Wow! When you let God set the pace, you better hold on. That is what I am learning! After starting my Placement at Compassion International's site in Lugazi, I feel as if time has been moving in fast forward. My head is reeling from the quick motions and all of the language that it is trying to take in, yet, I honestly cannot complain. I asked God to take the reins, now I just have to hold onto the horse :).
In Lugazi, I am working with the Child Survival Program which works with children ages 0-3 and their mothers on surviving and thriving as they learn about God and meet outcomes in the Spiritual, Cognitive, Physical, and Socio-emotional levels. God has blessed me with a wonderful supervisor, Aunt Racheal, and Director, Uncle Johnson (they call people Aunt and Uncle out of respect here. Not too different than the missionary world :).) They, along with the whole Compassion team, are incredible to work with, very welcoming and enjoyable.
I have learned to value time as it comes and goes in quick and slow spurts. I was able to on Wednesday of last week bring the devotion (more like preaching :)) for all of the youth (around 30 people). I learned that we have to stay connected to God at all times as we may be given just ten minutes to prepare a 30 minute presentation. I am so thankful that God offers us His Holy Spirit to speak through us and for us!
I have been blessed with being able to struggle through learning some of the language of Luganda. I love the laughter that it brings them when I mess up :). It makes it so much easier to just take the whole learning process in stride. Mwasuzotia BaNiabo e BaSsebbo!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Letting God Set the Pace
I was reading in Jesus Calling the other day about complete trust in God also including trusting His time, not trying to force everything to work out before He has it planned resulting in us getting a counterfeit of what He has for us. I honestly have really struggled with this concept. I like to plan and organize, a wonderful trait that comes from my mother :). It has proved time and time again to be a blessing, but in the area of trust, it becomes a challenge. This is my challenge to myself and to you as I am in Uganda. Know that God is in control (Romans 8:31, Ps. 46:1-3, Luke 1:37, Ps 56:3-4 and so many more)! I am excited to enjoy the process of life as I spend time trusting in His Presence!
Here is how God has shown His presence so far: On the way over to Uganda (I have arrived safely! Thank you for prayers!), I was blessed to sit by one individual on each plane ride who I was able to speak to about adventures ahead, what to expect, and Christ. I hope that I was as much a blessing to them as they were to me!
Stepping off of the plane in Kampala, I was checked through customs by someone who had studied at the UCU school that I am studying at here in Mukono. He was such an encouragement as he told me a little bit about the grounds and the people.
I was greeted by a land that is VERY similar to Honduras! It is crazy how much Africa can be like Central America topographically. I feel very much at home with the climate, the people (still learning the culture though :S, more embarrassing stories to follow, I am sure :D), and the night noises. The night noises remind me of Olancho: Humanity competing with nature, a mixture of loud music being drowned out by the cadence of crickets, frogs, and locust.
All of the girls that I am studying here with (especially Betty :)), have been a huge encouragement as they are going through the same process as I am. We are all excited and nervous!
And now I might be late for Church, so more to come with photos!
Here is how God has shown His presence so far: On the way over to Uganda (I have arrived safely! Thank you for prayers!), I was blessed to sit by one individual on each plane ride who I was able to speak to about adventures ahead, what to expect, and Christ. I hope that I was as much a blessing to them as they were to me!
Stepping off of the plane in Kampala, I was checked through customs by someone who had studied at the UCU school that I am studying at here in Mukono. He was such an encouragement as he told me a little bit about the grounds and the people.
I was greeted by a land that is VERY similar to Honduras! It is crazy how much Africa can be like Central America topographically. I feel very much at home with the climate, the people (still learning the culture though :S, more embarrassing stories to follow, I am sure :D), and the night noises. The night noises remind me of Olancho: Humanity competing with nature, a mixture of loud music being drowned out by the cadence of crickets, frogs, and locust.
All of the girls that I am studying here with (especially Betty :)), have been a huge encouragement as they are going through the same process as I am. We are all excited and nervous!
And now I might be late for Church, so more to come with photos!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Christmas in Cold Mexico
We arrived to my parent's home in Mexico late on December 27th. After so many hours in the car we welcomed the ability to walk into a house- our new house. Honestly, it is a little bit strange to be in a Spanish-speaking country with my parents and not have it be Honduras. Though Saltillo is very different from Honduras, it has been such a blessing to see where my parents have been called. God has so blessed their ministry here by bringing them couples to work with to start Bible studies and small groups. I am so proud of them!
And as my sister shows in her post, our time was full of puzzles, food, fun, and... well... um.. randomness :D "So...my night: I went to heat up some dinner, and the plate split in half, so my planned meal of stroganoff became a bowl of cereal and a little salad. I wanted dressing on my salad, and Tita Dunbar was kind enough to pull out the bottle of Ranch. It was empty. I threw it away and looked for another bottle of dressing. We had Italian still in the fridge. I pulled it out: only a few drops of dressing left. I put what I could on my salad and decided it was healthier that way anyway. Later, I went down to grab a mini cinnamon roll (made out of leftover pie crust) for dessert. It was stuck to the bottom of the pan, so I ran a blade underneath to loosen it. It loosened. Two cinnamon rolls shot out of the pan, into the air, and between the counter and the stove. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but there is about a quarter-inch of space between the siding on the counters and the stove. There's no room to move the stove. Tita and I spent about 1/2 an hour maneuvering with her thinner fingers, a broom handle, and a pair of tongs before we were finally able to get both cinnamon rolls out and into the open again. And then we realized that the top of the broom handle had fallen off in that space, so we had to maneuver again. Apparently I was not supposed to eat tonight...- Charith"
And as my sister shows in her post, our time was full of puzzles, food, fun, and... well... um.. randomness :D "So...my night: I went to heat up some dinner, and the plate split in half, so my planned meal of stroganoff became a bowl of cereal and a little salad. I wanted dressing on my salad, and Tita Dunbar was kind enough to pull out the bottle of Ranch. It was empty. I threw it away and looked for another bottle of dressing. We had Italian still in the fridge. I pulled it out: only a few drops of dressing left. I put what I could on my salad and decided it was healthier that way anyway. Later, I went down to grab a mini cinnamon roll (made out of leftover pie crust) for dessert. It was stuck to the bottom of the pan, so I ran a blade underneath to loosen it. It loosened. Two cinnamon rolls shot out of the pan, into the air, and between the counter and the stove. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but there is about a quarter-inch of space between the siding on the counters and the stove. There's no room to move the stove. Tita and I spent about 1/2 an hour maneuvering with her thinner fingers, a broom handle, and a pair of tongs before we were finally able to get both cinnamon rolls out and into the open again. And then we realized that the top of the broom handle had fallen off in that space, so we had to maneuver again. Apparently I was not supposed to eat tonight...- Charith"
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