Uganda 2024 Day 4

It’s Sunday! Our team split into three groups. 4 people went to Moses’ church, 3 people went to Smart’s church, and the rest of us went to Saints Gate church in Katwe. [Side note: read or watch queen of Katwe. It is so good and they actually filmed in Katwe.] It is a big slum that borders Kampala. I went to Saints Gate. We arrived a little late (Uganda time), so the Sunday schools were already started. Benjamin, Abby, and I had to change up our plan for teaching when we arrived. They had so many youth that they split them into two groups. The older group, I believe, was Jrs and Srs. Benjamin and Abby went to that group and I went to the younger group where George was leading. Our plan was to rotate. Benjamin and I talked, then he came to my group while Abby talked and I went there. Then when Abby was done, she went to the group I started at that way our messages were long enough to last the time we needed to fill still. George had me start without an interpreter. The problem is, I was talking in my loud voice and there were to many noises in the room and many teens were to far away to hear. So they suddenly moved their chairs forward. It was so funny. Lany has come and sat nearby and, while they were moving closer, she leaned over laughing and said that was the highlight of her day. It was so funny. I started my message again and paused to ask if I was talking to fast. they said yes. So, I told them to tell me if I do it again. Then George decided to have one if the girls come up to interpret for me. This means that I started my message a third time. I spoke about fathers. How fathers should treat their children, how God is our father and he likes to bless us, how he is always their for us even in the trials of life, how our earthly fathers may not always be dependable or their, but God always is, etc. Benjamin came over and heard the last few sentences of my message. Then he took over and I talked to the older teens about the same thing, but it did change a little. We had a little extra time at the end and George took over the younger teens, so the three of us opened it up for questions and answers. They asked some good questions about the Bible. One was why pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Benjamin answered that question very well.  Another was who was being talked to in a specific area of the Bible. When we finished I said hi to one of my girls it was good to see her again, even though I saw her yesterday. The interpreter came up to me and thanked me for the message. He said it was something they needed to hear and to hear now. That made me know (even though I already kinda did) that God planned this. 

Church service started not long after Sunday school ended. Worship is always amazing! They have choirs and dancing and all the energy. They sang one of my favorite songs from last year “Jehovah has the final say.” This year I actually stayed upstairs and listened to Joanne speak. This may be my second time if doing this in the 6 years we have gone. She did amazing! When we met in the morning, Spencer asked what she was going to preach about, but she said she did not know. It was between two passages. I think it was something in John 7 or something in Mark 2. Well, she let God lead and it was a little of Mark 2 mixed into what she said. She did incredible and you could tell the people were listening well! When she finished, we headed home. Church was still going, but that would probably be for a few more hours and we still had clinic prep to do. We arrived back home and met to share our experiences for the day and get some instructions. A bunch of the new people and I (because I have never done it) stayed so Algena could teach us what we talk about for the education during clinic. Then we went and did drugs again… aka sorted pills into packs to be given out. Some of the team also organized the bags so it will be easy to find everything during clinic. After dinner, some of us went to quality and exchanged money, went shopping, and even went to the cafe and lounge to get ice cream. At the house, I was able to FaceTime my brother and his family, but not talk for long as they had church. A little later I was also able to FaceTime Katie, Kailee, and Kassidee. It was great to see their faces and hear their voices.