I had to use my mosquito net over my bed last night. I have never used a mosquito net nor have to use one to cover me while I slept. That was a first for me. I felt like a princess. Even though that is kind of weird. So glad I did. Then, the power went out in guess in the town or our section because nothing electrical was working in our hotel and my room warmed up really fast to where it was very uncomfortable to sleep. I woke up at 3 am decided that it was okay because it was 6pm back home and gave me a chance to call Rhea and the girls. After our 10 minute phone call I decided to give sleeping another shot and I slept till 7 am. Ate breakfast and we had family time at 8 am. Talked about the schedule for the day and what we were going to be doing. This morning we headed to the village of Juba where Pastor Peter is the director and pastor of the church. When we parked and got off the bus we were surrounded by some many kids. So many kids. All of them wanting your attention and holding your hand. It was overwhelming but so awesome. The kids are so loving and so so cute. They have smiles that could light up the world. We were in Juba to be part of a graduation ceremony for their pre-school kids who are moving to primary school. The graduation was awesome! The schools choir sang great songs, dance solos, dances, and all sorts of fabulous things. There was a great message from the headmaster of the school. Everything he said translated so much to raising our own kids here in the United States. He hit the nail on the head. The adults, parents, and teachers were so appreciative for us being there. Everytime we were greeted by them they would tell us,"Praise the Lord," or "You are most welcome." or "You are most very welcome." They came up to us and hugged all of us. They have never met me and have no reason to hug me but they did and said they loved me and glad that I am here with them. It was such a great morning and very heart warming. After being in Juba we headed back to the hotel for lunch. We split into two different teams. Kent and Laura went with the team back to Juba for a women's tea. There they pampered the women, washed their feet, painted their toe nails, had lipstick for them, a gift for them and more. In Uganda, women are looked down upon, the bottom of the pecking order and are made to serve everyone around her. But this afternoon was about them and them being served. Some of the women travelled by foot for two days to get to Juba. So you know this was an important thing to do for us. Heard great stories from the team that went. They laughed, they cried, they prayed and laughed some more. The women really really appreciated it very much. I went with the team that went to the village of Seka (Say-ka). Seka was about an hour away from our hotel. We drove on a road that bordered Kenya and Uganda. On one side of the road was Kenya and the other side was Uganda. Pretty awesome being in two countries at once. While on this road and every road we have been on so far on this trip. There are people always walking on them. Walkin walking walking. Either with their water jug headed to the well, or a pig strapped to the back of a bicycle, hauling rice bags, or whatever. They are walking, riding a bicycle or a motorcycle. At Seka, we brought a lot of the school supplies that we collected at Lord of Life and they were very appreciative for those supplies. Thank you Lord of Life for those donations. I also brought a few soccer balls and the kids went crazy for them. We also took a tour of the village. They had a church, school, and a two room clinic. The church was a building that they used for church on Sundays and then for some classrooms. The school has ages from nursery to 8th grade. The clinic they had was just two rooms attached to the church. That being a clinic they had very little means and need so much more. One of the rooms in the clinic had a young mom with her infant daughter suffering from malaria. They had a bed made of papyrus on the floor. The infant was lying on the floor with her mom next to her. I prayed a prayer of healing for them in my head. It is so hard to see suffering like that. Especially a young infant. After the tour we all went into the church and there we had an hour long explanation about washing your hands and why we should wash our hands. Sounds kind of silly but they needed this educational moment. Not just them but their parents who were present. In our world we have restrooms. In theirs they have outside latrines or the bush. So needing them to be sanitary and wash their hands can help the spread of germs and diseases. All the kids sat through that presentation quiet and listened. After the presentation we were going to go outside and play some soccer with the kids but rain came very hard. So we had to make our way back to the hotel before the roads got worse. Got back to our hotel about 7 pm. Dinner was at 730pm. Now I am really tired and headed to bed. Have a good night/day. Looking forward to posting pictures sometime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment