I went to pick out something to wear the other morning from my "closet" (AKA a shelf...I've got one shelf of my own in a cabinet to store all of my stuff). Obviously I was very limited on the amount of clothes I could take with me for this 5 month trip! I'm now craving some VARIETY in my wardrobe. Then, I began to wonder why. Why did I want variety??? The Western world REALLY gives us variety...too much variety, if I might say, we abuse variety!! Seriously, how many different brands of peanut butter do we need...or scents of perfumes/lotions...or types of cars...or different brands of tomato sauce??? However, I believe God built us to embrace variety, he wired us to want/desire variety. Look how many types of animals and BUGS He made...types of spiritual gifts...types of people and nationalities He created, etc. Back to my wardrobe variety craving issue :) Soooo has the Western world corrupted me or am I just wanting to embrace how the Lord made me? One thing's for sure, I'm certainly NOT going out to buy clothes to satisfy this variety craving...I've been blessed with more than I need :)
However, we get a VARIETY of ministry activities here in Uganda...it's awesome!!! We do everything from visiting HIV affected families and hospital ministry (which I've blogged about before), doing random street ministry, school ministry, serving in churches every Sunday, playing sports in kids orphanages every Saturday, getting classroom teachings by pastors every week, attending small group in a Ugandan home every week, working at baby orphanages, prison ministry (which my group hasn't done yet), building projects, devotions, random ministry in the slums, some nights the international team has a time of worship when we get home (one of the guys plays guitar and rocks!!), and sooooo much more!!! Lots and lots and lots of variety here, I LOVE IT!!
Also, meeting a VARIETY of people and truly making amazing connections!! I uploaded just a couple pics to show you just a few of them (it takes forever to upload pics here) :) They are on the right hand side and below I've tried to briefly explain who the people are :)
1. This is Martha, who I wrote about several blogs ago. She's one of ushers at the church that I'm assigned to serve at every Sunday. I LOVE all the ushers there...but Martha and I had a unique, instant bond!! If you ever want to catch a glipse of me freely singing and dancing for my Jesus, you can find both Martha and I every Sunday at all 3 services :)
2. There are about 12-15 people that I'm "super-close" with that are a part of the 360 program with me, and here's 4 of them:
Kiara- just graduated law school!! She has such a witty sense of humor, very wise, and very mature. We have extremely similar spiritual giftings and I just love hanging out with her!!
"Tall Brian"- (who is not pictured yet but def worth mentioning)is soooo sweet!! I love talking to him and getting to know him more. If I ever have free time, I'm always hunting him down to learn more about him and his life. Humble, pure love for the Lord, rough life, but unbelievably well-mannered and grateful, and giving. He is also giving me Luganda lessons everyday! :)
"The other Brian"- who IS pictured here, looking all GQ (I yelled at him for not smiling showing his teeth because he has a beautiful smile), but he's soooo personable...has a real gift to talk to anyone and everyone. Spiritually mature and just an all around cool guy- so fun to be around!
Mercy-is drawn to me and I'm drawn to her! She's a very special woman of God, and has a true hunger for the Lord!! She's passionate, loves the Lord with everything she's got, very mature, sweet as can be, and any break we get during class...she's finds me, pulls up a chair and asks me to start sharing with her. When I ask her what she wants me to share...she's says, it doesn't mater...a verse, a word of knowledge, discuss something with her, she needs some help understanding a scripture, or sometimes she wants me to share about my missions experiences (Mercy has a desire to reach the nations!). It's unbelievable how the Lord connected us and the depth we have gotten to in this short time period!!! AMAZING relationship!!
