Uganda Day 2

Oh my. Where to start?? I’m in Africa! It’s Day 2 of my trip and I am happily overwhelmed. I just sat with my arm out the bus window clicking away with my camera and video camera. I just wanted to BREATHE in everything I saw…here are some of the things my eyes inhaled along the way:

The fumes from all the motorcycles and buses were overwhelming but they didn’t keep me from hanging out the window all afternoon. :) There were people riding on motorcycles three at a time. There were people baking bricks in the sunshine on their rooftops. I can’t tell you the number of children I passed on the road who were alone carrying water in dirty cans. There were people doing back breaking work in the sugar cane fields in the heat of the day. There were bananas EVERYWHERE…on women’s heads, in baskets on the side of the road, hanging from trees. Children everywhere waved at us while shouting “Mzungu, Mzungu! How are you , Mzungu?”. Mzungu means “lost white person”…I guess that about sums it up. :) There were people laying in the shade by the side of the road under Mango trees. There were mothers sitting outside their houses bent over the washboard doing laundry while their children hauled them water to use. There were older women sitting on their front porch with their sewing machines. There were mothers playing outside with their children and fanning them with leaves to cool them down.

And that was just on the way to Jinja. We went to visit a sponsored carepoint called Rapha Community School today. This particular care point has 44 sponsored children although there are 267 children there. My experience with these children today was simply UNBELIEVABLE. They hung on me…they held my hands…they told me their names over and over again. They sang for us, they quoted scripture, they told us how thankful they were for our sponsorship (even though it’s Brandi’s church that is sponsoring them – not me). But probably the most impactful moment was this young girl who has nothing by the world’s standards (one outfit, not much food, no parents) standing up in front of us and quoting the following scripture:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” – Matthew 6:25

I wept the whole time she read that scripture. How beautiful to hear those words come out of her mouth and how thought provoking for my own heart . What are the ridiculous things that I think and worry about on a given day? Not having that cute outfit from the store? Not having things turn out the way I want them? Getting frustrated with the driver in front of me? And there stood this young girl with a huge smile on her face in the midst of poverty and the loss of her family speaking from her heart about why she shouldn’t worry when she can pray. It was powerful.

Then to top it all off I got to spend the evening with Katie Davis and her 13 girls. Oh my goodness – those girls have captured my heart. Margaret at the end of the night said “Aunt Amy…can you stay here?”. Ok. I’m hooked. If you don’t know Katie’s story, check her blog out here – she is an amazing 20 year old who lives in Uganda with 13 girls. Her story is powerful, her children are precious and I was amazed by her sweet family tonight.

I’m sorry there’s no video or pictures tonight…maybe tomorrow night. Internet connection is VERY slow here so I can't upload anything now - bummer because I have some awesome stuff to show you! But don’t worry, they will come. Thanks for all your prayers…I am feeling them and can’t wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the week.