Week 20- Gulu

Monday 20/05/13

As our time in Uganda is winding to an end our time to do all the things we want to is also becoming limited, so today on our day off us internationals utilized our sabath Monday. Some feeling a bit neglected had haircuts and coloring whilst others including myself went to the much loved craft market at the national theatre for the last time.

I bought a few things and picked up my elephant painting I had ordered. It is the most amaizing thing and I am so happy to have it; it is of a mother elephant and her two babies mixing realism and abstract into the most amazing acrylic on canvas painting which is now hanging on my wall.

Tuesday 21/05/13

Today was our last day for ministry at Sanu Babies home, were we swept and held the babies for the first time as our last visit we cleaned the entire time. It was really sad because I don’t the prospect of 360 being over isn’t real and it just feels like it will never end and not in a bad way. So a nice sweet day and we supported the organization by purchasing a few things at their gift shop and I realized I might have a slight shopaholic characteristic. I’m not over spending, it’s just that I like to buy things with the money I have each week, but I am sure it will all turn out well because I have a strict list of what I need/want to buy.

Friday 24/05/13

Early this morning at about 5:00am we all met at the WC to leave for our Gulu trip. We had Thursday off to prepare and I am pretty sure I didn’t achieve much except for just packing. It was a long drive and I pretty much just slept the whole way down. Then when we got there we toured the living hope place there. Whilst in one of the rooms, one of the women gets up and turns on the radio really loud and then all the women and our class start dancing. It was almost like a scene off a movie and there were some really interesting moves going on, like this one women was doing something were she looked like her waist was a hinge but she remained straight; I think the trick was in her toes possibly. We then went to our motel, which was pretty good, but against western standards you wouldn’t pay to stay there, as you will soon see. In the afternoon we had a swim and it was pure joy to me. Why I say that is because I am evil. A lot of our Ugandan classmates are basically ripped and can run faster then a bullet and being not so ripped and not so fast we get made fun in little ways but it all adds up and the thing is “revenge is sweat, especially when you let the truth speak for itself”. Lets just say that they have been bragging to us how good of swimmers they are and it became apparent to me and us that there good, isn’t really swimming at all; the bigger the splash apparently the better swimming you’re doing. Basically the Ugandans who bragged about how well they can swim found themselves in our territory if you will as we can swim verily well in oppose to them. So we felt better knowing there was one thing we dominated in for ounce besides being blinding white. We spent the rest of our swimming I the pool over the three days helping and teaching them to swim with basic treading and touching the bottom of the pool along with other techniques to help their swimming experience be that but more satisfying and less exhausting. Later that night in my room I discovered that the air con in my room wasn’t working and decided I would open the door. As I did the cord to the TV which was exposed (I didn’t realize it before hand) touched the aluminium door and burst into sparks and then the cord caught on fire. I went into ninja mode ripping the curtains away from it and quicly blew it out. It really could have gone bad quickly but thankfully God was paying special attention and saved me. I called the maintenance guy and he very promptly went and got a piece of garbage bag to tie around it to fix the problem, very reassuring but I am happy to say I didn’t have anymore fire problems. I then slept on some very soft pillows and had one of the best sleeps beside the safari lodge I have had here.

Saturday 25/05/13

Today we got up early to go to the Gulu village and the best thing about that is that my sponsor child lives there! As the village only has about 10 clusters I quickly located his house by asking around and I got to meet his mother although he was off at cell. In the house I was doubtful if this was the right Reagan but I saw on the wall of their home a painting I had sent him and it was just the best feeling to see my small, maybe big impact on his life. I then went to church and I kept looking around for him (I had sent him a letter saying I was coming so he did expect me) and then out of the crowed he came over and gave me a hug. It was cool but at the same time awkward because what do you say and how do you make such a small time an awesome time. After the service I went to his house and I had some gifts including a Socceroo’s soccer ball which I picked out with my Mamma Cynie, a pack of Uno cards, some lollys which were gifts to the whole family but when I gave his mum the ball she looked at it and handed it to him saying you can have this, so it all went to plan. Then I had a book that had pics of where I live which I was given and some stickers I was also given just for Reagan. It was really awesome being able to give him these things, which I had gotten and had been planning to give him for so long, very spiritual in a way. We played the Uno cards with his other brothers and sisters and then we went for a walk where he took pictures of stuff and I got to meet his best friend. We then went and spent the rest of the afternoon playing volleyball with some of his friends and that’s when I discovered Reagan had been on a previous choir that had actually passed through Longreach so that was basically awesome to say the least. It was a good day and I really don’t know how to rate it because everything I wanted to do was achieved and in the end if Reagan had a good day I had a brilliant one. Also earlier that day Callie and myself were interviewed to make a video to be posted for future internationals as they are encouraging more internationals. Later in the afternoon after getting back we had a swim and the basic routine dodging the splashing and teaching them to swim started. However this time my skills were put to the test when a heavy built ripped Ugandan man panicked and began to drown in the deepest part of pool. I heard a women scream out and saw him thrashing around and then I torpedo free styled my way down to the end and then down to bring him back up. I think I had gotten there in the nick of time because it was that point where he sort of giving up. Anyway I kept him well above water by staying under because if I had my head up his would be near the water and he would start to panic so I was basically like a sea turtle keeping him up and pushing him to the edge. He survived and so did I and then I swam back to my position were my friends made a bigger deal then I thought it was about saving the guys life and I did feel pretty good about myself; the second time I had saved someone’s life in Africa. Then I went back to the heavenly bed.

