Chapter 23 - Update #6 - Christmas Gifts & Trip to the Zoo - Part 1

With our new Beacon of Hope sponsorship we made a few significant changes.  One of these changes involves individual gift giving.  In the past, whenever I would travel to Uganda, some of our sponsors would send an individual gift for their child.  Yet because our children all live under the same roof as one family, it was starting to cause favoritism and division.  This is different from other organizations whose children don’t live together.  Our Ugandan staff requested that individual gifts no longer be sent.  Instead, when I travel to Uganda, I request for monetary gifts to be given so that we can give equal gifts or one large gift that benefits the whole family.  

This Christmas, I sent word out the those who specifically sponsor a child to participate in this year’s Christmas gift for Raining Hope.  Every sponsor was not required to give an additional monetary gift on top of their monthly donation.   Due to some large donations, we received enough to do some very special things for our children this Christmas and it was all done in the name of ALL sponsors.  

One of their Christmas gifts from sponsors was something I mentioned in update #5.  We bought each girl at Raining Hope a skirt & undergarments, and the boys a shirt & pair of trousers.   Something that Silvia said when they were giving thanks for the gift of clothing was how they now know what it means to dress fashionably!  When you see many photos of children in Africa, many times you see clothes that are mismatched.  What I didn’t realize was through the years that your support has provided clothing, they have been learning how to dress well.  Even though our shopping is at the local market like a swap meet, we always try to find the best.  Over the years I have also brought clothing with teams from America.  What we give away turns out to be treasures for them. 

Second gift came from something I talked about in update #4.   I challenged everyone to have a “Thanks Living Basket” or use a journal to write down one thing every night they are thankful for.  Because our theme this year is prayer, I had them go one step further and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for that item as soon as they write it.   We were able to buy a journal for each student that they began using right away!  They also began using the journals to take notes in each night that we had discipleship training.  I will talk about that more next update!  

Third gift were the TWO parties that we had for the children!  One I have already talked about on New Year’s Day also in Update #4.   The feast of food and soda is always something that the children love and do not take for granted.  The second feast was on the second Sunday before I traveled back to California.  More about that to come in another update so stay tuned!  

I saved the best for last to explain the major gift that we gave to the children as their Christmas present.  We took an educational field trip to the zoo in Entebbe!  Not only was it a major gift from sponsors but it was a major event in the lives of these children.  You may be thinking of a trip to the zoo you have taken in your own city.  I would like for you to clear your mind of any preconceived notions or your own experiences of a visit to the zoo in America.  Now get ready to see a visit to the zoo through the eyes of our children. 

First, contrary to what you may think, the area we live in is not populated with animals such as lions (thank goodness), giraffes, or zebras just roaming around!  The most I see are the occasional monkey but mostly birds.  So a trip to the zoo is the one opportunity most of the children will ever have to see these animals up close.  

Second, this is something that they have been wanting to do for quite some time but we have not had the funds to do it.   A child in Uganda may go to the zoo once in their lifetime mainly during primary school years.  Out of our twenty seven children only four have ever gone to the zoo with their school.  On top of that, those four that have gone did so when they were very young.  The majority of our children have never gone to Entebbe let alone out of the Jinja area.   

Godfrey did a little fishing to see if this would be something they would love to have as their Christmas gift as a family.  The children are smart.  When he started “hypothetically” speaking about it, the response was this, “Uncle, don’t sing that same song if it is not really going to happen!”  That made me chuckle but it also convinced me that this was something they really wanted to do.  Little did I know how important this trip would turn out to be. 

The gift would include many parts to make it work.  We needed to rent a bus to carry all thirty two of us to Entebbe.   Godfrey originally thought we could rent a smaller bus plus take our van.  But because our tires are in need of replacing we didn’t want to take a chance on driving it to Entebbe twice.  We would need to drive to the airport on Monday.  We wanted to reserve the van for that.   From the time that Godfrey began checking on prices to rent the bus, it had increased in cost like everything else because of the famine.  Thankfully, Robert & Charles at the hotel helped to secure a bus at the original prices we looked into.  

