Uganda 2014: Day 3

This was are first morning in Uganda! I finally had a good amount of sleep even though woke up about 5 times during the night. My roommates are Katie, Yelena, and Alvina. I took a shower when I woke up and right when I came out one if the girls came back in she said to go outside to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful! It was that dark orange that you see in movies about Africa. Walking outside and back in I smelled the amazing aroma of fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls. Everyone that walked through had watering mouths right away. We also had fresh pineapple. Not long after breakfast we had a group meeting time with worship and info about what was going to happen the next two days. We were split into groups that were going to lead worship and city kids the next day as we split off to different churches. My team was Joe (message for adults), Katie, and Algena. Us girls will lead the city kids with a message, game, craft (if time) and worship. We all got in our groups to plan what were would do and who would lead each piece. One of the groups was going to sing and dance to two songs, so I joined I with their practice. I did recognize the two songs. Others joined as well. We were all laughing and singing. Once we were done Katie asked those of us who were there to share how and where we have seen love shown that stands out. It was funny because one girl said old couples and the rest of us agreed. The conversation was amazing and it also kinda helped us learn about each other.

After that we went to Katwe (cot-way) when I learned we would be going her I was so excited! Johann suggested a book for us to read “the queen of Katwe” and I learned a little about the people there. If you have a chance you should read it (or borrow it from me). We went to Saints Gates church. Our band members were already there because they had to practice. So, the rest of us split into groups of three with one or two translators and handed out invitations to church for the next day. Ben, Irena, and I were with precious and Lisa. Lisa asked me if I liked it here (I assumed she meant Uganda in general) and she was so surprised when I said yes. I told her I love going other places and showing people God’s love. One place Lisa and I stopped to hand out invitations to there were a bunch if guys. Two or three of them told me I was beautiful. Surprisingly I did not blush like I normally would if someone said that. Also, it did not creep me out. I just smiled and said thank you because I did not know what else to do. At another place one of the guys said he wanted Irena. That one was a little creepy because of how he worded it or at least how it was translated to us. Then we went back to the church to celebrate national women’s day.

When we got there one other team was already back. Katie was a part of that team and had all the kids around her. She looked like a mother hen with all her chicks. Joanne asked me and another lady if we needed to go to the restroom. At first I said no, but Ben told me to go. I think he just wanted me to experience it because he had already used the one there. So, I ran to catch up with them. They told us about the bathrooms before, but I thought it would be a little like an outhouse where you have a raised area to sit on. That was not the case. Actually, it was literally a skinny rectangle cut into the floor that you, as a girl, just squat over. It was kinda entertaining. Once I came back in the kids were starting to split off to the others in our group. We got to hold and play with them. The boys were holding onto the arms of the guys from our team and then the guys would pick them up on one arm. We took tons of pictures and danced while the band was practicing. One girl kept asking me for water, but she had to go home to get water if she wanted any.

When service started our band led three amazing songs. Then they asked for 6 people to volunteer for something and they would not say what it was. They said our team could go up too if we wanted, so Spencer and Algena went up. It ended up being a three round dance off. In the first round Spencer pulled Joanne up to dance with him for a minute. The second round he did the worm, be he hesitated so much that I thought he was going to do a cart wheel. The third round it was Spencer, Algena, and a Ugandan guy. By the end Spencer and Algena just stopped and said the other guy won because he was good. At one point, Pastor Eva had Joanne go on stage and dance. The song was so much longer than we thought it would be. A couple of the ladies from our team went on stage and gave out gifts. They did this by asking questions and the last couple standing received a gift. The first question confused everyone. We said if you have 4 or more children to stand up, but they all came to the stage. Our group was laughing because we were not expecting that. Almost all the ladies got up and went to the stage, so the next number was 8 children. So many people still stood up. The lady that won had 10 children. Two other questions were who was married the longest and it was 55 years and who was the oldest of which there were 4 ladies in their 70s. Joanne and two others from our team went up and spoke a little giving their testimony as women. When Joanne finished she did an alter call. So many people came up. Even a couple guys that showed up to women’s day went up. We got in the van to leave right after. A bunch of kids were standing outside my window (i had open) and one said, “give us sweets.” I said, “I don’t have any.” His funny and surprising response was “Don’t lie to me.” I told him I was not lying and that was true. Then we came back had dinner, hung out a bit, got ready for bed and went fast to sleep… I think everyone went right to sleep at least.