Hello everyone, well not everyone but those who are reading this a hello t you :)
I have had some interesting things take place since my last blog. One of which being that one of my best friends Auntie was killed in the very town I am in. I found this out when I was walking with my friend, Gad, and he told me. I immediately took out my phone and called my friend whom had just lost his aunt. I told him that I wanted to give him a hug and for him to know that I am here to talk. Later that night was the first time I saw him since I found out when he visited me and my roommates room. I felt like crying for him, since he was being so strong. I found out when he came that there was an overnight to mourn his auntie and my roommate, Judith was already going but she advised me not to go because i would be cold and I might get tired. ( funny thing is though, that she was the one running to the car in the cold ) But I wanted to go. It started at 9pm and we left at 4am. long night. but one of the best. When we arrived there was a lot of people sitting around talking and me and Judith both didn't know what to do so we followed Franco ( one who had just lost his auntie) and we went and sat down on a bench and they brought out water for us to wash our hands with, and then later brought out food, but I really wasn't in the mood for eating. Then me, Judith and our friend Becky decided that it would be good to lead a worshipp kind of service. So we did, mind you I am not one to sing in public, but I felt so at peace whilst doing it. No one sang with us, but it didn't matter to us, we were enjoying just knowing that they could hear us. Time passed rather quickly, but during that time everyone seemed to leave, whether they were tired and went back to base or were like Judith and went to the car. In either case, I was the only person left with my friend. This is where I knew that it was definitely a God moment for me to be there. We started talking and laughing and it was such a memorable moment. I was forcing my eyes to stay open just so that he didn't feel forced to take me home. It also started to rain, but that didn't bother me (might be because i love the rain) and still stayed outside and enjoyed the experience. Then the clock struck 4am. Not a minute sooner or am minute later did we both book it to the car. I am so blessed that I had the opportunity to experience something like that.
Ministry has been really good except for the minor setback. The minor setback was that the condemned block(death row) at the prison were transferred to another prison in Kampala. We found this out when we had our team of 6 enter the prison, and to have them ask us what we were doing here. I know for me it took my breath away hearing that news. These men were our friends and we had developed such strong relationships with them, especially seeing their faith in the Lord grow more and more every time we went. I grew especially close with a man named Zeff, which makes it hard as well. We all started brainstorming about how we could continue this ministry, what we have come to as of right now is that at least once a month we make the journey to Kampala and visit the prison. Theo nay downside to this, is that we are not authorized to actually do ministry like we were before. All we are allowed to do it meet with one of them at a time. 1 on 1( what you would think of when you think of visiting someone in prison, you know with the phones and glass) . Which is fine for now. But we are still praying and hoping that we can find a church to overlook our ministry and let us run it through their church. No luck as of yet.
I have been exposed to the whole visa process out here. I honestly had NO idea how difficult it was to get a visa to anywhere outside of your own country. My roommate, Judith, who wanted to do the School of Worship in Germany was put on hold for a good 2 months while they processed her visa. After that time, she found out the embassy in Germany had accepted her visa, so she traveled to the German embassy here in Uganda. The news there was that she was rejected. She was broken, and that broke me. I longed for her to go and fulfill her calling to be a worship leader. But what I have been living by out here and what I told her was this : If God wanted it to happen and it was in your plan, He WOULD make it happen. And if things don't go as you would have liked just to know that He must have SUCH a better plan for you. So stay tuned. I have repeated that in my head time and time again. Always manages to give me peace in every situation. So blessed.
