I explained the "plan" to my co-leader as we followed the kids to the shade of an avocado tree just outside the church. Letting the benches they'd been carrying down fro their heads and shoulders, the kids set up a classroom in the grass while we stood and wondered what exactly we were going to do.
Some sixty little eyes gazed up at us. Offering a sheepish wave "hello" (at least that's how I picture it now), I high-fived the audience members who had never met a muzungu (Caucasian) before. After an energetic worship time led by the kids, I pulled out a balloon and began to tell the good old Jonah story with a missionsy twist. Testimony and discussion about ways to become a person God can use by practising being a servant now.
"How long were we actually teaching for?" I asked later that night as our goup sat over huge plates of roast goat at the hotel. "We were in church for twho hours," Mr. Guthrie answered. Serious? Time flies when you're having fun. But as we debreifed over the wonderful-smelling meal, a new looming challenge came to my attention: "...and you can do both of the kids' sessions tomorrow too!"
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| The Baby House Classroom where I spent much of my time helping out |
I almost choked on my goat. My balloon and string routines nearly exhausted..and tho more full hour-long sessions to go? Uh-oh.
--Excerpt from Mitoma Ministry Excursion,
Part 1.
Yes, that's how much of my time in the beautiful country of Uganda seemed to go. Right when I felt I was getting used to one aspect of ministry, God would find a creative way to stretch me with a new (and sometimes impossible-seeming) challenge. Having no clue what to expect, I'd moved to Uganda for three months to help wherever I could at the guest house, preschooler shelter and Bible school in the region where my friends the Guthries served. From substitute-teaching kindergarten, improvising Sunday school lessons and sitting in on a course with my Ugandan Bible college friends to (sort of) dancing at an cultural ceremony, battling malaria and reading scripture to jungle prisoners, no shortage of comfort zone-crashing opportunities lay ahead! How incredible it is now to look back and see how God led me through it all. It's like how, having reached the last page of a mystery novel, you are able to think back over the progression of seemingly isolated incidents woven throughout the plot and realize that a Master Author has been at work all along.
Top Posts from Uganda, 2013:Diving In
Prison Ministry
I'm OK, Really!
Church, Where Least Expected
I Can't Believe I Actually Did That!Play Dough Manicures
Mitooma Ministry Excursion (Part 1)
The Introduction Ceremony: as Cultural as it Gets!
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| The Crowned Crane, Uganda's National Symbol |
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| African Caracal Kittens which once overnighted in the room with us |
Capital: Kampala
Population: 34,758,809
Comparative Size: Nearly that of the UK
(Uganda is slightly smaller, by about 3%)
Official Languages: English (taught in schools) and Swahili
Note: Lugandan is the language most commonly used in the area of southern Uganda where we will be working.
Religion: Roman Catholic 41.9%, Protestant 42%, Muslim 12.1%
Source: CIA World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html
You won't believe how much I miss you!
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