Sunday 26/05/13

Today not being able to serve at our home districts we served at Gulu church in the morning; I was on toilets and I didn’t clean one toilet because there were so many of us and so little work so it was one of those painful bludge mornings were there is nothing helpful or fun to do. Then we had lunch at the guesthouse and then went to the Gulu baby’s home. It was so much fun because we just held little black babies the whole time. I had a little girl called Sharyn who cam in at 8 months ‘a bag of bones’ and was thought to die on the trip to the babies home. I was holding her at 10 months a happy chubby girl who when you through her in the air would come back down spaced out and then crack this huge supper cute smile. She was damn preciouses and I was tempted to smuggle her home with me. I held her he whole time and then I went with Hannah to see baby Susan who wears glasses and because they are training her eyes to not be lazy they probably hurt and she will often just let her head drop because life gets to tough and it is easier to lie in your bowl of pineapple; just too cute!

Monday 27/05/13

Today we headed home but we had a nice surprise when we ended up going on the same safari we went on the first time. Unfortunately for me my camera was flat so I had to rely on the photos of everyone else. And I just want to say God keeps his promises, because on our first safari we had prayed to see a lion with a mane and we got to see about five lions in total. It was a really good safari and we got to see a lot of animals up close. It was strange being back at the fairy dock where we had been and thought we would never be again, so it was a funny little surprise to be back again. We got back home really late and thankfully had Tuesday off to rest.

Week 19 -Climbing the cliff face

Week 19 14/05/13-20/05/13

Big blog this week so if you just want the Juicy parts read Friday and Monday, Cheers.

Tuesday

Today was our last day of prison Ministry, which is my least favorite ministry, so I am happy.

Wednesday & Thursday

This week is ‘Spiritual Emphasis’ week in which we are at North looking deep into the nine spiritual gifts and how they should be practical in our lives. These two days we have had lessons with Ronnie who is the patrol oversight of Power FM; a Christian radio station run by Watoto Church. We have been looking deeply into the nine gifts from the spirit being Discernment of Spirits, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Healing, Faith, Miracles, Wisdom and Knowledge. I think speaking in Tongues was the major gift that we focused on as it is something that everyone can receive, whereas the others God uses us to do, coming upon us with whatever for a short time. Tomorrow we have our practical session where we will hopefully talk in tongues. I am already able to speak in tongues so I am hoping that I will have a deeper experience with the holy spirit.

Friday

Wow what an experience today has been, a very practical day indeed. We started off our practical session with simple worship but boy did the Holy Spirit have his targets picked out and he quickly made his move amongst us.