3. Sue- meet one of the internationals (one of my 3 roomies)!! She's 30, an engineer, and from Switzerland. Sue and I have connected A LOT, likely due to the closeness in age. We have spent many evenings alone together on our little cabana thingie outside discussing things! Sue's a new believer-just came to the Lord about 8 months ago! Love her enthusiasm and passion...it's contagious :) We've spent evenings talking about the Lord, diving into scripture, talking about dreams, talking about our past and how far the Lord has brought us...but most nights are spent in deep discussions about the Lord!! She recently told me that often she watches me....she sees when I get up a little early to read the Word...when I slip away to be by myself to pray...when I journal...when I slip away to pray some more...I just do them, having no idea anyone is actually watching me...but she told me that it reminds her to go read the Word or to pray more often. So, this is a wake-up-call, be aware...you never know when people (especially new believers) might be observing/watching you!! I love Sue and there's a bond that has formed that will never be broken :) She's an amazing person and it's just incredible watching her blossom over here :)
Sorry this blog was a bit longer! Thanks for reading and keeping in touch!!
Love you all!!
Living to Glorify Him,
Michelle
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The more we fall in love with Jesus, the more we will fall in love with His People
I usually try to post a blog every Monday, sorry this one is a bit late...but I really got knocked down for a couple days...BAD...they thought it was malaria and were going to take me to the clinic to get tested, but suddenly last night the symptoms disappeared-I do believe in the power of prayer!! I'm actually up out of bed again...look out Uganda....I'm baaacckkk ;) Dr Vega, if you read this blog, I'm going to email you exactly what happened to me and how quickly the onset of my symptoms came, VERY weird, maybe you can figure out this mysterious African sickness I got??!!
The title of this blog is what I was led to pray one day this past week...seems simple, but it's profoundly true...think a minute about it! I'm falling more and more in love with Jesus and as I do, I begin to have an overwhelming love for His People! You would think the culture differences and language barrier would hinder and keep us and the Ugandans divided...it's completely the opposite!! I love these people! I love getting to know more and more about them, their culture, their lifestyle, their past, etc (and they love learning about me). It's amazing the tight-knit bonds that are being woven together by Him!
Last blog I told you we were visiting some HIV affected families. I'm going to spend this blog telling you a bit about the experience because it REALLY impacted me this past week!! (I dislike that I can only chose one main thing to write about each blog because of space limitations and respecting your time!). We saw 3 families. The first family literally lived in the slums, but graciously welcomed us into the home. All 11 of us gathered into her little bedroom. A single mother with HIV who has 5 children, but only 1 child actually living at home with her. The entire family was Muslim, but openly welcomed us in to fellowship, sing some worship songs, and pray with them. (Out of the 11 people on the team, there were 2 internationals, so thankfully the other Ugandans on the team interpreted for us...we are such a tight-knit family, I'm telling you!!) The second family also lived in a slum. This was a little 3 year old girl with HIV who was abandoned on a doorstep of a woman. The woman is a strong Christian who has been running a "day care" out of her home and this is where the child was left...and where she still resides. This woman is now providing full-time care for her. Precious, precious, precious little girl!! I got to hold her (she's very tiny for her age) and she just nestled right into my arms :) But it was the final home that impacted me the most. A 17 year old boy with HIV who lives with his uncle because both of his parents are dead. He was extremely cachectic (frail-looking), recently been hospitalized for nausea/vomiting, extremely weak, losing hope for living, has no friends, and is not saved (not a born-again Christian). However, this boy touched my heart...he's someone special...he seriously has one of the brightest, most beautiful smiles I've seen in my life (I'm not kidding you)!! Sweet demeanor, precious kid! God gave me a little something special to speak to him (which had to be translated into Luganda so he could understand)...but I trust he got it and pray that it blessed him! My group put me on the spot and asked me to pray (you all know how much I do NOT like being put on the spot, hehe) but the words just flowed out...the Holy Spirit really moved (the prayer blessed me too!) After we left, didn't talk much of the ride home...or for the rest of the night...couldn't get his face and precious smile our of my mind! Still praying for his health and salvation! Already been placed on my heart to find a Bible in Luganda to bring to him next time! We'll see him, along with the other 2 families, again in one month!
