A good day

Teaching, good food, and hanging out with friends are just a few of my favorite things and today was a day that encompassed all of them. I've been gearing up for today for a while now because I knew it was going to be crazy, and I won't lie, I'm pretty beat, but I'm also one content girl. The morning was spent preparing for the afternoon. Then I went to prison to teach the ladies on how to apply Scripture to their lives and as always, it was an awesome time! Then I got to hang out and chat with JB, Martin, Alice, and Mama Peace for a little bit, then it was on to Jinja SS where I was able to teach again! It was awesome!!!! I was thinking it was going to be cancelled because it was raining like crazy, but my boys cleared a classroom out and there ended up being 27 kids who came and there were even girls this time! I taught on Peter's denial of Jesus and how we deny Jesus in our own ways all the time. It was just so cool! Then I went on over the river to hang out with some friends. We had some vehicle fun in the mud and then it was dinner time of AMAZING pizza and then we settled down to watch a couple of episodes of Lost with cups of coffee and slices of pie. Because the power was gone at their house, it added a whole other cool dynamic. All in all, it was a pretty sweet day!

A birthday and a wedding

Today was quite possibly one of the most exhausting "off" days, it was all fun stuff, but boy am I exhausted but I just had to chronicle the day for fear of forgetting some of the highlights.

This morning began with Ryan and I rocking the gym and I think I've finally recovered from my knee going out and was able to run for about 20 minutes (which I haven't been able to do in a long time). After that, Ryan, Judy, Rochelle, Malia and I headed out to Jinja Nile Resort to swim for Malia's birthday where we met a friend of mine and her kids. We swam until about 2 and then we ran home, Ryan and I went to town to buy presents for the birthday girl as well as for the couple getting married and then it was time to get ready.


The wedding was absolutely awesome and really just a great "cultural" experience. It was super small because Irege and Monica have technically been married since 1979 when he paid bride price for her, but they still wanted to finally have a church wedding. It was just our staff who was invited and so it was about 30 people and because we all really knew each other we were able to really just have a good time. Monica made her entrance on time (which is a miracle no matter where you're at in the world) and it was just a really sweet ceremony. Then for the reception, we had samosas and cokes and of course cake and then we danced it up. It was a lot of fun!


Oh, and on an added note, I wore for the first time what is called a gomez (or gomesi - I'm still not so sure). This is a traditional Ugandan dress which is made of yards of fabric, pointy sleeves, two buttons on top and then a really big belt. Most women wear one for big occasions, although many women in the village only have a gomez to wear as their every day wear. It is very hot and you're always having to readjust things and make sure you're not stepping on the bottom or becoming unwound, but our staff got such a kick out of the fact that I finally wore one that I may have to cave in and get my own someday because the one I used was Judy's.

FINALLY!!!!!

For the past few months my main prayer request and ministry goal was to get into this secondary school (high school) called Jinja SS. With over 3,000 students, Jinja SS is one of (if not the) biggest schools in East Africa and therefore with the size brings the false teachings to a staggering magnitude, and hence my excitement to potentially get a chance to teach there. I wish words could describe how long I've waited for this opportunity and today it finally happened! I drove onto the humungous campus honestly ready for the usual routine of Johnson (the school speaker and our church's sound guy) to come up to me to tell me something happened to keep me from teaching, but that didn't happen! He met up with me and we walked to this big grassy area by where they keep all the hundreds of bikes the kids ride to school. Little by little our guys who come to our youth group came, and then some of their friends and as the teaching progressed more sat down. By the end of the teaching, there were about 15 guys who were listening. It was really funny the fact that they were all guys, but it was cool because I just took it from the point of being a big sister. I taught on Ecclesiastes 2 and basically just tried to drive it into them about how pointless all the things in this world are without God. They then asked me to come back next week on Tuesday and then again next Friday even though they were taking exams, they still said they had time. I couldn't believe it! It went so much better than I ever thought it could and I cannot wait to see what God has in store with this ministry! I'm just glad he had the door closed until now, His timing is really so perfect!