The session started with us all on the stage at North standing in a circle singing worship songs. After the first song Ronnie had the people whom had never spoken in tongues before stand in the middle and those who already could stand around so that we could pray in tongues and I guess help those who couldn’t speak in tongues to speak. I get bet right now that about ¾ of the people reading this will be questioning the authenticity of tongues, but it is in the bible and it defiantly makes following Christ and avoiding sin a whole lot easier, the battle is not ours but the lords. I like to think of the Christian life being a cliff face and heaven is the top. God has given us each a rock climbing kit and a manual of how to use it (the bible), it is up to you however if you choose to read the manual carefully and use the equipment for an easy climb (although there will be challenges, there is usually a safe way to get around them). You may decide to use only the ropes, the shoes or maybe just the helmet, but using everything how it is meant to be used is the best way. So relating this to the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, these gifts are a part of the equipment that God has given us to go through life like prayer and the church more basics of the Christian life there is a whole lot more we don’t know about or feel qualified to use. But the thing to remember is no matter your good deeds or how great you think you are we all suck, are evil, are filthy, are failures and the only thing that gives us any righteousness is Jesus; simple simple stuff and don’t let anyone tell you anything different. So tying this up the proper knowledge of how to use of the climbing gear is obtained by having a devoted life to the teacher and we all know having a personal experience with hands on learning always makes the learning a whole lot easier; a relationship with Jesus makes what we learn in the bible not just head knowledge but heart knowledge and when it’s in your heart it becomes who you are.

Anyway back to what happened there were a few sceptics who didn’t believe anything would happen like many people reading this and weren’t to on board or didn’t really have any expectations. The first was a guy who stayed seated while we were on stage singing (no one expect the 360 class was in the building we just needed a soft landing in case anyone was slain, carpet) but as soon as he stood on stage he was hit by the spirit and looking up I saw he was rolling on the ground yelling in tongues; slain. Then as I was praying in tongues for people to also be able too, I started to laugh hysterically (there are all types of reactions to the Holy Spirit) and then I began to cry and scared things might get a bit out of hand I sat down for a bit of time out and was unable to keep praying so all I could do was listen to Jesus’ voice. For many people conviction is the major sign that people get from the Holy Spirit but for me I was born with a conscience that makes up for the Holy Spirit’s job so I will easily feel guilty and catch myself out, but the Holy Spirit is for me the pilot light that when I get to the verge of depression lights me up again. When I feel so depressed about my sin I just pray for joy in my heart and sure enough I feel a warm burn starting from my heart outward that makes me feel good about life again and get back into realistic thinking. I remember that no one is perfect and every sin that I commit big or small will all work in the plan and I find that often when I fall I learn so much more and instead of going backwards I move forwards with my relationship with Jesus and the devil has to look for another weakness in my walls; and I bet he will find it and I will fall, yeah I may win the battle but I can stand strong that with Jesus I have one the war, it is finished. When Jesus died on that cross and said it is finished, they are probably the most powerful and useful words in any Christian’s life, the battles will go on but the war has be one, once and for all. So as I was sitting down I was just filled with reassurance that Jesus still loved me (not that he ever or ever will stop) and that even though I had some sin that could be considered pretty big to deal with that week it wasn’t going to dictate the relationship between me and God because that isn’t what initiated it. There is nothing I can bring but myself to God and so no matter my sin so long as I repented and learned from it the only direction I could go was forward. And I think I also was affirmed that a battle I have been fighting for maybe my whole life was finished, even though there would be attacks the war was over and freedom was mine in Jesus. So that was a really cool experience for our relationship and Jesus voice is so much clearer and I know it will only get better because that’s how it is with Jesus, up. It is just an awesome feeling to know that you belong to a God who will never stop loving you regardless of how good or bad you are, and that is what makes Jesus the best saviour, he saves because of his love and realising that in my heart has really made alive his unconditional love and knowing that I can fail and it be ok has really fired me up not to fail because I don’t want to fail my Father, I want to be a spiritual warrior and make him proud that there is a little Job in he world who no matter what life throws at him is still going to be faithful to God. I really believe this stuff I am talking about has to be revealed to your heart by God because when it is whoa you feel awesome!

