I am home now. Its been 5 days now, back in the states. What was a strange reality to me a few weeks ago is now a very real one. It is nice to be back, to see faces I missed, to rest at home. There are many comforts too, but none that I abosuletly need. Thats one thing Ive been aware of alot since being home, trying not to be tied to the comforts of this country (this world for that matter). I don't think its a selfrighteous thing, to make myself feel better about living nicely amoungst a starving world, but rather there are so many comforts that simply distract and take away from life and relationships. So im on the look out.

Anyways! I wanted to wrap up the blog and let you know how it all went down. Goodbyes were hard, obviously. I will never forget the night when a few of my teammates and I camped out at the kids home. The moment we arrived at their house my arms were pulled at every direction and my ears filled with the same questions, "ARE YOU SLEEPING OVER TONIGHT'? I asked Thomas (my dear brother who lives with the kids) not to tell the kids but he couldn't hold in his own excitement and told them as we were on our way. Their faces as we answered yes put the biggest smile on my heart and probably my face too. They danced and screamed and helped us set up the tents. I could probably have lived in that tent for a very long time.

Scott, the boys, and I went inside their rooms to sit around and read some passages from the Bible. We wanted to encourage them as we left to continue loving and taking care of each other as they move to their new village in a few months, but to also shine like a light on a hill for the new children that will find their home at COTN. The village, as we learned from our weeks teaching, had many kids in need of a place to rest their heads and their souls. I know that my boys will love those kids like no other. I cant wait see their new community flourish and grow next year and in the years to come.

After we talked and prayed I whipped out my computer to show them videos and pictures from home. They laughed so hard at the pictures from my previous trip to their home and got a kick out of silly pictures from my home. They made me promise that I would come back with long hair again like last year. They just love that it resembled Jesus from the Jesus film. haha. I really prefer the simplicity of shorter hair, but I will do it for them.

And a storm came. Our tents nearly flew away. Not really but it was quiet intense and Jenny jokingly threatened to walk home. We survived and woke up to the kids doing chores and putting on their finest for church.

It all seems like just yesterday. It was quite the switch, one day in Africa 2 days later in America. Yesterday though I sat around and thought about what to tell you about my trip and what is next for me. There are so many stories I could tell from the last week in Lira and our trip to BEAUTIFUL Sipi Falls and Mbale. Oo here is a good one, our team danced and sang for the kids in our fairwell cermony. I had a good cry when I had to give a little speech to the staff and kids. It wasnt a sad tear though. As I stood in front of the kids I was overwhelmed by the love in my heart for each one and the joy I have from just knowing them. What a blessing.

It is hard to sum it all up. But I would have to say of all the lessons I learned of all the experiences I had, they all led me to a very important and hard truth to follow; to always trust my heart to a God that knows it deeper than I ever will. Many times I doubted my ability to love someone enough, to help enough, to care enough, to actually make a change in broken lives and a hurt land, to use my passions and talents to make that change. In those times of doubt I was royally shown up by Gods faithfulness to use what he has placed in my heart to do all that he desires which, let me tell you, is always beautiful and something I could never do with my own hands.

Whats next? Well for now, I start my intership as Local & Global Impact Intern as well as a Graphic Media intern at Flood Church and then school in late September. Im going to be working on that project I mentioned in a previous post about Alex (the boy i met in the field during the Jesus film) and creating a way to empower leaders in Northern Uganda, specifically Lira. Who knows where that will lead me. Back to Uganda? I hope so. Obanga Ngeo (God knows).

Obanga Mii Gum! (God Bless You) Apwoyo Matek (Thank you very much) for reading my blog and all your prayers and all you love and all you support. I could not have done it without any of you!

Thank you letters are in the making for all you who supported me financially. So be looking out for those!

Goodbye Lira

Hello everyone! Im so sorry I was not able to post a blog this last week in lira. It was so full of good things as we prepared to say goodbye to everyone we love here. I will write in detail more about it when I return to the states. But thank you so so so so much for all your prayers through out this journey. Your support and love for my team brought so much joy to my heart. Thank you all.

