Amazing Race Honeymoon Edition Part 1: The Journey

I’ve reached the conclusion that every newlywed couple should embark upon a honeymoon like ours… it can be summed up in one word: ADVENTURE.

But before I get into the details (don’t worry… not too much detail ☺ )… I just have to take this time to thank everyone who contributed to our honeymoon registry. Without it, we would have been having our honeymoon at our little house because we so didn’t have the money to pull of the dream honeymoon that God provided through everyone’s support.

Ok, so back to our “amazing race”… it began here in Jinja at the Kampala Coach office – great customer service by the way, and they have seats that recline and head rests that actually give your head some support… although their buses may or may not be older than I am. We decided to go to Zanzibar via Kigaali, Rwanda and then through Tanzania for two reason: 1) both Davis and I had already been to Kenya and wanted to see some place new and 2) the Kenyan elections were just finishing and last time there were major riots so we thought we’d spare ourselves that “adventure” until maybe the way back. Ok so there we go… the journey there…. Like I said, it began in Jinja on Thursday afternoon, they then had us board a taxi (they paid) and had us head to Kampala because they didn’t have any buses passing through Jinja because of before mentioned Kenyan elections. So here starts the tally for the number of hours it took us to get there – 2 hours to Kampala – We get to Kampala and take bodas to the bus loading area for Kampala coach. Word of he wise – use the restroom before you get to the bus station, don’t ask me how I know, but I’m just sayin… Finally at 9pm (we left Jinja at 4) we board our bus.

We traveled for 12 hours and reached Kigali at 9 the next morning. We then were informed the next bus for Dar Es Salaam doesn’t leave until 5:30 the next morning so the very nice guy from the bus company suggested a guest house close to the bus park we could stay at and gave us some pointers about getting around Kigali. We checked into our “hotel” and we’re still not quite sure if they’ve had any other customers… ever. But it had a bed and running water (in the evening after they fixed it) so we couldn’t complain. We then decided to check out Kigali and see if what we’ve heard about it was true… we were (ok more like I was) like such a little villager, in shock at the modern way they do things. Even the bodas all have to wear helmets and only take one passenger who also has to wear a helmet (in case you’re not familiar, that’s NOT the case here in Uganda). It’s also VERY clean. There are police everywhere so everyone behaves most of the time too. All in all, it was a nice little city.

Bright and early the next morning we wake up and head to the bus park. We get on our bus that’s in even worse condition than our Kampala coach… and this time our trip will be 24+ hrs. As we begin, the bus starts zipping around the Rwandan mountains and I seriously felt like I was on a roller coaster, it was at that point I praised God for Bev and her giving me motion sickness medicine. As we passed through Rwanda, it was absolutely beautiful and full of mountains. At the Rwanda/Tanzania border, they had an awesome river and waterfall. It was amazing the change between Rwanda and Tanzania how it was almost as soon as you passed the border. In the midst of our 24 hour amusement park ride, I had a little bit of a claustrophobia/panic attack as NOTHING was familiar and I had no control of anything… at all… Davis being the very fabulous husband that he is, agreed that I should try reading my Bible to get me through that little “episode”. Then, it was just so clear, God whispered to me that Davis was a tangible expression of His heart of wanting to protect/care for/comfort/provide for me and I needed to trust Him and also Davis. It was quite a cool lesson for a new wife to learn.

In Tanzania, you’re not allowed to drive between the hours of midnight and 4am and so the bus pulled over at a little roadside town at 12:30 and we all were able to get out, find food (at 12:30) and figure out how to get a little sleep. We got out and there was this little disco that was rather hopping and outside there were a couple of food stands. One of which was an old man making eggs with French fries in them… talk about the perfect midnight snack. It’s one of my favorite memories of our travels, thinking about sitting there with the music, sipping tea, and eating that fabulous Tanzanian fast food. We then brushed our teeth like good little children and got a little sleep and 4am we were off again.

Finally by 10am the next morning we pulled into Dar. We took a taxi as Davis practiced his Swahilli and we headed to the ferry port. We paid $5 extra for the “first class” tickets as I was warned the ferry trip could be a little gnarly. We boarded our ferry and it was nice and new and sat in our cushy first class, air-condtioned seats. I took my handy dandy motion sickness medicine and we were off again. In the midst of my semi-conciousness (partly because of the medicine and part because of the trip), they had Madagascar 2 playing and so needless to say, I managed ok and my adventurous husband spent most of his time checking out the view from up top.