We didn’t tell the children until the night before that we were going to the zoo.  We wanted it to be a complete surprise.   It is just as hard to keep a secret in Uganda as it is in the US!   Godfrey almost blew the surprise the day before.  He wanted Silvia to go and pay the water and electricity bill on Wednesday afternoon.  It was getting late and her comment was, “I am in the middle of something so I will go first thing tomorrow morning.”  Godfrey said he almost blurted out, “You can’t go tomorrow because we are going to the zoo!”  He stopped himself just short of those words coming out of his mouth!  But I used that to my advantage when we broke the good news! 

After our discipleship time on Wednesday night, we began looking over the schedule for the next few days working backwards from my leaving on Monday.  When I got to the schedule for Thursday, I asked Silvia, “Are you going to pay the bills for the water and electricity tomorrow?” After she said, “Yes,  I will,” I said, “Ok but would you rather do that or go with us to the zoo?”  The room was stunned as if they did not hear me correctly.  After I repeated, “YES!  WE ARE GOING TO THE ZOO TOMORROW!” the room erupted in PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING!  They began shouting and dancing and singing to the Lord!  

I explained we would have to leave by 5:00 am in order to beat the traffic.  It would take over three hours to travel to Entebbe and that is without any traffic.  No one had a problem getting up early.  I actually think that most of them could not sleep that night!   

After dropping me off at the hotel late Wednesday night, Godfrey, Hillary and Henry went into town to buy supplies for the trip.  The Christmas gift would include food for and soda for traveling.  Hillary,  Jonathan and Vivian did double duty and stayed up to make chapati for our breakfast.  In the morning they scrambled eggs and added it to the chapati to make “breakfast burritos” or as I discovered later they are called a “rolex!”  I found this out because on the trip I noticed signs on the road that advertised, “Chapati, chicken, or rolex.”  When I asked what a rolex was they said, “chapati with the eggs rolled inside like what we are eating!”   They got a good laugh when I said in America a Rolex was a very expensive watch!  

The bus actually was an hour late because the driver’s bus was blocked in by other vehicles.  Even with the delay, we made it through Kampala with minimal traffic.  People were still on holiday and the traffic was relatively light.  Godfrey became like one of those tour guides on buses that would point out the various sights to eager eyes & curious hearts!   He made the trip an educational one knowing that most of our children had never been out of our area.  I watched in wonder the look on the faces of the children as Godfrey spoke.  He pointed out where he used to live in Mukono.   Through Kampala he pointed out where he went to school.  One of the things that was larger than life was pointing out Mandela Stadium.  This is where the Uganda Cranes futbol/soccer team play.  For most they had only seen the stadium on TV.  Some made a comment that it was a dream to drive past the stadium!  Godfrey pointed out for me the village of Katwe which is where the movie, “Queen of Katwe” was based.  Funny, we pass through Katwe when driving through Kampala but I never had paid attention to it until watching the film.  

Many of the children had a hard time sleeping the night before with all the anticipation of the trip of a lifetime.  Understandably, there were periods that Godfrey and I looked back and most of them were asleep!   But as we got closer to Kampala & Entebbe, you could feel the excitement in the bus.  Their eyes were wide open and their hearts were full of thanksgiving for the opportunity to fulfill one of their dreams.  

I discovered in talking to the students that they had missed opportunities for zoo trips with their schools in the past.  I believe some of it comes from the lack of funds from parents to send them on the school sponsored trips.  Hillary said that he didn’t think that a trip to the zoo was ever going to happen for him.  This Christmas gift that sponsors provided this year made dreams come true in ways that you can not even begin to fathom.  

This update is extremely long because I don’t want to leave anything out!  But I also don't want to lose you in any of it.  So I will split this up into two updates in order to talk about the actually day at the zoo and another bonus that you will be extremely excited to hear about!  As you read this one I am writing part 2 so stay tuned! 

“You crown the year with bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”  Psalm 65:11.

