A hope set before us...

The power of the Lord is immeasurable. The love of the Lord unsearchable. The wisdom of the Lord is unfathomable. The joy of the Lord is indescribable. And to know that He is mine and I am His is unimaginable. He never changes. “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” Ephesians 1:18. His hope is the anchor of our souls. Our hope is salvation. Christ. Eternity. “An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:4. By His mercy we have been given an inheritance more precious than gold. We should worship him humbly for his beauty is never fading. We have been saved by grace. This is not our own doing. So boast only in Him.  This earth has nothing to offer us except the opportunity to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Seek him with all your heart and He will be found by you. “He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love, he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17. Christ is crowned with glory and honor for he is a merciful and faithful high priest.  Everything proclaims his glory: sunrises, sunsets, mountains, flowers, his people. When we finally meet face to face his bride will enter in and the angels will gather around singing. It is a beautiful romance. The only one that matters. I pray that all that is within you will cry out for him to be glorified. That your heart will be open and by his grace he will grant you to live in peace with a greater understanding of who He is. With all encouragement seek His heart. He promises that He will reveal more to you. He is a faithful God. “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” Proverbs 25:2. His promises are sealed with hope. A hope that is greater than all else, hope enough to live by. Walk in HIM. Walk with HOPE. Walk in LOVE so that others will know your GOD. THE ONLY GOD. Walk with comfort that your Savior has conquered the world! Do not fear, nothing is out of his control. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33. Sing praises to Him. Sing with a grateful heart. Sing with joy. Sing with all the nations, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a MIGHTY one who will SAVE.

 

“When we arrive at eternity’s shore where death is just a memory and tears are no more, we’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring, your bride will come together and we’ll sing you’re beautiful.”

“Heaven fall down on me. Bring your peace. Bring your joy. Let it rain. Let it pour.”

Hebrews 2:5-18

Soon we will be coming home. Wait for Him. Wait with hope…

Everything is an adventure in Uganda

We started working in our new places on Monday. We went to a medical center the first day and I was able to shadow a doctor all day. It is a small clinic so they do not do major surgeries, but overall that day I saw some pretty interesting things. I sat in the room with him while patients came in and out, most of them had malaria. Then we had to do minor surgery on an 11 year old girl's foot. He put her to sleep and then took a cyst out of the bottom of her foot. He would tell me, "come, look" and then explain to me what was going on. I was definitely reminded why I do not want to be a doctor. (Russell- I respect you even more now.)  Then the lab tech told us to come and work in the laboratory with him. We took people's blood and tested them for malaria. He showed us several slides of patients with malaria or HIV. After going back and forth between the doctors I learned a lot. There were four other people there from Canada and our new friend, Shanna, from Texas. They all asked us to lunch. All I could think about was okay, so I'm in Uganda eating lunch with people my age from Canada and Texas and I don't really know any of them well, this is awesome. (Don't worry mom- they aren't strangers haha. they are all our age doing work here). 

Today we went to Bunga Hill Primary School and what a day it has been! We started off the day working with the little kids, but we got a little tired just sitting there listening to them say their A,B,C's and the teacher didn't seem to need us too much, so we went to the older classrooms. The school headmaster asked us what we wanted to do with the kids and we said we were good with whatever, that if they wanted to they could ask us questions. He said, " oh, okay so you teach them?"(in his Uganda accent) Well I thought this meant that we would tell them some about America. Not so much. He took us into the classroom and then left and so did the teacher, for at least two hours. Haha. So Lauren and I were like awesome,  I guess he was serious when he said we were going to teach. We spent a lot of time answering their questions about America and then we did a couple of small English lessons and played some games. They seemed to enjoy their day off with the Americans. The last class we went to was a group of 10-12 year olds and those teachers did the same thing, they wanted us to teach. Well this was the class that we went to a little unprepared. We asked them if they had any questions about America. These were some of the questions: " What plate tectonic does your country and state lie on?" "Do you have rift valleys and if so which one?" " Is the United Nation's headquarters located in New York?" ( I told him that I thought it was in Washington D.C. and he brought me a book because he thought I was wrong and showed me that it is in NY) "What is the youngest President of the United States?" "Who is your governor?" ( That one scared me because I thought he was going to ask me the names of a lot of government officials which I honestly do not know) They asked about every geography, political, and just crazy questions that I would not expect from kids here and especially not 10 year olds. They also asked us to sing the National Anthem, oh how I wish I had the video camera for that one. It sounded lovely. Do you know our emblem or national bird? You should, because you never know when you will be asked. We felt like we were in American History 101 with 10 year olds from Uganda. After they drilled us, Lauren and I sat down with a couple of them and before you knew it they swarmed around us asking us more questions. Lauren said that the kids with her thought that some Americans can fly because they have seen the Spiderman movie and thought he was real. They thought that we have invisible cars. This one surprised me- they asked us if Americans feared black people because their teacher told them that we do. I was not expecting that because I definitely did not think that they thought that. So what started out as a mundane day turned out to be quite interesting. 