The second sceptic was a friend who is also an international whom was sceptical about the whole thing because she too (I come from a similar background) had not been in a church who embraced such concepts and was I guess in a way estranged from them, which is ok; but I think this experience really affirms that God has an awesome sense of humour and just loves to have fun and save dirty people. After my time out Jesus (for me Jesus talks to me, that is just our relationship) asked me to pray for people and maybe not have such a deep experience myself but to help him out and I believe being asked by Jesus to help him is just as good as being slain, he felt that I was a suitable vessel which for anyone is probably the highest privilege on earth. So I walked back up to the group and as I lay hands on someone, my friend fainted backwards and I took it as my cue to pray for her. So some guys caught her and let her down softly and left her going back to their own experience. I sat down and held her hands as I passionately prayed in Tongues over her. After about maybe three to five minutes she woke up with this huge inhale of air and started just laughing hysterically. When she got her wits back together I asked if she had seen a vision or been to heaven (just being positive and excited about the whole thing) but she said she had just been conscious but had heard a voice saying ‘ you can’t get back up yet, it’s not time’ but she said for some reason she knew it was me praying for her; she defiantly couldn’t have heard my voice over everyone else). She sat up and I guess being about 50% prompted by the Holy Spirit in how I was during this session I said its time to speak in tongues and so i just started paying in tongues and her eyes started fluttering and her face just started twitching and every now and then she would let out a nervous laugh. It’s weird how I felt comfortable and knew what I was doing during this time, defiantly a Jesus is that you moment. In all the chaos of people crying, on the floor moving about, yelling, shaking everyone was very peaceful and everything just felt right. Anyway so as we are praying she says ‘Jack I can’t’ and I said ‘you will just start speaking’ and I told her vision I had received for her the other day. We had been praying partners the other day so looking back now it was obviously ordained by God. So after that I continued and was just watching her face, her eyes were closed and I could see her mouth open and closing like a twitch and all of a sudden I realised I have raised my hand to her face and bamn, she starts praying in tongues. It was like an engine starting with blurts of words and then within a minute we had a smooth stream of words. So assuming she was right I lowered my hand and then she stopped so i raised it and she began again so I left it there for a while. I forgot to add that while I was holding her hand when she was out, I actually checked her pulse casually just to make sure, and everyone had a good laugh at that one when we were talking about it later so I am sure Ronnie will use that story in the next intake, and why not. Her tongues were sorted out by now so I left her prompted to pray for other people and about two and a half hours we ended for lunch. It was a very draining and recharging experience and we all felt very at peace after woods.  They were the main events for me and some people had been so engulfed by the spirit that they didn’t even respond to people so we just left them. I know it sounds like these people were possessed but it is a biblical thing that all Christian according to the word should exercise. And I mean who would want to come back to reality when you’re in the presence or close of God. Praying in tongues as I have previously said is the perfect will of God as the Holy Spirit prays through you to God. But in saying this you do have control of what you’re saying to an extent, you just start speaking and the words come like speaking English and you have no idea what you’re saying but it defiantly feels right. Te more you pray in tongues also the more your language develops and the best thing is the Devil and demons are unable to understand as it is a heavenly language. You can also be given a message in an earthly language but that is another things altogether.

I believe I have experienced the other gifts before but I really desire for God to use them in me for the greater of his Kingdom; a friend ounce said that she wakes up and prays ‘God show in me today’ and I think that’s pretty cool, because in the end it’s God it doesn’t matter who you are. So to all you sceptics and unbelievers have the faith of a mustard seed, you don’t need to travel to Africa to have the same experience because God is everywhere and is equally available to everyone, you just need to tap into the revelations that he will plant in your heart, let that be your prayer. As you can probably see today was a very good day indeed.

Saturday

Today was our last day that we would ever be at Bbera. I was at Richards’s house for most of the day playing with his new kitten. We said a few goodbyes and then left for church. It was a nice last day and Hannah and Emily had a party with their two sponsor kids whom are both amazingly in the same home.

Sunday

Today was our last day serving at our districts and it was a little sad but I know I have done a good job and enjoyed it as much as possible. After many Sundays of making displays out of paper for the baby’s class I dare say our activity has left some ugly scares on the wall where we stuck animal cut outs etc with the world’s most demonic smelling glue. So this Sunday Callie and I made posters of everything we learned about under the topic of ‘God made’; for example horses, cows, trees, rocks etc, very simple things. We used it to cover up the scars let’s say on the wall so that no one can see them. I don’t think that anyone’s mad about it, but let’s just say out of sight out of mind.

The usual routine of a Sunday is we leave home at 6:30am, get to Central at maybe 6:45am and leave for our districts at 7:00am. We then arrive at around 7:30am to 8:00am. I get off the bus and walk to Children’s church where I proceed to create today’s display in the baby’s class, using paper, crayons and chalk as my main mediums. By the time I am finished the first class of babies is coming in and then Callie and myself help out during the class. Then we have some time in-between where we prepare the classroom for the second service and then I leave for the cell table where I take a brake because there isn’t really anything for me to do during second service. When it ends I go down and then will clean up the baby’s classroom and work on next week’s stuff while third service is going on as there is no baby’s lesson for third service. Then when third service ends it is about 1:45pm so we all meet up at the main tent to stack the chairs and pick up the rubbish. Then we leave picking up North on the way and then when we get to Central we may have lunch and then we pray as a whole class before leaving for our weekend as it were. So that is basically how a Sunday was for me and now it is all over, Sunday was a very exhausting day and I usually had to sleep on the bus and when we got home. So defiantly some memories I will be leaving behind here.