Mama Eydie Kisakye      

Chapter 23 - Update #5 - January 5, 2017

 Thank you for waiting for the next update!  I can not quite believe that it is already Sunday!   This week has just flown by.  As I write it is currently Saturday,  January 7th.  I am trying to grasp all that God has done.  

Most mornings I stayed at the hotel trying to catch up on work.  But I do most of it outside at the restaurant on the patio to make myself available.  It is one of the main reasons why updates take longer to publish.  I am spending time with people whether at the home, hotel or in town.  This trip I had more conversations than normal with those who just come up to my table.   I had strangers come and introduce themselves to me.  I had Ugandans who came telling me about their own ministries.  Some were in search of support.  I talked to Godfrey about this because people don’t normally ask me for financial support.  He said because of the crisis in the country due to the drought, many people are becoming desperate.  They are searching for funds anywhere and anyway they can.  

Monday, Wednesday and Fridays I start my morning by sharing during the hotel’s morning fellowship.  This is absolutely one of my most favorite things I do here at the hotel.  I love that they aside these 30 minutes to start the day praising God together.  When I am here they have me share a word of encouragement from God’s Word.  

This time I took what I shared on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day regarding Psalm 65:11 and split it up into three sections.  Mr. & Mrs. Otile were there on the first day.  After I shared the song,”Beautiful Day,” by Jamie Grace,  Mr. Otile said, “We need to play that song at the start of everyday!  Everyone was up out of their seats, singing, signing, and praising God!  

But this week had a surprising turn of events.   When they came on Wednesday, it was a good size group that wanted to hear the next part of the three sections.  They were excited about coming back on Friday.   Thursday night, I happened to run into one of the staff who told me that they moved the normal Friday morning devotion.  They would instead meet from 2:00 pm-5:00 pm for a special “Thanksgiving Fellowship.”   She said they hoped I would come to that instead of the morning fellowship.  I know on Saturdays their fellowship time is slightly different, lasting a couple of hours with prayer and worship.    I assumed it was something to that effect and was thankful I had a heads up. 

When I woke up on Friday morning, I was thankful for the extra time I had in my room.  I was able to study and get things ready for the day.  I was having my coffee, in my PJ’s, working on the computer when my room telephone rang at 8:30 am.  On the other end was one of the ladies from the restaurant.  “Good morning,, Sister Eydie.”  After the normal greetings she then dropped the next statement, “We are waiting for you.”  I thought she meant breakfast which was odd because there was still an hour and a half left before they stopped serving.  After replying, “Ok, I will be down soon,”  came the reply, “We are waiting NOW for you.”  

The confusion over why they wanted me to eat now quickly turned into the realization that they were waiting for me to come lead them in the morning fellowship!   Because they wanted me to continue in the three day teaching, the cancelled morning session was reinstated but no one told me!   You should have seen how quickly I threw myself together…actually maybe not!   Good thing I already had the lesson done, but I had to quiet my frazzled heart!   

What amazed me was for something that was cancelled, it turned out to be the largest of the three days!  When I finished up that morning, I said the enemy tried extremely hard to stop our time together.  But each person there needed to hear something that was said that it became very personal.  Later that day I did have specific staff members share what they had learned and how excited they were to apply those truths to their lives. 

Hotel Morning Fellowship 

Esther & Aaron

I was again reminded by the same woman who called me at 8:30 am to attend the Thanksgiving Service at invitation of Mrs. Otile.  I had to do some adjusting to our schedule in order to make this work.  But I thought it would be important to make a quick appearance before heading to the house.  

Godfrey and I first went into town to buy some clothes for all of the students in the home.  As one part of their Christmas gift from their sponsors, we were able to go and buy skirts, trousers and shirts!  It is amazing to see how grateful they are to have a new piece of clothing.  We are also not talking about clothes from a department store.   We do all our shopping at the local market which is more like a swap meet.  This is our normal way of shopping and we were able to find something nice for each one of our twenty seven students plus the staff. 

Shopping at the local market

New clothes for the girls! 

New clothes for the boys! 

