Amen

Halelujah! (Amen)
God is Good (All the time)
All the time (God is good)
And that is? (His nature)

If you would like to pretend that you are here with us in Jinja, you can yell this at anyone in earshot. The parenthesis represent what should be echoed back. Most gatherings here feature one or both of these sayings. We will be glad to teach you when we get back. Can you say “Amen”?

As you may have guessed, internet connection is a little bit more limited here in Jinja. We are still alive and well. We have had a few people get sick (Ally was running a fever for about 24 hours and a few people have respiratory symptoms), but we are all starting to feel better now. The living conditions here are a lot more rural and primitive. But, we don’t mind. We are loving the kids at the orphanage here and the beautiful surroundings of the city of Jinja.

Jinja is a small city that sits right next to Lake Victoria. There is a ton of wildlife here, lots of birds, a few monkeys, and hordes of bats and mosquitoes. Our guest house is a hop, a skip and a jump from Welcome Home Ministries (the orphanage that we are serving during this second half of the trip). At Welcome Home you can find 73 precious babies between the ages of 0-7 years old. They are an assortment of orphans, sick babies, and abandoned ones that have somehow found their way to Momma Mandy’s home. We love holding the babies, feeding them and talking with the room mammas and the adoptive parents that hang out around the premises.

Momma Mandy likes to keep us busy. She really wants us to see Africa while we are here. So, the day after our arrival we went to the Bujagali waterfalls, hung out around Welcome Home, and then went to the children’s hospital in the afternoon. At the hospital, we saw children suffering from malnourishment, malaria, asthma, sickle cell anemia crises, multiple organ failure, tetanus and meningitis, many things that are preventable or easily treatable in the US. It was a sobering experience to meet children who were so seriously ill. We walked through the halls, passed out beanie babies, and offered to pray for the kids and their families. Not one of the families refused prayer. It was a glimpse of desperation.

Today, we went out to visit the villages on the lake. We took a whole day trip and visited 3 separate places. In each place we met the village elders, played games with the kids, and gave away soccer balls. At the last stop we got to meet with a gathering of pastors and their families, pray for them, receive their prayers, and have a real Ugandan meal complete with Posho. We have seen enough mud huts, goats, banana trees and corn fields to last a lifetime. A few of us also had the experience of using a real life, hole in the ground, outhouse. That was exciting. We also saw the source of the Nile river. It bubbles up from underneath an island. It is awesome!!!!

There are so many things that I could say to all of you. But, I would like to use the remaining time I have on this highjacked computer to describe to you what it looks like when Ugandans pray and worship. I have rarely seen anything so sincere, joyful, and deeply touching. We have had the privilege of witnessing lots of gatherings of singing Ugandans under the trees or inside of mud huts, cement skeleton buildings, or under tin roofs. Their voices echo off of the hills. They are loud and enthusiastic with their proclamation of the lordship of our God. They dance and shout with real and unabashed joy. I have decided that when we are all gathered in Heaven, I am going to ask God to let me worship with the Ugandans. I’m sure I will have fun there.

A few quick prayer requests;
-Please pray for the health and well being of all of our team members.
-Pray for all those who we laid hands on today and yesterday (especially one little girl who is deaf and mute) for God’s provision and healing. He is Lord and the only one who can truly change our circumstances.
-Finally, pray for our remaining days here that we will learn what we should.
I am not sure if I will be able to log on again before the trip is over, but never fear. We are well. We are happy. We love Africa.

Love,
Amanda