By 2pm Sunday we landed in Zanzibar. We (Davis) got us a Taxi and we drove another hour and reached the hotel. Ok so now class… let’s do some math… We left Jinja at 4pm Thursday… we reached our hotel at 3pm on Sunday… that’s right folks… 71ish hours to get there. But it was very cool even in the midst of motion sickness and freak outs, we were able to see some awesome East African countryside. I also learned I could totally and completely trust Davis’ wisdom as he was right pretty much 100% of the time as we encountered various situations and I was w…. well never mind ☺ Needless to say I learned a lot. And that’s just our journey there. It was an awesome adventure for us and definitely not something we will ever forget.

Grace

I've always heard grace defined as "unmerited favor"... I can't help but have the breath taken away from me at the grace God has shown me over this past week... and really this past year.

When I tell people about Davis, I tell them that he is grace in the flesh, because I so don't deserve him. He's patient, strong, kind, humble, and basically perfection (ask anyone who knows him). I don't deserve him but I praise God for me getting to call him my husband (in just a few short days).

If that wasn't enough, this past Sunday I experienced God's grace in a way I'm still recovering from. First, a miracle in itself happened to get my mom to come here to Uganda for my wedding. My mom had never been past Mexico and then she set out 11,000 miles to come and be with her baby girl on the biggest day of her life. Leading up to her coming, she daily had reports of God's goodness in providing for certain parts of her trip (immunizations, ticket, clothes, etc...). I was already in awe of the outpouring of love so many people were showing towards myself and my parents through this time.

The thing is... God wasn't done yet... "He is able to do exceedingly more than we could ask or imagine" I NEVER thought it was possible for my daddy to make it here to Africa for the wedding. I honestly don't even think I really prayed about it, it seemed that impossible to me (yes I know my lack of faith is sickening). I thought that between finances and his health it was just not possible for him to come to a 3rd world country with who knows what types of diseases. But God had other plans.

As I got to the airport to pick up my mom, the butterflies in my stomach were going full force. I kept staring at the monitor and pretty much had a coronary when it showed "arrived" next to my mom's flight. Then a few minutes later I get a call from her asking where to go. I thought "oh no! that's why I didn't want her to travel alone!" Seriously over an hour after the plane arrived and I think I chewed my finger nails into oblivion and may need to have blood pressure medication for the next 3 weeks to recover, Davis and Bev gave me the sign she was coming (they worked out the sign because I was going crazy staring at people coming out from the customs area). I couldn't believe it as I saw my mom push her little cart out that with an unexpected few amount of bags. I rushed over, gave her a huge hug, cried and then we went over to the side. As I was crying as she and Davis met and hugged for the first time, I asked her if she got all her bags, and she said, "just one more is coming", and I look and my eyes seriously couldn't believe that they were seeing my dad pushing a cart loaded down with trunks. I broke down in a definite gnarly ugly cry as I just buried my face in my daddy's chest and hugged him and never wanted to let go. All of my dreams of having my daddy walk me down the aisle, the pictures of when he first sees his little girl in her wedding dress, the father daughter dance, could all happen now! I just couldn't believe it!

My parents later told me about all the miracles God worked to get my dad here through the provision of funds to the dr's ok. It was unbelievable what God did in order to get my daddy here for the big day.

On Sunday evening, I just still couldn't verbalize even the thanks to God for what had happened! I didn't deserve it... not in the slightest. I'm not trying to be overly humble or anything, I just flat out didn't/don't deserve what has been taking place. But that's where I get to rejoice in His grace, He loves blowing His kids away and He definitely did a good job at doing that with this daughter of His!

I PRAISE HIM I PRAISE HIM I PRAISE HIM!!!! For the amazing blessing He has given me in having both of my parents here... Our God is so so good!

This Past Holiday

Here in Uganda, the school year begins in February and ends in late November/Early December. Therefore, the students "summer break" so to speak is during the Christmas holiday. Which means it's 2 months worth of me praying about and trying to figure out what exactly I should do to make the best use of the opportunity of the holiday where I don't have to share them with school.

