Sunday- July 19

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

The newest volunteers are in Jinja this weekend, so it’s just Bryant, Amy, Vicki, Meaghan, and I this weekend. I wish Molly had gotten to stay for the rest of this weekend when it was just us. We got up early as usual, I took a bucket bath (hadn’t had one in a couple days haha) then got to have a quiet time.

I am so thankful for the friendships I have made here and these great people I have gotten to know. There is mutual respect between all the volunteers here and for all the work that everyone is doing. During the first couple weeks, though I was struggling to find my place here, it was so easy for me to see God’s provision in every moment of every day and to find my strength solely in Him. Now that I feel more comfortable here, I find myself having confidence in myself and my abilities. I know that God’s presence in my day to day here, his plans, and his daily provisions have not changed at all and that He is still working here with a purpose. My prayer is that I will see His hand in every moment as I did in those first couple weeks. Please be praying that in my last week here, God will use my comfort and my relationships here to aid in making a difference, while seeing that everything I do is for His glory and not mine.

Meaghan, Bryant, and Amy made breakfast- chapatti light, scrambled eggs with green peppers, and fruit. Our plan was to go to church with Jenipher this morning. As we were walking up the hill, Jenipher was coming down, so we went ahead without her. 5 Mzungus walking into an all black church. Of course everyone turned to stare. But the kids’ faces lit up though! There was ton of singing and dancing, it was one of the best experiences. These people were so full of joy. They were worshipping in a mud church with a tin roof full of holes, but they had joy. They sang one song in English for us, it was simple but truth. “There is happy today in the House of the Lord, there is happy today in the House of the Lord, there is Happy today in the House of the Lord, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. There is clapping today in the House of the Lord…There is jumping today in the House of the Lord….There is waving today in the House of the Lord…There is happy today in the House of the Lord, Hallelujah, Amen.” All the kids were running and jumping up the aisles. There was the cutest old woman across the aisle from us just singing and dancing with her hands raised. Again I was so overwhelmed, these people have nothing but they still worship with all they are. They welcomed us and provided translators for us during the sermon. It was on Mark 9: 14-32. Though I didn’t catch all of it, what I did hear seemed to be a great sermon. It wasn’t as long as we expected. We sang/clapped some more then it was time for the offering. We each gave a few hundred shillings (less than a quarter) but they were appreciative. Other people began bringing up bags of beans, passion fruits, and avocados. As they were praying over the offering, I was marveling at how they gave all they had but also wondering what they did with these food offerings. When the prayer was over, a man began holding up each item, speaking really fast, and then saying “I’m selling, I’m selling.” It was a church auction. Each of the offerings was sold (at a higher price than in the market) and the money used for the offering. It was so neat, people who grew beans and brought them as their offering were able to buy avocados or fruits and vice versa. But all the money was used as an offering. Then they said the announcements and church was dismissed. We shook hands with every person at the church afterwards.

We walked down to the clinic to use the internet and change clothes before we went on a hike. While I was waiting, a little boy came by the clinic with his mom, a CHE. Dr. Lisa had seen him yesterday and he needed his wound redressed. This little boy was three years old and he had cut his pointer finger with a machete. Dr. Lisa and Mike were on their way to the Kenyan border to renew Mike’s visa… so Bryant and I got to dress it. In the one day since it had last been dressed, the dressings had gotten filthy. We tried to ask the mother what happened but she didn’t tell us. I carefully unwrapped his hand and was shocked at how bad of a cut it was. Dr. Lisa had told me it was deep, but the mother didn’t bring him in as soon as it happened so it couldn’t be sutured at this point. It was just sad/ frustrating that it could have so easily been fixed if they had just come to the clinic. So now we were just treating what we could. We cleaned it well with soap and water and redressed it. He was really tough, no crying. We let him pick out a color of gauze, he chose green, and then I gave him some candies I had in my backpack for being so brave.

After that excitement, we changed and set out on our hike. Vicki is the super athletic outdoorsy one so she led the way. She had explored the area before and we went down toward the river that runs through the hills and the village. We decided to hike up the river, on the rocks, up the little waterfalls and stuff. The water was cold but it felt good after walking for a while. I love this group, I love learning from them all the time. Today Amy was talking about how pets in the United States have more rights than people in third world countries. It is illegal to deprive your pet of shelter, food, and water. The UN, however, has not declared water a human right. In their constitution, if they declare something a human right, they are obligated to help provide funding for it. They have named shelter and food human rights, and they provide a certain amount of funding for these needs, but not water. If water were declared a human right, they would be obligated to see that every person had access to an adequate amount of clean water. A huge undertaking. But that our pets have more rights, hard to swallow.

After hiking, Amy, Vicki, and I went back down to the village. We had been invited to dinner again at another AAH cook’s house but we also hadn’t eaten all afternoon. Amy and I got corn and Vicki got chapatti on our way down to the Guest House. Turns out Jenipher had made lunch also. We eat really well around here, anyone worried about us losing weight or starving- doesn’t happen.

We are, rested, I watched more episodes of 24, and then we changed back into our church clothes and headed up towards the school. The cook lived just up, straight up, the hill from the school. We got there right on time, according to Africa time. They welcomed us, prayed over us, and sang welcome songs to us. They passed around their photo albums for all of us to look at. The cook and his wife had gotten married in October of 2007. It’s a huge deal if people around here actually get married. Many times they have many children and many “wives” but are never actually married. This happens because bride prices are so high and husbands can’t afford to pay them. The family was so proud of these photos and this event in their life. It was precious.

Then they served the food. As with all meals that the villagers have made us, it was amazing. Full of flavor, just enough spices, and some awesome chapatti.
We walked back to the Guest House in the dark, because we hadn’t thought to bring flashlights and the power in the village is out again. But we made it. It was an overall great day. Only 4 more left…