PS You will be happy to know that us girls have now decided to start naming the bugs we find in our room too! Except, we wanted to be "fruitful" and therefore are naming them the "Fruits of the Spirit"(Gal 5:22-23). So now you will hear comments like, "The bathroom is all yours, but watch out because "peace" is running around on the wall"..."Oh no, I think we lost "kindness"...wait, did you lose "kindness" or did you kill "kindness". It's hilarious!! Gotta love us! There's such a special connection developing between the international team, it's wonderful...a connection that will last a life-time!!
PSS The international team is working on an extra "after hours" drama skit! We are pumped up and excited about it!! Don't know when/how it's going to be used, but practicing hard..all to glorify God and bring people to Christ! I'll keep you posted and will be sure to videotape the final production!
PSSS Many of you have been asking for more pictures to be posted...I'm working on it :) The problem is that it takes forever to upload pics here in Africa and I have to use other people's camera's because I can't seem to find my camera-computer cord, hehe!
Ok, have to run to "cell group" which is small group...yep, we get to attend small group in an African home with all Ugandans...too cool AND the cell leader in my home "just happens" to be a local physician!!!
Thanks for your continued support, prayers, and love!!!
Until next week....
In His Amazing Grace,
Michelle
The title of this blog is what I was led to pray one day this past week...seems simple, but it's profoundly true...think a minute about it! I'm falling more and more in love with Jesus and as I do, I begin to have an overwhelming love for His People! You would think the culture differences and language barrier would hinder and keep us and the Ugandans divided...it's completely the opposite!! I love these people! I love getting to know more and more about them, their culture, their lifestyle, their past, etc (and they love learning about me). It's amazing the tight-knit bonds that are being woven together by Him!
Last blog I told you we were visiting some HIV affected families. I'm going to spend this blog telling you a bit about the experience because it REALLY impacted me this past week!! (I dislike that I can only chose one main thing to write about each blog because of space limitations and respecting your time!). We saw 3 families. The first family literally lived in the slums, but graciously welcomed us into the home. All 11 of us gathered into her little bedroom. A single mother with HIV who has 5 children, but only 1 child actually living at home with her. The entire family was Muslim, but openly welcomed us in to fellowship, sing some worship songs, and pray with them. (Out of the 11 people on the team, there were 2 internationals, so thankfully the other Ugandans on the team interpreted for us...we are such a tight-knit family, I'm telling you!!) The second family also lived in a slum. This was a little 3 year old girl with HIV who was abandoned on a doorstep of a woman. The woman is a strong Christian who has been running a "day care" out of her home and this is where the child was left...and where she still resides. This woman is now providing full-time care for her. Precious, precious, precious little girl!! I got to hold her (she's very tiny for her age) and she just nestled right into my arms :) But it was the final home that impacted me the most. A 17 year old boy with HIV who lives with his uncle because both of his parents are dead. He was extremely cachectic (frail-looking), recently been hospitalized for nausea/vomiting, extremely weak, losing hope for living, has no friends, and is not saved (not a born-again Christian). However, this boy touched my heart...he's someone special...he seriously has one of the brightest, most beautiful smiles I've seen in my life (I'm not kidding you)!! Sweet demeanor, precious kid! God gave me a little something special to speak to him (which had to be translated into Luganda so he could understand)...but I trust he got it and pray that it blessed him! My group put me on the spot and asked me to pray (you all know how much I do NOT like being put on the spot, hehe) but the words just flowed out...the Holy Spirit really moved (the prayer blessed me too!) After we left, didn't talk much of the ride home...or for the rest of the night...couldn't get his face and precious smile our of my mind! Still praying for his health and salvation! Already been placed on my heart to find a Bible in Luganda to bring to him next time! We'll see him, along with the other 2 families, again in one month!
PS You will be happy to know that us girls have now decided to start naming the bugs we find in our room too! Except, we wanted to be "fruitful" and therefore are naming them the "Fruits of the Spirit"(Gal 5:22-23). So now you will hear comments like, "The bathroom is all yours, but watch out because "peace" is running around on the wall"..."Oh no, I think we lost "kindness"...wait, did you lose "kindness" or did you kill "kindness". It's hilarious!! Gotta love us! There's such a special connection developing between the international team, it's wonderful...a connection that will last a life-time!!