Tonight we went with David to Maureen, his girlfriend's house. It was her birthday so they wanted us to come celebrate with her family. Well on the way there we took a boda-boda. This was our first experience and it was definitely entertaining. Boda- boda's are like a smaller version of a motorcycle and a bigger version of a scooter. They are small which means they like to zoom through already crazy traffic. No worries though, we made it alive. When we arrived her family was so happy to see us. We sat down and talked to them for several hours.(They eat dinner around 9:30, so my stomach was growling.) I really don't even know how to fully tell you how Ugandans treat guests, but they think that God has blessed a family when they have visitors so having us over tonight was a big deal. Her dad thanked us over and over and talked about how he was the most blessed person in their community because he had guests. They cooked dinner for us and we ate in the dark by one small lantern, which was really cool. I could not see the food I was eating and I think it was better that I could not. It has been neat to learn and see what goes on in their culture. It was Maureen's birthday yet she helped cook dinner and before we ate she walked around with a bowl and pitcher of water, got down on her knees and washed all our hands, starting with her fathers. It just reminded me of when Jesus washed his disciple's feet and how humbling that had to be. I just sat back and watched her kneel down and pour water over her fathers hands to wash them.  Then she served her cake she put it on a plate and individually knelt down on her knees in front of each of us, including the kids, and held out the plate for us to get a piece. I was served the entire night. These people here are servants. I was just taken back at how they treat people and serve them humbly. These people welcome you in love and serve you with a humble heart and they are real. They are truly  grateful to have you and really want to get to know you, it is not just entertainment and surface level small talk. These people intently listen to you and serve you. You can see Christ in them in all that they do. I have never felt so welcomed, served, comfortable, and loved more than I have by anyone and I am in a strangers home in Uganda, yet because they are in Christ they are family and it definitely feels that way. It has become so much more real to me that my family in Christ is not just in America, but it's all over the world. These people in Uganda are my brothers and sisters and I will one day see them in Heaven! 

so two days ago i went BUNGEE JUMPING into the Nile River!!! Wow! I never thought I would do that! It took a long time for me to decide to do it and it was CRAZY, but so much fun! I guess I can check that one off my list haha. You can look at the pictures on Andi's blog andreacollette.com.

 It was a good day. We woke up at 5:30 and saw the sunrise which was so beautiful! We also took a small boat on a short trip around the Nile and saw where it starts. We saw some of the falls and then had a good lunch. It was a good day off before our friends had to leave for Alabama! 

The next day was a pretty sad day. We had to go say bye to our friends in Buloba and then take the rest of the group to the airport. It is now just Lauren and I here. Our first night alone consisted of  a PB&J for dinner. It looks like rice, fruit, and PB&J are going to be the food of choice for the next three weeks. Tomorrow we are going to Gaba church again, which had one of the best services I've been to. We also get to eat lunch with Patrick and his family who has a one month old baby girl, so I'm in heaven. We start work again on Monday. We will be splitting our time between a school and medical center. I think we will also go to the slums some as well as go out in the community to tell people about Christ. 

I have internet now at the new apartment, so I will be able to keep in touch a little bit better. Love you all! 

