Our driver picked us up at their house early that afternoon, and as we were driving from Entebbe through Kampala and then into Jinja, I was reminded of why I love it here. I truly love the culture and the people. It is hard to put into words what it is exactly because it is so different from America, but I just feel like a piece of me is at home. As we were driving, Lauren and I decided to read the Word together and pray over these cities, our time here, and that we would constantly be looking for God in our every day here. We read a scripture that we immediately felt like God had led us to for a reason. Psalm 46. We talked about this after because we felt so moved by it. Our verse for this trip is Psalm 46:5 "God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day." We sat in a van. Just us two with a driver we didn't know in a city where we were very much a minority and different, but yet we both agreed, we felt no fear. In fact, in a place where my faith is challenged the most, I have never felt so much at peace. I guess it's just another reassuring feeling for why we are here and that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. We made it to Canaan and to our surprise, all the kids were still on holiday. This was really sad for us, because we were really excited about seeing our kids. But, we fully believe that God had that purposed for a reason. We are praying that we would constantly be looking for where the Lord wants us. Immediately, our prayer were answered when a ton of the village kids approached the gates of Canaan. We were able to go out and go on a walk with them in the village. This was really neat because normally the visitors only stay within the Canaan orphanage and go out very little, so we got to experience loving on the kids outside. We spent the afternoon playing with them and walking around. A pleasant surprise was that my little Ruthie was still at Canaan. She does not have any distant family to visit for the holiday, so she and one other boy stayed at Canaan. I was so happy to get to be with Ruthie again. She has grown so much but her cute little personality is very much so present. We are hoping that more of the children will arrive back within the week.
Our first night, Lauren and I had just gotten in bed in our little guest house and heard a mouse. We had a really funny moment when we both went in search of the mouse and then when we thought we saw it, screamed and ran...we're such girls.
We spent our first day with Damalie yesterday at Sangaalo baby cottage. Damalie currently has 16 babies living in her home. When we arrived, we immediately went to work helping change, hold and feed the babies. My biggest prayer while working with her and the babies is that I would see things through Jesus' eyes. And that is definitely put to test while I am there. In the first 5 minutes I was there, I held about three different babies who had pee all over them. It's easy to be grossed out by this, but the more I have prayed, the more that God's grace has helped me see their beautiful faces over their dirty clothes and pee. As the day went on, I didn't even think about it anymore. Working with these babies is a step of faith everyday. A lot of them have been abandoned because of sickness such as HIV, TB, and others. In working with them, we are always at risk to get sick, but when I get nervous of those things, I think about Jesus and how we were a sick world needing love and He entered in. He hung with the sick, touched the sick, fed the sick, and ministered to the sick. I am reminded of the verse in Mark that says "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick".
We will be working with Damalie and the babies all week, and I am really excited about this. Her staff are so sweet and grateful that we are there. One of my favorite things about the country is talking to the People. Each Ugandan I talk to is so kind and intentional. They want to get to know you and know about your life, and they take the time to find out.
We rode our first boda boda after leaving Damalie's, and I can now say I really feel culturally I'm diving it. It was quite the experience (for those who don't know a boda boda is kinda like a moped/motorcycle... It's a big means of transportation here). But, we really loved it and we'll probably use it all week. It's a great way to see Jinja and the people. Everyone you drive by waves and says hello, although they are probably thinking "who are those two crazy muzungus on the back of a boda."
Arriving back at Canaan, our friends from the village were waiting for us by the gate. After visiting for a few minutes, we requested dinner early for we were exhausted from being with 16 babies all day. Needless to say, we were in bed by 7:45. What a day.
Crazies from Jinja:
- Lauren and I were served this cabbage stuff at Damalie's. Neither of us tasted to our liking, so Lauren gets the idea to drink her water really fast and then precedes to start putting her cabbage in her water bottle, so they aren't offended by us not liking it. As she is doing this, damalie comes to eat with us, so she hides the bottle behind my backpack. Damalie ate the rest of lunch with us and crazy Lauren picks up her bottle and drinks it forgetting its cabbage not water... We laughed for about 2 minutes and poor Damalie was clueless.
-I woke up last night startled because Lauren had crawled over me to go to the bathroom, and I screamed because I could have sworn I thought a monkey was crawling on our bed.
-our boda almost ran out of gas in the middle of the jungle, but no worries, we made it back to Canaan. Hopefully next time, he won't forget to put fuel in it.
Until next time, continue to pray for health and safety and for Damalie, her staff, and the babies.
