The first days

Well we’ve been here now for a solid week. Sorry I have not been able to update much lately, but hopefully I will be able to write two blogs a week. We will see though…

Our flights here went well. On the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam I sat next to a family from India. They had a two year old little boy who quickly became my new best friend. He was full of energy the entire flight until the last thirty minutes. Once we got on the next flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe exhaustion began to settle in, but the lady next to me started up a conversation and we enjoyed hearing each other’s stories for a good bit of the flight. It was cool to see the work of the Lord from the start. In the Atlanta airport we met a man from Louisiana who was headed to Ukraine, but felt the Lord leading him to Uganda and wanted to learn more about what we were doing. On the flight to Entebbe the lady next to me was a professor at Wisconsin and was taking a team to Uganda for nursing. She too was interested in what we were doing. It was also encouraging because our flight to Entebbe was about 70% missionaries. I just love to sit back and watch the people the Lord puts in our paths to further His work. I love meeting new people and seeing what the Lord is doing in their lives and somehow connecting or networking with them to further the work of the Lord. I pray that our eyes would continue to be open so that we would see these opportunities and converse with the people around us.

After naps, food, conversations, sunrises, more food, sunsets, again food, we finally made it to Uganda! Allen, Jay, and Eddie were at the airport to pick us up. We stopped by the orphanage for a minute to meet the kids and then headed to our apartment to get some rest. On Sunday we met Allen and Jay at the orphanage to help them get all 17 children ready for church. This was quite the experience. The girls walked in in their dresses with their chunky, black school shoes on. This is when we realized that they did not have Sunday shoes. I will have to put up some pictures because it was really funny to see them in pretty Sunday dresses with huge, black shoes on. We walked down to the main road; all 23 of us piled into a taxi and off to Watoto church we went. When we arrived we were surprised with an outdoor, celebration service that lasted 3 ½ hours. About 30 minutes into it some of the girls looked miserable, although they did not complain, so Carrie took some of them to sit under a tree. After that came the “I need to susu" ( go to the bathroom) requests began. After our first bathroom break we rotated walking around, sitting under the tree, and taking kids to the bathroom for the next three hours. At one point Mercy took off from the back to the front of the congregation with me chasing after her. It was quite the sight to see I must say. The people there probably thought we were crazy… six muzungus (white people) taking 17 children to church. After the service we loaded them back into the taxi and went to the home for lunch. I was taken back because immediately the kids started doing chores. They washed their clothes, cleaned all the dishes, mopped the floors, and cleaned their rooms. I was told that they do this everyday. The greatest sight was watching two year old Mercy wash her clothes. I don’t think I would ever see this in America. It takes enough for parents to get their 20 year old children to wash their clothes in the washing machine here in the US of A.

Monday was quite the day. We headed back to the home (orphanage) to meet with Jay and Allen and go with them to finish registering the kids for school, get them school supplies, pay the fees for school, get their uniforms, and take them to the doctor for check-ups. Well things did not go as planned. Unexpectedly, a team of 12 showed up to see the home and play with the kids, which was fine, but we were unable to leave. Then Fanitah and Fredah both got sick, so I was going to run them to the doctor. Well just before I left Julius started running a fever, crying, and was having a little bit of trouble breathing, so I hopped in the car with him (we decided not to take all three- The Ugandans there said Fanitah and Fredah probably had malaria so just to get them medicine). Eddie, Julius, and I went to the doctor. (Take note that Eddie speaks a little bit of English and Julius speaks no English) I was about to have some fun. I walked into the doctor with Julius. Eddie walked me in and then sat in the car. When I finally figured out that the chairs were in line to see the doctor (after several people jumped in front of me) we went into her room. She just stared at me when I sat down so I was like “He has a cough, fever, and we think it’s malaria.” I have no idea what she said back so I just pointed to Julius and said talk to him. This was my second day with the kids so at this point I knew very little. She asked me his last name; I had no idea. She asked me where we lived; I again had no idea. (I made something up after she stared at me like who is this person). She asked me our phone number and because it’s a million digits long I had no idea. Also, we ran out the door so Julius did not have shoes on. So this is the picture…. A white person walked in with a child who does not have shoes on, does not know his last name, does not know where she lives or where he lives, does not know her phone number, and honestly does not know what to do at all in this doctor’s office. It was quite the learning experience and to say the least humbling. It made me really want to know Luganda because he had to get his blood taken and a shot and I had no way of comforting him through words, which was really frustrating. We learned a lot that day in the doctor, but due to the length of this blog I will end it there. Nonetheless Julius had malaria, but he is doing great now! I now know how to take a child to the doctor in Uganda, except next time I will know their last name. When we got back to the home Deborah and Dennis were not feeling well. At this point I just felt so bad for Jay and Allen because we had so much to do that day and none of it got done and five of the kids got sick. This was life for them for the past few weeks so we felt the need to try and take a little load off. Also, when 17 children are involved, the word “plan” is not a part of their dictionary.

Tuesday we spent the day in the city trying to round up last minute things for the kids before they started school Wednesday. Yesterday was pretty low key. We had several meetings so our brains were fried, but we enjoyed spending time with the team from North Carolina. Today we slept in and went to eat at Good African Coffee, a taste of American food. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, dominating card games (Allen and I dominated Jay and Mason), and enjoying good conversations.

The Lord keeps reminding me to take everything a day at a time. For some reason I feel like it is easier to do that in America than here. Maybe it is because I feel the weight of having things planned for everyone everyday, which to an extent is good, but for one we’re in Africa (where plans are never made) and two I feel that there is a lot the Lord is leading us to do. My prayer is that no matter what the day brings, no matter how frustrating things may make me, no matter what the plan is, I need to set aside my desires, plans, and frustrations and seek out the decisions that will glorify the Lord the most. I desire discernment for decision -making, purity of the heart, and a humble mind. I am very anxious to learn right now and soak in everything. I pray that that eagerness will not fade and that patience and love will abound in my walk with Christ.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for Sozo as they seek the Lord for guidance and for the children that they know the love of Christ surrounds them. Visit sozochildren.org for updates on the orphanage.

1 Peter 3:8