uganda: week three.

this week has been SO GOOD. god was so good and so evident this week. so without further ado here are the week 3 highlights/lowlights:

- i taught my first sunday school lesson this past sunday! it went really well considering i wrote it in an hour the night before. procrastination at its finest. so thankful that the Lord promises that when his word is spoken, it does not return void.

- this week was deworming week at GSF. all 90 GSF kids had to be weighed, get their deworming medicine and their routine Vitamin A. so needless to say, this intern was a busy girl this week. i was busy running all over campus taking medicines to people and then countless hours were spent in the office updating their files. i know it sounds boring but it was the most fun.

all the deworming supplies that we brought everywhere with us.

selfies with john in the babies' house while we wait to get dewormed.

- we have a new toddler at GSF! her name is daisy and she is the absolute sweetest. i was at the office when she arrived and i was able to witness her meeting her house mom for the first time. it was the GREATEST! she and auntie phionah (pronounced fiona) bonded almost instantly and she was so content to sit with her. we took a moment to pray for daisy before she joined her new “brothers and sisters” and it was so powerful. i opened my eyes at one point and she was staring intently at whoever was praying. i am so grateful that she gets the opportunity to grow up here where she will most definitely hear about jesus.

daisy when she first arrived at GSF.

- god showed up big time this week when our pastor from light of the world church was hit by a truck. i can’t even describe to you how crazy the roads are here. pretty much all of them out in the villages are dirt roads with plenty of potholes and lane lines aren’t a thing. so everyone drives as he wills. so uncle mark gets a phone call one night that he was in the hospital and in “bad shape”. they quickly went to the hospital to visit and he was pretty banged up but he seemed like he was going to be fine. the nest day, he was out of the hospital and the day after that, i saw him at GSF and now you can’t even tell he was headbutted by truck. god is the ultimate healer. all praise to HIM!

- we had a team arrive at the latter half of the week. so campus was all abuzz at the prospect of new “vistors” as they are called. when they came everyone came out to the gate to greet them. bc of how overwhelmed i was at my gate greeting, i didn’t really get pictures then but i definitely got pictures and videos this time bc it is one of the coolest things i have ever seen. 

not even half of the people that came to the gate greeting. everyone sings and someone plays the drums. it's CRAZY!

- GOOD NEWS: i was adopted this week!! one of the missionaries here adopted her three children from GSF and they are legitimately the coolest. i would love to be maggie, hope and emma’s actual big sister but adoption is just as good. this means i’m staying forever. sorry guys.

my new sisters: maggie, hope and emma. (L to R)

prayer requests:

- be praying for jonathan as he continues to heal. god did a mighty work in protecting him but there are some consequences of his accident that still need healing. 

- be praying for daisy and her transition to the toddler house.

- there are several health issues right now at GSF that the nurses are trying to use discernment on how to treat with few resources. pray for them that understanding and wisdom will be abundant in each situation.

i'll just leave you with this. this is shakira from the toddler house and she is too much. she is forever wrapping her arms around my knees.

uganda: week two.

i feel like i just wrote a blog about week one yesterday and we are already at the two week mark. this summer is going by way too fast and i already know i am going to be a hot mess come august 1st. 

week two highlights:

• this past sunday at church, during our time of welcoming visitors, a man stood up proclaiming that he had a word for the church. it started out somewhat normal and then quickly went south. it was evident that, even though he said this was a word given to him from God, it was not God-given at all. apparently, false prophets are really common in ugandan churches. after church, we learned that pastor jonathan and david sat down with this man to talk about his “prophecy” and it quickly became obvious to jonathan and david that this man did not know jesus. so they shared the gospel with him and he accepted jesus that day!! how good is God?!
• also on sunday, uncle mark and titus took the interns and the nurses on a “jungle cruise” in the forest behind their house. despite what we were told, rainy season is not over in uganda so the african forest was actually the african swamp. we came out up to our knees in mud and scratches all over from the tall grass we trekked through but laughs were had and memories were made. and so far no bacteria has made us have to remove any limbs.
• i found my favorite toddler this week. i know i know, i am not supposed to have favorites but come on, i am just as human as the rest of us. his name is joseph and he is a handful. he has gotten into the habit of running up to me when i pass by the toddler house, wrapping his arms around my waist, and saying “i’m your baby monkey.” i mean seriously. how could i resist? he also begs me to take pictures of him then says “ i want to see mychelef” (myself in ugandan toddler speak). at one point this week he said “hannah beth, i want to lay on your lap and have you tickle me.” okay bubba, whatever you say (:
• i went to kampala this week with joseph, GSF’s occupational therapist, to a special needs rehab hospital. it is unbelievable how much of a need is here for therapy services for special needs kids. and this hospital doesn’t only service kids from uganda. people travel from countries like rwanda and congo to receive medical care here. 
• ISANGA AND STEVEN FOUND DR. PEPPER IN UGANDA. that’s all that needs to be said about that one.
• and an update that is still going on right now.. i am the nurse on call this weekend. basically that means that i have the phone and if something goes wrong on campus, i direct them to the right people. it should be a quiet weekend here but you really never know so fingers crossed nothing happens.

