I love the night sky here. Even in the big city of Kampala the stars are brighter here than anywhere else I’ve ever seen them. If you thought the stars were big and bright deep in the heart of Texas, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. It’s like being at a planetarium every night. Even the moon shines like the sun and lights the way on the roads at night. I’ve seen Venus more in the past few months than I have in my entire life. It’s really cool to be able to see some of the stars that are only seen in the Southern Hemisphere too… I’m such a short distance from the Equator I get to see both the Northern and Southern hemisphere’s constellations.
I love the laughter of the children. Over half of the population in Uganda is under the age of 18, so you can imagine how many children I see every day. Their laughter is contagious. One of the Ugandan first graders down at the school is called Miriam... when she laughs everyone else just has to laugh with her.
I love seeing all of the babies. It seems like every other woman I see has a baby strapped on her back. Whether the mother is working or just walking that baby sleeps or simply sits patiently strapped to the mother’s back by some cloth.
I love the children’s enthusiasm when they see me. Even though I’m in an area where there are plenty of white people, some of the children still find it necessary to yell out and greet me. They wave as though they’ve never seen someone with my skin color. (I’m really dark these days, so I don’t even look like much of a whitey anymore.)
I love all of the different birds and the crazy sounds that they make. There is a bird here that I call the monkey bird. When it cackles it sounds just like a monkey calling. There are also these birds that just laugh… all the time. It makes me chuckle often, especially if I’m in a serious meeting or something.
I love loving on people who need to be loved. I love giving as much of me away as I can. I love the response of those that I get to love. I really love to feel needed, so when I don’t I tend to get downhearted. I just want to invest all that I can into some of the lives of these people and I pray for continued opportunities to do so.
I love exploring this land and seeing things I’ve never seen before. God’s creation is so vast and I want to see as much of it as I can. I love the wonder that the creation brings. It’s thought provoking and challenging. It’s brilliant and way beyond my imagination.
I’ve struggled lately to see the beauty… mostly because the school consumes my life. But this weekend I took the time to go off by myself, to take my bible and drink in all of creation that I could in an afternoon. The sun darkened my skin and lightened my hair yet another shade. I sat and saw majestic birds floating through the sky, boats slowly making their way across Lake Victoria, a cool breeze making the fields of green wave at me from their position below. It was truly overload for the senses. It was a gentle reminder of why my heart will ache for this place when I’m gone.
Once again, will you pray for me as I’m here. Pray for my heart. Pray for my ministries. Pray for my friends and family back home. Pray that the lives I come in contact with everyday will somehow be affected by the love of Christ that I try to show. Pray for Sudan and it’s people. Pray for peace. Pray for Northern Uganda and the lost children and lost lives there. Simply pray.
