God's blessings

Today has been a great day. It's just been one of those days where God seems to pour out his blessings even more abundantly than usual, and as a result, you can't help but give him thanks. These past few weeks have been really busy and filled with some bittersweet emotions. We've spent a lot of time with the Fouts soaking up every minute with them since they are leaving Uganda on Sunday. They've been here for 10 years and were part of the initial team that came here in 1997. Their commitment is up and now they are headed back to the states to start a life there. We had our team goodbye with them on Sunday, and it was a really hard night. It's incredible how close I've gotten to that family is just four months (also incredible that I've been here for 4 months...this time is going way too fast). It was hard to watch them pull away from their house in Mbarara on Monday knowing that we can't walk up the hill anymore for lunch or just to hang out. Thankfully we're headed to Kampala on Friday to spend the weekend with them before they leave. I'm really grateful for this time with them, but still dreading the goodbye on Sunday.

So in the midst of sadness and transitions, I'm especially grateful for a day like today. God is so real and alive here in Mbarara, and I thank him daily for bringing me here. I wish I could put into words the things he's teaching me. I wish you could all come and experience this, even for just a week (good news Mom, Dave, Morgan, and Jessica...you get to!) because this place will change you no matter what. I've seen him more clearly and in a more real than ever before these past few months, and it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the people that I've met here, the team I'm apart of, and the different kind of life that I'm experiencing here. It has to do with the fact that our God is bigger than anything and can get through to anyone, even a stubborn sinner like me.

Tonight was one of the best nights I've had since being in Uganda. For those of you that don't know, I'm now done teaching full-time. We have the next three weeks off of school, and then in late October we'll only be teaching part-time, which leaves us with more free time to start some other ministries that Desarae and I are both passionate about. One of the things I've been most excited about doing here is starting a Bible study with some of the girls in our hostel. Tonight was the first time we met and I want to share the joy of it with all of you.

It was supposed to start at 7:00, but of course with African time, we still had girls showing up at 7:45. We had five girls come tonight, Rachel, Angela, Rachel, Fiona, and Patience. Rachel showed up at 6:30, ate dinner with us, and then watched me make cookies. I made some cake mix cookies and she was amazed at how easy they were. She is a very strong Christian, and I can already tell that I'm going to learn a lot from her. She loves Christian music and we were talking about our favorite groups before everyone else got here. Sidenote: She couldn't believe it when we told her we've never met any member of Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, or Oprah. She was seriously in shock. We had to explain to her that America is huge and you don't see those people just walking down the street from day to day.

The night was just great. We explained to them our vision for the Bible study and talked about days and times. Then we just spent the rest of the time sharing our stories of how we came to know God. It was so encouraging to go so deep and be so real with these girls so quickly. They all opened up to us and shared their hearts in a real way. Angela's story is especially interesting because her family is from Rwanda and they moved to Uganda after surviving the genocide.

One of the coolest parts of the night was just seeing how similar we all are. Desarae and I grew up in America living with comforts that these girls will never know. Most of them probably grew up in a mud hut in a village somewhere in Uganda or Rwanda. Yet, at our core, we are all sinners and we all struggle with similar things. We're all saved only by God's grace and that is a connection that is so strong.

D-rae and I closed the door after they left and just smiled. Tonight made me come alive. This is my passion and this is why I came to Africa. Teaching the kids has been a blast and I've loved it, but I wanted to come here to interact with the Ugandans and hopefully share Jesus with them. These girls taught me more tonight than I could've ever imagined. I am so blessed to be surrounded by them, and I can't wait to see how God is going to move and work. Please continue to pray for our work and especially for new open doors here in our hostel. God is good and I'm so thankful to be his child.