Amarwu ( I love you all)

Now we leave for Mbale, to the mountains in Eastern Uganda for a debrief. Then we fly to home on Friday.

Storms and Some Laundry

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WEll! Things have calmed down a bit here; health is on the rise, welcomed a new short term team, and we are now preparing for our last full week in Lira. We leave next tuesday for Eastern Uganda, to a place called Sipi Falls in Mbale district. Its a very beautiful mountain rage near Kenya and our team is going to have our debrief there. Im excited but not really ready to think about leaving Lira yet. Its a strange reality that we have only 9 days left in Lira with the COTN kids and staff. Then I land in LA on August 15th. Gah!

Anyways. Weve had some beautiful storms this past week. You know its going to come when the sky becomes an eerie haze and the gray settles in covering my favorite blue sky. The wind runs away quickly, off to gather the new dark clouds and then back to us in a mighty gust. The mosquitos vanish and you wonder where they have gone. And then the lightening shows off its brightest lights for all of Lira to see. Its fun.

This weekend I spend alot of time at the childrens home, helping them with their chores, taking pictures for COTN's website, killing chickens (well... i watched the kids do it at least haha), playing soccer, the usual. We have all developed such a bond with them and we have seen more and more of their funny and silly selves come out. At first they are very formal for the "visitors" and take some time to get them out of their shell. They also felt embarrassed to speak English at first, thinking they weren't very good at it. But alot of them are to hard on themselves, they speak pretty well. My little Prosesco always speaks Luo to me without fail and I rarely know what he is saying except for greetings and goodbyes. Its hilarious. So I find an older kid, usually Solomon or Samuel cause they are always close by and they tell me what he is asking or saying. Its fun.

So here we go. Last full week. Here is what weve got planned. Teaching and loving the kids at the village, visiting the hospital once or twice, preparing our fair well gifts for the children, celebrating Elena's birthday tomorrow, going to Jimmies (our driver/my ugandan father) village, finishing up interviews for COTNs DVD project, getting another uganda outfit made at the tailors, hanging out with the kids before dinner, and cooking a meal to appreciate the staff. Those are a few of the things that come to mind. Ill let you know how it goes. :)

Amen.

Good news! The village has understood what our intentions are for teaching the children and are not pulling their kids out of school to come to our “school”! Thank the Lord. So we have been teaching the kids who cant afford to go to school this week and it has been really good. Jill and I are teaching the kids who have been in Primary 1, Primary 2, and Primary 3. They are such a sweet group of kids who really want to learn the alphabet and how to read more. They are so eager and try really hard to soak it all in. I was determined today to find Odwongo Emmanuel, a boy I met last year at the village. I hardly know the boy, but every time I see him something in me wells up and I feel like picking him up telling him how much I love him. I probably would but he always carries his baby sister with him or on his back. Momma asked the kids where he was today and they said that he had gone to school again! I was bummed to not get to see his smiling face but so glad that he got to go back to school.

In the afternoon a couple teammates went to the clinic to get some blood tests (Elena found out that she has typhoid, so pray for her. She’s doing pretty well) while the rest of us went to the Lira Regional Hospital. We bought a box of soap bars on our way over from town, to hand out to patients in the wards as we also prayed with them. It was such a beautiful yet sorrowful experience. Beautiful because I was so overwhelmed by a sense of Gods love and hope for his dying children laying all around me and horrifying because I felt his pain as he watched those children die. But I couldn’t escape the smile inside myself, as much as I tried to say to myself “no be sad”, I couldn’t help but think about the love they will find as some of them clothes their eyes for good. Don’t get me wrong I was very sad but a tireless hope inside of me, kicking at the parts of me that only think of the present and not the future. Sometimes I think as humans we naturally want to be in a place of sadness and frustration with the world, especially when we are sitting next to death. It justifies our times unhappiness and it makes us feel like we are should have something better than this, that this world cannot be completed. So I have to remind myself that there is no need to stand proud and feel like I am justified in saying that there must be no Good here because these children starve and die. That proud heart will give no helping hand to the sick either. It is only a selfish whole to burry myself in. So I uprooted that prideful root, as strong as an oak sometimes, and I chopped down my head to take its bow and pray because that is all I have. I have the ability to feel a heart bigger mightier than mine that can heal and take home an eager soul. I have the ability to just sit there in the dark and weep with then, then get up to the next person and ask if they know they are loved. This is the power of a hope that never fades into the horizon, no matter how far I walk into the plains. It is always clear when I go to the darkest places where death brings its thickest mist and highest mountains in attempt to hide the Son from shinning as it rises and sets. Amen.

