May 12 & 13 - Written by Allie & Kristina

Uganda Children Update #7

Greetings from Uganda! Today (5/12/10) was yet another great day. I was especially excited because it was my Golden Day! It is so nice to be encouraged by all of my teammates. They are truly a blessing to me.

This morning, Ashleigh and I led in devotions with the hotel staff. We taught from
James 3 about “taming the tongue.” We taught how we as Christians should be positive and lift each other up by what we say.

After devotions, we left the hotel and went to a school in a local village called “Salt & Light School.” We taught a group of about 30 children from a local church. They sang songs for us and performed a skit about sharing the Gospel. This was a much smaller group than we were used to having. But it was still a blessing for us to share God’s love with them.

We taught all of the children the Bridge illustration so they would be able to share the Gospel with their unsaved friends. Then we made cross necklaces with them out of popsicle sticks. We all had a fun time.

Next stop was for lunch in town. After our meal we went to the local market to buy fish for dinner. The marketplace was definitely an interesting experience. There were many smells, not all of which were good. There were tons of vendors lined up in tiny booths. The dirt on the ground had turned to mud and large puddles were everywhere full of trash. There were people selling everything from fruits and vegetables to household goods. Everywhere we walked, people stared and we could hear them say, “muzungu” (white person) to their fellow workers. When we got to the fish market, my teammates and I were overwhelmed. We watched as the fish were scaled and chopped up. I don’t think I will ever be able to think of tilapia the same way! But we ate it at dinner and it was good! The whole market experience was very humbling because we learned that the people here live on less than $1 a day.

We ended our day back at the children’s home. We spent that time teaching them from God’s Word. We split the children into 3 groups based on age. Our subject matter today was on gossip. I had the middle group, ages 7-12. I was impressed by how much they paid attention and were willing to learn. Lynell, Jeannette and I acted out how bad gossip is and the children seemed to have really learned from what the Bible taught.

Overall, it was an amazing day! Going to the market was an interesting, cultural experience. I am continually being blessed by my wonderful teammates and the people of Uganda. I am learning so much about myself and am growing in the Lord daily. I am truly blessed!

(Written by Allie Beard)

Uganda Children Update – May 13, 2010 (Written by Kristina Osbourne)

I could not have imagined all the wonderful things God had prepared for us in advance to do in Uganda. He continues to bless us everyday. Today was my Golden Day (which came at a perfect time because I was feeling a little crazy from my malaria medicine yesterday).

We went to Revival Center Church today for VBS. It was a special place because many of the hotel staff attend there. Our theme was “Rescued from Darkness.” There were about 100 children there. We taught the creation story and that got quite a few laughs from the kids. Moses did another moving presentation of the Gospel. Just as Jesus treasured the children and their faith, we do not take our task lightly. We rejoice with the angels because twenty-six children made decisions to follow Christ! We also had a new ministry opportunity today. We were able to help lead small groups at the Calvary Chapel Jinja Youth Conference. The theme of the conference is “Take Action,” from James 1:22. It emphasized that we are to be doers of the Word. It was a great time of worship and fellowship with our African brothers and sisters.

We finished the day by going back to the Children’s Home and playing with the kids. Devotion time was amazing as always. I am constantly inspired by their free, open praise to God. The worship songs they sing are always stuck in our heads. At any point you can hear someone humming a song.

The night ended on an “exciting” note. We discovered some cockroaches in our van! We rode the whole way back with our feet in the air and our hearts racing. God was gracious enough to distract us with the most beautiful (and lengthy) lightening storm I’d ever seen. We are learning so much here and I am truly enjoying this journey (cockroaches & all).

We appreciate your prayers as we finish the last third of our trip. We want to finish strong! God has already done so much. Today, out of the mouths of twenty six children of Uganda has come the praises of our Lord. For this alone we came and we rejoice in it!

Written by Kristina Osbourne
P.S. Since the writing of this update…the cockroaches are now gone!