He Will Rejoice Over You With Gladness

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exalt over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

 

It was yet another incredible day. I started off the day by getting a tattoo from our good friend Amos who is an artist. Actually I got two, both on my right arm. Sorry mom, I had to do it. Anyways, after distributing eyeglasses we went out into the village again to tell people about the Lord. Pastor Isaac, Henry, Lauren, Morgan, and I were together. We first went to this family who lived next to a mosque. Half of the family were Christians and the other half were Muslims. Altogether there were about twenty people gathered around us. One of the boys, he looked about sixteen, asked a lot of questions about Christianity. We prayed together at the end as several of them came to know the Lord. Next, we went to an elderly ladies house who had never heard about Jesus. She was 70 and had never heard; that is crazy! We had the opportunity to tell her and when we finished talking she said she wanted to be a Christian. There were several people today that we talked to that had never heard about Jesus or who did not know much about Him. We got asked so many questions and several people came to know the Lord.

I don’t know what to say about today. I am just so excited! These people had never heard the name Jesus or did not know much about Him and we got to tell them! We sat down with so many families today who came to know the Lord and some were Muslims. It became so real today that the Lord has brought us here for a reason. These people might have never heard the Gospel and we got to share it with them. What an opportunity! At least 15 more people joined our family today and will one day rejoice with us in Heaven!

Also, this morning they took us to their old well, which is about a 1 ½ mile walk. We were given jerrycans (water jugs) to carry. This was about one of the hardest things I have ever done! Each jerrycan weighed at least 40-50 lbs. and we had to carry them all the way back. I struggled big time.haha. I tried to carry it on my head and oh man was it heavy! It amazed me that little kids do this every day more than once. Never again can I complain about working. I have a new outlook on the people here and the work that we do. I have not heard one child complain. I was told that these kids have a problem with growth. They carry these jugs everyday and it stunts their growth because they are so heavy. A lot of these kids are tiny because of this. What looks like a four or five year old is actually nine or ten. The church I am with helped fund a new well for the community so they do not have to walk as far. After today I am very thankful for this.

I hope everyone is doing well. I can’t wait to hear from you guys! Connor- I love you! Happy Graduation! I am sorry I cannot be there; I wish I could! You finally made it and now you will be with me at Alabama! I’m proud of you!

P.S. I did not really get a tattoo. Amos did it with a marker. 

Preach the Gospel To All Nations

 

Today was another great day. The Lord did some really amazing things yet again. We began the morning going to the people’s homes in Buloba preaching the Gospel. We split up into five teams. I went with Pastor Isaac and another Buloba man. Once we walked to the homes Pastor Isaac just walked up to a man and started telling him about Jesus. I was like okay I guess were doing this, so the other guy and myself went and talked to a man near by. He could speak English so it was easier. The guy I was with just encouraged him for a while because he was already a Christian. I got to pray over him when he was done. Then it was really cool because some kids began to gather around because their was a muzugoo there (white person, aka me) and one of the kids could speak English really well and so I asked him about Jesus and he said He loved the Lord so we went through some verses while more and more kids gathered around. Before I knew it there were at least 10 kids gathered around listening to us read Scripture. All I could think of was Jesus saying “Let the little children come to me.” We then walked over to four women sitting outside their home with their children. Pastor Isaac talked to them for about 30 minutes in Luganda. I had to just sit their because I could not understand what they were saying, then Pastor Isaac turned to me and said okay they want to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior lets pray over them. I was like well okay, awesome! I didn’t understand a word for the past 30 minutes and now they are going to accept Christ, great! Haha. We walked to several other people, some who were not so welcoming to Christ. I talked to the guy with us for a while and he was saying that witchcraft, prostitution, and alcoholism are all very prevalent in this town. He also said that a lot of people love the Lord on Sunday and then forget who He is during the week. Sound familiar? The best part of the day came next. Some of you guys wrote me letters and I open them every few days. Today I opened the one from Kyle and it turned out to be the focal point of the whole day. He wrote this verse in it, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:12-15 He also wrote in the letter the Great Commission. This was the most appropriate verse for the day. I showed a lot of people so it would encourage them when we were telling them about the Lord. When we were walking I showed Pastor Isaac the verse and it came in handy later. Our last person to visit was an elderly Muslim lady. She told us that she was a Muslim because it was in her blood, all her ancestors were Muslims. She also said that she believed in God but believed that she could go to God through Allah. She said that some people go to God through Jesus and others can go through Allah. Josh and I were sitting there and we were like man I wish I knew that verse by heart that talks about Jesus being the only way and then Josh looked down and his Bible was opened to John 14:6 which says “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” How great is that! Then Pastor Isaac pulled out the Romans verse I was talking about because it went right along with what they were saying (I could not understand that part because they were talking in Luganda) but he asked me for the verse! So that was cool too! We talked to this lady for at least an hour and at the end she asked us to pray that God would stir up her heart to believe in Jesus Christ. She said that she wanted to believe, but that God needed to stir it up in her! Wow! She did not believe just to make us happy, but wanted the Lord to change her heart. That is incredible! I could definitely tell that the presence of the Holy Spirit was there.

