Uganda 2015: Day 4

Today we split into four teams and set off for different villages to give our testimonies and invite the ladies to women’s day tomorrow. I was in a group with Nikky, Julia, Brianna, Mason, and Angila. We decided that Brianna would share a short 5-10 minute testimony and then Angela would share her testimony and do the alter call.

Both their testimonies were amazing! Angela, told of how she had 4 miscarriages and after the last one she was so close to death, but God was not done with her yet. When she got better she spent one year in a wheel chair, one year using a walker, and two and a half years using a cane. She still has pain, but God has used her to teach so many others about himself. Also, she is living in Mexico with her husband and three kids currently. I do have to say her analogy about sins was the best I have ever heard! She said, “imagine holding up a paper. Every time you sin that is written on the paper. Every time I lie or get angry with my husband or kids. Every time I think bad thoughts. Every time I say mean words to someone.” She listed off a ton of sins. She said, “imagine your list as tall as this Palm tree (which is super tall), but not holding it vertical. Your lost of sins would be a stack of papers. When you come to God, he says, ‘the wages of sin is death.’ But you don’t want to die with all that sin. That giant stack of papers. That is when Jesus steps in and says, wait! I will trade my blank piece of paper for this stack so she doesn’t have to die. When you get that paper and then sin again, you try to write down the sins you commit, but you can’t. That piece of paper Jesus gave you can’t be written on. Jesus paid the price for your sin when he died on the cross!” There was such an amazing response to this. Even our team had never heard it that way and thought it was great. I did not get it word for word even though I put it in quotes, but I close. She then did the alter call. I think most of the ladies and the couple guys there raised their hands to receive Jesus! Then when service was over a couple of us played with the kids and the others had people walk up to them asking for prayer. One thing about the people praying that caught my attention was, people with health issues went up to Brianna for prayer. She is a nurse and they did not know that. I heard her asking one lady questions about her symptoms. I believe this is the lady I later learned has congestive heart failure. I think this because I heard the interpreter saying that her feet were swollen and she has a heard time breathing sometimes. That is the only thing I heard, but I assume it was her. Brianna did suggest that she elevate her feet. When we left one of the ladies from the village got in the van with us. We gave her a ride part of the way home so she did not have to walk so far. I only heard part of her story, but, through the interpreter, she told Angela she had lost three of her children at the same time and that she was positive for hiv. I wish I could have heard her whole story, but I did pray for her with Angela.

Our van took us to saints gate church where the 2013 destiny orphanage and school graduating class was waiting for us. I believe there is 33 of them. We got to meet them and hear what field they were studying at university. It is almost’s end of their first year of university. I loved the “one on one” time with them. It was at one point Julia, three of them, and I talking and taking pictures. One of the girls, Stella (one of three), has a 5 month old baby. His name is Ethan Cole. I watched as they passed him around and took pictures with him and then with each other. It was a big family reunion! One of the girls even said she missed destiny orphanage. At the end of our time there we gave each of them a bible. The bibles were donated by the Bill and Malinda Gates foundation. Hopefully their studies will be made easier with them!

After we left there we came back home. Part of the group walked to quality (store) and I, with the rest of the group stayed and hung out. We got to see Sophia (American friend/ missionary) too! After our meeting that night we got everything ready for our church groups tomorrow.