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