Wow, I have been SOOOO busy the past few days! We had our second team here, but this team was with us for a full week. Can I just say that it was such a blessing to have them serving there? They were a team of high school kids from Chicago, and they poured all their love and energy into our kids for the time they were here. The first two days they worked on the new land in Bombo, building our new home. The boys from our house also went, so the team got to bond with them. The last few days they went to street programs, as well as had a party at Grace House (which was such a blessing to those kids because they don't get fun things like that very often). It was great having others pour into the kids, and into the staff. I now understand the importance of teams; although it was an exhausting week it was also such a blessing, I cannot even say. If any team members are reading this, thank you so much for all you did!!
On the last day the team was here, we took the boys to a slum called Kiseni. Its the worst slum in Uganda, with the most street kids. Each time I think God cannot break my heart any more, He finds a way. We run our programs out of a slum called Kivulu, and while there is extreme poverty there, it is nothing like Kiseni. There, drugs are soled openly on the streets. I was surrounded by street kids, all of them inhaling chenge (jet fuel to get high), some of them so drugged they were falling over. The ground is all black from where people burn trash and scrap (to get any of the plastic off the metal). There is open sewage in the streets, and it smells awful. We met kids with horrible soars, and cuts that reached the bone. In Kiseni, nobody advocates for the street kids, meaning that the kids are tougher (less open to love, and possibly more in need of it), and more abused. People use them for labor, drugs, and sex (I am talking about kids too, not even teenagers). Kiseni is a picture of what the fallen world looks like, and its devastating. When I left, my heart actually felt heavy, and I was so emotionally exhausted that I wanted to break down and sleep/cry for hours. Almost all the boys from our home came from this slum, as well as all the kids in our street programs. When I think about the boys that I love and care about living there, it makes me sick. Nobody, especially no child, should ever have to see that, let alone live it. I am learning to really appreciate the importance of hope in the eternal, as well as looking forward to when Jesus makes all things new.
Onto other news- I have prolonged my stay awhile. Its not finalized yet, but we just found out that a team is coming in late August, and Amanda will be gone. I have been praying for weeks that God would provide an answer for me (without school, I was so torn on if I should stay). I decided that the only reason I would stay was because I was afraid; afraid to renter American society, afraid to be away from my boys, afraid of being disconnected from the ministry, afraid of what comes next for me. But God tells me not to be afraid, and so to put my trust in Him, I decided I would come home in August like I had planned (having no idea if I would be back). But I serve a King of abundance, and He blessed my choice. After almost a month of no peace, I finally found it. I know that the ministry needs me, and I feel God's blessing over my decision to stay- or actually, all the sudden I KNEW that the way to find peace was to stay. It was clearly God speaking to me, and it was awesome :) Soooo I will be staying only about 20 days longer than I had thought, and will be coming home around early/mid September. I have also been talking to Abby about my involvement in the ministry back in the states, and I will write more later, but its looking like API and me are going to have a long and wonderful future together.
This weeks thoughts on Jesus:
In my moments of weakness, and in the middle of this brokenness, I am reminded that I serve an awesome God. I serve the King of Kings, the Alpha and Omega. My God will never let me down, He does work miracles, and is the God of wonders. Sometimes to prove His mightiness, Jesus needs to take away all other options, but its in those moments that He is best glorified. Praise Him- Amen
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