The COTN kids came to say goodbye to the short term team here. It was such a good time of dancing and celebrating. But I just cannot even think about leaving them right now and tonight obviously made me think about our team leaving in a exactly 2 weeks. I hoep that this last two weeks is a time when our team can just pour out love on these kids in our school, at COTN, and in the hospital. Amen.

I need to register my happiness

Hello all! Sorry it has taken a few days to update you all. It has been quite the week. So Ill try to fill you in on a bit of what is going on in my life.

Since I last wrote to you about the wedding there has been some changes to life here in Lira. The week after the wedding was a bit of a scattered week, as we prepared for Chris Clarks and Debbie’s arrival (the president of COTN and his wife). The COTN children preformed some beautiful traditional dances (one of my favorite things to see in Uganda). It was a good time of celebration as the staff and kids are so thankful for the work that Chris Clark has done in Uganda.

That same week I met a boy named Alex as we spent some time in a field inside the police barracks near our house. COTN brought out their speakers as well as their projector and screen to show some music videos and a film about the life of Jesus for the local kids and families. Its one of my favorite things to do here, sitting out under the magnificent stars in a grassy field surrounded by so many kids. But this time the night under the stars was really special. Alex was such a unique kid, with an incredible ability to speak and understand English. He was so eager to know more about my life in America and what brought me to Uganda. He was even more eager to just watch the film and learn more about Christ. His heart for truth was so incredible, its really hard to even put it in words on this blog. It can only be felt in that moment when it shows itself either through words or action or maybe both. But at a couple points during the film he looked at me (I could hardly see his face, half light by the movie projector) with such intense eyes, and told me how he wished he could understand more of Jesus’ parables. He felt like his lack education (he is only in primary 7, equivalent to junior high) kept him from knowing more about God. So I asked him what secondary school he wanted to go to and he told me that he probably wouldn’t get to go. At first Alex didn’t explain why he wouldn’t get to go and I wandered why. Usually, as white people, we get the very detailed story for financially hardships and life problems. But Alex said nothing more. There seemed to be no part of him that was looking for pitty or cash. It was refreshing to have a very genuine conversation with a Ugandan who really just wanted to be sincere and know me, not to just have an American “friend” that can maybe send money and all the other preconceived ideas of what white people are for in Africa. But I really wanted to know what the story was behind him not being able to go to secondary school, so I asked. He began to tell me a bit about his father dying and his mother taking care of many nieces and nephews, leaving hardly any money for him to continue his education. It was extremely frustrating to hear his somber voice describe these circumstances and even more maddening to know that he so strongly desired that education so that he could learn more about the world and most of all more about Christ. He must have seen only my tears as they filled my eyes in the dimly lit night.

I left that field praying if there was any way to help Alex that God would open my eyes to it. And He did. A few nights before I talked to Jerusha about the possibility of starting an education and mentoring fellowship that would empower young local leaders in Lira to pursue secondary and university level education alongside a mentorship program that provides priceless support in their ministries and careers. When we first talked about the possibility we were stired by a desire to see young leaders such as Alex, be lifted above the circumstances that hold them back from impacting their community. I felt a righteous anger against the spirit of poverty that has crushed the passions, the dreams, the life of to many young people here. A heart like that given to Alex can with out a doubt change the face of this nation. So I’m working on figuring out how to run this fellowship and how it would look on the ground. Im going to be working on that as I finish up the last few weeks here in Lira. Ill never forget Alex. Hopefully I will see him once more.