PSS The international team is working on an extra "after hours" drama skit! We are pumped up and excited about it!! Don't know when/how it's going to be used, but practicing hard..all to glorify God and bring people to Christ! I'll keep you posted and will be sure to videotape the final production!
PSSS Many of you have been asking for more pictures to be posted...I'm working on it :) The problem is that it takes forever to upload pics here in Africa and I have to use other people's camera's because I can't seem to find my camera-computer cord, hehe!
Ok, have to run to "cell group" which is small group...yep, we get to attend small group in an African home with all Ugandans...too cool AND the cell leader in my home "just happens" to be a local physician!!!
Thanks for your continued support, prayers, and love!!!
Until next week....
In His Amazing Grace,
Michelle
Monday, February 8, 2010
It's already been ONE month!!
Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thes 5:16-18
Ever realized how difficult it is to live this verse out in your own life?? Well, I sure do! I always say be careful what verses you choose to memorize, meditate on, preach, teach, etc...because you will have to live them out yourself :) I just committed this verse to memory at the beginning of last week, and I've encountered situation after situation this past week not only to memorize and speak this verse, but to LIVE this verse! Trust me, it's not easy to live this verse...especially when you are on the mission field!!!
I want to focus my blog this week on our hospital visits. We go every Friday afternoon to a large, local public hospital. I will refrain from writing the graphic details, but try to give you the best visual picture that I can! When you walk onto a unit, there are usually 8 beds in each little section. The windows are open, because there is no air conditioning and the only way to keep the sun from shining on the patients is if the family members bring in a blanket from home and stick it in the window, to act as a curtain. They don't supply bed sheets to place on the rusty hospital beds...so if your family members don't bring any in, you don't have sheets or pillows. The nurses and doctors are a rare sight. After talking with several people, apparently the care works on a bribe system. In order to get nurses to actually care for you, you must bribe them with money?!?! No money=no good care!! It's unbelievable. I watched people hollering and grimacing in pain, who were not tended to...it took everything within me not to go back to the nurses station and start handing out the meds myself!! (We actually went and asked the nurse for some help with a patient and she said she would be over...the next thing we see is her changing out of her uniform because her shift was over and leaving...). The family members are the ones expected to come take care of the sick patients. They usually bring a mat and sit on the floor beside the patient's bed. This is where we go and visit...we sit on the floor and visit with the family. Some have been in the hospital for months and months...literally sleeping on a mat on the floor beside their sick family members. Oh yeah, no food is provided to the patients, so the family member must provide that too. I won't even go into the detail about the patient bathroom...seriously it was one of the most disgusting bathrooms that I've ever stepped foot in...and it's in a hospital!! Soooo, on Friday afternoons after leaving the hospital, I'm extremely emotionally exhausted!! It's very difficult, especially for me, to walk through this hospital!! I do always leave there blessed though. Many of the family members have a strong faith and are bright lights there :) One thing that I love is that we are not rushed when we go there...we can sit down and spend 45-60 minutes talking with just one family...it's awesome!! Then, when we go back the following week, I try to go back and see that same family again (just to say hello and see if there has been any progress). Overall I LOVE the hospital visits, they are just emotionally and spiritually draining to me, especially when meditating on 1 Thes 5:16-18.