In December, we kind of took it easy because the students were busy preparing for the Christmas program, but Davis, three students, and myself decided to undertake the re-painting of the church. I'll admit I thought it was going to be a little less invasive than it was, but the bottom line is that there is now no longer three different paint colors randomly smeared on the walls of the church. I must confess I felt rather blessed having my fiance be a professional artist, he made sure it was done right and it looked great!



And then came January... dun dun dun
As I've mentioned before, January was planned to keep the kids busy nearly every single day. Tuesdays we had a special topic of discussion/teaching. Wednesdays we learned about different religions (Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Hindus, and Catholics) and how we can witness to them. Thursdays we went through a theology topic (the sinfulness of man, the Trinity, heaven and hell, angels and demons). Fridays we had a fellowship day where we would just do something crazy (game day, water play day, field trip to the source, and a swimming day. Saturday we did a couple different outreach/service events. We went to 2 orphanages, a local slum area, and then we tried to do an event here at the church as well. The deal with the Saturday events is that they were to be planned almost entirely by the students. They had to do everything from come up with the schedule, make a shopping list and shop, and even run the event, I basically just taught.




I will be honest, January quite possible did me in. Doing all of this solo, was a bit more of un undertaking than I had anticipated, but I pray the students grew closer to each other and more important than that, they grew closer to Christ during that time.

Now, the students are starting back to school and I just ask for prayers that they would be a light in their schools. Pray that God would help them to boldly make known the mystery of the Gospel. Pray that God would help them to flee from temptation. And pray that God would help them to love Him more than anything or anyone else.

Memories

Packing up and moving everything except basically my clothes to the new house I will share with my soon to be new husband has definitely brought a whirlwind of memories as I go through everything. I’m going through goodbye cards from when I left ABQ 4 ½ years ago, birthday cards, “just saying hi” cards, pictures, and journal entries. It’s just amazing all that has gone on in life in just a few years. Honestly, it feels like I’ve grown up in that time.

I came out here a brand-new college graduate who really hadn’t seen much of the world nor realized just what a big world outside of my little sphere was out there. I came out having to learn the hard way (and honestly still kind of am continuing to learn) the universe doesn’t revolve around me. I used to think I had my stuff pretty well together for a girl in her early twenties, but then as I look back on all the dross that came up through the trials I went through, I realize I definitely was a far cry from having it all together.

I read about past crushes and hopes and dreams and reading about my laments as I approached my 25th birthday thinking I may never find “Mr. Right”. Now I look at the man God has given me and I can’t help but echo Garth Brook’s song “Unanswered Prayers”. We go through life, especially early adulthood thinking that we know what we want and when it all should happen. We pray and hope with all our hearts that God’s will is our will. I can tell you that what I’m reading in my journals is a far cry from anything that I ever thought would be a part of my life, but I can see how God has used those things, sometimes painful, and sometimes even embarrassing, to humble me and shape me into the woman that I’m becoming.

I think of how the pastor and author Warren Weirsbe compared life to a tapestry where on one side you see all the messy knots of thread but on the other side it makes an amazing picture. I praise God for these memories, and I look forward to the new ones yet to come. I also am so thankful for everyone out there who made up those memories, those whose cards I’m reading and some I’m still keeping in a little wooden box my cousin made for me. People, friends, family, and sometimes even foes make us who we are. Thank you all for being a part of my past and I look forward to seeing what God has got in store for the future.

Overwhelmed

Preparing for our wedding, Davis and I entered into it anticipating on paying for everything ourselves so as not to place the burden on either one of our families. Also, here in Uganda they have "wedding meetings", getting people to sponsor certain parts of the wedding, that was just not something we felt we wanted to do but instead we just wanted to bless those attending the wedding and thanking them for the role they've played in our lives. But yet again, my life verse rings true "His ways are not our ways" they're so far above them.

Over the past few months, Davis and I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the support (both financial, emotional, and prayer) from people from around the world have given as we start this new chapter of our lives. People who have given to help my mom make it out here for the big day, family members working tirelessly to try and raise money, friends giving checks with the specific purpose of contributing towards the wedding, and even our friends here in Uganda throwing us a surprise "wedding shower" to help raise money for us. All of it has left both of us speechless. You pray, knowing God answers prayers, but always wondering how... and how much He'll bring about. He is truly able to do exceedingly more than we could ever ask for or imagine. And I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for all of your support, it truly means more to us than you will ever know.