Now on to my birthday. I could not have imagined a better way to celebrate it. Our team just really needed a day to repair. To be brief, the program we started last week for kids that couldn’t afford school fees kind of backfired. Hundreds of kids poured in to the field but we soon realized that a large majority of them were already enrolled in schools and that their parents mistook our “school” for a legitimate new school. We even had nurses and teachers come apply for jobs. Haha! It was so insane. I really couldn’t believe that had happened, it felt surreal with so so many kids gathered around our chalk boards in the middle of a field. So we are going back to the village tomorrow to try it again after Pastor James explained to the community what we were trying to do. Please pray that we can communicate well that we are just trying to teach the kids that cant afford any education. I would sure love for this to work and not dismantle the local education system. Haha.

So we clearly needed a day to recover from several mishaps that seemed to us failures. Richelle (my co-leader) and I decided that we really just needed to serve our team on what happened to be my birthday. So in the morning we got up packed lunches and after morning devotions (full of singing, some preaching, praying and happy birthday songs and fruit baskets) we left for a field next to a Catholic Mission/Radio station. There we escaped to build our team up with words of encouragement and service. We ate and then Richelle and I washed our teams feet (We copied Jesus, nothing special). It was probably the best idea that God ever gave us. I feel like the love of God and his humble servants heart were the best things to fight the discouragement weighing our team down. WE spent about 4 hours sitting around after doing words of affirmation (basically each person just says something encouraging to each person). While we were sitting on our blanket a little angle named Nelson Mandela walked up to us bobbing his abnormally large head and fervently repeating munu. Im going to post a few pictures soon, so you will see his beautiful face. He was precious and brought such a gentle and innocent love to our little meeting. Sitting their calmly he ate his sandwhich we made him and held my hand and played with my munu tiene (white foot, he kept repeating that). He caught Thomas (one of our Ugandan staff siting with us) saying “I love you” and began to repeat that for quiet some time. One of the men at the mission told us that his medication was very expensive but that he was a blessing to the mission. Im guessing that he may not live for much longer and I am so thankful that I got to meet him before he leaves this earth. What a blessing and a lovely gift from God. See you in heaven Mandela Bean (his father was saying “Mandela, Come here” in luo, but we thought it was a nick name. haha).

At the end of the day I spend the evening with the COTN kids. Our team took a stroll over to their house (about 10 min. away) and did our weekly Bible study with them. On the way over God led me to Matthew 11:25-30, it’s the “Come All you Weary” passage (on of my favorites). I lead the group of older boys, Samuel, Solomon, Lameck, and Dennis and Scott leads the younger boys. Its another one of my favorite things to do here. Most of the time the boys bring more insight than I do. I love it. We talked about being weary and burdened in life. They talked of loosing their parents, fighting, having things stolen, and other hardships. But then they spoke of the ways that Christ has given them rest and how he has loved them all the while. Man, do those boys know how to praise Him. Opaka Rwot (Praise God). What a day it was. I will never forget it

Tonight we found a café in Lira owned and run by an American. I ate so much pizza and it was sooo good.

This week we are going to be visiting the hospital in Lira a few times. It will be hard I imagine to see so many ailing people, dying or waiting to die, and not be able to do a thing about it, except pray. But you know what, I am learning to see that that is certainly something to do, praying that is. I have seen the power of such intimate time and conversations with my God. The power to change my will (which is a miracle) and to reach down and change the natural all around. Prayer is not some secondary response to me as it has been many times at home, as a last resort when other options fail. It seems to be all I have, especially here in Uganda.

Here is something I stole from Jenny Velas’ blog (one of my teammates). We made a list the other day of hilarious quotes from Ugandans.

