DELIVER - DISCIPLE - DEPLOY
I love being a part of the international church and meeting my brothers and sisters in Christ who live in different places and speak different languages. I love helping those brothers and sisters to do the work that God has called them to do. That's what I got to do from January 13 - 22, 2011. There were so many amazing things that God did through our team and in front of the watching eyes of our team and many witnesses. God was truly sovereign and at work in Uganda!
DELIVER
It was a blessing to be a part of the experience of proclaiming God's salvation to the people on the streets, at the gas station, in the banana plantation, in the villages, and may other places in Mbarara and Kampala, Uganda. As the Bible says in Proverbs 19:21, "
Many are the
plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails." God's sovereignty was very evident on this trip. For example, we were on the way to the Nakivale refugee camp when God showed us He had other plans. One tire on the bus went completely flat and two others were unusable. Amazingly, the whole team was flexible and had a good attitude. We all immediately realized that GOD was in charge and had other plans. He brought a group of children from the banana fields and we began to tell Bible stories, do balloon animals and sing with them. Later that day, the timing was perfect for several team members to lead several people to the Lord in town. If OUR plans had prevailed, we would not have been in town at that time to meet those particular people. It was a divine appointment.
In yet another example, we were on our way to the airport in Kampala on the last night. The luggage van had gone ahead to meet the second team coming in for week two. Right before a gas station, the bus tire started gushing air again. We pulled into the gas station. After sitting in the hot bus for a few minutes, we realized we had yet another divine appointment. We got off the bus and started talking to people at the gas station. One Muslim man came to the Lord, as did a gas station employee. Amber and I got to talk to a Muslim woman (the first time I've done that for sure!) and maybe plant some seeds. And, we made it to the airport safely (despite the speed and agitation with which our driver drove) and on time!
We also got to share the Bible stories (oral Bible storytelling with drawing) and the gospel in several villages like Katete. This village is made up of mostly widows and their children due to the toll the AIDS epidemic has taken on the men. Many of the children are HIV positive as well. However, there is a flourishing church there that is growing all the time. In the dirt courtyard of mud houses, surrounded by banana trees, chickens, and storks in the treetops, we told Bible stories, drew pictures, presented the gospel, sang songs and prayed! Amazing!
DISCIPLE
The Pastor's Conference at University Baptist Church in Mbarara (Pastor Enoch's church) was an amazing opportunity to disciple pastors and pastor's wives and women church leaders, many of whom are not trained to pastor but have a heart for the Lord and a call to serve His church. We sat under the teaching of Reginald Lisemby, Uganda pastors, and Barry Wilks along with the pastors. It was chaotic and wonderful to watch and listen to the message in English, Rwandan, and Runyankore (often almost simultaneously with the two interpreters). It was a glimpse of heaven to pray with the women, our team praying in English at the same time as the other women praying in their language.
DEPLOY
One of the things I loved most about serving in Uganda was that we were PARTNERS, equipping and enabling the LOCAL church to do the work of the Lord. We were serving under their direction, not coming in as know it all Americans who just breeze in and breeze out. This was amazing to see as we taught the pastor's wives and women leaders how to tell a simplified Bible story while drawing a simple picture to illustrate it. I often got to be the person who drew and I got to tell a story once as well. The thrill was when the women got up, after about the third session, and wanted to tell the story in their language, using their drawings. They got excited about using this method to share God's Word with their people, children, and villages. It was an incredible experience to be a part of this!
There were so many other experiences that impacted me and the rest of the team. The team was a blessing - everyone had such a good attitude and was flexible and willing to serve wherever and whenever they were needed. I was blessed to get to know many of these people from church that I hadn't spent time with previously (like Mary Ann & Gene, Amber & Nathan, and Tina & Brian who are from Illinois but we love them anyway) and ones that I knew previously from other missions trips or church events. I was blessed with a fun, Godly, delightful roommate. Abbie is only 17 but I think we are twins separated by a "few" years. She reminded me of an older version of my daughter. We enjoyed talking, listening to music together (Taylor Swift and Toby Mac in a hotel room in Uganda) and laughed a lot.
We went to villages with mud churches, brick churches, and block churches but all containing people who loved the Lord. We went to an orphanage with smiling children who slept on concrete floors and learned in classrooms with partial walls. We gave out sweeties (candy) and balloons to lots of children (and adults) who excitedly called out "Mzungu" (white person) when they saw us. We rode on bumpy roads for hours. We saw animals like baboons, elephants, hippos, and warthogs. We got to know sweet Ugandan Christians like Aloysious, Rose, Brenda, Primrose, Enoch, Ezra, Livingstone and more. We enjoyed the stand up comedy and ready smile of our Kenyan guide, Duncan (who is also a pastor and co-director of Care for Aids in Kenya and is engaged to a lovely lady named Rose). We got to use every type of potty known to man (from western potties to clean squatty potties to holes in the ground) and got pretty good at using them! : ) (I think I am going to do a coffee table book with pictures of potties around the world - thanks for the idea Suz!)
We also got to be the hands and feet of the students at Brainerd Baptist School who donated money to help with a water purification system. This system was installed in a couple of villages, including Pastor Viani's. Bob Rann was the mastermind of this system and we got to deliver it to the village on the way back to Kampala.
Overall, the trip was a blessing to me as much as to anyone that we worked with in Uganda. It was amazing to just rest in God's hand for safety and provision and to see His plan at work. He helped me through motion sickness on the plane and to avoid it on bumpy roads. He showed me His work through His people in Uganda. He gave me the amazing privilege to be used by Him! I am blessed to know more of my brothers and sisters around the world and to be able pray for them in the future.
Thank you to all who supported me on this trip, either financially or in prayer or both. Thank you to those who took care of my family at home. Most of all, I thank the Lord for all HE did on this trip and for the privilege of serving Him and for letting me see and feel His great love!
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is one of the tools that looks like it will be helping him to do that. Praise the Lord for assistive technology.
