Wonderful Experiences

Well, I have now been at GSF for two weeks! I am very thankful that I have many more weeks to go :)

There is so much I'd like to share, so this is just going to be a mixture of different things!

First let me show you my house and tell you what a "normal" day looks like here!

My living room. I live with 3 other missionary women

Mine and Dayna's Room

Our bathroom...even with 4 min of hot water :)

The day starts out at 7am with rounds to each house. Luckily, Nurse Ruth and I have realized that she likes morning more than I do, so she normally does morning rounds and I do afternoon rounds. Doing rounds means going to each of the 6 houses and asking the children and their house moms if anyone is sick, giving morning medications, and rechecking on people who were sick before. I love doing this in the afternoon because it gives me time each and every day to see almost all the kids and talk with the house moms. I learn about peeling matoke (an unripe banana), making mats out of reeds, cooking all different kinds of foods, and such! If I'm not in a hurry its a great time to get to know everyone and the culture better! 

After morning rounds we eat a little breakfast then head down to the clinic. We pass out medicine to the house moms if there were any new sick children that day, we organize the clinic, read up on new information, see school children who are sick, or take groups of children to get immunizations or to special clinics. However it seems like its takes a very long time to accomplish things here… or things just don't go as planned!

For example: Wednesday, we needed to take some of the newer children to Buwikwe Hospital to get HIV tests, and other children to get their routine immunizations. Nurse Ruth and I took 8 children total, with six other helps! I was the oldest person to go and none of us were moms! Haha We got there around 940 and immunizations were suppose to start at 10. We all went and set on these outside covered benches. Most of the waiting area of the hospitals are outside, even the table to do immunizations- all covered though. We took some of the kids to get their HIV tests, only to find out the hospital was out of the necessary equipment. Then around 1040, we asked about the immunization nurse and were informed that they changed to schedule and we could only get immunizations on Thursdays…. so we just all loaded back up and when home… with nothing accomplished haha The Lord has been so great and blessing me with much patience and grace! I am learning that plans do not always have to work. I enjoyed getting to know the teenagers who helped out more, getting to play with the children outside of GSF, and seeing the hospital. I am learning to just enjoy the moment, and realize the blessings in each situation. 

The van of children and helpers...there are no such things as carseats or seat belts here

Waiting in the immunization area... we all become moms that day!

My little kiddos for the day! Elijah and Godfrey, our youngest at 7 weeks old

The evenings consist of afternoon rounds about 4-5, then feeding Elijah dinner. He is still on a special diet for a couple more weeks. After feeding him, I've tried to go and spend some time with the older girls. They are so much fun! I have learned to dance, chase monkeys, the ninja game, and to just enjoy being outside. They love to look at my pictures and ask me about America and a lot about my boyfriend haha I love the opportunity to talk with them about Godly relationships and what that looks like for their future. Corinne, one of the other missionaries, and I and planning on having some special sessions with the older girls to talk about anything and everything Christian teenage girls should know! So please be praying for that! 

Last Sunday I was able to experience the new church in the village. Church use to be held here at GSF, but then the Ugandans had a heart to start a church in the nearby village. There have only been two services there so far! So last Sunday I helped carry the toddlers to the church… this meant a 20 min walk through the forest with a toddler on my back, in a skirt, in the hot sun! Haha I definitely got a taste of village life! The church is very new so there is still a lot to figure out. I enjoyed the very festive worship! Watching the Ugandan worship reminds me that sometimes we, as Americans, forget to be excited about God! He has given us everything, loves us so much, provides everlasting hope! So we aren't we more excited? Don't get me wrong, sometimes we are…but is sometimes enough? We need to learn to celebrate more!! Hey, if you want to know more listen to the recent sermon on celebrating from the Paradox Church :)

On Sunday, I also had the amazing opportunity to teach the teenage sunday school… this was a last minute decision since Rob, who normally teaches it, left for Kenya a day early. I have never taught teenagers…or Sunday school! Haha luckily, God provides in times of need! We went over James 1 (a recent study in my own bible study lol) and talked about trials and temptations. I was humbled by their honesty and knowledge. Many of these teenagers that grew up here know their bible very well! We had a great discussion about the reality of temptation and how to keep it from turning into sin: 

Pray and read Gods word Matthew 26:41

Have memory verses to speak to yourself when faced with temptations Psalm 119:9-11, Romans 1:2, James 4:7

If that fails, remove yourself, run! 2 Tim 2:22


I feel like I have so much more to tell you all about, but I think I'll stop here for now :)

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."Romans 8:38-39