testimony.

Today was a good day.

We visited primary schools all day and we acted out the story of Daniel and the Lions Den for the kids and told a quick message to tie up the story.  The kids were very attentive and laughed at all the right parts.  

The first primary school we went to was at the top of an extremely high hill, I would venture to call it a mountain.  The drive up to the top of this "mountain" was SO scary.  All along the way were stone quarries, so women were crushing stones next to these giant canyons that had been carved out over time to get more stone.  This made the drive really scary because the road had been thinned out as the stone quarry carved away more stone.  Our van was constantly tipping at approximately a 30 degree angle, and all I could see was a giant cliff that we could have rolled into.  It was heartbreaking to watch the old women, their bodies covered in wrinkles, their skin seemingly draped over their muscles, standing in the heat of the Ugandan sun cracking rocks.  The women here are incredibly strong.  

Needless to say, I was grateful when we finally arrived at the school.  I was even more impressed when I stepped out of the van and saw the incredible view of Uganda from this place.  It is hard to explain it in words, and even the pictures I took don't fully capture the beauty of this country.  We could see all the way from Kampala to Lake Victoria.  It was incredible.  

After we talked with the kids in class, we paired up in groups of 4 consisting of 3 foreign volunteers and 1 Ugandan volunteer.  We each took some of the kids from their classes and asked them to bring us to their home.  The plan was that we were to evangelize to their parents.  The first home we reached was really awkward.  There was one man who was born-again, and his two sister-in-laws were Catholic, but not born-again.  We asked if they wanted to hear what we had to say and they said they did.  We told them the story of Jesus Christ, and they seemed to be in a daze.  They barely said one word except that they were nervous as to what their friends would think if they did commit their lives to Christ.  However, as we were about to leave, they asked us to pray for them because they wanted to accept Christ.  This was so hard though, because they did not seem to really get it.  I still don't know how I feel about evangelizing.  However, we went to the second child's home and it was SUCH an incredible blessing.  After we got to know her a little bit, she told us that she was a born-again Christian.  We were talking a little bit with her (which takes a lot longer here when it needs to be translated), and one of the volunteers I was with asked her if she would be willing to tell us her testimony of how she came to know Christ.  She said she would, and it was so simple and beautiful.  It was such a testimony speaking through God's perfect provision in even the simplest ways.  She said that she met a man when she was young who was already married, but he took her on as another wife.  She became pregnant with her child and he decided to leave her.  He was also mentally impaired, so he later ended up in a mental institution, which is where he is now.  She ended up finding a house to rent, and gave birth to her daughter Pennina.  She tried for years to do everything herself, get food, water, clothes, school fees for her daughter, but it was too much for her.  People were getting tired of doing favors for her, and she knew she couldn't do it on her own.  She asked Jesus into her heart when she realized she needed help running her life.  Since then, she said she praises God for all He has provided her because He has been nothing but faithful to her.  Every day He would provide food and water for her and her daughter.  She was gifted with money anonymously that would be used to pay her daughter's school fees, and then this year, the school decided to give her daughter a scholarship and her daughter now goes to school basically for free.  She said she continues to thank God for all He has done, though she still asks that she would be able to buy her own land and have her own house for her daughter and herself.  She said she is not interested anymore in any relationships with men because of her last failed relationship, but that she feels God calling her to simply care for her daughter.  

It was so amazing to see God's handiwork in even the most desperate of situations.  I felt like I was listening to a story that has been written in the Bible, of God seeing the needs of the poor and providing for His children once they have acknowledged Him as Lord.  Mmmm.  I want to remember that moment forever.  We prayed with her before we left, asking Him for provision with a house and I know He will be faithful to her.  She thanked us for encouraging her in the Lord and blessed us on our journey.  

We then went to another primary school, and the kids were AWESOME!  Oh my word, they were so crazy.  They saw the van with all the mzungus come in and started screaming and dancing.  I could barely step out of the van because about 12 kids came running hugging my legs and my waist.  About four little girls went after my hands to hold as we walked up to greet the headmaster.  We repeated the Daniel in the Lions Den skit, and the kids loved it.  It was so great.  Something that was heartbreaking however, was seeing a little 10-year-old girl carrying her baby sister on her hip.  We were singing and dancing with them, and she was not able to join because she had to hold her sister.  I offered to hold her during the praise and worship, and you could just see the joy on this girls face.  She was able to join with the other kids in just being a kid.  These girls I see everywhere, taking care of their sisters, these are the ones that just break my heart.  They truly are older than their years out of necessity and it makes me sad that they have been forced into a life that does not fulfill the needs of a child.  

The girl, Lydia, from Kyambogo has been calling one of the volunteers cell phones looking for me, I am eager to see her again and hear what she has to say.  

As a brief end to my message, I love this team!  The people here are wonderful and I know many of these friendships will last.  I am also very excited because there is a girl here who I have grown very close to who is from Bristol, England.  She has already said that while I am in France next Spring I can visit her and she will show me around the UK.  

Each day I am falling more and more in love with this place, these people, and my Jesus.