By time we finished it was closer to 2:30 pm.  I wanted to make the quick stop into the fellowship.  Godfrey questioned whether he should attend or just wait for me.  That was odd because he knows that he is always welcomed to anything at the hotel.  I discovered the real problem was he said he was wearing only sandals not dress shoes!   I told him not to worry because I thought it was a simple prayer/worship time and we could easily greet and then leave. Still trying to work his way out of it, I said in America when invited to events we would say he is my “plus one.”  He got a good laugh about that and we headed towards the meeting hall. 

What happened next was something out of a movie scene.  There was someone at the door to greet us.  When the double doors opened it revealed a room filled with about 150-200 people!  Quickly accessing the situation, I wasn’t quite sure what in the world we walked into.  Apparently they had just finished a time of worship.  When I looked at the front of the room there was a head table with Mr. & Mrs. Otile, Robert, Andrew, Denis and a couple of other guests who turned out to be two pastors.   

I wanted to slide into a seat in the back.  Silly me.  Mrs. Otile from the front said, “Mama Kisakye!  Please come up front.  We have a seat for you.”  Do you want to know what one of my first thoughts was?   “Oh no.  Godfrey’s sandals!”  When I looked back he was just entering.  He told me later that when he saw all the people he was going to stay outside.   Took some persuasion from the people at the door to push his sandaled feet in!  

Apparently what we walked into was an annual event they hold at the start of each new year.  It is for all staff and anyone who works at the hotel to come.  As a hotel they basically stop working to come and thank God for the previous year and look forward to the new year.  Together they honor God and start the New Year giving Him glory.  It was actually an amazing gathering.  

Mrs. Otile introduced all of the heads of departments which helped me tremendously.   I have been coming there for ten years now.  Even though they have become my family it has taken years to figure out what some of them really do here!   When Mr. Otile got up to share, he first recognized me as part of the hotel family.  He wanted me to give a word of encouragement for the New Year  

Those moments that followed were quick and brief.  I recognized Godfrey who was sitting way in the back (hiding his sandals!).  Godfrey told me later if Mr. Otile would have tried to call him to the front to give a greeting, he was going to reply, “Thank you so much but I am just the plus one!”  How quickly he learns!  That gave us a good laugh later when we talked about the shock of what we had gotten ourselves into!  

But during my few moments of sharing, I realized what a privilege it was to be considered part of this wonderful family.  It was an honor to have a few moments to encourage and thank all who were there.  Since Mr. Otile loved the song, “Beautiful Day,” he was more than happy to have me finish my time signing this song..  Everyone participated by standing up and signing, singing, and clapping right along.  Godfrey told me that everyone in the back of the room were filled with so much joy that they just broke out dancing!  It truly was a beautiful day! 

By now I realized I was not going to be here to just make a quick appearance, especially because they had me sitting at the front table.   I think Godfrey realized this before I did!  He had someone bring me a note asking if he could leave me here while he went back to the house to lead the Bible study we have for the community on Friday nights.  That ended up being a good call.  There was still a couple of hours more of the program.  Both of the pastors who were there had full messages that were very inspiring.  We also had an important time of prayer of dedication for the new year that I would not have wanted to miss.  

The other special honor was being there to witness the retiring of a dear friend, Sam.  He is the brother to Mrs. Otile.  He made such a wonderful speech that was also quite funny.  He said he would rather go when it was late afternoon in his life rather than evening!   He actually had two brothers who have passed away and that leaves no one to care for both of those homes.  His retirement was to go and help his families in the area called Lire.  

We then had a feast.  They had prepared a meal for everyone in attendance.  But then Mr. Otile did something that sets this hotel apart from all others.  He said that as the head of the organization wanted to serve the least of these.  He went to the serving tables and then served one of the young men who I think works in the maintenance area.  It really was something inspiring to witness.  These are very humble people who reflect Jesus in all they do.  

By time it was all said and done, I think Godfrey came back to get me at 8:00 pm!  I felt like I was starting another day when he came back!   We still had more to come that night!  

The remaining updates will be about the discipleship time with Raining Hope, the special trip we took for their Christmas gift, and the amazing Sunday service we had on January 8th. 

