Uganda

On Wednesday morning we woke up to no electricity so we chose to eat breakfast with the hopes of being able to shower before leaving for the day. Thank goodness the electricity was on by the time we were finished with breakfast and we got our showers in. After traveling for 2 days the showers were needed.

a boy with a broken femur healing incorrectly

After showers we all loaded into the van and headed to Pastor Solomon's church and medical clinic for a medical outreach to the community.

We also wanted to do a food outreach so Clint and I got in one car with Pastor Solomon and a driver and Steve and Michelle got in another car with Doreen and Isaac. We headed to separate parts of the city to get the assigned food. Clint and I had no idea where we were going, we were along for the ride and to pay for the food. Steve and Michelle were in the same position, along for the ride and to pay for the food.

As we were driving along, we realized that we were not in a "good" part of the city. It seemed to look worse than other parts that we had seen. Pastor then told us that we were in the "bad part of the city". This was not comforting to us. :) It was a challenge to find a place to part as it was close quarters on both sides of the street. We finally did find a spot after turning around a couple times. Once we were parked we were instructed to stay in the car with the driver so we wouldn't been seen by the food vender. If they would've know that Americans were paying for the bags of food, the price would've doubled.

It was a hot day but God blessed us with a nice breeze with the windows open while waiting for Pastor Solomon to emerge from the building. The scenes along the street were intriguing to me. Life is very different in Kampala, Uganda. No one seems stressed or hurried to be anywhere by a certain time. There don't see to be any deadlines to meet by anyone.

Here are some scenes we saw as we waited in the car ...

the street in front of us

ladies on the side of the street sifting through corn

a lady picking up beans as they were dropped

this man just sat and watched life go by

It made me sad to see so many of these people seemingly live their lives without purpose. Many of them were simply hanging out on the street watching others or socializing with friends. There was a group of young boys walking around talking and laughing and even picking on girls as they passed by just because they had nothing else to do. The older gentleman in the colored shirt and hat above didn't seem to have a purpose to his life and therefore chose to sleep and watch others pass by.

I wonder what it's like to not have a deadline to meet. To not be stressed about what expectations are set on you.
I wonder what it's like to not feel like you have a purpose in this life. How sad that would be. I am one that is consistently asking God what I am called to do with this life he gave me.
Am I within His will?
What is my purpose? Because life changes and circumstances change, I consistently ask these kinds of questions.
What is it like to not know that you have a purpose?
What is it like to feel helpless or hopeless?
What is it like to live in a culture that allows you to watch life go by?

You see, the unemployment rate is extremely high in Uganda. There are a lot of people with no income and do need to pick up the beans that are dropped from a bag being loaded onto a truck. This lady was doing what she needed to do to feed her family. It broke mine and Clint's hearts to see this happen right in front of us. It brought tears to our eyes.

 I stood in the rain to watch these men unload the bags of beans and flour into the container for storage. The bags weighed a minimum of 75 pounds each and these men carried them like it was something they do all the time. It was impressive to watch. They had a system and I was amazed at how quickly they finished.

all the food in the container

We then took some food to a family that had approached Pastor Solomon a few days earlier saying that they hadn't been able to feed their children for several days. They were asking for help for their hungry children.

As I stepped into their home I was couldn't believe what I saw. In this tiny one room home was a family of 6. It was no bigger than an 8x12 room. There was a chair, a small table, a few clothes and a few rags on the floor for sleeping on. A couple of the children had just been to the medical clinic for treatment.

The parents were extremely grateful for the little food that we had brought. I say "little" because in America's standards it was a little food. In this family's standards it was enough to feed their hungry children and a lifeline for them. Oh, how much we take for granted here!

enough food to feed a family for one week

Worship

 In the evening we went to church. Worship is always really good and lively. They really know how to worship the Lord with their whole being!

Clint was asked to preach. He didn't have any notes but God gave him Matthew 5, 6 &7 to preach on. Wow, God really used Clint that night! I love how he preaches when we're in Africa. He is free to preach the way God made him to preach. It was all straight from the Bible. His personality comes through too. He can be pretty animated, which adds so much to the message. I'm so proud of the way God uses my husband.

Clint preaching