Uganda 2023 Day 10

Uganda 2023 Day 10

Today we woke up and had to pack up our suitcases to move to Usuk. We were told to have our bags to the vehicles by 7:20am and then head to the dining room for breakfast and worship before we left. Sadly, Alma and I could not help with breakfast. They had to prepare it earlier due to needing to pack up all our supplies. I sat across from Yoan on the bus and got to hear more detail about him leading the guy to Christ last night. I told him I would listen to their conversation every once in a while and I just had a feeling that he would lead at least one of the two guys to Christ. The ride was long, but we finally made it to Usuk and where we were having clinic.

When we pulled in, the church was overflowing with people. They were so happy to see us. We parked at the end of the driveway and those that needed ran to the bathroom really quick. Then we went to the church. They were singing and dancing for us. They had Tony and Joanne go on stage and talk about the team and say encouraging words. Then Joanne took the medical team and they worked on getting organized to see patients. There were so many people there. To stay organized we give every patient a number. They handed out maybe 600-700 numbers if I remember correctly. We had to send people to the starting point pending on the number they had. We see them in order. I later learned people did not want to wait any longer for us to arrive and left. The organizing of so many people was rough, but the team that worked on it did great! I went ahead and stayed in church so Tony and Jodie did not have to be there alone. I was told some of the people who were waiting said they did go to church, but we were not sure. So, I was asked to share my message. I feel like there were a couple people who showed or at least I noticed were fairly responsive to it. We did have a small group of people in the church that did not sit through service, so Jodie, Toni and I shared our testimonies and messages. There was still a long wait for these people, so Tony pulled random team members that were near by. That means the people also got to hear from Yoan, Joel, Nick, Destanie, and Mark. They did so good! Some of the girls that live where we are staying, started to do song and dance to fill time. Jodie, Nick, and I did our best to dance along with their moves. Sometimes it was fairly easy, but there were a few times I just struggled with the moves that looked like they should be easy. We spent time at church just waiting to see if anything else needed to happen before I left. I was going to record more soccer videos for Yoan, but Pastor John asked for my WhatsApp number. It would not let me put it in his phone. So, I tried adding it to his contacts. That’s when the soccer ball hit my hand and the phone flew out of it. Thankfully, it was fine. Although, I could not get my number in WhatsApp still. So I asked John Basco and his friend to help. It turned out that he needed to have more data on the phone. It started to rain so we went for cover next to one of the buildings, but it got really strong while we were standing there. Pastor John has us go inside the building so we were better protected from the rain. It took the guys a long time to figure out the data transfer pastor John did, but finally they got it and sent me a message so I would know who it was from. I was asked to go inside with Jodie, Destanie, and Yoan to start blowing up air mattresses and adding sheets to them. We struggled because the auto inflate motors were burned out, but thankfully we had pumps we were able to use. Although, the power did go out on us. I waited for a little while before leaving to see if they needed help outside. We had to send half the people waiting to be seen home because there was not enough time to see them tonight. The people helping with Logistics marked the number cards so we know they had been waiting and made it through church already. Then we stacked the empty chairs and picked up trash. John Basco had one of the girls get his sister. She has been living at Pastor John’s place for a few years to help care for her while John Basco is at school. Joyce is 12 years old and looks so much like him. We took some pictures together, but she is really shy and did not stay longer than that. When John Basco told me how shy she is, I told him I understand because I was shy when I was younger. He said that when he was young he was very shy as well, but the lady at a house he lived at taught him not to be shy anymore. She sure did a good job because I would never guess he was so shy. John Basco then told me that he does not get to see his sister much. The last time he saw her was last time he was here with us. Once there was three or 4 years before he was able to see her. They do talk on the phone sometimes from the sound of it. Then we talked about school and life plans. He wants to get more involved in his church and have church ministry to do when he is on break. John Basco said because it is hard to get jobs in Uganda and is important to have something to do after he graduates and works on finding a job. Also, doing God’s work is his passion. He was saying he plans not only to share his testimony in Uganda, but across the world. He is amazing and such an inspiration to me. I am sure I have already said it, but I can’t believe God put him in my heart to sponsor. It is such an honor to be the one supporting such an amazing and God filled man. Alma came over because she had finished seeing patients and cleaning up her table. She asked him what he is going to call me. It sounded like he will call me mama RaeAnn, but I said he should call me sister because I see him and Joyce as my siblings. Although, I also said if he really wanted to he could call me mama RaeAnn. 

It was time to head in for dinner. Most of the team actually missed lunch today because we were so busy and fine with not eating. That means that we were extra ready for dinner. We also had our nightly debrief. There we learned we saw 298 people. The bed situation was a struggle. I think because we were sleepy and  not all of us brought bug nets. Then we had to find our bags so we could get ready for bed. I ended up sleeping outside which was nice because it was cooler. I actually used my Karamoja blanket for part of the night too.

Some words Christina taught me.

Knock knock= kung kung

How are you= B-a-bo