prayer requests:

• i am leading sunday school tomorrow for the first time so pray that that time will be fruitful.
• anytime you are doing something that pleases the Lord, you are doing something that Satan hates. pray for the spiritual warfare that is happening over this place lately and praise that no matter what happens, God has already won.
• and seriously, please pray that time will slow down. i have six weeks left and i am already dreading leaving so pray that i will focus on the present time and not on the fact that i will eventually have to leave.

i don't have fast enough internet right now to upload pictures here but i just put an album on facebook this afternoon so head over there to see what life has been like lately. love and miss all of you. keep on praying, prayer warriors. it's definitely needed and felt here.

uganda: week one.

week one in uganda is done! i can’t even believe that my time here is going by that quickly. i am experiencing so many things here for the very first time like:

     --> first time riding a boda. a boda here is motorcycle and it is a very common form of transportation. to the relief of my parents, i survived my first boda ride!

     --> first time going to a hospital here. this past thursday, nurse danielle and i took two kids from GSF to get immunizations at a hospital nearby. that was an experience to say the very least. you can try to prepare yourself to see what goes on in the medical field in a third world country but you can’t even fathom it unless you see it for yourself. in uganda, the hospital doesn’t provide anything for a patient. the family has to bring it in themselves. all the way to sheets for the bed, food for the patient and even medicines! see i had the idea that if someone was burned, they could go to a hospital to get dressings and painkillers where in actuality if the family brings in dressings, then the doctor will do his job and the patient can be treated. boggles my mind a little bit.

     --> first time being attacked by toddlers. and i literally mean attacked. if you make the mistake of sitting on the floor in the toddler house, they will all come try to sit on your lap. yesterday, the most i counted on my lap at once was six. i can’t even describe the joy that is found when i walk into the toddler house and they all come running at me screaming “auntie hannah bet”. and no that’s not a typo. my name to them is pronounced hannah bet.

     --> first time living in an ugandan village. this weekend caralina and i lived in kikube which is a village about 30 minutes walk from GSF. we lived with teacher diana who teaches at GSF school. it was such an amazing time to see how a community in uganda functions. and we really lived african life. we got water from the well. we washed dishes and clothes by hand. we cooked food over a charcoal stove. it was amazing. i can’t emphasize enough how intense and refreshing the community is here; with the ugandans and my fellow mzungus.

     --> first time worshipping with ugandans. i will tell you something uganda does get right. they know how to worship jesus and they worship him hard. there is no such thing as meeting for just prayer. any time they gather together, they praise, they worship, they pray, and there is a speaker. it is so real and so encouraging. and here the kids are just as invested in worship as the adults. the kids are playing drums and clapping and just going all out for jesus. there is nothing like it. 

the first day we came to GSF all the kids crowded around the gate to welcome us. this is a picture of them running after our bus going into campus.

a typical market in jinja. mud floors and everything.

sweet daudi and his older sister efrance (pictured below) from the toddler house. they love to grab my hand and sit on my lap. their smiles are killer and i can't get over how beautiful they are.

there are so many other things that i wish i could share with you now but i don’t have the time or the internet connection. for now here are some specific prayer requests:

1. we have been without water and power off and on for several days. there is an issue with the water pumps which makes the tanks not fill up completely. pray that the issue will be resolved quickly and that the maintenance staff will be given strength and mental clarity to find out what the problem is. 
2. pray for good health for everyone here. a couple children here on campus have malaria and some of the missionaries are feeling under the weather so pray that the enemy will not use sickness to stop the work being done here.
3. pray that community will continue to be built. it has been great this weekend to get to know people in the GSF and kikube community better and i am praying that those friendships will be strengthened over time so pray for this community as everyone grows closer to jesus and each other.

thank you so much for praying for me. i can feel everyone's prayers for me and the rest of our team bc of how great this past week has been. oh and hey mom, since i know you are reading this: i think i am staying in uganda forever. seven more weeks is not enough time here.