Still celebrating the New Year!  

Mama Eydie Kisakye       

Chapter 23 - Update #4 - January 4, 2017

  I kept thinking all day that Sunday was January 2nd!  It felt like Monday because I had gone to sleep around 5:30 am.  When I woke up it only seemed like it should be the next day, right?!  My body has surely been in a confused state!  

Because of the overnight, we all rested on Sunday morning.  Godfrey had announced that we would have church services at 5:00 pm rather than at 10:00 am.  He told me later the children didn’t even wake up until 10:00 am!  When I left the house there were still visitors lingering around.  The children were not going to be able to sleep until everyone had left.  They are such gracious, patient hosts.  I don’t think they were actually able to really go to sleep until 7:00 am.  

I spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon in my room in a cycle of sleeping, studying and sleeping!   I didn’t go down to breakfast because I knew we were going to have our New Year’s feast which I thought was going to be at 2:00 pm.  But Ugandan time put the feast closer to 3:30 pm!  Guess I should have eaten breakfast!  

Wow, did we ever feast!  Because of the generosity of those of you who have given, we were able to buy all their favorite foods!  We had rice, beans, matoke, greens, g-nut sauce, spaghetti (or as they call it macarone), irish potatoes, cabbage, and probably other things I am forgetting.  We also had our traditional bottle of soda which is reserved for special times of celebration.  

Because Annet’s birthday is December 23rd, Godfrey’s is December 24th, and mine is December 27th, the feast was also a birthday celebration!  Of course with the celebration of Jesus’ birthday on December 25th, it became one big party!   We didn’t have time to get a cake so we will celebrate once again this Sunday before I go home.   My former Pastor Cliff and his family would always tease me that my birthday was a month long celebration !  Nothing has changed!    

Jael 

Getting ready to serve our feast! 

Our feast!  Left (Greens & salad)  Middle (Matoke, irish potatoes, Gnut sauce, spaghetti, watermelon, pineapple, rice)  Right (Chicken in sauce)

Jireh 

Our Raining Hope family enjoying their feast.  Thank you to our supporters!  

I suddenly realized that it was after 5:00 pm.  We were the only ones at the house at that point.  But faithfully the children started setting everything up.  On the way to the house, there were very dark clouds that were a welcomed sight.  But the concern was it raining during the service.  When we had the conference in September, we had purchased tarps to create an overhang that covered the front porch and connected it to the tents.  But because of the hot weather, the sun beating down on the tarps has spoiled them.  Eventually we would like to do something more permanent using metal to create a nicer looking overhang.   

Because we rented two more tents we were able to be under covering if it would have rained. But by time we started the services the light showers had already passed. One by one, faithful believers came to worship with us for the first service of the new year.  We actually had a pretty large group in attendance.  The fact that we spent all night in worship didn’t stop these from coming to honor Christ at the first of the year!

Joan

Joanne & Irene in worship! 

Silvia leading worship

Joel playing drums

Godfrey wanted me to share this morning giving an encouraging word for the start of the New Year.  We continued to expand on Psalm 65:11, “You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”  This verse has been a huge encouragement for all of us.  It worked well with Godfrey’s message concerning our theme of PRAYER & LOOKING MORE LIKE JESUS.   In order to resemble Jesus we need to spend time in His presence.  Godfrey actually talked about how husbands and wives start looking more like one another the older they get as they spend more time together.  I didn’t want to say that in America they can say the same thing about pets and their owners!  They definitely would not understand that concept!  

Godfrey told everyone that when we are in town, so many people think that I actually am the one that is from Uganda.  Because of the way I dress and carry myself people mistake me all the time for living here.  I expanded on this as the point he was trying to make was the more time we spend in the presence of Jesus, the more we begin to resemble Him.  The reason people mistake me for being from Uganda is because of the time I spend in the presence of my Raining Hope family and the Ugandan people.  I adapt to their culture, their language and their ways.  This year we are calling for our Raining Hope family to spend more time in the presence of Jesus in prayer and in His Word.  We want others to see Him in us this year. 