As the countdown is now just a mere month away (YIKES!) we continue to ask for prayers to cover our marriage. That we would glorify God in showing one another the un-conditional love He shows us, that we would understand one another, that we would learn to pick our battles, that we would serve the other above ourselves, that we would constantly keep Christ at the center of our marriage, and that we would be an example of marriage to those around us.

A proud "mama" moment

Some people's whole joy in life is holding babies and playing with small children... yay for them, but not my thing. My crowd is more between the ages of 12-17. It's this age that has my heart in such a crazy powerful way and I'm so blessed that my job is getting to pour into them and witness what God is doing in their lives.

One thing that God has brought about in the past few months, and even more like weeks is several of my students stepping up and taking student leadership roles. For a while I've had two key boys and one key girl who have blown me away with their servant's hearts and I know running a youth group of 30+ kids with all the events we do would be nearly impossible without them. But lately, there's been a whole new crop of students stepping up to the plate and they're blowing my mind with what they do.

This month, we have a full plate for our students with activities everyday Tuesday through Saturday. Saturdays are our days to go "into the world" and do various outreach/service events. Last Thursday, God blessed me with the "eureka!" moment of "hey! I should let the kids plan these events!" So last Friday a group of them sat down and planned our outreach to Loco, a local slum area. They did AMAZING! They had it all worked out, and on a budget of $0. I seriously never had to coach them on how they should move on to another activity or anything, I was honestly rather bored during the whole thing, in a good way :)

Then on Tuesday, they sat down and planned our event for tomorrow which is where we are going to a somewhat overlooked orphanage that has around 30 kids. We have been there a couple of times before and actually found it because one of our students heard about how it was there and how they really didn't have much of anything. This time we had a little more to work with financially so I gave them their budget and time restraints and they came up with the schedule and the shopping list. It's a group of about ten students who really put their brains together to find some cool ways to bless these kids.

This afternoon was our shopping trip to prepare for the event. So I gave them the money, told them to bring back receipts, accompanied them to the grocery store and then basically just sat in the car and waited the rest of the time. They were so cute! (Sorry, I know that's not cool to say about 17 year old boys, but they just were) as they all delegated which items each person would be looking for. Then even though I had a Bible study to get to, the boys decided to continue and finish the shopping list. I struggled not worrying about them, but then realized they were really big boys and I needed to just chill :) What they came back with was just precious (I know, another not cool word choice). They bought 40 pieces of clothes, and all the fixens for a traditional ugandan meal of rice and beans. AND... they even had money left over.

As I saw them come up to the coffee shop where I was meeting my friend for the Bible study, my heart melted. Six teenage boys who now tower over me coming up with these things and waving to us. I'm still recovering from the whole experience. My friend just laughed at me and told me I was like a "proud mama", and honestly I guess it's true. These students are amazing and I'm so so blessed to serve them and pour into them... God amazes me that He allows me to be a part of their lives and see the young men and women He's making them to be.

That none shall perish...

In today's newspaper it talks about how there are 10,000 what we refer to as "Street Kids" here in Uganda. Now, I don't know just how accurate that number is but it definitely seem like there are quite a few, even here in Jinja. God has been doing a lot of work on my heart in regards to these street kids. I used to be bugged by them and really have no compassion for them as liars and beggars. Lately though, especially through the ministry of a friend of mine, my view of them has taken a 180. Although they are dishonest, difficult, and some of them do some very not good things, God still has a plan for them and can redeem them.

Right now, there is a certain boy that God is laying on my heart like none other. His name is Asheraf and is pretty much famous around here for both his shmoozeability and his attitude. For the past few months he's been coming to church with his buddies only to sit outside. Then a few weeks ago he came to youth group with a friend and actually sat through the whole thing. Then this last Wednesday he came to Bible study and both yesterday and today he came to our youth events. He's here with his attitude and questions and I can jut tell that God is trying to get a hold of him! But I also know the enemy is not going down without a fight.

He comes from a Muslim background and has the general Muslim reasons for not surrendering to Christ. He and I have started to spend some time talking about things and processing life. I honestly and truly know God loves him and Jesus has the love for him that he's been missing.

The point of this post is this... he's a bright kid, that if he surrenders to Christ, he's got so much potential of what God could do in and through him. Please keep this kid in prayer. Also pray for my students and I that we would be good witnesses, and also show him the kindness, love, and also firmness that glorifies Christ.