How is that a person can cry over toasted wheat bread? I found myself doing just that yesterday morning as we sat eating breakfast. Then I realized that the wheat toast was a taste of home.
Home. Thoughts of my husband and my homeland pull my heart toward Sunday when we will begin our journey back to the USA.
God has been doing amazing things in and through our team while we have been here in Uganda. The work, just as He teaches us in Scripture and as we teach with Lead Like Jesus, is both internal and external. As He works in us, we are able to be used by Him to minister to one another.
Our VBS (vacation Bible school) focus for the children has been “Fully Rely on God.” The children have been making frogs out of stones or construction paper and “googly eyes” to remind them that they, like people in the Bible, need to depend on God all the time, for everything.
This lesson has not been for the children only. Each of us on our team has been learning to rely on God more fully, more deeply, for everything that we need physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.
We took two more team members to a nearby clinic yesterday and were grateful to have simple diagnoses that set everyone’s minds at ease and allowed them to receive the treatment they needed. Another team member will visit the clinic today.
With the smoke from burning garbage, pollution from cars, and dust from the roads, it’s easy for respiratory infections to catch hold. Add to that the physical strain from the schedule we’re keeping and the work we’re doing, plus two of our team members contracting malaria, and we’re very alert to the need to care for our physical health.
As I write, the air is clear, the sun is shining, and several of us are being restored as we sit outside, journaling, blogging, and processing our experiences on the trip.
The VBS team is doing a wonderful job of providing training for children’s workers as they lead the sessions at each new location. We are living out our core values of growing and developing people as Jesus did. The unflagging zeal and devotion of Terri, James, and Charissa has humbled those of us working with the LLJ encounters. Tomorrow will be a well-deserved and much-needed day of rest for them.
We cannot say enough about Dave’s dedication as he has supported the encounters at each location. Endlessly counting, sorting, packing and loading books, markers, and materials. He has done a great job handling logistics and administrative tasks, not to mention working with Sandra and Prisca to register and greet people as they arrive.
Dave was finally able to speak to his wife last night (thanks to T-Mobile’s online chat line that helped us sort out his phone plan) for the first time since his malaria diagnosis. It helped both of them to hear one another’s voice. He is responding very well to the medication and was out serving with the team both yesterday and today.
James has been an enormous help to the team, using his physical strength and unflagging good humor to encourage and support each person. He is a well-grounded young man, deep in spiritual wisdom, with a servant heart, and oh yes, a quick sense of humor. Put James and Dave in the room, and entertainment is guaranteed. They have grown to be fast friends, these 21 year old and 59 year old men!
Charissa’s love for children and love for the Lord keeps her going, even when the days are long and the children number in the hundreds. On long bus rides, we find beautifully colored pictures or drawings being passed to us as a love offering from her. She moves between time with her dad, playing with Jamin, or conversation with the adults, especially Terri or me. She is a sweet young woman who surprised us with how effectively she bargains with shop owners!
Luke and Jamin are experiencing a father-son mission trip to Africa, one that simultaneously engages Jamin through his passion for football (soccer) and Luke’s passion to train leaders. Luke is telling their story on his website http://www.thetruthmadesimple.org/uganda-trip-reports/ so that you can find out more about their adventures.
Jamin is loving his time with international coach Stone Kyambadde at football (soccer) camps and outreaches. He and Immanuel, Stone and Tabitha’s young son, have become fast friends. To see the two of them passing a football around, sitting huddled over a video game on Luke’s iPhone, or combing through the snack bag in a bus ride warms our hearts.
It has been my privilege to serve with Randy, Luke, and Fred on this trip. As LLJ facilitators who wholeheartedly embrace the servant leadership message, we have worked willingly and well as a team, supporting Randy as our team leader, filling in for one another, taking time to pray and strategize ways that we can be more effective, building one another up in Christ, and seeking to glorify God.
Charissa is Randy’s 13 year old daughter; we’ve seen a new side of Randy as he has cared for her alongside carrying his leadership responsibilities. Randy has shown great wisdom and forthrightness, teaching Ugandan leaders, preaching in churches, and investing long hours with Fred in scheduling and guiding our efforts in Uganda.
Speaking of Fred, my buddy and childhood classmate, it’s always good to be in ministry with him once again. Fred’s teaching last night as He called and commissioned the group as servant leaders was Spirit-anointed and empowered. So awesome!
It was good to have Tabitha back with us last night. Malaria had kept her at home for several days, and she was feeling much better at last. She and I always have wonderful conversations on the bus. Both she and Dave have found that God is teaching them new things through malaria as they turn to Him and are forced to depend on Him even more deeply. Both are finding renewed strength and energy, but since malarial symptoms cycle, would you continue to pray for them?
Then there is Terri, my new friend, sometimes roommate, and sister of my heart. What an inspiration it is to see her passion and dedication to serving her team and the children’s leaders and children of Uganda! Her faith in the Lord pours through her life and words, and I feel very blessed to call her my friend.
James, our bus driver, is amazing. His servant heart has been an inspiration to all of us. We trust his ability to get us through mudslides, gushing torrents of water, roads pitted with potholes, and traffic jams. He has served us above and beyond.
God has been so good to us through every experience. We are focusing now on finishing well. Please pray that we will be faithful to the end! And that the Lord will help us as we transition back to our separate lives at home. Blessings to you in the name of Jesus!
Debbie Goes To Uganda 