When we met up with the other group they said that five people they talked to got saved. They said they went and prayed around the shrine where people practice witchcraft. They also said that they have found bodies of people in the bush beside the shrine where they have sacrificed people before.

We handed out eyeglasses the rest of the day. We got a touch of home when we drove back because we got ice cream and tonight we get pizza! I love the food here, but I am happy to enjoy some good, not healthy American food tonight.

I forgot to tell you the other day we went on a 6-mile prayer walk around Buloba! Yes, I was about to die, but it was good. These people are incredible here. Also, a little side note, we enjoy our dinner and go to bed every night listening to the Muslims sing. There is a Muslim Institution really close to where we are staying.

This was another long one, but I just have so much to say. Wednesday we are going out again to tell people about Jesus so please pray for us. Pray that we would have wisdom and knowledge and that the hearts of the people would be open. Thank you all for praying, the Lord is definitely hearing our prayers and answering them.

Week 1

Sorry I have not updated you guys in a couple days, we have either been really busy or the internet has not worked.

The past couple of days have been great! We have spent all our time in Buloba village. Yesterday we started off the morning by eating breakfast with the kids. It was porage (milk and corn). Honestly I did not like it very much so David helped me eat it. It’s sad that I could not eat that one time and they eat it everyday. Two Saturday’s a month the kids spend the day at the church doing activities and are served a meal. We got to help serve this meal. I have never seen pots so big! We served over 150 children. Later that day we walked to the school and had VBS. The kids are great! They are so intrigued by us. Usually I will have three kids per arm, one holding on to my back and one holding onto my front. They just want to be with us at all times.

The hardest thing I have had to adjust to is the bathroom situation. All I will say is that it is a hole in the ground and it is much more difficult for a female to do this, I will just let you think about that one and not go into details.

Today was my favorite day. We woke up and went to Gabba church at 8am. It is very interesting because the people here have no concept of time and just really don’t care. Church starts at 8 but when we got there there were only maybe 40 people there. As the service went on people just came whenever they could. This church has 6,000 members! I know, crazy! We always talk about preparing our heart for worship, well these people really understood that. Every person that walked in to church, no matter what time, would first sit down and pray to themselves and then get up and sing. “You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 That church service usually last 2 hours but we had to leave early and go to church in Buloba. The same thing happened there. Church was suppose to start at 9 and we got there at 10 and they had not started. This service was long. We started at 10 and got completely finished around 1. It was really good though. Four people got saved! One of the people was a Muslim! How awesome is that? After church we gave out gifts to the sponsored children and they were so so happy! We did not  have anything planned until that night so we just hung out and talked to the people there. One of my favorite people to talk to is Pastor Isaac. He became the pastor in Buloba last year and has the biggest heart of any man I have ever met. Saturday when we did VBS he played with the kids all day and had more energy than I did! We got to spend some time talking about his vision and goals for the church today and he desires for the people in the community. It was really good to spend a lot of time learning things today about the church and community. Lastly, tonight we watched a movie about the stoning of Stephen and conversion of Paul. At the end of the movie several people came up and said they wanted to be saved. So wow God is so good, we have several new brothers and sisters in Christ today!

One of the guys that works with us, Alfred, is teaching me verses in Luganda and also teaching me how to play one of their instruments that looks like a mix between a guitar and harp.  Who knows, when I come home I might be musically sound and know another language. Haha.