PS Yesterday I served as an usher for 3 services at one of the Watoto district churches (not at their main campus). Their usher team ROCKS!!! The last song that played was "Do it Lord" by Tommy Walker. It's a really powerful, prophetic song...I just LOVE IT!! Well, one of the ushers that I was working with, Martha, is just amazing...we bonded right away! She is completely full of joy and the light of Jesus Christ shines soooo brightly in her...you can't help but smile when you are around her! Well, we were standing in the back of our section when this song came on...totally cutting up dancing, singing, laughing, playing imaginary air-drums, etc. We were proclaiming and declaring and praying all the words to this song, while freely dancing and having a blast!! This is the first time, in a while...that I've been free to "dance like David" in public!! It was awesome and sooo freeing. The "fear of man" totally melted off me...I didn't care what anyone thought about us (though noone was likely paying attention to us because of where we were standing)...I didn't care if anyone saw us because we were dancing and singing before our King! Sooooo fun....I can't wait to see Martha next week :)
Lots more going on...played volleyball with some village girls and have bruises up and down my arms to prove it :) Met a woman from St Pete, FL who is in town giving a big conference here!! Had to memorize 30 verses in Psalms...anyone wanna hear them?? Learning awesome new songs that I've never heard!! Taught a class on HIV/AIDS (thanks Dr Vega for getting me the hand-out so quickly!). Learning a little bit of Luganda (one of the main languages spoken here) everyday! Going to see 3 HIV affected families tomorrow (one has a mother with HIV, one has a 3 year old with HIV, and one has a newly diagnosed 17 year old with HIV).
Now I'm going to go hand-wash my clothes outside literally with a bucket and water/soap...boy do I miss washing machines!
Love you all and miss you!!
In His Love,
Michelle
1 Thes 5:16-18
Ever realized how difficult it is to live this verse out in your own life?? Well, I sure do! I always say be careful what verses you choose to memorize, meditate on, preach, teach, etc...because you will have to live them out yourself :) I just committed this verse to memory at the beginning of last week, and I've encountered situation after situation this past week not only to memorize and speak this verse, but to LIVE this verse! Trust me, it's not easy to live this verse...especially when you are on the mission field!!!
I want to focus my blog this week on our hospital visits. We go every Friday afternoon to a large, local public hospital. I will refrain from writing the graphic details, but try to give you the best visual picture that I can! When you walk onto a unit, there are usually 8 beds in each little section. The windows are open, because there is no air conditioning and the only way to keep the sun from shining on the patients is if the family members bring in a blanket from home and stick it in the window, to act as a curtain. They don't supply bed sheets to place on the rusty hospital beds...so if your family members don't bring any in, you don't have sheets or pillows. The nurses and doctors are a rare sight. After talking with several people, apparently the care works on a bribe system. In order to get nurses to actually care for you, you must bribe them with money?!?! No money=no good care!! It's unbelievable. I watched people hollering and grimacing in pain, who were not tended to...it took everything within me not to go back to the nurses station and start handing out the meds myself!! (We actually went and asked the nurse for some help with a patient and she said she would be over...the next thing we see is her changing out of her uniform because her shift was over and leaving...). The family members are the ones expected to come take care of the sick patients. They usually bring a mat and sit on the floor beside the patient's bed. This is where we go and visit...we sit on the floor and visit with the family. Some have been in the hospital for months and months...literally sleeping on a mat on the floor beside their sick family members. Oh yeah, no food is provided to the patients, so the family member must provide that too. I won't even go into the detail about the patient bathroom...seriously it was one of the most disgusting bathrooms that I've ever stepped foot in...and it's in a hospital!! Soooo, on Friday afternoons after leaving the hospital, I'm extremely emotionally exhausted!! It's very difficult, especially for me, to walk through this hospital!! I do always leave there blessed though. Many of the family members have a strong faith and are bright lights there :) One thing that I love is that we are not rushed when we go there...we can sit down and spend 45-60 minutes talking with just one family...it's awesome!! Then, when we go back the following week, I try to go back and see that same family again (just to say hello and see if there has been any progress). Overall I LOVE the hospital visits, they are just emotionally and spiritually draining to me, especially when meditating on 1 Thes 5:16-18.