Monday

Today Hannah and Callie went to get their hair worked on so Jess, Emily and I went to the craft markets to do some final souvenir shopping. I had a painting ordered of a big mommy elephant and two baby elephants so I was eager to pick it up and gets some other things on my list. The guy had painted one but it wasn’t what I asked for so i asked him to do another one and I am so happy I did ask because this one is just incredible. I also bargained one for Callie got it from 250’000 shillings to 120’000, which is very good indeed and picked up some other things. I bought two other paintings for about $4 and $17 each and some other smaller items for people back home. It was a fun day as I love hunting for a bargaining and spending money on exciting things.

It has been a big week and I hope the next three are just as thrilling as my time comes to an end. I have unfortunately caught flu again so prayers against that would be highly appreciated; as no one wants to be sick in Africa and fingers crossed it’s not malaria because that wouldn’t be fun. Also I know it’s childish in a way but also prayers that my travels home would go very well and that things like baggage weight and customs and missing the plane etc wouldn’t be a problem and I can have a great finish to this gigantic adventure, it will be so much more when I am home because I will feel like I had just left and then I will look back at all the things I did and how I have changed and then I will sit in my black chair and be amazed that I did something so big and out of my comfort zone and survived to tell the tale. It’s gonna be epic! What it is, I don't' know.

Week 18- Suubi

Week 18- Suubi

Tuesday 7/5/13

Today was a sad and happy day as it was our last day to visit our family in the slum. The mother in our family has been expecting baby and since our last visit has had a little boy called reality. While we were there she asked us if we knew any good names and after us all vomiting out different names I started to push for the name William (my middle name) and after saying William Reality a few times we all fell in love with the name. The baby was three weeks old when we saw him and he is still very small but is very healthy which is great as he is HIV+. Being our last visit we bought them some things like food and a basin for the baby. I then gave the potato peeler I had brought for them and he must have never seen such a thing because I gave him a quick demo and he was so amazed by such a simple thing. He quickly grabbed it and proceeded to peel a potato as his jaw lowered and he jumped in the air with the same excitement a kid has on Christmas’; and then the best thing was that he then stopped looked at me and said “Is this for me” and I got to say “Yes”;and witness some more intense excitement. It was very sad as this was my favourite ministry and Mamma Promise was sad when we told her that this would be the last time we saw each other. The others are able to see them after 360 so she asked if we would still be able to stay in contact and I told her we could communicate through Richard in our group. So after cradling the baby and some last chats we walked back to our bus. It was very sad but I now know with certainty that we had chosen that family for a purpose and that God had defiantly been in the process.

Wednesday 8/5/13

Today we went to Suubi for our four day stay. The idea is so us internationals get to see what living in the villages is like and we as a 360 team will also work on a project to help the village. Our project was to help build a cement path. I had to use the only bag Ii had which was the one I used to come here so it looked like I was taking everything and anything and I was a bit worried about being judged, but then I was comforted by Natalie’s famous words of “ Don’t Cure”. We arrived and then went to our homes. I was staying in my best friend here’s House, Jonah Jonal or JJ. I settled in very well as the family is very welcoming. We had lunch and then for a meeting to outline the agenda of our stay. Then I painted with the two boys who live in Jonal’s house; their names are Adrian and Alkarna, both were very sweet and had beautiful smiles. Later that afternoon I went for a walk with Ivan who also is in Jonal’s house and in 360 and is my friend to Suubi 2 to have a look at what we might be doing; it was nice and I got to see a lot of things and find out a bit about Ivan. After tea we had a devotion time which happens every night were we pray and sing worship songs as a family; it is a really nice time to reflect on the day and God.  Then came the fun task of bathing. In my house there was only one tap that worked during a few hours a day in the bathroom, so you had fill up jerry cans during the day and then you would pour water into a plastic tub and then proceed to wash with soap and a plated scrubber thing. It was an interesting task and with no locking door there was defiantly the fear of someone walking on you and let’s just say seeing full view and yes this fear did come to life for a few other people, I was lucky. So it was a very good first day and we also had cell which was nice along with a walk along the school at the top of the hill.

