During outside recess time, I finally saw my little Mudua Irene. I hardly recognized her, she has hair now! As soon as our eyes met she came a runnin and grabbed me and hugged me so tight!! It was a hug from God! She knew exactly who I was and you know me - tears, they were-a-flowin !!!!! Mudua has a baby sister now - child #9 in the family!! So, her hair is looking quite "Buck-wheat-ish" at this point and she says she wants long hair - she has never had any hair. So, I've hired Sara, our first IChooseYou graduate to put braids in Irene's hair. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
Later, we went on over to the IChooseYou mom's sewing room to relieve Darbs for just a bit and gather them for their PiNK class (or "PiNK it up" - as Becky would say!). As we handed out the PiNK t-shirts, I was astounded at their gratefulness, and the fact that we had exactly enough t-shirts for every woman present!! I just love how God is into the details! They were all dancing around, jumping for joy with, you guessed it......the African "yiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi" sound that they make when they cannot hold their joy inside! The love was all around simply engulfing me!! So, we sat in a big circle and had our first {PiNK} Bible study lesson of the week, on the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 2:10). They soaked it in and were very receptive. Margaret (a.k.a. - Mama Flower) was a great translator and they later expressed to her just how much they need encouragement like that and to get into the Word of God and that it was "very good teaching". These women have all been through such unimaginable hardships, yet they are still smiling, still loving on each other. They do community like nothing I've ever seen. We could learn a thing or two from them about how to do "Heartgroup!"
Then, we headed on out to the Namatala village for the first time. Even after you've experienced it before, you are never desensitized to the severity of this place. It is truly unbelievable. Kyla, Micah and Josh all had incredible eye opening experiences as they encountered absolute joy from the beaming, dirty children living in the absolute unthinkable circumstances! Again, we learned lessons! I received an awesome confirmation from God when we were at Mudua Irene's hut. I met her entire extended family and they were so grateful and loving toward me. One of the ladies I met, who was her Aunt, just so happened to be one of the same women whom I had prayed for last year, shared the gospel with and she received Christ! I will never forget her face as I have a picture of her holding the Bible I gave her. How could I have known that she was the aunt of our IChooseYou kid!!! There are no such things as coincidences. She is still attending church, she said!!
Becky and Mama Aidah checked out the IChooseYou pig farm and it is doing great! The pigs are doing well and they have already planted corn there. It is good!
So, today, we once again taught in the Covenant classrooms where we rotated in the classrooms teaching Art, Music, Bible Story and P.E. We got to fingerpaint rainbows, sing amazing songs and plant seeds of God's love as we played with them and loved on them. Becky sang and danced up and down the aisles, Micah and Ted shared Bible stories, Kyla got to be the star art teacher! Taylor got a full workout in at P.E. It was great!
Once again, we headed out to Namatala this afternoon with no agenda except to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He lead us. And He sure did that!! We took Ted to Margaret's house - a precious woman and dear friend of Ted's who claims every year that she is 75 (which is clearly way off!). As they embraced, Ted said "I'm older than you!" It was adorable! She is the same woman who has the graves of her husband and all 5 of her children around her tiny hut - they all died of Aids. Yet, Margaret is full of the joy of the Lord!
As we made our way through the village, God directed our attention to those whom He wanted us to pray for and those who needed conversation and encouragement and help. I mean to have someone come in and ask them about them, is a rare occasion. These people simply love to tell you all about themselves and their families - all you have to do is ask! We were followed, of course, by a parade of little children all holding our hands - we called the Mzungu parade! God lead us directly into a situation that was an absolute divine appointment. I just can't share the details here but let's just say we were able to step into the life of a helpless scared young mother and most likely, save the life of her baby today!!! We were able to pray for another very, very sick woman, near death with no hope! I am certain that she and her beautiful daughter will be taken care of because of God's healing touch and His great mercies. If you think about it, please keep a Karamojong girl named Elizabeth and her sick mother in your prayers tonight. Also, please remember a baby boy in green (I did not know his name!) He desparately needs healing!
It was a rough afternoon but God is good. I so wish we could scoop them all up and take them for medical care but it is just not possible. The needs are too great! We believe the greatest thing we can do is pray and that is what God sent us here to do! Please continue partnering with us in prayer, this week. We just never know where God will lead us next! He loved us deeply today as we were humbled to our knees!! We saw Jesus all around this place and it is beautiful! We are all doing great here. All is safe and good. We are super excited about all of the awesome footage that Josh is capturing with his video camera. It will make for an awesome IChooseYou documentary! You go Josh!!
God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!
Love you all and miss you!!
Hugs,
Brandi & the team