PS Yesterday I served as an usher for 3 services at one of the Watoto district churches (not at their main campus). Their usher team ROCKS!!! The last song that played was "Do it Lord" by Tommy Walker. It's a really powerful, prophetic song...I just LOVE IT!! Well, one of the ushers that I was working with, Martha, is just amazing...we bonded right away! She is completely full of joy and the light of Jesus Christ shines soooo brightly in her...you can't help but smile when you are around her! Well, we were standing in the back of our section when this song came on...totally cutting up dancing, singing, laughing, playing imaginary air-drums, etc. We were proclaiming and declaring and praying all the words to this song, while freely dancing and having a blast!! This is the first time, in a while...that I've been free to "dance like David" in public!! It was awesome and sooo freeing. The "fear of man" totally melted off me...I didn't care what anyone thought about us (though noone was likely paying attention to us because of where we were standing)...I didn't care if anyone saw us because we were dancing and singing before our King! Sooooo fun....I can't wait to see Martha next week :)
Lots more going on...played volleyball with some village girls and have bruises up and down my arms to prove it :) Met a woman from St Pete, FL who is in town giving a big conference here!! Had to memorize 30 verses in Psalms...anyone wanna hear them?? Learning awesome new songs that I've never heard!! Taught a class on HIV/AIDS (thanks Dr Vega for getting me the hand-out so quickly!). Learning a little bit of Luganda (one of the main languages spoken here) everyday! Going to see 3 HIV affected families tomorrow (one has a mother with HIV, one has a 3 year old with HIV, and one has a newly diagnosed 17 year old with HIV).
Now I'm going to go hand-wash my clothes outside literally with a bucket and water/soap...boy do I miss washing machines!
Love you all and miss you!!
In His Love,
Michelle
Monday, February 1, 2010
The bugs...the heat...the unforgettable beats...
I can't believe it's only been one week since I last blogged; it feels like a month! I hope everyone is wonderful!! Although I'm hundreds of miles away, God prompts me to pray for certain people at certain times...I hold each of you in my heart :)
THE BUGS...well, there is a big difference between the guys and girls room :) The guys claim they have lots of "pets" and have simply started to name them all (they really do name them and keep track of them all!) In the girls room...you will frequently hear a scream and see one of us jumping up on the closest thing possible (bed, chair, toilet, doesn't really matter) or grabbing whatever we can find to kill the crazy creature (pen, book, shoe, shampoo bottle, again it doesn't really matter)!!! It's quite hilarious...well, hilarious if you aren't the one that has the bug crawling up some part of your body ;) I think the girls have come up with a new game to play with the guys..."name that food"...we are going to blindfold them and make them guess what exactly they are eating! Let's just say we found a stand up the road that sells fried grasshoppers...we'll see if they continue to laugh at us for screaming about gigantic bugs, hehe :) I don't think the guys will actually agree to play this game...guess I will save the game till I'm involved with youth trips!! :)
THE HEAT...all I've got to say is...ohhhh Africa hotness!! Seriously!! There are days that I don't think I can take another step because it's so incredibly hot, but somehow the Lord gives me strength to go a little farther! Florida's got nothing on this heat! We did "spontaneous ministry" the other afternoon. We were split into groups of 8 and given 10,000 shillings (which is about $5) and told to go out and do local ministry and be back in 2 hours. Some groups went to the park, others to local businesses to bless and minister, and others to the slums. My group decided to "sacrifice" using the money as cab fare and instead we walked all the way to the local hospital (and were able to buy a lot of fresh fruit) and minister. It's about a 25 minute walk there and a 25 minute walk back...in the heat of the afternoon! We were exhausted when we arrived...but left the hospital more blessed than when we arrived!! I could actually spend a whole blog talking about just the hospital experience!!!