Thursday 9/5/13

Today was our first morning of working on our project. We started work at 8:30am which involved many jobs of mixing cement by hand, wheel barrowing it over to the path moulds, roughly flattening it out, then people smoothing it over to perfect smoothness and then finishing off the path with a broom and dry cement powder. There was also the job of getting materials like cement and water, so I took one of the rides on the trailer up to the store rooms. It was really fun and I even got to drive the tractor on the way back from a water run, my farm skills have come in use after all.  In the afternoon I did some painting with the boys, had a sleep after lunch and had a very relaxed afternoon.

Friday 10/5/13

Today was our second day of cementing and to complete the job we would have to achieve 150% more than we did on Thursday. I did the job of evening out the cement when the wheel barrows dump it and even it out as best as I can so that it could be easily flattened with a plank. I’m glad to say that we did indeed finish the path and we worked really well. It was lots of fun with many small mud fights and assassinations. Then in the afternoon after lunch and my sleep I went for a walk with Jonal and Laurence to the trading centre which is a cluster of shops about a 15 min walk away from Suubi. Then later in the evening I went for a walk with Richard and later whilst doing devotions Callie and Ritah came over for a visit.

Saturday 11/5/13

I woke up early today to finish a painting I was doing for Mother Victoria as a thankyou present; which consisted of flowers ad cows, her favourite things. We then headed off for a sports day which was pretty boring except for a small conversation with Peter, Jess and Emily about the Vatican in Rome. After that we went home, had lunch, I packed and we headed off to the buses that would take us to church. When we got to central Jonal, Moses and I went shoe shopping. I have been hoping to get some small shoes and when JJ said he was going I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. There were so many choices, with table after table for a goo 40m or more; and after much looking and contemplating I decided to go with a pair of ‘Doggies’ which is a brand of show similar to a converse and Jonal also has a pair. I did wonder if I had made the right choice walking back but when I put them on I knew I had made a great choice because every time I were them I will rember Jonal and we can also both were the same shoes and dress like twins and be a pair of dags. We then went to church were we saw the baby Winnie and I saved being committed into the Bulrushes home, so that was a great end to the day.  It was sad to leave the peaceful Suubi but it was also a delight to have electricity and hot water.

Sunday 12/5/13

I know at the start I did not like Sundays at all but since I now love them because I get to create the Babies class scenes for the things they learn about each week in their lessons of ‘God made...’. It is really cool to have a thing that only you can do and being depended on. I have been using glue that the teachers said I could to glue pictures on the walls every week of chickens, cows etc, but we have noticed that paint has been ripped off the walls and that isn’t good. So I came up with the redeeming plan of making posters to cover up the scruffy part of the wall. The teachers seem to be on board so hopefully all goes to plan. Callie and I worked on a good chunk of them today so hopefully next Sunday we will finish them all.

Monday 13/5/13

Today was a very slow day and my biggest achievement all day was my blogging. I Skyped my parents, did some eating and watched my new favourite movie ‘Mental’. I am looking forward to going home, I really think it will be a very fun time and will grow a lot there just like I have here. However I am also working very hard at staying in the present and enjoying every moment here. Missing everyone back home, lots.

Week 17- Tangible Growth

Week 17- Tangible Growth

Tuesday 30/4/13

Today we visited the baby’s home. It was a very simple day which mostly consisted of cleaning.

Wednesday 1/5/13

Today we went to God’s Grace where we as the 360 class donated food and other essentials to the orphanage. We raised about 500’000 shillings which is equivalent to around $200 and with that we were able to buy enough food and other items that would last the 120 kids about a month. On Tuesday South, Thomas and Miriam bought the items we made on our list, last week and on top of our budget people donated on top of that. The things we bought were 50kg sacks of rice, beans and potio, soap, nappies, bibles, toothbrushes & paste, baby bathing basins and many more things. The kids were so happy and I spent my time there playing simple games in the dirt like nots and crosses and then helped feed the babies porridge (There are photos on face book). Then we were blessed with a concert by the kids dancing and singing songs in a rehearsed dance. It was really special and the children were really good. I can describe everything down to a t but I can’t describe the atmosphere, the energy of the day, it was simply very special.