So this past week me and my roommate, Judith, took a trip to Kenya. This trip was coming in the best time ever. We both were feeling emotionally drained one night and I lightly mentioned " hey, we should go to Kenya." Judith immediately looked up at me and said "yea!" and it was settled. We started making plans. So excited. We started thinking about where we could stay without spending too much money. and then I remembered that I have a friend, Collins, who always told me that I could visit him. So I mentioned it to him and without hesitation, he said that we could stay with his mom and his family. More reassurance that this was going to happen. So I bought the tickets for the bus journey (12 hours). And we were out of Uganda within a week. We both had packed what we thought was enough. Then we got a ride to the Kampala Coach station and we waited for our bus which was an hour late. I was so excited to go. But I had forgotten how terrible the bus journey is.( bad memories from my DTS outreach journey) So, we got on the bus, and before we found our seats, it started driving away. We sat down and caught up on all of the stuff that we couldn't share at base. We met these two english boys that were sat behind us ( I think it is a muzungu thing that we find one another hah.) We started talking, and during that time, Judith fell asleep. ( but don't be mistaken we were only talking for about 10 minutes, she just fell asleep.) What makes this journey so terrible is the roads that we travel on. Honestly, imagine your body flailing in every direction without your consent. Yea, that is the 12 hour journey that I had, you can't sleep no way. ( well I can't, no matter how tired I was) We got to the Kenyan border at around 1230am. And didn't quite no where we were supposed to wait, but this girl who was on our bus assured us, that she knew, so we followed her direction. LIttle did we know that she had no clue either. This guy from the bored came up to me and ask "umm are you lost?" and I was like yes!! and he took us all the way back to where the rest of the people form our bus were.. He then asked "didn't you see the rest of the muzungus and people waiting here??" I answered no. but then thought that, they probably had seen us just walk passed them and though "haha what dumb people" but had no reason to stop us, how considerate. We waited and got back on our bus an hour later. The long journey continued… and then we arrived in Nairobi @ 11am and Collins met us at the station and we went straight to his moms house. We quickly met his mom and dad and then found our room and fell asleep for a good 6 hours. It was great. Then we were awake for sinner and socializing til about 10pm and then went back to sleep till 8am.
The week started out by Judith getting sick, the day after we got there. I didn't want to leave her alone, but she insisted that I go out and have fun. So, I did. We went to the Kenya National Museum. It was so cool seeing all the different cultural wear and the events that had taken place, that most people aren't aware of. Then we went to lunch at a small cafe outside the museum and I decided to call Judith. She told me that she was throwing up and was really not doing well. at that point all I wanted to do was get back to her as soon as possible. So, we got to the house as soon as we could. And i went straight to Judith, and when she saw me she said " I am so glad you are back" I knew that I was not going away again. anyways, back to the week, we went out for pizza!! ok, so I have not felt like I was in America so much, then while I was in Nairobi. The pizza was amazing. oh! I went to a football game ( soccer for you American folk ), and it was beyond amazing!! I loved every moment of it. I even bought a jersey and wore it to become a true fan haha. The teams name was Gor Mahia. A local team in kenya. Wow. best day. The team won 3-2, which just added to the awesomeness. On Sunday, we went to Church, and it was the cutest church, they were so welcoming to visitors and the worship and everything was so great. Me and Judith were told to come up on stage and introduce ourselves…. have I mentioned that I am very very very self conscious of how my voice sounds in a microphone?? Well, I am. extremely. what didn't help either, is that the guy in the front row was taking pictures with his phone of us while we were introducing ourselves… umm excuse me haha. We then walked back from the church to his house. Then monday was the day that me and Judith were traveling on. OUr bus left the station @ 730pm. So we went into town at around 5 and waited for a taxi for about an hour ha woo adventures. And when we got into town the matatus( taxis) weren't in a complete jam, not moving at all. So we got out of the taxi and literally 30 seconds after we got out, There was an accident between two taxis, with the door falling off. I'm not sure if it was our taxi or not, but yikes.( Dad, remember that article you read about the matatus in Nairobi??) ha ha and then Collins told us that the reason why the taxis weren't moving was because people were fighting the police, because they aren't supposed to sell stuff in the main part of town. Interesting. But anyways….. we went to KFC!!!! like proper KFC. Oh man it was nice! funny thing is though, I don't eat KFC when I am home, but when I was told that it was in Kenya, I wanted nothing more than to go and eat there. :) So that was our week in Kenya. But to add to all of that, both Judith and I fell in love with his family! they were the most friendly and loving family. Didn't feel like visitors after a while. It was so nice. Collins' mom also cooked every meal for us, and it was delicious every time. It was such an amazing experience to be there. Great vacation !
We had our journey back, which was just as painful :) but when we arrived at base we were received so well. It was great to be home :) Except that I got flu (a cold) and still hitting me right now which isn't fun, but ill live :) Love you all so much!!
Be blessed!
Tess
it is crazy to think that I leave Uganda in 8 weeks! mixed feelings on that.
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