“These things probably don't make much sense but they bring such happiness when they are said! The English the Ugandans use is so precious. Here are some quotes:

"Why are the bugs disturbing our sisters?"--Edward

"No one knocks my muno!"--Dennis

"She is gassing."--Morris

"My God is a God of FIRE!"--Dennis

"What is the progee today?"--Dennis

"We have to rectify the player."--Lucio

"Supplement the Mitsubishi."--Lucio

"I look more beautiful when I comb my hair"--Dennis

"The reserve needs to give me back my cattle."--Jimmy

"That bastard ate all my animals!"--Jimmy

"Baba, I need to pick some suga."--Sam

"You first study and then you cross."--Dennis

"We do what? We feed the babies."--Nurse Andrew

"I think you are going to have diarrhea symptoms. Get in bed with a towel."--Vicky

"I need to register my happiness."--Lucio

A celebration of life

Seriously. You all are in need of an update on life here.

So much to say really. so give me another day i think. and ill have something nice and sweet for you to read.

love you.

A Ugandan Wedding

It’s a day of rest and man did we need it! Thirteen hour wedding celebration took it out of my team and I. But it was an experience that I will never forget. From the bridal party brigade honking all the way through town to the extremely random and not at all matching bridal party attire, the days events and atmosphere was a rainbow of African and American traditions. Each car in the brigade was decorated with interesting ribbons and bows (baby blue, yet another random color) and there were groups of bridesmaids wearing different types of dresses and each held pots or baskets of semi ripened fruits (vibrant lime green dresses and others rainforest themed red and green dresses). The handsome groomsman that we were wore nicely tailored “Italian” brown pinstriped suits.

The wedding ceremony was just as colorful as the outfits we were wearing and it was very long. After one of the pastors gave the final word the whole place took communion and we marched out to eat some grub. Then we returned for the reception with all the guests outside the church. There we ate more food and watched some beautiful traditional dances, listened to random people sing as gifts to the bride and groom and have a few laughs. Then it was off to the Lira hotel for the formal reception for the bridal party and a select number of guests, like the Ugandan equivalent of a governor, a Resident District Commissioner, of the Lira district. More food and laughs. That concluded our celebration and we said good bye to the bride and groom as they left for safari for their honeymoon.

It was a great time. I really enjoyed the random mix of cultures and I had a great time with the groomsman, getting to know them as many of them were living in other parts of Uganda working for organizations (many of them went to university with Eddie, the groom).

Oh and no first kiss on your wedding day. There really is no kissing in public outside of Kampala, its just not culturally acceptable. You rarely see couples or husband and wives holding hands. Funny enough though its very common to hold peoples hands as you greet and chat with them, but as friends and especially for same genders. Couples however do not hold hands in public outside the normal hand holding during conversation and greetings. Interesting.

celebrations

The air is light tonight and there is joyousness in the compound that is infectious. Tomorrow our good friend and COTN country director, Edward Olara, is marrying his lovely American fiancé, Kaitlin. I cant even imagine how many people are going to be there, Edward knows everyone in Lira. Seriously, I mean EVERYONE. He has made a name for himself as a famous gospel singer in Northern Uganda. He is quiet good at it too and loves to travel to villages to sing and share his story with people. You would love him. Anyways my team is really blessed because Edward asked us all to be the wedding party. Scott, and I are groomsman and the girls are all bridesmaids. The last thing I thought I would ever do in Uganda is buy an “Italian” made suit from Kampala (the capital city) and be in a wedding! I couldn’t be happier though to support Edward and Kaitlin in their joyous Ugandan wedding.

Today was the last day of counseling at Obile primary. It was worth every long drive there and back, every drained afternoon, every fighting prayer, to see these boys smile so wide and hear about their peaceful dreams. No more nightmares. No more haunted days. Awe.

As I write to you world, to my left Rose dances to a song in her language for a baby that is sick with malaria, while the others laugh about soccer matches and tomorrows celebrations. Jimmy, an incredible man who graciously drives EVERYONE EVERYWHERE, sits in front of me and laughs about how he is the master of all games. The funny thing is, he really is the master. Nearly every Muno that comes to Lira and teaches him a game, he beats them twice over the first time playing. You would love him.

