We have returned. After 6 amazing weeks in Uganda we have finally landed back in the states, and we have so much to tell. Tonight we will be spending the night in Dallas, where tomorrow we will have our final End Meeting with Let's Start Talking in the mornign. Then, all of us except the Texan Sam will be boarding our flight to Oklahoma City, landing at around 5:35. You are more than welcome to greet us with our family and friends as we return home from spreading God's Word in Africa.
We cannot thank you all enough for you support and prayers, and we cannot wait to tell you all about what we have been able to witness God do through us during these past 40 days.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
We Don't Miss Our Families
Welp. Things have been going very well here! I'm not really sure how to describe our trip in a little post, but it's beautiful. I've gotten to see the sun rise and set everyday, except on the rainy days, but the sky just ends up reconciling itself with distant lightning. Not all of Africa is brown. It is very green here. The people are incredible. People laugh often and genuinely here. They just laugh when they're happy, not when someone cracks some wise remark. Everyone is very welcoming, very friendly, and eager to talk. Staying at the secondary school, we've gotten to have several reading sessions with the students. Many of these students have amazing stories and amazing faith in their Creator. I was told that over 50 of the students are orphans, but that does not hinder their love for Christ. After a reading session I had with one of the boys this morning, he told me "Wow, I love this. Can we start doing this all the time?" It is so wonderful to see that God truly is omnipresent, and that his love and his people are not just in America, Israel, or any one place. With two weeks left, we are cherishing our time here.
We love everyone who has been supporting us, especially our families (which includes many of our friends). We miss you dearly, but decided not to put it into the title so that you'd freak out and actually read our post.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The Point of No Return
We are halfway through our LST project in Uganda, and it has never been more amazing. Just this morning, David and I (Davis) took a walk around the villages and got to see the amazing sunrise over the mists and hills surrounding the compound. We are blessed to be able to see so much of God's beauty every single day we are here. Everything is green and lush, the dew and rains keeping everything vibrant, and we look out every day in awe of all that God has made.
The best view though is not from a hilltop, but from a bench, where I can see the love of God present in our conversations with each and every reader I have. I see the eager excitement of the villagers to read and learn more about the story of Jesus. The students are always ready to get to know us and give us millions of opportunities to show them how Christ is working in their lives. Even the teachers at the school are excited to read with us, and their English is impeccable; they come not to learn a language, but to learn about love.
Just this past week I was able to read with a teacher named Waiswa. He is so excited about the story of Jesus that we blow through the lessons. He not only is excited but understands what each lesson is about. After reading the second lesson, which is about Mary finding out she is pregnant, Waiswa said "What I learned from this is that God can do anything." That is his exact quote, and that is our exact Seed Thought we are supposed to help the reader understand. God was already working in Wiaswa's life and through the Bible so well that I wasn't even needed! He figured it out on his own. That shows the power of God's Word, and even the simplest story to us can have a powerful impact on those that may have never had the chance to read God's Word.
That is just one story out of the hundreds that all five of us have about how God has been working in the lives of our readers every day. We are so blessed to be out here spreading the Word of God and the story of Jesus. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support as we do God's will. Without you, we would never have had this wonderful opportunity to spread Jesus. God is using us in so many ways, many of which I am sure we are unaware. Continue to keep us in your prayers, and while we are halfway through (the titular "Point of No Return"), the best half is yet to come.
The best view though is not from a hilltop, but from a bench, where I can see the love of God present in our conversations with each and every reader I have. I see the eager excitement of the villagers to read and learn more about the story of Jesus. The students are always ready to get to know us and give us millions of opportunities to show them how Christ is working in their lives. Even the teachers at the school are excited to read with us, and their English is impeccable; they come not to learn a language, but to learn about love.
Just this past week I was able to read with a teacher named Waiswa. He is so excited about the story of Jesus that we blow through the lessons. He not only is excited but understands what each lesson is about. After reading the second lesson, which is about Mary finding out she is pregnant, Waiswa said "What I learned from this is that God can do anything." That is his exact quote, and that is our exact Seed Thought we are supposed to help the reader understand. God was already working in Wiaswa's life and through the Bible so well that I wasn't even needed! He figured it out on his own. That shows the power of God's Word, and even the simplest story to us can have a powerful impact on those that may have never had the chance to read God's Word.
That is just one story out of the hundreds that all five of us have about how God has been working in the lives of our readers every day. We are so blessed to be out here spreading the Word of God and the story of Jesus. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support as we do God's will. Without you, we would never have had this wonderful opportunity to spread Jesus. God is using us in so many ways, many of which I am sure we are unaware. Continue to keep us in your prayers, and while we are halfway through (the titular "Point of No Return"), the best half is yet to come.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Starting Week 3
This past week has been so full of good things! We started our reading sessions and we are all so excited about our readers! We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in the villages reading with people. On Saturday we read at the school with students and also had our first social event. Only a few people showed up, but that was in part because there was a wedding and a graduation going on in the villages. We played Pictionary and had so much fun! They really enjoyed trying to draw the pictures and learning some new English words. It was a great time to laugh and build up our relationships through sharing the love of God!