The Lord has shown me a lot about asking and you shall receive as well as knowing that He is in our midst at all times.  “The Lord your God is in your midst.” Zephaniah 3:17. “God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved.” Psalm 46:5. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1. “ I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him.” Psalm 91;14-15.

Fun Facts: (for you trey)

1.     Average age for women to get married is between 18-20, average age for men to get married is between 34-36

2.     When a person who is older than you walks in the room you kneel. This is especially seen out in the village and not as much in the city. It is also very important when someone gives you something to kneel before them .

3.     A traditional Ugandan meal is eaten in silence. (we do not do a good job with this) It is mainly like this in homes with young children.

4.     A proposal is at the very beginning of a relationship. It is when the man goes and talks to the whole family about what his thoughts are and how he feels towards their daughter. The daughter, mother, father, brothers, sisters, aunts, etc are usually there. He does this before he ever tells the girl he likes her. Then if they are okay with that, they date a while knowing they will get married one day

I will have more fun facts to come. Sorry this is so long. Also, if this does not make sense it is because today was our longest day and I am so tired. Not sure when I will update again, maybe tomorrow? Love you all!

 

 

Welcome to Uganda

We finally arrived after seeing the sunset, the sunrise, and then set again. Surprisingly, I did not sleep for a good 24 hours and was not really tired. We arrived around 8pm their time and got in bed at about 11:30. Somehow the next morning I woke up a little before the sunrise,completely energized for the day. The time change really has not made me tired. The Lord has been so good in giving us all strength, we all woke up ready to go! Today was our first full day seeing Uganda. We left this morning around 8am( 12am Alabama time) and went to Bethany Village (an orphanage). We had to go into market, which was neat, and then get in a very small wooden boat and cross Lake Victoria to get to the orphanage. The orphanage held 145 kids in small homes of 14 kids each and a house mom. They also had a school, camp site, and farm. Once we left there we went and saw Gaba church, which is where Patrick, our leader, and translators go. They had also built three schools, a kitchen, and dorms for these children. I believe that there were 10,000 children that go through these schools and are apart of the sponsoring programs in America. Lastly we went to Buloba, which is where we will be working this week. This is a small village about 45 minutes outside of Kampala. This place was crazy! When we were driving there the kids saw us and started chasing the van. When we got there we could not even get out of the van because the children had surrounded the car and were trying to give us hugs before we could get out. I think we each had about 10-15 kids holding onto our arms the entire time we were there. These people were incredible! We went inside their church and gave them a sound system that they were so grateful for, people were in tears! I have never seen anyone so happy to receive something. They then gathered around and we all sang "I'm Trading My Sorrows." All these people just latch onto you and treat you like you are the king. They say " muzoogu" (not spelled right) which means white person and then run up to you. The last thing we did was go on a walk when we got back. David, one of our translators, walked with us to the slums. It was a whole other world. The kids flocked to us, asking us for money and water. They were covered in dirt and sewage water because that is all around them. It was weird that we simply walked down one street and it was like a separate town.
All I can say is in one day I already do not want to come home. It has been amazing! Everything is different here, including the sunsets and sunrises, they are gorgeous! The only scary thing is the driving. Holy cow they are crazy! I thought we were going to die several times. Patrick, David, and Amos are our leaders and translators and they are so cool. One of my favorite things has been hanging out with them and hearing their stories and learning about Uganda and some more Lugandan words. Please continue to pray for us, particularly that we will seek the Lord's will and reasons why we are here. That we will not act like tourists and take pictures but that we would really be tuned to what the Lord has for us here. Thank you all who wrote me a letter! I have not read them all, but the ones I have have been encouraging.

I am not sure how often I will be able to update. I will hopefully have pictures up soon and videos. You can look on Andi's blog, she should have pictures up. Go to andreacollette.com
I love you all! See you soon!

Almost there...

In four days I will be in Uganda!!! I am getting really excited and it does not seem real that I will not be in this country in a few days. I have never been out of the country before so I have no idea what to expect. we will see... Please continue to keep us in your prayers as He is preparing our hearts to go.