I am surrounded by a swarm of mosquitos. Time to bust out some DEET.

Have a lovely day, or night or whatever time it is where you read this.

Taste and See

Did I tell you how lovely the house is where I live? We are quiet the family made up of many unique members. A surprise blessing came in the form of John and Jerusha, cousins who are living here with my team working as counselors for COTN. John is a humble hearted musician and an M.F.T. student with an incredible gift of crafting Bob Dylan style songs to God and a passion to see these children’s broken lives put back together. Jerusha is a vibrant woman of God with a bright array of gifts that encourage and inspire our team every day. They are such beautiful souls. Surely our crossed paths in life in this beautiful country are not in vain and we all look forward to the ways that we reconnect in America.

This week our team is focusing on counseling at a primary school (the equivalent to an elementary school). This is no ordinary school, as it is much deeper into the bush and has felt the evils of the rebel movement much heavier than many schools closer to town. Every day requires a 2 hour drive from our house to reach the school where we are greeted by a much anticipated exuberant greeting from the kids. They hardly see Munos (white people) being so far in the bush so we are quiet the sight. Its pretty funny. Its neat though to see how much they appreciate the fact that we came to visit them. It certainly brings love. Once we arrive, Scott, Denis (a Ugandan friend of mine who translates) and I walk the green field to our Acacia tree where we sit and gather with our boys. The stories have been rough. Actually that word is just not adequate. Their stories are terrifying and tragic. I could not imagine that I would ever sit under a perfect sky and a lovely tree (two of my favorite things) to stare into the teary eyes of boys not even over 13 years old who have seen and felt more evil than I may ever experience myself in this world. It was humbling in one moment and terribly hard to swallow in another. Already ready though some of the boys have told us how their haunting dreams have ceased and I’m hoping that more boys will feel some peace as we finish out the week of counseling. Its really a miracle that this program even works. By all western standards you don’t just counsel for a week and expect lasting change. But some of these boys are testament to these miracles, as a few have been through a group last year and have shared the lasting changes in their life with me. I am blessed.

To be honest, there is so much to take in and so much to treasure that every time I experience something good I have the bitter after taste that I have to leave all of this behind eventually. It’s a sour flavor and so I try to stuff it in the back of my mouth and just enjoy what God is blessing me with now. I need to be present in this and I am trying to remember that God brought me back, who knows what is next. For all I know, I may end up back here for a serious amount of time. Come to think of it, that is probably the benefit of that unwanted taste; that I see something inside of me that hungers for an even deeper experience of Uganda and all of its problems, and joys, and pains, and love.

On another note, Im very tired and am ready have a deep sleep. Goodnight world. Goodnight my friends and family. I love you all. Dearly.

- Andrew

p.s. above is a picture attached of some ugandan love from our driver Jimmy. He is an incredible man. More on him later. :)

Of Returning to the Pearl

There is such a unique feeling as you step off a plane in Africa, or perhaps it’s just unique to Uganda. It is a feeling of awe, a sense of reverential respect mixed with a bit of fear and wonder. Maybe it is the slightly beat up planes and the mesmerizing number of puffy clouds hanging above, or the overwhelming green landscape and the lack of all the things that normally neighbor airports; the towers, the nearby flow of traffic, the American dream. Either way, it all seems to grab me by the hand and show me a slower pace and narrower path. I take deeper breaths here. I think slower and remember more of my thoughts. I watch closer. And in this state of wonder and amazement, fear and courage, I am going to try to convey to you my days spent slowing down and serving the people of Uganda.