THE UNFORGETTABLE BEATS...there was a concert called Ka-Africa which was students of all ages singing and dancing and then afterwards a Praise Rally (which was basically a night of worship music and prayer). The Ka-Africa performance was amazing!! They have such gifted kids, who really know how to move and sing! It's awesome to see and hear the culture...I just can't get enough of it! American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance wouldn't know what to do with such talent :) The Praise Rally was INCREDIBLE!! The Spirit was alive and all over that place!! I can't explain it in words!!!! One of the coolest moments for me was at the very end...they said it was the last song and started to play, "Trading My Sorrows". I admit, I was very disappointed. Great song, but I've heard/sung that song a million times! Who knew that my one million and one time would be so special?! Oh my goodness!! I will never be able to hear or sing that song the same again!!! I will always be taken back to my experience in Uganda. The anointing in the instruments, the passion in the people singing around me, the hope in the dancing and hands lifted up and jumping around...I seriously have never experienced anything quite like it from hearing/singing this song!!!
Well, I've rambled on too much! This doesn't cover even half a day...nevermind covering everything that happened this past week! Thanks to everyone who continues to send personal emails, facebook messages, and text messages...I do eventually get them all...and LOVE hearing from you!!! I appreciate you all more than you know :)
Until next week....
In His Mighty Strength,
Michelle
THE BUGS...well, there is a big difference between the guys and girls room :) The guys claim they have lots of "pets" and have simply started to name them all (they really do name them and keep track of them all!) In the girls room...you will frequently hear a scream and see one of us jumping up on the closest thing possible (bed, chair, toilet, doesn't really matter) or grabbing whatever we can find to kill the crazy creature (pen, book, shoe, shampoo bottle, again it doesn't really matter)!!! It's quite hilarious...well, hilarious if you aren't the one that has the bug crawling up some part of your body ;) I think the girls have come up with a new game to play with the guys..."name that food"...we are going to blindfold them and make them guess what exactly they are eating! Let's just say we found a stand up the road that sells fried grasshoppers...we'll see if they continue to laugh at us for screaming about gigantic bugs, hehe :) I don't think the guys will actually agree to play this game...guess I will save the game till I'm involved with youth trips!! :)
THE HEAT...all I've got to say is...ohhhh Africa hotness!! Seriously!! There are days that I don't think I can take another step because it's so incredibly hot, but somehow the Lord gives me strength to go a little farther! Florida's got nothing on this heat! We did "spontaneous ministry" the other afternoon. We were split into groups of 8 and given 10,000 shillings (which is about $5) and told to go out and do local ministry and be back in 2 hours. Some groups went to the park, others to local businesses to bless and minister, and others to the slums. My group decided to "sacrifice" using the money as cab fare and instead we walked all the way to the local hospital (and were able to buy a lot of fresh fruit) and minister. It's about a 25 minute walk there and a 25 minute walk back...in the heat of the afternoon! We were exhausted when we arrived...but left the hospital more blessed than when we arrived!! I could actually spend a whole blog talking about just the hospital experience!!!
THE UNFORGETTABLE BEATS...there was a concert called Ka-Africa which was students of all ages singing and dancing and then afterwards a Praise Rally (which was basically a night of worship music and prayer). The Ka-Africa performance was amazing!! They have such gifted kids, who really know how to move and sing! It's awesome to see and hear the culture...I just can't get enough of it! American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance wouldn't know what to do with such talent :) The Praise Rally was INCREDIBLE!! The Spirit was alive and all over that place!! I can't explain it in words!!!! One of the coolest moments for me was at the very end...they said it was the last song and started to play, "Trading My Sorrows". I admit, I was very disappointed. Great song, but I've heard/sung that song a million times! Who knew that my one million and one time would be so special?! Oh my goodness!! I will never be able to hear or sing that song the same again!!! I will always be taken back to my experience in Uganda. The anointing in the instruments, the passion in the people singing around me, the hope in the dancing and hands lifted up and jumping around...I seriously have never experienced anything quite like it from hearing/singing this song!!!
Well, I've rambled on too much! This doesn't cover even half a day...nevermind covering everything that happened this past week! Thanks to everyone who continues to send personal emails, facebook messages, and text messages...I do eventually get them all...and LOVE hearing from you!!! I appreciate you all more than you know :)
Until next week....
In His Mighty Strength,
Michelle
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