A little medical anecdote

So today's productivity was rather hampered by a certain almost three year old. She had "cough" so while her mom was working, I was the lucky one who was able to hang out with her - needless to say I'll be slamming some Vitamin C later. Well...as the day progressed she continued to feel worse and she developed a pretty gnarly little fever, so after lunch I took her to the lab to get tested for Malaria. (This is where the story gets "fun" for those of you who have yet to experience Uganda). This facility is not bad by Ugandan standards, but if I were able to post a picture for you to gander at, I have a feeling some of you (especially those of you in the medical profession) would cringe. You ask if they are able to test for Malaria - it depends on if they have power or not - and if it's a go, then you plop yourself on the bench and wait for the inevitable finger prick. When Aryanna saw the needle, she freaked out, but the lady was quick and it wasn't too bad. She put the sample on the little microscope slide and took a swab of cotton off a bunch she had on the table and wrapped the finger. We waited there while the technician's kids were sitting next to us (one of them also with "cough") playing around. About ten minutes later, she writes on the paper the results and we find out "the Malaria is there". So off we go to the pharmacy to get the Malaria meds, an antibiotic for the cough, as well as just some cough syrup. Walking into the pharmacy, you just tell them what you want, it reminds me of a gas station in the States, it's really rather freeing. They pack it up, you pay and you're on your way. All in all the whole thing was about $10, even adding in there some post-testing ice cream.

Just curious...

So God amazes me pretty much on a consistent basis. And even that is a bit of an understatement. This post is nothing too deep or profound, but just really a pondering that has been in my heart for a while that I was discussing with some friends of mine, and I thought I would share it with all of you (whoever you may be). I look around at my life here, and even on a day like today where there were probably more downs than ups, I still can't imagine doing anything else. The interesting thing is that I'm not even 24 yet and I have truly found where I feel like God has called me for a good chunk of my life (of course He could always change that). I am not bragging by any means, I realize that some people live their whole life and never quite find what God has allowed me to experience here, and therefore I'm definitely not taking this for granted on arrogantly and I realize what an awesome blessing it is. My curiosity arises from thinking about what God will do with me that can top life right now. It's honestly a kind of scary yet exciting time for me as I look around the corner at all the possibilities and I can't help but wonder...what on earth He could possibly do that would be more of an adventure then what life has already been.

Easter Weekend

This past weekend was really just too cool for words. I already wrote about Good Friday and that just kind of started everything off to be amazing. It's kind of funny how in the midst of really cool times of breaking and God just showing a lot of stuff to me, that there's always some sort of physical "struggle" that I get to go through as well. This weekend it was both my knee and a little 24 hour cold. But even through those things, this weekend still rocked my face off!

Saturday I was able to kind of sleep off the cold, and then at youth group that night, I taught a survey of Genesis 12-50. I won't lie it was quite possibly the most difficult teaching I've ever had to prepare for just because there's so much to be said but only 45 minutes to say it in. God was totally in it though and I think it ended up working out really well.

On Sunday, I woke up bright and early and was able to listen to the Sunrise Service broadcast from last year as the sun was rising here. I made blueberry pancakes from a blueberry muffin mix (we don't have real blueberries here). We had a packed service of about 200 people and then we all went out to decorate the cross that was put out on Good Friday. The cross was beautiful and it's even still standing out there two days later. After service, I went to lunch with some friends of mine and then watched a movie with the kids on the compound until it was time for missionary fellowship. We had a super small group for the fellowship, but it was really nice just getting to see all the conversations that were going on.

It really was an awesome weekend to just get to reflect on the work He did on the Cross and really one of the best "Easter Weekends" I've had. God just continually showed Himself in so many ways, it was really cool.

Good Friday

This Good Friday, I can honestly say will be one to go down in the books. The guys worked so hard to get the poles and tarp up so that we could have a service outside. The clouds looked like they could pose a problem and by the time service was "supposed" to start, we had maybe ten people, but then I went in to make more copies of song sheets and I went back out and there were about 100 people there! It was awesome! Jess taught a super convicting message about those who were with Jesus at the time of his crucifixion. And then Martin and JB carried our wooden cross that we traditionally put out on the side of the road outside of our compound. Everyone who came followed them and Zippy led the crowd in singing traditional worship songs. It was so cool! And what made it even more awesome was the fact that it was a little stormy and there was a RAINBOW! God's touch was everywhere and it was absolutely breathtaking to be able to have such a powerful reminder of God's love and faithfulness to the point of even coming here in the most beautiful display of His love by dying for us.