A year ago I left Uganda and took with me stories, both beautiful and horrid, of healing and pain, restoration and desperation, so that I might tell of God’s hand in the rebuilding of Northern Uganda. I brought these stories home in photographs and words, but memories of such a short time only left me waiting for a richer and more full experience. There was not a single part of me that did not feel the wear of anticipation to return to Uganda and dig deeper into its unforgettably red dirt. My ears have itched all the while to hear more of the lives that I cherish in Lira. My eyes have strained to again stare through the endless sky over the greenest plains. My hands have ached to hold such warm and genuine embraces. My soul has waited for the chance to run free under thunderous skies and pouring rain. And oh, how that moment was sweet, when I knew my next breathe of air, stolen from the humid air, would set free all of my eager parts. I am here. My ears, my eyes, my hands, my soul: all of who I am is glad to be where the Lord has taken me.

Of course there have been challenges and hardships, as any truly good thing must contain. The journey was exhausting, taking nearly 4 days to reach Lira from home. There have been days when I have wondered what I can really do here in this relatively short amount of time. The needs in Uganda are almost as vast as the sky, and it can feel very overpowering at times: as if the sky was too big to support its own height and weight. But I have learned through many beautiful experiences that I am not here to cure this place of any disease or problem. I am not here in search of solutions to the global giants of poverty and inequality. Rather I am joining together in solidarity with people from California, Oklahoma, Uganda, and Malawi; to visit children in their affliction and hopefully bring some healing, to encourage the youth in their education and to learn their dreams in life, to be a family to 29 orphans that have the most beautiful smiles.

Let me tell you a story. My hope is that you can get a glimpse into my life here in Uganda, and what I see at work here. Last week a few of us from COTN worked with a group of young men at the Ugandan equivalent of a high school. We spent an hour or so with them each day, reading a story about the life of two kids, who are abducted, abused and forced to do terrible things. After each part of the story the guys have a chance to talk about their own stories as we guide them through questions designed to start a process of healing and closure. There was a huge communication gap though as these guys were all from Southern Sudan and did not speak Luo, instead only English and Arabic. Each day was a challenge and at times it just did not feel like we were making progress with the guys. Blank stares, silence, and out of left field responses made for several tiresome days. But at the end of each session change was becoming more and more visible. I began to see some stoic faces smile with an appreciation (awareness) that gave life to the room. On the last day as we closed our eyes to say a final prayer I saw a brilliant flash of light in my mind’s eye. As the explosion faded and darkness settled again the image of two arms and hands outstretched remained burned to my lids. Frightened, I opened my eyes and nearly fell off the table I was sitting on. I closed them only to see the image again but this time the hands were busy at work, peeling off layers off a heart that resembled a stone. A peace like a river rushed over my anxious nerves and over all my doubts and frustrations from the week’s events. I knew at that moment what I was really seeing; God reaching down despite all my inadequacies and communication barriers, and bringing healing to these guys. I do not assume that all their emotional issues were solved in that moment, but I do know that by their faces and smiles after that prayer I have never seen such miraculous change in someone’s eyes. In their eyes I could see the same brilliant light that frightened me in my silent prayer.

And these my friends are the humbling and powerful experiences that seem to follow me here in Uganda. I find more and more that I am ill equipped and inadequate to meet the huge needs in this town, let alone this country. Yet somehow there is a Word and a Breathe and a Hand that moves and works through what little we do in such mighty and gracious ways. And it’s then that I remember that there is a reason that my ears itched and my eyes strained and my hands ached and my soul craved, and my mind remembered, why I am finally back again. Awe.

And away we go

Obanga Mii Gum: Luo for "God Bless You"

I want to write so much to tell you how I am feeling, to tell you what excites me about tomorrows journey, but instead I just want to leave you with this short story.

My grandma told me tonight how much she hated for me to be so far away and for, what felt like to her, a long amount of time. She is proud of me, she tells me. But tonight I walked away proud of her, because she left me singing songs and praying hymns of joy and thankfulness for a Father that loves all. I could see the peace in her eyes as she told me how glad she was to know that the God above favors none; that my life is just as valuable as the poorest of the poor. I love that reminder. I love that God. I love that person. So now I go to live that love, to learn more of such boundless grace.

My team has a long journey tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts. Ill let you all know when we arrive in Lira, Uganda safely! Maybe even an update from Dubai. :)