We received a few letters this past week from students that we have become close to. One girl, Phiona, wrote down her story for us. It was a sad story that involved a severe lack of love. She explained how much our love the past week had meant to her. This just showed us how God was using us and we didn't even know it. Phiona was in need of a good female role model. She had never really experienced the love of a mother or sister. Amber and I have been glad to show her how great a love of a sister can be! We also received a letter from a girl named Martha. Martha also expressed her love to us and how much she has been enjoying our friendship!
A young girl named Lydia came to me while I was having some quiet time. She handed me a letter telling me how excited she was about us teaching the gospel. She then asked me to read some verses she gave me. Later that day she asked if i could give her some verses to read! She was craving the Word and wanted some guidance. The next morning she came to me and she had written a letter telling me how much those simple verses had taught her and how much she love us all. Who would have thought that a few jotted down verses could have such an impact on a young girls life?
This hunger for God's Word is not only present in the students, but in the adults as well. The matron, Jackie, loves for us to guide her in her readings and then discuss it! Two of the directors, Sam and Robert, also want to study the Word with us! The need for the gospel is so apparent here! They want people who have knowledge of the Bible to come talk to them so bad! Even the villagers want to know more about the Bible!
On Sunday we went to Budoola Church of Christ with Dr. Cliff Ganus, his son (also Dr. Ganus) and Noel Whitlock. Dr. Ganus helps support this church and also the school that we are staying at. He is the Chancellor at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Noel is a pastor at a church on Searcy. They were great to talk to and were very excited about us staying at the school and working with the people in Jinja.
God has truly brought us here for a purpose. He is guiding us with every step. We pray that He continues to lead us into relationships with people and works on the hearts of all the people we meet.
Your Sister in Christ,
Danae
Monday, June 7, 2010
Gonza
This is Amber!
The past few days have been filled with a lot of events! On Saturday we went into Jinja town and watched the girls and boys from Harding Christian Academy play net ball and volleyball! They did very well! We are staying at a boarding school about 45min out of town on a hill with the best view in the world! On Sunday we went drove to Kamuli and went to a Church of Christ service there! The church is fairly new, but thriving well! They were very into preaching God's word! They were very much a learning church as well! We got the opportunity to witness 10 people give their lives to Christ! It was a great day! We also got to teach the children of the town many of our Sunday school/VBS songs! They loved it just as much as we did!! We are looking forward to having our information meeting this week and start reading! We ask that you pray for our future readers and that God can continue to use us!
In Him-Phil 4:13
Friday, June 4, 2010
Update from Jinja
Two initial apologies:
1. This is Sam, not Danae
2. This will be short, due to time
Alright so we're here and getting in the swing of things in Uganda. So far, so good. We have enjoyed learning and adjusting to the culture here and are doing better at those each day. We are staying at a school so we get to spend time with the kids and interact with them. We are all extremely excited to start reading with people next week. It has been a great project so far and it is truthfully just getting started.
We appreciate all of your prayers and concerns and we are thankful for all of you. We ask that you continue to pray, not just for us but for the readers and the churches here.
God bless!
-Sam
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Arrival
We made it to the month of June! Oh, and we're in Uganda. This is DaviS, not DaviD, if you couldn't tell.
But, we made it safe. Our plane flights were long and tiring, though we didn't really get much sleep on them. We arrived in Entebbe airport at 7 or so at night. Grace was there to pick us up and we went to a hotel and stayed the night there. We were in huts! It was awesome. I definitely felt like I was in Africa, as if actually being in Africa wasn't enough.
We woke up this morning and drove to Kampala, the capital, and got to see the missionaries in the Kampala church. We even saw another LST team that we met at GO Weekend there! It was great to see some familiar faces and talk to them about their experience so far.
We just ate lunch, and are now in an internet cafe updating our blog (obviously) and sending emails to our families. We'll be on our way soon to Jinja, where we will actually be for most of our time here. It's only been 2 days, and I have so much more to say! Don't worry, I won't bore you much longer. It's weird to think that we already have all these great stories and experiences, and we haven't even really arrived at our city where we'll be doing our LST work. God has already blessed us with a great missionary, Grace, who's very helpful and good to talk to. I know the next 6 weeks are going to be amazing, and can't wait to tell you guys all about it.
Please pray for our information meeting, where we will meet our readers for the first time on Thursday, and pray that our first meetings with readers in actual sessions goes well also.
But, we made it safe. Our plane flights were long and tiring, though we didn't really get much sleep on them. We arrived in Entebbe airport at 7 or so at night. Grace was there to pick us up and we went to a hotel and stayed the night there. We were in huts! It was awesome. I definitely felt like I was in Africa, as if actually being in Africa wasn't enough.
We woke up this morning and drove to Kampala, the capital, and got to see the missionaries in the Kampala church. We even saw another LST team that we met at GO Weekend there! It was great to see some familiar faces and talk to them about their experience so far.
We just ate lunch, and are now in an internet cafe updating our blog (obviously) and sending emails to our families. We'll be on our way soon to Jinja, where we will actually be for most of our time here. It's only been 2 days, and I have so much more to say! Don't worry, I won't bore you much longer. It's weird to think that we already have all these great stories and experiences, and we haven't even really arrived at our city where we'll be doing our LST work. God has already blessed us with a great missionary, Grace, who's very helpful and good to talk to. I know the next 6 weeks are going to be amazing, and can't wait to tell you guys all about it.
Please pray for our information meeting, where we will meet our readers for the first time on Thursday, and pray that our first meetings with readers in actual sessions goes well also.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
