“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:1-2
Yes, it’s true…Kampala is my new home for the next 8 months. My hotel room offers quite the view. I find it cozy, and I am almost used to the sound of the traffic, the seemingly hundreds of frogs that awaken at night to sing, and the rooster that wakes up the neighbourhood at 4:00 am. But, I have yet to become accustomed to the eerie laugh of the Eastern Grey Plantain-Eater, the squawk of the Hadada (think irritating crow :), and the neighbour’s dog that whines excessively. Anyways, below is a brief overview of my past few days…
*I arrived in Kampala early on Sunday morning, and we drove straight to the hotel so that I could change for church. Jim (the pastor I am serving under) was preaching in a slum church that morning, and we were already a little late. My favorite part about the service was when the Sunday school class sang a song to welcome us visitors to their “churchee”. It was beautiful. After the three hour service, I shook more hands than when I was in the receiving line at a wedding. I felt very welcomed there.
* Luke (another volunteer from Canada) and I went to the day shelter for the street boys. I had learnt just the day before that these boys were older than I had expected, ranging from 9 to 18. I was a bit nervous about this…yet, despite that and my exhaustion from jet lag, it was a great time. I spent the majority of the morning talking, laughing and playing games with four boys – Awali and his little “brother” Abraham, Fred and Joseph. They even prodded me to sing to them and to tell them a story. I told my abridged version of Max Lucado’s “You are Special”. If you haven’t read it, you should. It is an amazing story about the love of “Eli” or “Mugezi” (wise) for those he had created, despite their faults or how others viewed them. They listened intently, their faces openly echoing the pain and joy experienced by “Musiro” (stupid), the main character. When I finished, I asked them who they thought Mugezi was. Yes…it was God. Amazed that they had caught this correlation, I asked them who they thought Musiro was. They were silent then chuckled when I said it was us who were Musiro…stupid. Isn’t it true though? We all do stupid things; we steal, we disobey, and we are unkind to others…yet Mugezi still loves us. They understood, and I was humbled. Oh that you could have seen their faces… I pray that they would know Mugezi’s deep love for them.
* I rested and visited with Kappy (Jim’s wife). The change in time and altitude are taking a while to adjust to. The loneliness also set in on Tuesday, but God was faithful to provide some encouragement through a knock at my door and a card delivered from Kappy. He is with me, and I am very thankful. I also began my language lessons. Luganda is a beautiful language and I am hopeful that I will learn to speak it with some ease.
***Wanting to pray? *I have only been with the boys for one day so far, but I do pray that they will know God’s love and that reconciliation with their families would be possible. *For myself: That my heart would hurt as God’s does for his people here in Uganda, for my personal safety and for that of my belongings (more that I would learn to leave these things in God’s hands instead of worrying about them), and for what looks to be a problem with bugs in my bed. Not sure what kind they are…but they sure like to nibble on me.
Don’t worry…every blog shouldn’t be this long (although I am not making any promises). It’s just that my journal and my computer are two of my closest companions right now; they never get tired of listening, so I forget that you may. Thanks for reading the parts that you do.
Friday, November 14, 2008
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3 comments:
Erin, I am so proud of you. Thanks for writing and sharing your journey with us. I was smiling while reading it, just thinking about the person you are and how perfectly you must fit in there. Give yourself some grace and time. Adapting will take awhile. I have been praying and thinking about you so much. When I saw the 3 pictures you posted of your arrival it brought tears to my eyes. I miss you dearly and am so happy for you. Keep posting, don't apologize for long blogs. I love them. And can't wait for the next update!
HUGS & KISSES, miss you my beautiful friend
Thanks Shell. I appreciate your kind words, thoughts and prayers. I miss you too! And thanks for reading my blog; it means a lot to me to have you along on my journey. Love to you dear friend.
Erin!! It's so good to read these. =) A 3 hour service?! Oh man! Did you understand any of it? I would have been so tired with the jet lag and all...I probably would have fallen asleep and therefore gotten zero handshakes. Miss you!
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