I also read a devotion in our Daily Bread for January 1st.  It was called, “Thanks Living.”  It told the story of a girl who wanted to mature in her spiritual life and become more thankful.  She started a “Thanks Living Jar.”  Basically every night she would write on a small piece of paper one thing she thanked God for and dropped it in the jar.  Some days the praises were easy.  Other days when things were difficult she had a harder time finding one.  But at the end of the year, she emptied the jar and read through all of the notes.  She found herself thanking God again for everything He had done.  I challenged everyone to have a “Thanks Living Basket” or use a journal to write down one thing every night.  Because our theme this year is prayer, I had them go one step further and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for that item as soon as they write it.  

I encourage you as well to start a “Thanks Living” journal, jar, or basket!  Together we can see how many reasons we have to thank God this year - “including His gifts of friends and family and His provisions for our physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.  We’ll see that the goodness and love of God follows us all the days of our lives.”  Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  

I finished with the song, “Beautiful Day” by Jamie Grace.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPy0ctqMwE0.  Wow.  This ended up being a perfect song to celebrate the first day of the year with!  Our children know and love this song.  As I signed, they were all either signing, dancing and singing along!  “Oh, there’s something ‘bout the way, Your sun shines on my face.  It’s a love so true I can never get enough of You.  This feeling can’t be wrong.  I’m about to get my worship on.  Take me away - It’s a beautiful day.  It’s a beautiful day!”  

Right before services, I began to doze in the comfy chair in the living room.  But by time we finished services I was so energized by His Word and the response of His people!   The first day of 2017 set the tone of the new year!   

“You crown the year with bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”  Psalm 65:11. 

Still celebrating the New Year! 

Mama Eydie Kisakye

Bonus: After we were done my iPod kept playing.  They broke out in dance and song and were filled with so much joy.  I am working on posting the videos so stay tuned!  

Chapter 23 - Update #3- January 2, 2017

New addition to hotel 

New addition to hotel

I am happily sitting at the restaurant at the hotel catching up on updates.   There were dark clouds forming in the sky.  The thunder was roaring deep in the distance.  The wind started blowing slightly through the restaurant which is an open air patio.  Lydia, one of the servers who takes such great care of me asked, “Are you not cold?”  This was perfect weather for me but a little too cold for them!  Then all of a sudden, I heard the sound of drops of rain on the metal roofing.  I was so excited that God was answering our prayers of rain for the nation.  But He answered in a big way!  All of a sudden the wind began to rush through the patio so strong that the tablecloths were flying off the tables.  The slow drops of rain began to quickly increase.  Combined with the strong movement of wind, before I knew it Lydia and another server rushed to help me move to the newer addition of the patio where they can close the windows.  It started happening so fast that it was an exciting state of emergency!  We were all laughing and filled with joy to the HUGE answer to prayer!    It is just now starting to let up.  I looked over at the area of the restaurant where I was sitting and it is completely covered in water.  One of the workers just came over with a squeegee mop to start to push the excess water over the side.  What a beautiful 30 minutes we just experienced being showered with blessings from above! 

Where I was sitting !  

This morning as I was in the restaurant, one of my friends here at the hotel, Willie, came to to share a New Year’s greeting.  Everyone I talk to has said how it has been TOO HOT and very dry for months.  He pointed out the land across the Nile River.  As I looked, I saw the reality of the drought.  The hills that are normally lush green have turned brown.”  I am used to that in California but have never seen that here in Jinja.  All of the maize crops have dried up due to the lack of rain.   It is one thing for me to hear about the drought and famine.  It is completely another story for me to experience for myself how it is affecting this nation.  There was a little humor in all of this.  One of the workers here said, “It has been TOO HOT!  That is why our African skin is so dark!”  It caught me off guard and we both got a good laugh!

Maize crops

New construction of second bridge over Nile River.  Expected to be complete in 2018 (maybe!) 

