Day 3

June 12, 2012

So today's another day in Uganda!

This morning we got up early, ate nreakfast, and got to the AIDS clinic by 8 am.

We sang with them all and after that LaDelle shared some encouragement through a translator.

One lady raised her hand when he asked if anyone wanted to accept Jesus as their Savior!

How exciting!

They prayed for/with her and she was so happy.

Praise the Lord!

From there we went with Prossy to the hospital wards to go around to pray for people and sing.

That was such a blessing for so many people!

There were so many sick and in pain, and they were so blessed to

have someone take the time to come visit them.

We then came back for lunch and Andrew, Madison, Allison, and I headed back over for another wonderful afternoon at Sanyu.

I got to help diaper and dress them when they awoke from their naps and took baths.

How sweet.

I cannot describe how precious it was to dress about ten naked black babies.

I will remember it forever. Even the feel of their soft skin.

I got to dress Catherine and after that I just held her all day.

(I would love to share pictures of her, but am not allowed to post them at this time.)

How sweet baby Cathy is!

She is so happy all the time and just loves to smile.

After we left Sanyu at about 5 pm we hurried back

to the Guesthouse for the Celebrating Hearts dinner.

It is a dinner our team from the US holds every year for the nurses at Mengo Hospital.

They all enjoy it so much!

It is a time for them to come and relax and just enjoy being with friends.

That was a lot of fun. And the Ugandans entertained us about the entire time!

They sang, danced, acted out a skit, and read poems.

 

Some things that I am so blessed by these people is their hearts to genuinely

want to worship and praise their Creator.

It sometimes makes me feel ashamed.

Is Jesus ALL I have and care about?

Would I do absolutely anything for Him?

Of course all of us would say yes...

But really?

Jesus really IS ALL they have.

They don't really have all those other little distractions we do to distract them from hard life.

The other night after we played some music one of the ladies got up

and said how she and everyone else was blessesd by us being there.

How us coming helped reignite their fire and passion. WOW.

No! It was SO the other way around!

I really do feel so unworthy to be here and around all these people.

I feel so selfish and spoiled.

Such a blessing this is.

To me.

 

Day 2

 -June 11, 2012-

We had to be over at Mengo Chapel by 8 AM for morning worship.
Then after the service we practiced music for a few hours before lunch.
Everyone else (The non-musicians) spread out to do various thngs.
Dad, JD, Corey, and Dicky started the floors in the children's ward today. 
Mr. Brent and all the medical people with us had a lecture with the nurses.

We then headed back up the hill to lunch.

The food has been very good!

It has, for the most part, been pretty much the same for every meal,

but there is a little variety in some things.

We always have rice, some type of meat (chicken, fish or goat),
Mutooke (a very starchy mashed dish made from very green bananas),
a coleslaw type of thing,potatoes (usually fried in chunks),
ebijonjaro (ground nut/peanut sauce).

And we always have a lot of fruit. Usually pineapple and watermelon.
And they always have sodas in glass bottles.

(a Ugandan grasshopper)

(a common site.. a snack-shack)

Some of the guys then started working on refinishing the Childrens ward's floors.
Madison, Allison, Corey, and I then headed down to Sanyu Babies Home for the first time.


Wow. What an amazing experience.
We got there and all the children were still having their nap times.
So we helped hang and sort laundry, organize a school room, etc.
When they woke up we went to a pavilion outside to meet them.

Most of the time I stayed on the mat holding babies and little kids
and trying to comfort the ones who were sad.
All the children were so precious and it was extremely hard to leave for the afternoon.

One little girl was brought in by the police today.
She was tiny, but they didn't know exactly how old she was.
She appeared to be around 1 year, but was guessed to be about 2
because of the amount of teeth she had.
She was completly malnurished... just about skin and bones.
And had little to no physical strength at all.
She would respond to no one.
Not by touch or speach.
Neither did she express anything. She didn't even cry.

Her name was Beatrice.

(more about Beatrice is saved for a future post.)


After we left the Home for that afternoon,
we had another worship time at the hospital chapel.
That was so much fun!
Lots of dancing, laughing, clapping, and traditional African praise to the Lord!

{And there you have day two... in Uganda, Africa}

Praise the Lord!