Thursday 2/5/13

Today my team East went back to God’s Grace on our Ministry day. We got to play with the kids for a bit in the morning and then Callie, Winfred, Miriam, Joseph, Sherly, a helper from Gods Grace and myself took some the really sick babies, toddlers and one boy to the hospital for a check up. We had about 10 kid’s altogether so we were holding a baby almost all the time. We waited for about half an hour before we were seen and given a brief examination before seeing an actual doctor; thankfully it was all free as Malgo Hospital is public. The examination man then decided that all of the kids would need a blood test and that meant that I would have to take one of the babies in, I feel sick just writing about it now. The boy I had was three but was anaemic so his thigh was as thick as my wrist and his wrist smaller than two of my fingers (I’m not kidding one bit so as you can see I was wondering how and where they were planning to take blood from. I was sitting with Winnie feeling queasy and I said she might have to take him in because if you didn’t know I hate needles I feel sick just thinking about them. Winfred went in first and to my relief it was just a finger prick were they take a drop of blood on a glass microscope piece and look for whatever straight away, but it was still hard. So I walked in sitting the boy on the chair as the woman got herself ready. I tried not to look as much as possible while I held his arms and hands. He had no idea what was going on and was so chill you might think he was stoned. Anyway she took his finger and pricked and he erupted in the loudest scream I might have ever heard. His arms went flying and here I am standing in shock and the doctor saying “Quick grab his arms” so I snapped out of my frozen daze and grabbed his arms so she could take the blood. It was all over within a minute or two and there I was carrying out this howling bag of bones with a cotton bud on his finger. It was very awful and I think it was the closest I have felt to crying for my time here. I realised that it was a very tangible expression of my adult hood because instead of me being the one taken in for a needle, I was taking a kid in, I was the responsible rock that that little boy had for comfort. I had to control my feelings and rise to the occasion because he depended on me I had to simply depend on God that I could keep it all together; and thankfully I did and after some parental swaying and reassuring words he did stop crying, but he just lay there exhausted from the ordeal crying silently on my shoulder. So that was defiantly a very big and hard moment for me here.

Also there was a man with a premature baby whose mother had died. He was apparently planning to leave his daughter there, but Winfred intervened and told him to go to Bulrushes as the baby would probably die before the Hospital did anything about it. I gave him 10’000shillings for transport and then on our way out Winfred saw the Boda Boda man who had taken them and reported that everything went well, so a very successful intervention indeed.

We waited for about an hour after woods with their test results that thankfully showed no signs of anything bad. We went into the doctor’s office after about an hour of waiting and were basically told that these kids were sick from very simple things because of their poor diet. I don’t want to go to deep into the conversation but it wasn’t one with a happy ending. We then took the kids back to God’s Grace and we were pretty drained emotionally and physically. We then went to Fidodo’s for lunch and pretty sure signed out.

Friday 3/5/13

Today in class we wrote encouragement notes to people, which was really fun but also sad as some people didn’t get any and everyone wrote at least one. So even though I got heaps I learnt a tiny aspect in the big picture of finding our self worth in Jesus. It’s really hard to find that balance of meeting Jesus half way, letting him do his thing but also knowing what is your responsibility in the relationship. We then went to the markets at lunch and after classes in which I purchased some things for my Dad and his family. Got some good deals and bought my mum a hippo. Then after that we went out for pork with Peter and Joseph which was fantastic. Going out for pork in Uganda is a big thing like going to the pub if you know what I mean. We had a really fun night and it was really good being able to eat some fair dinkum meat.

Saturday 4/5/13

Today we helped out at south with some landscaping to help them get ready for their big opening tomorrow. We laid turf, lifted bricks, swept, cleared dirt and rubbish, had some small mud fights and a lot of dirty fun. We then changed as best we could for church.

Sunday 5/5/13

We were serving at South today; we lifted blocks, moved stuff, picked up rubbish, greeted people, moved chairs and I guess a lot of other random things. There were way more people than the one service could handle which was great and at the end it rained so I guess you could say God held the day off.

Monday 6/5/13

Today we celebrated the Mexican day of the dead Sinco de Mayo hosted by Natalie and Thomas. We had a Mexican lunch which was very nice and new for me. We then had to draw the Chupacobra which is apparently a mystical monster in Mexico that eats goat’s blood. Then we had to catch the chicken to win the day, which is a chocolate. Anyway it was really fun. Then we went to Calvin and Shirley’s for dinner were we feasted and had a really nice crazy time. Lots of fun and adventure today.

So that has been our week I was meant to write it on time but our power was off and as you will read tomorrow we go to Subii, so many apologies and lots of Love, from Jack in Africa.