I also saw how it is directly affecting us at the home.  Godfrey and I spent part of Saturday in town shopping for food.  We were buying supplies for the month as well as for our New Year’s Day/Christmas/Birthday feast!  Because we had a limited amount of money come in before I left, I had to buy our food in stages.  I was shocked to find that every item that we bought had increased in price from our budget.   He said it has been happening steadily as the drought has gotten worse.  The sugar was the biggest surprise which had DOUBLED in price.  Godfrey said in the hardest hit areas the sugar is tripling in price.   Continue to be in prayer for the nation as this really is a widespread crisis.

Shopping for supplies at the market

Market shopping for food

Favorite Bananas 

One of our vendors

When Godfrey picked me up on Saturday,  he immediately said, “I have a testimony!”  He seemed to be very excited.  He explained when he left for the airport to pick me up, he was concerned because the tires on the van are starting to get worn down.  He took the van in to be serviced before leaving on the long drive.  His concern was warranted and was cautioned to drive carefully.  As we drove home he told me about the tires but wasn’t concerned there would be any problems.  He just wanted to explain why he was driving a little slower!   The next morning when he woke up he was prompted to go and check the tires.  One of the tires was completely FLAT!  He praised God that we made it all the way home without blowing the tire.   

When Godfrey took the van to the shop, the man looked at it and was shocked.  He said, “How far did you come on this tire?”   His reply was, “Entebbe Airport.”  The man said, “Wow!  No wonder you are a pastor!”  He was meaning that the tire was so bad that it was a miracle we made it back.   We are now using the spare tire and we are able to get around town.  The house is only five minutes away from the hotel.  Thankfully, all we are doing is basically from the house to the hotel.  Please keep us in prayer as it is time for us to replace the tires.  The cost is roughly $560 for four tires and balancing.   

Now that the van was loaded down with food, he was worried it was putting too much pressure on the tires.  So he left me in town to visit my friends while he made a run home to drop off the food.  I surprised all of my friends with a New Year’s greeting as they thought I was coming mid January!  

Godfrey then came back to bring me to the hotel while he went to get things ready for our overnight New Year’s Eve program.  It was good because it gave me time to get my things together.  He wanted me to share the New Year’s Eve message to reflect on all that God has done this past year.  He then would share the first message of the New Year after midnight.   By time he actually picked me up it was closer to 9:30 pm (normal Ugandan time!)  When we drove in the compound there were only a few people who had arrived which was normal.  It was exciting to watch people come one by one and fill up our tents.  Godfrey actually had to rent TWO more tents to accommodate the excess he knew would come.  It was like the quote from the movie, “Field of Dreams.”  “If you build it they will come!”  At the height of the program, Godfrey estimated that we had 150-180 people!   He had invited another pastor and their church to join us that evening.  They actually had come from Wairasa which is about a 15 minute drive away.  It was a blessing to share the evening with them.  We had many others come from the neighborhood as well.  

The children ministered in song and dance for the first part of the program.  They recently bought new uniforms because they had already outgrown the ones we had made for them.   They looked extremely “smart” which is a cultural saying for looking good.   

The importance of all that happens before the clock strikes midnight is to thank God for all He has done in that year.   When I got up to share, we spent some time reflecting on 2016 and all that God did.   Many said they are thankful they are alive and made it to the new year.  Ronald especially was thankful that he is alive after being hit by a taxi van.   By the way,  Ronald is now free of the cast and the walking sticks!  He went to the doctor yesterday and they finally have removed the bandages!   Praise the Lord!   Hillary reminded us that he was thankful for the surgery he had on his foot this past year that removed a piece of glass.  We praised God for the provisions of the house, the tents, the sound equipment, the septic tank and more.  But most of what they were thankful for were not material things.  Most had to do with life itself and growing deeper in their walk with the Lord.  

  We focused on Psalm 65:11, “You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”  I taught the sign language to this verse which helped them to memorize it!  

One of the truths from his verse was that HE is the One who crowns us with a bountiful harvest.  We talked about how a crown encircles your head when it is placed.  We focused on how this year each person can be surrounded by God’s bountiful goodness.  But we need to walk in His paths throughout the year to experience the abundance. 

