out what God was doing in her heart. The last school we visited, I was sitting next to a 13 year old girl named Morrine. She kept asking me questions while people were sharing... deep questions though. Things like “Do people in America have the same struggles as people here?”. Then she told me that she was a born again Christian... Amen! When we were about to leave, she took me aside and said she wanted to talk to me. She began to cry and tell me her life story. Her father died when she was in about 3rd grade. Her mother could no longer support them, so she lives with her grandmother now. Her brothers are not in school because they can not afford school fees. She is in school only by the grace of God. She asked for me to continue praying for her that God would continue to provide fees for her to finish school. Then she handed me a bracelet that she was wearing and said “I want you to keep this, because I don't want you to ever forget me. Can we still be friends when you go back to America?”. Wow. I am speechless.
Saturday, I helped with a dental clinic, then went into town to be a tour guide for souvenir shopping with the team...ha!
Sunday was our last day at Pastor Henry's church. It was an awesome service. Afterwards, we were just saying our goodbyes and getting contact information. Man, I will miss them!
Just those few days have been overwhelming and so amazing all together. I have one day left here in Jinja. We fly out Wednesday night. I am not ready to leave these people! They have captured my heart!!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Where to begin...
After much prayer and talking, Tiffany and I are spending our last night at the orphanage tommorrow night. We were torn because Kelly Green Evangelistic Association's team is here and we want to work with them, but we still want to be with the kids at the orphanage. So tommorrow, Tiffany and I have arranged to take all the kids from the orphanage to a Circus they are having here! It is going to be an amazing last day with them! And last night Tiffany and I slept with all the girls in the classroom. It was so much fun!
I am in total disbelief that we only have about a week left here in Uganda. As excited as I am to see family and to share what God has done, I am going to miss this place. We have developed some of the most amazing friendships. We have seen the joy of the Lord and passionate hearts like never before. We have seen orphans singing that Jesus is all they need when they are living with close to nothing. We have seen people who have nothing give all they have to the Lord. We have seen true worship. We have seen demons cast out. We have had God reveal so much to us personally. We have met people who's lives are harder than we could ever imagine, yet Jesus is their everything. I could go on and on, but above all, we have seen the Lord orchestrate every little detail and work in mighty mighty ways! I wish all of you could have been here to experience it with me! There is no way to express everything. I just know one thing... this summer has changed my life forever!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Headed to Kampala
We are headed to Kampala, Uganda today until Saturday. We will be working with Ken Gallyean and his wife as well as a team from the US that comes in today. They are through a ministry called Call to Africa. We will be doing evangelism rallies, women's conferences, and some other things. Please be in prayer that God would do mighty things! I will update you when we get back.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Rough Day...
Friday, July 3, 2009
We're Not Gonna Get Malaria...ha!
So, it has been a week since I have blogged. I have been in bed the past 3 days with malaria. Most of you already know this! Tuesday I woke up feeling really sick... fever, vomiting, headache, chills, sweats, nausea, diarrhea... basically everything in one. I just dealt with it pretty much all day Tuesday until about 5. I then decided I should go to a clinic so I did. They drew blood and found malaria. Tuesday night I was up all night throwing up. Wednesday I was feeling better. I held down breakfast, but not lunch or dinner. Yesterday I held down everything I ate, which is a good sign. It has been a rough few days. I still have nausea, but everything else is good! Malaria is very common here, so it is nothing to worry too much about. It is only deathly if not treated. There's a funny story about all this though. Tiffany was watching something on her computer last night and laughing really hard. I asked her what she was watching. We have been making videos since we got here and she was watching the first video we made at the orphanage. We were under our mosquito nets and she said “I feel pretty chlostrophobic”. I started chanting, “It's ok, cuz we're not gonna get malaria”... ha... and look who has malaria. It makes me laugh- the irony in it all.
But this past weekend was really good at the orphanage. Saturday we made banners with the kid's handprints on them along with Ms. Agnes, Grace, and Stella. They turned out super cute. On Sunday we went to church at the orphanage. It was awesome. The kdis have their own little praise team and choir. It was too cute!