I’ve only been here in Gulu for 3 days and I already don’t know where to begin telling you about it…I’m so happy to finally be here. These past few days have gone by fast. I feel like I just got here, but I also feel like I’ve been here for a long time because of how close I've gotten to the kids I've been with.
Every morning I get out of bed around 7:00 am, but I wake up much earlier because there are roosters all over the place around here. My breakfast consists of a power bar and coffee or tea (if there’s electricity, which is a rare luxury here in Gulu). I spend my mornings with 13-17 little African nuggets whose ages range from around 1 to 10. They are the children of the Congolese women who are making the jewelry and bags sold by the Zion Project. I still don’t know all of their names and it’s extremely hard to tell which ones are girls and which ones are boys because all of their heads are shaved. Yesterday morning, Faida/Phaida (who knows how you spell her name, I’m not even sure I say it right), one of the smallest ones, decided that she was going to cry hysterically unless I was holding her. I’m pretty sure my arm is going to be sore tomorrow. Well, they don’t really have diapers around here (most kids don’t even have underwear), so Faida/Phaida chose to pee all down my side. It was just wonderful. Don’t worry I already washed those clothes and they’re outside on the clothesline…
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| meet Faida/Phaida |
Other than the fact that they’re diaperless and not potty trained, I’ve loved them and my mornings with them so much. They call me “Teacha” (like teacher) and love on me all morning long. None of them speak much English at all, but they’ve taught me that you don’t need words to play and that talking about and learning about the life of Jesus Christ is still just as powerful when you’re only using pictures and some hand motions.
After lunch, which is typically posho and beans (posho is like hardened grits…it tastes like rubber so I give it to the kids), I head over to the Zion Project girls rescue home. Right now there are 16 girls living there. The youngest one, Gloria, just turned 5 and the two oldest girls are 14. One of the 14 year olds, Nancy, is pregnant and due in September. She is pregnant because she was raped. I have been in constant prayer for her and for her unborn child. I’ve been making her laugh and dance with me and make weird faces and stuff just so that she can feel like a kid for as long as possible. I don’t know what Nancy and the staff of Zion will decide to do with the baby once he/she is born, but I know that God will provide. He never lets go of us. I’ve been tutoring the girls after school (the younger ones only have half days), which has basically meant me teaching them English and how to read and write in English by using kids bibles and flashcard games and stuff. It’s so fun and so funny. I try not to laugh at them, but their little African voices just have the hardest time saying the easiest words, but then words that I think are more difficult are the ones they know. For example, every single girl gets it right when I hold up a picture of an umbrella or a rhinoceros, but they’re all having trouble with the dog flashcard. I’m teaching them songs in English, so hopefully I can try and put up some videos soon! I love them and I can see Jesus in each of them. It’s such a blessing to get to be in their lives, even if only for a month.
So far, I’m only missing some people, Blue Bell ice cream, and air conditioning…and I will never take these three things for granted ever again once I get home. I have been praying so much that I would be fully relying on God’s strength and showing His love to the people He puts in my path while I’m here. I want more than anything for these children to love the Spirit that they see in me more than they love me. I am realizing more day by day the depth of my weaknesses, but in those times of weakness when I think about being so hot or hungry or tired the Lord’s power in my life grows and grows. Plus I can just look around me and remember that I have absolutely nothing in the world to complain about and absolutely everything to be full of praise and thankfulness for. I believe that can be said of anyone whose life is hid in Christ.
“Let the liberating grace of God be so offensive to your self-sufficiency that you throw yourself on Christ today.”
“Lord Jesus, enable me to see in You the fulfillment of all my true needs and may I turn from every false satisfaction to get my sustenance solely from You.”
“When you empty yourself, God Almighty rushes in.”- A.W. Tozer
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| the view from my window |
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