I finished by signing the song, “All Yours” by Ryan Stevenson.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZboBd2POBs .  It was a call for us to give all of ourselves to Him in 2017.  Some of the words are this, “I’ve never been so thankful that I’m not defined by my human side.  I’ve found my identity in the one who holds my destiny ‘cause You’ve been laying a foundation, of truth and grace.  I am all yours.  I am all, all Yours.  The only way I’m free is to give You everything.  I am all, all yours.” If you watch the YouTube video you can hear the song in its entirety. 

When I finished we had about 30 minutes to wait for the new year to arrive.  It is one of my favorite things to be a part of on New Year’s Eve!   The anticipation just builds up.  The excitement is hard to contain.  The worship team leads in praise & worship.  Godfrey is speaking and updating us on the time we have left in 2016.  As it came down to the last two minutes you could sense what was about to happen was going to be explosive!   He was using his phone to count down to midnight.  As the last “three, two, one” came, the place ERUPTED in praise, dance, worship, cheering, and all around just plain excitement!  There was no ball drop or fireworks but celebrating Ugandan style has special meaning.   There is something that happens in Uganda when you say goodbye to the old year.  Every tear that was shed, every hard path taken are all left behind as we enter in the new year.  Every blessing from above, every good thing is appreciated in great thanksgiving knowing there is more in store.  This lasts for quite some time.  There are people in the tent, outside the tent in the dark and on the platform leading.  At one point as I was taking photos, one of the kids grabbed my arm to go round and round as we were celebrating to a specific song.  It wasn’t the best move on my part with my recent bout with vertigo!   It took a minute to realize that I can’t do that again!  I got caught up in the excitement but was thankful that soon after that we stopped to pray!   

Godfrey preached the first message of the New Year, based on the theme for Raining Hope this year - PRAYER.  He taught from Luke 11 on the teaching of the disciples asking  Jesus to teach them how to pray.  It was a powerful sermon.  He emphasized the need to LOOK MORE LIKE HIM in all we do.  He emphasized the more we spend time in His presence, the more we will begin to look like Him & lead a victorious life.  I will share more about this in tomorrow’s update! 

Godfrey had me come back up and share one more song.   I read the entry from the new devotional by Sarah Young, “Jesus Always.”  January 1 starts by saying, “Do not dwell on the past.  See I am doing a new thing.”  That is based on Isaiah 43:16, 18-19, “I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. ‘But forget all that - it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.  For I am about to do something new.  See I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”  This led to my signing the song, “Be One” by Natalie Grant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq-6pXBHCZM  “It’s time to get our hands dirty.  Be love there’s a whole lot of hurting.  Calling all hearts - calling all hands - calling all feet to take a stand.  Why sit around and wait for a miracle to come when we can be one - when we can be one.”  It was a call for our children to take a stand this year and be the change, be the hope, the light in the dark!  

We only had a couple of hours left.  The time just seemed to fly by.  There was so much joy that filled the air.  Godfrey had three people share testimony whose lives have been changed since they have began worshipping at Raining Hope.  It was inspiring to hear how God has changed their lives.  During one of the choir presentation times, Sylvia led the team in singing “Amazing Grace.”  But I was surprised at the version as I had not heard it that way before.   Turns out, they had written their own version!  It was beautiful!  

 We ended the time with offering chai tea and chapati to everyone.  This is due to the generosity of all of you who have given to Raining Hope and provided for our needs.  

As things began to wind down, our children were still wide awake and I believe could have gone for hours more!  By time Godfrey took me back to the hotel, it was 5:00 am.  I was praising God I made it the whole night!   As I went to the room, and got ready to sleep for a few hours, a rooster began to crow!   It was a reminder that my body was a little confused as to what I was doing to it!   

It meant more than I understood for me to come and start the new year off with the Raining Hope family.  Thanks to all of you for your support of my being here.  

Tomorrow I will share more about what God did on the first day of the New Year!

Happy New Year!    

Mama Eydie Kisakye