Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - By Jenni

Uganda Children Update #6 – Tuesday, May 11, 2010 – by Jenni

Since it is my Golden Day, I have the opportunity to write today’s update. Today, we plan to go back to the same village we were at yesterday. We will be sharing the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 and act out the song we used during Night of Nations. Eydie had a discussion with Jeannette about how powerful it would be if we passed out real bread during the song. Eydie told us that she made the comment to Jeannette we were expecting close to 500 children that day. She didn’t know how it would work to buy just a “few loaves of bread” to feed that many! Eydie confessed at breakfast that as soon as that came out of her mouth, the words that followed it were …duh! Hello! That is what the song was about!! That was the point of the whole story! This gave a new perspective to the whole story! Needless to say, we stopped and bought 5 loaves of bread and had faith it would feed the 500!

In our devotion time with the hotel staff, Meredith and Lynell shared about the Israelite’s fears about entering the promised land. They also personalized it and talked about the fears they had about coming to Africa. Both girls have been strong and courageous and have encouraged us to do the same. The staff of the hotel are having fun participating in our “Golden Days!” They know that the one wearing the Hawaiian lei and special badge is the golden girl! They also spend the day encouraging us!

Once again we traveled on dirt roads through green landscapes of mountains & sugar cane fields. We arrived at the village which is exactly how I imagined an African village would look like. The church is a mud hut with a tin roof surrounded by crops of corn. This village is blessed to have a well of clean water.

Some of the surrounding village churches blessed us with songs sung by their choirs in English and Luganda. They also shared in traditional tribal dances. It was cool to think about the unity we all have in Christ. There were about 400 children in attendance. Once again we divided the group by ages. The children decorated a construction paper fish with the words, “Jesus Provides” with added stickers. When we came back together in a big group, Allie told the story of the feeding of the 5000. I explained the meaning of our song. During and after the song, we did pass out pieces of the bread. Just like in the story, each child received a piece…and there were leftovers! God is good! Pastor Moses shared the gospel, and 62 children came forward to make a decision for Christ!

The people of the village honored us with a meal of food sacrificially given and prepared. We ate with the “local fork” … our hands! On our way out we were able to walk the distance to the well where they gather their water. The team had the experience of helping pump the water out of the well. It was a very humbling experience for us all.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the children’s home. We had a great team time following lunch. We pushed through the tiredness to play volleyball and hang out with the children. After a few hours we went back to the hotel and prepared for tomorrow’s VBS in a new village. At the end of the night, we heard our first big rain which included thunder and lightening. It was a great ending to my wonderful Golden Day…a day that included salvation for many children.

Jenni Fritch

P.S. A note to last year’s ISP team…the kids at the home still remember to be STRONG & COURAGEOUS!!